[Tiarana]

The Obelisk still weighed on Murkcrow's mind the next day and the day after. The terror that abruptly filled his heart after his previous nightmare receded and he found himself again pondering the origin of the strange landmark. Finally, he decided, he would have to go and investigate for himself.

"Are you going somewhere?" asked Stalker when she found him bundling up dried fruit and jerky in a packet made from large, leathery leaves.

"I've made up my mind," Murkcrow told her. "I'm going to visit the Obelisk."

Stalker rolled her eyes. She had heard enough about obelisks for a lifetime, and since she couldn't eat them, she had no interest in learning their secrets. "I'll pass."

"Suit yourself." Murkcrow set off on his way. He didn't live terribly far from the Obelisk, but it was still a day's journey through treacherous swamp before he reached it. Still, the journey was uneventful, which allowed him plenty of time to alternate between trepidation and excitement. At one point he almost turned back.

But now that he had made up his mind, he had to see it through and find out the truth for himself, so he pushed on.

Eventually Murkcrow reached the Obelisk, just as it was in his dream: tall, smooth-sided, covered in symbols that glowed faintly in the gathering dusk. The undergrowth of the swamp was making a go at engulfing it, but was nowhere near succeeding. Murkcrow sighed and stared up at the Obelisk. Dreaming about it was one thing, but actually standing in front of it was another. The flat stones stood around it just as they had in his dream, but he was trying to make up his mind about whether touching them was a good idea. It seemed like a bad idea in his dreams.

[Gl!tch~]

After some gentle bullying and strong-nudging, Tidal Terror had gotten the likes of Spectral Escape to take over for her for hopefully the short time she would be gone. He was also the one who would be the quickest to alert Parrot Head once she returned. Even Tidal Terror knew what those two were up to with each other, and she was happy for whatever relationship they seemed to be pursuing, as on-and-off again as it seemed to be. None of her business, though.

She did ask around before she left, inquiring of the kiokote and kimeti she knew about the obelisk. Some had dreamed about it before, and guessed at general directions. It wasn't much, but Tidal Terror would have to follow that and the murmurings about the Motherfather's guidance until she would find what she was looking for.

Every night after her first steps away from the beach, she feared more terrible dreams. But they never came. While a totoma who usually knew what she was about, she couldn't make up her mind on if it was a good sign or not. Her belly never stopped that low ache in the meantime.

She trekked on, guessing her way and following gut instincts that she had no basis for. Tidal Terror had been trained to fight, to protect, to read weather patterns and body language, but something would tug on her hooves on this journey and she would have no logic for why she would follow along. It left her unsettled. But she did not stop, and she never thought to turn back.

After dreams like the ones she had recently, she never wanted to give up again. Her belly told her that something terrible would happen if she did, and on top of that, her honor would be at stake.

Eventually, she found an area that she swore matched what she saw in her initial dream of the obelisk. As she pushed on a little further, more and more seemed familiar despite how she had never been in the area in her waking moments.

Until, of course, she saw the monolith itself. Part of her wanted to run the moment she caught sight of the obelisk, and another part was ready to heave. But she stood steady, like a proud totoma should.

No one ever trained her for the moment her dreams bled into the real world, and what that could mean for other dreams she had as of late.

Maybe coming here would help stave off the nightmare about her tribe.

Unlike the dream, there were none of those kin she had seen before.

Instead, there was a lone kimeti she did not recognize.

At the moment, she felt relieved to break the deja vu and get to meet someone new.

"Well met!" Tidal Terror called out, her voice booming but amiable as always. "I see I am not the only one visiting this strange landmark this day."

[Tiarana]

Murkcrow was so lost in thought that he did not hear the Totoma's approach, so he nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise. "Gyagh! Er, excuse me." He regained his composure and looked the stranger over curiously. She seemed harmless enough, albeit loud. "You're right. I'm just not able to get this thing out of my head." He sighed woefully and turned back to look at the Obelisk. "With the dreams and all."

[Gl!tch~]

Seeing a kimeti's shocked surprise made her laugh, a hearty bellow that calmed her nerves further. "You are very much excused! I apologize! I should have considered how awe-inspiring this thing sitting here is!"

Tidal Terror padded closer, looking up at the obelisk as she did so. "You as well? I suppose I am glad I am not the only one. That is to say, no one in my tribe felt the need to come here as I have, and they are more connected to this land than I."

