He opens his eyes again to another scene before him.Once again, Dusk Wave is not particularly alarmed, or confused, or any of the expected emotions - maybe uneasy, something held from that first dream that creeps in even now to his subconscious, but not enough that would stop him from participating. Instead it's coupled with a sense of anticipation, as he pushes his way gently through the crowd, to see if he can find the legendary that he knows (somehow, something instinctual in him that tells him) will be leading. He watches quietly as she addresses the group, as she begins to lead them out of the swamp, as another begins a thrumming beat that inspires courage (that he feels somewhat vaguely, faintly, not as true as it maybe should've been had he been there himself) and then finally, he steps a foot forward with the group onto the unfamiliar terrain.
The journey itself doesn't feel particularly long or short to Dusk - it's more of a sense of moments, rather than anything concrete. He hears snippets of conversation around him, but he doesn't indulge - both out of a habit of quietness, and something in him knowing anything he said would go unanswered. He walks with the group, but it's as if every step he takes the group moves at a much larger distance and speed than one normally would. Everything flows strangely but when they do get to the Obelisk, here in the plains (as so named by someone in the group, a bit of info he managed to snatch), it feels both appropriate and fulfilling - like he was one to actually make the journey, instead of sleepwalking through it. There's a good ache to his bones, like a long walk, or a hard run, and he feels satisfied despite the odd passage of time.
As the group spreads out to explore, Dusk begins wading through tall grasses that he has never seen before in his life and find obnoxious to get through (for once he is glad that his wish to have longer hair hasn't come true - he can only imagine what it would like to get it caught here), gently inspecting stones as he comes upon them. Nothing else in the area calls to him - the Obelisk itself remains inert, standing as silent as ever but still foreboding to Dusk and he's not inclined to approach it - and so he instead keeps a lazy pace as he watches the kin around him begin to puzzle over the stones.
He's never been a great strategist, so the ideas the others have are as good to him as any, and he watches as they stand upon the stones, pushing them and striking them. Nothing seems to have much of an effect, which is a bit disheartening, but then he watches as a green doe tries to make a path and the Obelisk suddenly begins to glow slightly. Suddenly it feels like the group is working to pull up grass and Dusk - he knows, he knows that all of this is just a dream or a vision or something where he's immaterial but... he wants to help. He wants to feel like he did something. The unease from the last obelisk still haunts him - would he feel it if he had done something? Would it be gone if he had? He doesn't know.
Still, he stays where he is, watching the group with tired eyes, with energy itching under his skin.
The group works quickly it seems and it doesn't feel long until he sees the area around him clear, the ground studded with stones. There's a moment where everything seems to pause and the obelisk glows, once again with a bright and eye searing light, before it abruptly dims, only to start again but softer and smaller. Soon after, time seems to shift around him once more. He blinks and what was late day has turned into early night, with the glow of the obelisk more obvious in the lack of light and the stones glittering with the remaining beams of the setting sun.
The other kin from before have started to step upon the rocks, and he watches as stones glow and dim as different paths are taken and then gone off of. The puzzle isn't one that's making much sense to him, but he doesn't mind listening to the others as they work it out, carefully walking alongside some of the paths as they're taken. He doesn't step on the rocks themselves when another is there - it feels wrong in a sense, like he would be interrupting something - but he's content enough with simply being beside them as he listens to the talk and occasionally tracing the path once another gets off of it. The sound from his hooves hitting the stones is softer than he would expect, but he pays it little mind as he steps on and off, quiet as he observes.
Eventually the group understands what needs to happen and he steps back and watches as the paths are taken correctly (after a few stops and starts), some stones dimming and brightening as it all happens. Until finally, finally, the final stone is touched - and everything is glowing. Once again the obelisk is bright and blinding, but unlike last time Dusk feels no abject terror at it, just the knowledge that touching it would bring him home (the swamp, where was? where he is?) and so he steps forward, tentatively, and presses his nose to it.
Immediately the surroundings melt away into something else, grey and formless, and Dusk automatically begins to walk, unsure of what he's seeing. It isn't long until he breaks into a jog, and then a run, an abject terror climbing up his throat and he sees something in the distance but then there's darkness and -
He's back in the plains, but everything is worse than before, and his terror is still there as he sprints, running faster than he has ever before. The obelisk once again appears before him, glow blinding, and he needs to get to it again, knows that he needs to and every step hurts but he has to, he has to, he has to.
Dusk wakes, breathing heavily, unsettled.
He feels ill the rest of the day.
WC: 1064