It has been days beyond the two weeks that Sun-Cursed told him that she'd be away. Every night since she'd said she'd be back, he would return to the obelisk she entered through hoping that she would walk out safe and sound and tell him that she was just delayed by something she couldn't avoid.
He remembered the first time she brought up going though the mysterious artifice. He knew she had her reasons and was more than happy to go through the experience with her--to be there for her and support her every step of the way. But then she told him she wanted to go alone. His heart screamed out at that moment--he knew that she could handle herself and that he could not be with her every moment of every day--but this was different. Yet he held his objection because he loved her and he saw the look of determination on her face as she spoke of her plans and where she intended to go after.
Last edited by doomsayer on Fri Feb 28, 2025 12:41 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 177
Tonight was the fifth night that Sun-Cursed hadn't returned.
The only times Smoldering Ember has ever been out of the swamp has been in groups led by his mother. Beyond that, he was admittedly ill equipped to so brazenly follow Sun-Cursed's steps through the obelisk to try to find her. But at this point, he had not been able to sleep for four days. He had barely been able to eat, frantic with worry. He needed to do something.
He gathered her motley herd of familiars as well as his own and explained to them what he was about to do. Some of them were not of the level of intelligence to understand fully what he was saying, but he knew that it was enough that Heartless at Best, Moving in the Dark, Love and Affection, and his own familiars would pick up on his emotions and instructions. Sun-Cursed trained her pets to be self-sufficient without her, and his own were hunters that cooperated with one another flawlessly. He knew they would be fine to leave with each other as long as they were told to help each other out.
The smooth black stone of the obelisk loomed over him. He was uncertain if he should keep waiting for Sun-Cursed here. He imagined her smile. It was less her glow and more how she looked at him when she smiled that lit up his life. He missed her laughter, her energy. He needed her back with him. Pacing back and forth; he would replay over and over in his mind the last words she said to him to try to remember if he missed something--if he wasn't supposed to be worrying.
He affectionately nuzzled her cheek before watching her step right in front of the obsidian edifice; "I understand that you need to do this on your own, My Light. Know that I will be waiting right here when you come back. I'll take care of the den while you're gone. Your pets will miss you. But I will miss you even more."
She glanced back, "I will be back as soon as I can. I shouldn't be longer than two weeks." She didn't know enough to give a more specific estimate of time, but she quickly ran back to him to press her forehead against his, murmuring "I'll be thinking about you and your strength and warmth."
He snapped back to the present. The thoughts of her possibly being trapped or hurt somewhere and needing him ultimately spurred him to action.
He ran head first into the unknown.
Immediately his world goes gray. There is... nothing around him. The only "things" that seem to have shapes or features are the shadows of the landscape that seem impossibly far away. The light here is the dimmest he'd ever seen--not enough to blind him, but so drab that it felt like it was sucking away the vividness of his own color. His first few steps were met only with more nothing. The shapes in the distance did not seem to get any closer and the mist-like surroundings offered no clarity.
His mother had told him that traversing this place was more of an exercise of the mind rather than that of the body. He needed to think about where he wanted to go and keep that place in his heart and his mind as he walked. He thought of Sun-Cursed--truly she was the first one in his mind when he woke and the last one he would think of before he slept. Keeping her in his mind and heart was already something he always did, and he knew this place would not change that no matter what challenges it would throw at him.
A grove of upside down trees, growing down from the sky.
Keeping his eyes focused to spot any danger that may erupt from the mists, he was taken by surprise when the tip of his horn brushed against something in the air. Fighting back the goose bumps brought on by the unexpected sensation, he forced himself to look up. From out of nowhere, a dense gathering of treetops met him, their trunks disappearing into the featureless grey sky.
He kept his eyes trained on these treetops that were just feet away from the top of his head as he continued to walk. He stayed wary in case something burst forth from the canopy. Yet, apart from some mysterious rustling in the leaves, Smoldering Ember reached the end of this grove of trees without any more incident.
He took the opportunity to scan the horizon--now no longer obscured from his view by the upside down canopy--for signs of any more of these upside down forests, but when he looked back, the one he just went through was gone.
A storm that drops berries red as blood onto their head and back.
Slightly bothered, but otherwise unhindered by the upside down forest, he continued to walk in the direction of the far off features. He thought that perhaps if he walked for long enough towards the shapes in the mist, that they would become more solid and give this place some semblance of logical sense.
With Sun-Cursed at the forefront of his mind, he tirelessly trudged through the dim land. It felt like hours of walking had passed before he felt something fall on his back. Then his neck. Then his head. Then everywhere. The grey gave way to a red haze as berries red as blood inexplicably fell from the sky, pelting his exposed body and covering the ground that he can see in slick blood red berry juices.
He continued forward--albeit slowly so that he would not slip--knowing that this was just another oddity that this place had in store to distract him from what was truly important. He shook the liquid and pulp from his fur every so often and saw it drop onto the ground like a shower of blood. On a regular day, this would disturb him, but he would not let his mind wander from the thought of being with his light again.
A patch of tar they have to drag heavy legs through.
He didn't know how long he had been walking or when the rain of berries stopped--this place had a way of making one lose one's sense of time and place. But the shade of red disappeared from the ground in front of him and he could see the shapes in the distance once again, appearing to be no closer than they were when he started. He felt a wave of exhaustion pass through his bones, his muscles starting to complain from strain.
Either he did not realize it, or he had just been transported to the middle of it--his hooves sticking with each step, his fur black with viscous tar. Now wherever he looked, this tar seemed to be underfoot, slowing his pace to a crawl as he used much of his strength to pull his limbs free with every step.
He stopped momentarily. Though this would be one of the many situations where he would typically ask someone else for assistance, he knew he was alone here and the only person that could help him was Sun-Cursed. He closed his eyes and recalled their last winter market together. He remembered how happy she was that the odd weather phenomenon allowed them to share walks on the coast at sunset together. He would hold on to those memories and feelings as he found the energy to will his limbs to step forward.
All these physical trials and all these horrible visions did nothing to distract his thoughts from her. He hoped beyond hope that when he came out--wherever he came out--she would be there, glowing her warming glow, waiting for him to come so that they could be together again.
But when he emerged from the bleak landscape, he found himself back in the swamp, in front of the same obelisk that he entered. He couldn't help but cry out as terror and confusion as to what this meant washed over him.
In the days that followed, he travelled throughout all the lands that kin called home. He forgot to eat or sleep. He walked far and wide, letting his feet take him to places he had never been to before only holding onto hope that he would find her there. He would ask everyone he passed if they saw Sun-Cursed or had heard of her passing by. He crossed the plains and suffered under the dessert sun, walking as far as the ache would allow.
He only ate when his frustration turned to rage. He hunted prey and pictured them as whatever took her from him, ripping and tearing into them in anger.
He walked for days on end, slumber only gripping him when he would collapse from exhaustion. And when he would wake, only to force his limbs back into action to walk further in his desperation.
Tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes and would stop only when there was no moisture left to cry. He started begging to anyone who would listen--to the MotherFather in moments he was alone--to help him find his light again.