The totoma could hear her caiman companion in the waters further off, sunning for the time being. She barely paid it any mind.

"Dreams..." she echoed Murkcrow's earlier sentiment. "I can only hope they were better than mine."

[Tiarana]

Murkcrow smiled crookedly. "I don't imagine they were. I have had dreams and dreams and dreams."

He tapped the ground in front of the Obelisk. Having someone else here made him feel a little less afraid. "Actually, it was a dream that brought me here. A little different, that last one. Oddly specific." Murkcrow gestured to the stones standing around the Obelisk. "I think it was about the expedition that came here before. There was a puzzle to solve. And then..." he trailed off, not wanting to recall what happened next.

[Gl!tch~]

"I dreamed of kimeti approaching this same obelisk, and I watched while they learned about it, and I joined in figuring out how the stones and the obelisk interacted with one another. In the dream, anyway. Your dream sounds similar," she said with a nod. "Only once before can I recall dreaming so vividly. But that time I dreamed about watching myself, as a foal, and then..." she shook her head and chuckled at the memory. The vision of tending foals. It still felt to silly to say aloud.

"But these dreams where I am around kin, watching what they do... I could never touch anything. But I could touch this obelisk."

She paused. Her words might mean nothing without an explanation. "A totoma is used to routine. I am used to routine. Consistency. The waves rise at certain times, and leave at certain times. There is an order to things. Breaking order... I am still getting used to that. When other kin are out of order, that is one thing. But my own dreams... I suppose I do not know what to do with something like that."

[Tiarana]

Murkcrow nodded. "It sounds like you only recently started having these dreams. The Motherfather does as he-she likes. I assure you," he deadpanned, with an expression of bleak unenthusiasm, "the dreams do not stop happening. And they're always so miserable!"

Murkcrow impetuously hopped onto the crane stone and glared at the Obelisk. The Obelisk, of course, remained indifferent to the action. "I dream about fortune-tellers and the only fortune I receive is the Obelisk! I dream about snakes and I wake up with a serpent around my neck! I dream about the desert and for some reason there's sand everywhere!"

It seemed he was feeling a little frustrated.

He looked back to the totoma. "Pardon my outburst."

[Gl!tch~]

She blinked at the sudden anger. Then, again, she laughed. "So I am not the only one annoyed by these dreams! I find that comforting."

Tidal Terror meandered over to the eagle stone, and gave the edge a soft touch from her hoof. She looked thoughtful as she did so. "It sounds like your dreams are not subtle, or stay only dreams. I can only hope I will be a little more fortunate than that." The totoma remembered her nightmare, and sighed.

"I worry that if I do not look into what is going on with the obelisk, something terrible will happen. But here it is, and I do not see any new puzzles to solve. So I am not sure if I am making the right decisions. Life in the mountains was much more straightforward."

[Tiarana]

"I, for one, worry that something terrible will happen if we do look into the obelisks." Murkcrow gestured around him with his tail. "No kin could have made this. And the dreams aren't exactly cheerful. And yet, I still feel driven to learn the truth."

Murkcrow stepped down from the stone. "It seems that nothing else is happening here, but there are other obelisks. Not all of them have been visited by kin yet. Perhaps when they are, we'll finally have answers."

He glanced over and realized he hadn't introduced himself to the totoma. "I'm Murkcrow, by the way."

[Gl!tch~]

"Other obelisks..." The information made her stomach churn even more. "Well, more information can only be better than less! And there must be a reason for all these dreams! The Motherfather and all of that, yes?"

Tidal Terror had heard plenty in her time about the supernatural within the swamp and the entity the locals revered above all else. "So, hopefully, something can be done..."

If only she had any clue what.

"Ah! Well met, Murkcrow! I am Tidal Terror! I apologize for not asking for your name sooner!"

[Tiarana]

Murkcrow smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Tidal Terror." He took one last look at the Obelisk and turned to leave. "I don't intend to linger here much longer. That thing gives me goosebumps."

"-well," he added, "we'll probably meet again if we both keep searching for the Obelisks."

[Gl!tch~]

She gave a nod. A nice meeting, discomfort around the obelisk, and their likelihood of meeting once more if they continued on the paths the two seemed to be on now. All of it, all of it, in one motion.

"I look forward to it!" Tidal Terror called.

With that, it was time to rest, and return home.