[Flashback]The Spider and the Horse Maiden (Caoin, Open)

[Dhalvasha]

Spring 19 509 AV


With bray and the raining snakes of tossing manes, the Symenestra found himself in seas of grass and bright sun, so different from the shadows beneath Kalinor. Here he was a phantom, a ghost floating from place to place, as though entranced. The horses were uneasy, rightly so, had Dhalvasha the power to do so he would strike the life from their veins and leave the lot of them to rot on the endless field.

Large beasts, strong beasts, and the frail Dhalvasha was ill at ease with such sturdy organics in his presence...especially those that seemed to instinctively dislike him.

So he gave the Endrykas horses a wide berth, ghosting over grass toward taller reeds and looking out over the Cyphrus nothingness. There was a bleakness here, even in the face of so much life. Much like the desert, it had its own sort of expressed desolation.

He felt nothing but disdain for it.

Since leaving his home, Dhalvasha had seen the wide Suvan and now this. It's expansiveness frightened some primal part in him that required walls and clefts to hide within. The spider quaked in terror and the doctor sat back and diagnosed the fear, as though by recognizing it, he could conquer it alone.

Instead he found himself the assistant doctor in this strange traveling tent-convoy of horse riding lunatics. Humans and their haughty demeanor, Drykas and their obsession with the four legged cattle-beasts. Horses, pointless. Riding on one only put his body at more risk, so it was with slow pacing he moved.

Today he skirted the edges of the pavilions, bending delicately to cut blades of grass from the lattice lines of roots on the earth. It was the mushrooms and lichen he collected, interested in the chemical compounds. The Drykas seemed keen on using their innate knowledge of plans to treat wounds and the doctor would not be shown up by the nomads. Study was required, contribution to the collective whole.

Dhalvasha had never pictured himself the hero when he left his son and wife behind in Kalinor, nor did he picture himself forgiven. A hand unconsciously rose to check the Chavi on the side of his face. Did it still glow there? Metallic and edged like spider legs and dreams? Or perhaps it was gone now, a place somewhere different.

He hoped not, despite himself.

With careful black claws, Dhalvasha excised sample after sample to place in his glass jar, snatching any trundling beetle or insect as well, test subjects to an end for his experimentation. Word was that Riverfall would soon be close enough to move to, and although the multi-hued giants bothered the doctor, he doubted much could be worse than the constant company of horses.

He cut a strange figure where he crouched, out of place spider with his hands in the dirt.

Some doctor.

[Caoin]

It was a warm and sunny day, the perfect kind of day to go for a swim, and it just so happened that that is what Caoin was occupying her free time with. She’d found a small crater-made pond on the outskirts of Endrykas, surrounded by tall grass and reeds, with a few boulders scattered along the bank. A small creek fed into the pond at the end farthest from the moving city, keeping it constantly fed with water. Since no one seemed to be around and most people were busy going about chores at that hour, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a dip. The chances of no one happening upon her were good, right? So she’d dropped her backpack and pulled off of her boots, socks, belt (and all attached items), and pants and set them all on a rock not far from the water’s edge. Pulling her shirt up to just below the bottom of her rib cage, she tied it off so that it wouldn’t get tangled with any water plants or sticks as she was swimming, and also to keep it from clinging to her or wrapping around her own body uncomfortably as she swam. Looking around one last time to make sure that no one was around or watching, she waded out into the pleasantly cool water, until she reached a depth deep enough that she could push herself forward and start two swim.

Caoin’s legs kicked gently as her arms moved out to her sides, pulling her through the water. Once she was out to where the depth was well over her head, she kicked herself hard and bobbed out of the water and then, with a deep breath of air, she sunk below the surface. She bent at the torso and angled her body down, scissoring her legs with her arms pointing down towards the depths of the pond so that her fingers met in a point. She swung her arms out and brought them back up to her side as she dove and pulled herself through the water. She worked on seeing how deep she could go and how long she could hold her breath. Caoin pulled herself to the bottom of the small crater-pond, treading water just above the silty bottom. While she was there, she looked around herself at the water plants nearest to her, looking to see if she could identify anything useful that she might want to take home with her when she was finished. It was hard to identify many of the plants when the water around her was so murky. She thought she spotted a few interesting things that might be worth looking at, and after swimming closer for a better look, she kicked her way back towards the surface.

Her lungs were burning in her chest as she burst out of the water, gasping for air. Needing to catch her breath after holding it for so long, she leaned back in the water, allowing her feet and legs to rise. The young woman floated on the surface leisurely, gently moving her arms across the surface as she stared up at the clouds above her. She stared long and hard at those fluffy white balls of sky-cotton, trying to see if she could find any shapes in them. There was one that looked like a bunny, and another that appeared to be shaped like wagon. For the most part, they just looked like great masses of fluff, with no definitive shape to them at all. The girl was completely relaxed and more than a little inattentive to her surroundings. Shame on her for daydreaming in the Sea of Grass. There was no telling who or what could happen upon you if you weren’t watching your back.

MizNo Word Count632

[Akilah Windsong]

It was early spring, so early. While the grasslands were greener now, fresh growth adding shades to the patchwork land around her, winter hadn't fully left yet. Having concluded the spring feast, they had only started leaving their winter grounds.

