the Rift


[OPEN] Black Maw

Maude Posts: 140
World's Edge Filly
Filly :: Unicorn :: 15.3 :: Yearling
Bunnie
#1

She’d heard of the Spectral Marsh, of course, and the God who had taken up residence within it. How could she not? It seemed like every third topic was this, Kaos, an entity that had killed Helovians after deceiving them with promises of purification, and goodness. The daughter of a storyteller and an imaginative healer, Maude had been raised on tales of knights and heroes of valorous heart, and the evil entities which they struck down with their swords, staffs, magical blasts, and ancient artifacts were, as far as she had understood the stories, just like this deceitful God.

Good guys didn’t have to lie, plot, and scheme to get their way. She had also never heard a story in which the protagonist had been beaten to death by an entire country and its Gods, before resurrecting to spare the people who had slain him. That story wouldn’t even make sense, she thinks to herself, haughtily lifting her nose to stare with pale green eyes into the dark mire which stretched from the downward end of this slope, seemingly forever, out to the sea.

Trepidation fills her breast as she looks out upon it, and the pillar of which everyone spoke barely perceivable from this distance, and the eminent evil which she is sure resides there fills her whole soul with dread. The wind, cold and blustering, sweeps the muddy, putrid smell of the bog across her face, and tousles back her unmanageable amount of cream hair in swirling ringlets, and, with a last deep breath, she swallows down her fear (and wrinkles her nose at the smell). Bundling her cloak up and tying it across her back, so as to keep it clean, the yearling boldly steps down the hillock, and sinks ankle deep into the mud.

Soon, however, it’s knee deep, and cold, and Maude is peering back over her shoulder at sane land with an expression that personifies regret. The pillar is still many yards away, and her hair is already ruined, but it’s the shivering that is really starting to get to her. Pulling towards a small grove of stunted, gnarl-branched trees, she huddles alongside their waterlogged sides, shielding herself from the wind, and wondering why she’d ever thought such a foolish idea as wandering in this black realm was wise.





Art by TheCallyBear@ DA

@Akeli
Hold onto this lullaby, even when the music's gone.

Valdís Posts: 24
Dragon's Throat Filly
Filly :: Pegasus :: 16hh :: 1 year
dark
#2
tie a rope around your neck,
and let me kick you off a bungee
And I have begun to haunt the Marsh like the ghosts that cling to the shadows, disturbed blue figures hunching over, curling up within themselves as they come to recognize the living - they do not hide, but do not enter my space either, hovering somewhere on the edge of my peripheral like hesitant children, all piled on top of one another, stumbling and tripping as they collide. I think they know I see them, that the cool spaces they create can be detected by my bared skin, caught standing out against brisk Orangemoon air with their disfigured features lingering over the surface of the water, as though they might be trying to catch their reflections in it. I look down at the frigid water near my hooves, as though somehow I'll catch a glimpse of something in the cold blue mass that swirls before me - all I see is blues, greens and purples swirling together and leaving me frustrated, because there is no indication of my reflection in the water, no hollow sockets gazing back at me from the depths as I'd hoped.

A ways away, my ears pick up the splashing of a body in the water, the silent slipping of a lost soul into the callous grasp of the Marsh - I turn my head in the direction of which it came, but I am not yet close enough to catch sight of what (or who) it was taking an unfortunate swim. I proceed forward, picking my way over tangled roots and gnarled branches, over the uneven path that twists and winds until I am finally seeing a cooling figure, almost wondering if it is a ghost with the way the typical reds of the living are draining, changing - I get closer still, intrigued as to why they so willingly waded through the water, kicking up a stench that made my nose wrinkle. It may not linger as much as it did when momma had lived here in her youth, but it certainly wasn't a pleasant smell when I did catch whiffs of it. She has offered stories of her youth, speaking wistfully of a time she longs for, when she belonged somewhere, had a purpose. I think that listening to her only made my heart ache more, and I left her to feel sappy and nostalgic, to melt through the seams of her shaky form and turn into a thick, sobbing mess at the center of a clearing.

I witness the persistence of the girl, watching her trudge through the slush with determination and foolishness oozes off of her small figure, taking the time to walk forward until I too was standing in the water. My body shudders at the touch of near freezing temperatures, sloshing my way closer with my brows twitching in annoyance. "It's not good to wander here alone," I tell her quietly, as if somehow I would change her mind about heading the way she was - towards it, the looming pillar that stirred with ancient power, with something breathtaking and terrifying, something that the kísértet dared not to interfere with, always edging close to the clearing but never entering the space. I have asked them why, but never receive an answer, it seems that I was never meant to speak to the dead - or they have all taken an oath of silence, or simply cannot communicate with the living at all. Probably the latter.

dont mind val just tagging along for the ride

Akeli Posts: 13
Outcast
Filly :: Hybrid :: 16hh :: 2 Seasons (Ages in Birdsong)
Gremlin :: Common Genet :: None Noella
#3
She trots along at a happy pace, humming a song and clapping her wings to her sides to keep the beat. Her fearlessness, though guised beneath the natural curiosity of youth, could easily be interpreted as naivete and stupidity, so as she flutters into the marsh like a songbird, onlookers would be more than welcome to shake their heads and muse that it's a shame such a pretty girl would never make it to adulthood. 


The muck sucks at her hooves as she moves deeper into the deadlands, but she is nonplussed by the mud that splatters her legs, nor does she allow the putrid smell to toss her stomach. It's not everyday you find such a prime mudhole to stomp around in, so she would certainly find time to enjoy it. Besides, she was already taking on an adorable winter fluff, and when one feels adorable, one is happy.


Golden eyes, surprisingly sunny within the grey and white of her face, nearly miss the golden lass, buried from the chill under her cloak, pressing towards the trees as if they would shield her from the cold. She stops, head tipping to the side, staring at the big black whateverthatis. She's seen some weird stuff since arriving here, but seeing something so out if place captures her attention. It's a feminine voice that distracts her attention, and she turns her head, sheltered within her own place among the towering logs (these were hardly trees, considering how dead everything looked), and sees a unique pair of older fillies. One has wings, and the other, antlers. How lucky am I, She thinks to herself, that I have both! 


"Well," the dappled girl interrupts, keeping her voice hushed to match the other girl's tone, "We're not really alone, if we're all here." She punctuates her comment with a wink, though she can't help but begin to feel uneasy with the commentary. It almost sounds like a warning. Was she even allowed here?


She moves forward, now with slightly more caution than her previous gait held, towards the pair of others. She's careful as she wades through the shallow murky waters, trying to avoid a comical fall now that she's in the view of company. Coming to a stop beside them, she allows her eyes to fall, once again, upon the pillar. "Do you guys know what that thing is? I've never been here before. It's kinda spooky." She smiles at the last word, saying it with a playful hushed voice. There was something cool about this place. But more than that, there were people here. 


She could finally make some friends. It was about time, too, she was about ready to die from boredom if she had to spend another minute alone without anyone her age.



@Maude +
I'll add a table later! Just wanted to get something up!
[Image: _gift__akeli_pixel_by_abbie1234-d9po0qh_zps6qympgzb.png]
Please tag Akeli in all posts || Permission for magic and force at all times, except in cases of permanent injury or death.


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