Days of riding constantly had taken its toll and she was glad for a chance to stretch her legs. Her legs were slightly chafed from the long periods of horseback and it was a relief to have the pavilions set up once more. Standing tall, she reached down to touch her toes. A slight burn ran up her legs as her hands brushed the grass. Straightening, she stretched up now, touching the sky. Her body really needed this stretch, the twists and turns as her limber arms and legs moved.

It was still early morning, still devoid of activity. Intent on exploring, she made for the outskirts of the city. In her hands was a small sketchbook and pencil, everything she needed to sketch the area. She had already drawn the hills nearby, small circles indicating height on page, large obtuse figures in the other. The long plains were harder to include and she had thatched them in, small lines shading in the rolling lands.

The coast wasn't visible from here, though she could hear the sound of running water. A meandering river was nearby, feeding small pools for water and, more importantly, a bath. The stench of sweat had become a familiar companion as they traveled.

If they moved up fast enough, would she be able to spot the tell-tale signs of frost? They were sometimes able to, if their pace was good. She had seen it once or twice, the small isles of white in the green rushes, the cold that stung her fingers as she held the snow.

They were still too far south to find anything but she looked anyways as she mapped the location. Keeping within sight of the city, she prowled the perimeter, examining each bent leaf and broken branch.

"Hmmm...I know you." She examined a small plant at her feet. Golden yellow petals crowned the flower and long leaves surrounded the plant like a dress. It was a herb, she knew, some Biophytum or the other. A rare sight, in this early spring, and she would be lucky if she spotted another one. Even the Jackelberry tree nearby wouldn't have any green fruit until later this year. She had passed the tree earlier, its branches still covered in dark green leaves. There were still more buds coming, the small flowers that would create the fruit she wanted.

Her fingers brushed the flower. She could crush its leaves and drink it. The effect it gave against pain was nothing like the N'tabanogo tree she saw before. Bright green leaves and taller than her, Akilah would tear off the bark if she were gathering medicine. Fill up her bags with the plants and trees she spotted and head home happy. There was a baobab earlier as well, still intact and full of water. The next hungry traveler to pass by could carve it open and drink his fill.

As she moved, she saw another figure kneeling in the dirt. Perhaps she wasn't the only one searching for the last of winter.

[Dhalvasha]

His fingers felt the roots idly, a perusing question to a silent victim. He did not pick them with grace or piercing decision, more with the haphazard curiosity of one not completely aware. Dhalvasha had let his mind wander before, galloping across the dewed grass to some end result of nowhere, but never had he found himself accidentally day dreaming. Now he did, stuck in a whirlwind of memories every bit as strong as the scent of horses on the breeze. He reeled, swayed, knees almost broken by the weight. Shai, the boy, his father, everything seemed so paralyzingly important all at once. He was dizzy.

Hand to his face, rubbing the knots of indecision from his head he nearly stumbled over the clothes set beside the small crater pool. For a moment he stared at them stupidly, simply not understanding their purpose here. Did the grass require clothes? Did they sprout from the earth like wayward lilies? There simply wasn't a word for how confused he felt, how simply removed he was from everything.

Blinking slowly, the Symenestra knelt and picked them up. They were slim clothes, feminine in nature and they carried the scent of human and horse, a familiar smell out here. He held them in pale hands, claws pressing agains the fabric as though resisting the urge to tear them. As of yet he hadn't looked out into the water to see who the clothes belonged to, he existed as though a dream, a phantom of little purpose or path.

Frowning, he crumpled the clothes in his fist before letting them fall, following their limp passage back to the earth. He felt like the clothes, crumpled and out of place. The humans here looked at him strangely, whispered behind his back. The fabled women devourers of Kalea...the pale black-clawed monsters. So frail! So frail! How could such a terror be so frail?

Most took the healers they were familiar with rather than the languid arms and sharpened claws of the Widow. Dhalvasha did not blame them, not completely...they were fools as the rest of Mizahar, content in their little alabaster towers of the familiar. He wasn't here for them anyways, the plants and poisonous flowers he collected his purposed journey. He would find the base to Symenestra venom, he would cure his race. It wasn't a goal he held particularly close to his heart, but it was the unconcious path he had set himself upon. His son would not grow to love and destroy, as all their race had done. There was no point in it, a cold mechanical existence of unfeeling procreation.

He had been denied a child with the woman he had truly loved, Shai, because to create one...he would have to pluck her life.

No one risked anymore, no one cared to. None save him.

Very well, let the other Spider folk wallow in their depleting population, let them cling to old and monstrous traditions, an impotent god. Let them. LET THEM.

Dhalvasha tasted the snarl on his lips and bit it off, swallowing the expression and glancing out over the crater lake.

He became suddenly aware of two immutable facts. The first was the girl flat upon the water, staring up at the clouds...the second was another woman behind him, a phantom herself who had approached the Symenestra without him noticing at all.

He was lost in himself in a dangerous place to be witless.

Nearly leaping, the Widow leaned his weight from foot to foot indecisively, not sure whether to run or confront. In the end he stood his ground, pale red eyes glancing between both.

He did not speak, it was not his place...here. This was their land. He would wait to be addressed.