Shadows Upon Shadows in the Garden (Aislyn, Ruzekiel)

[Aislyn Leavold]

Petch.
Petch petch petch petch petch.
One thing Aislyn’s mother had seemingly forgotten to mention about the Dhani snake beasts was the fact that they could transform. Aislyn had thought Reysin was a half-blood, like Lyn herself, not a full-on Dhani in human skin. Should Rey not have angered her so incredibly much earlier she would have gone into another full on panic attack. For the moment, however, Aislyn was being fueled by her bruised pride and boiling anger at this god forsaken snake-beast man. For his entire rant, up until the point he transformed, Aislyn had bottled in her anger, only to release it full force on Rey, even after he mutated into what stood before her now.

”No, indeed I was not afraid of you, because I’m not the coward here, you are.” Pausing for a breath, Aislyn took another daring step towards the now-fanged face of Reysin Snake-skin. ”You hide behind the face of a beast, yet beneath those scales is a stubborn little boy who will not admit that, for once, he. Is. Wrong.”
Oh god, Aislyn was going to get eaten by a giant snake.
Not the best way to go.

Luckily, though, Rey did not clamp his jaws down on her neck, instead replying with a sarcastic comment about how he wasn’t the snacking type. If he didn’t have a neck that was a foot across, Aislyn swore, she would have strangled him. Even as she was speaking, Aislyn was thinking over what he had said, digesting what he had thrown at her and deciding just what to throw back.
”Well, if you really must know, my favourite colour is Azure, just like the deity you mock so eas-”

Wait.
Reysin had tapped his eye.
His eye.
After half a tick, something clicked in Aislyn’s mind, nearly causing a panic attack all in itself.
Her eyes. She had taken down the illusion on her eyes.
How had she forgotten about her eyes? She had been so busy defending one secret, she had all but revealed another.
In her illusion-less form, the eyes she had always hid so well were completely exposed. The eyes she had taken from her father, the ones that were created out of the pure Zith blood flowing through her veins. Those blood-red eyes.

Of course, they probably appeared pure black in the horrid lighting the two had been gifted with, but that didn’t change anything. Now not only was she going to be eaten by a snake, but she was going to be mocked as he did it. He had unraveled every one of her secrets single-handedly, after Aislyn had slipped up over and over again, one mistake after another.

Collecting herself and swearing that this time, she would not panic, Aislyn hid her shaking hands and continued her rant. She wouldn’t show weakness, not to this fool.
”Besides, even if you were the snacking type, I assure you, I wouldn’t taste good. I’m far too small, and far too bony. Much like your brain.”

Returning Rey’s vicious smile, Aislyn decided she had taken just about all she could take from the man, resolving to try her luck in the maze again, this time hoping the snake was slower in his new form. Her plans to brave the brush of the nearest hedge, however, were quickly thwarted by none other than the missing man himself, Ruzekiel Soren, who promptly arrived by running straight into Aislyn.

Zeke had somehow decided to run into the exact place of the exact hedge Aislyn had tried to run out of, knocking her back into the snake beast that Rey had become.
All she could hope for as her breath (along with her dignity) was knocked out of her was that, for the love of Ionu, Reysin caught her.

[Ruzekiel Soren]

Zeke had already lost track of time in this beautiful place. His mud-spattered coat was full of plants and bits of glass and some worthless but interesting trinkets he’d found along the pathways, and his hands and face were filthy from picking odd flowers and herbs and, admittedly, running scared like a dizzy fog gizzin for his first few panicked minutes of solitude. Zeke was too easily distracted to dwell on that for long, however, and the insane plantlife kept him from dwelling on the momentary isolation. He was damp and muddy but satisfied with his findings, and he couldn’t wait to tell Micah about all the strange flora and weird dancy...shiny...orby things he’d seen. Thinking about Micah and Korin back at the tavern, he felt a little pang in his stomach. What if he never made it out? He thought himself at least a little open to illusion, but he felt as if he’d been wandering for hours and there was no end in sight. That and he was really hungry. Furthermore he hadn’t heard a single noise besides crickets and the rushing of fountains, which seemed to be coming from the wrong places and kept leading him astray. Eventually he decided that every way was the right way. After all, he didn’t know where he was going in the first place, how could there be a wrong way?...Zeke found that it was usually best not to question his own logic. “...and far too bony, much like your brain.” Some acidic words erupted from a nearby hedge. Yes, that must be Nise! Zeke bolted towards the source of the noise, passing a fountain he was sure he’d passed before. It sounded like Nise, but there was something...off about the voice. Something different, and not just the angry tone. But it was a voice, in any case, and Zeke trusted his ears. He steeled himself, took a deep breath, and shouldered his way through the slight gap in the leaves, but as he inched through he felt the hedge grow behind him and practically shove him out. “Whooaa!--Oof.” Zeke barreled clumsily into a body and nearly tripped over his own feet to get back and steady himself. That must be Rey and Nise! He brushed the leaves off his coat and looked up-- “There you are, thank Io--AUGHH GIANT SNAKE!” Zeke screamed like a little girl, stumbled back and and fell flat on his rump. He scrambled backwards from the giant snake thing and...this oddly familiar woman. “What...what the...what...I...the...” In the past few...days, or hours, or seconds, Zeke had shaken off the ale to a point, but now his vision started to blur terribly, and black spots threatened to overwhelm it. He gestured wordlessly at the terrifying creature, his mouth opening and closing but only stutters coming out. "Ye...you...b-big s-sn-nake...holypetchingshyke--" Finally he let out a despondent squeak and slumped backward into the mud in a dead faint.

[Yisanareysin]

Sweet Siku just what was wrong with this woman? She ran when faced with an innocent query and stood her ground, and even stepped closer, against a Dhani. Each time Rey solved something about her, another mystery popped up. A petching frustrating enigma. If only she wasn't so infuriatingly childish. Maybe if he used his sense he could- No, no. Rules, he had rules about this. Magic only if it was safe, and it was certainly not safe now, not with how much he had been using it already. "I'm the coward becausse you ran away desspite not being afraid of me? What the petch kind of backwardss logic iss that?" He laughed incredulously. "Oh yess, I'll admit it. I wass in the wrong for being curiouss. Sstrike me down now for thiss awful crime, I'm beyond redemption." He slithered closer to her. "Better a sstubborn boy than a little girl sstomping her feet becausse ssomeone elssse won her little game." Something itched in the back of his mind when she mentioned her favorite color and deity (Ionu, he assumed. Of course. How fitting), reminding him of something, but he brushed it off, frustrated as he was. Instead, he smirked at her trailing off. He had barely thought up a clever comment when she spoke up again. "Excussse me?" Just who's brain was she calling small and bony? He was half tempted to just eat her right then. "Wha- well, at leasst I have a brain." He spluttered out lamely as she turned away. "It'ss a miracle you even know what a brain iss." To follow or not. On one hand, she was absolutely maddening to be with now that she actually started talking. On the other hand, he was still extremely curious as to exactly how she was able to manipulate appearance like that. Ugh. He'd have to just follow her, and bother her into telling him. The decision was made redundant nearly the moment he made it, as their wayward companion took that precise moment to crash into Nise. As she stumbled back, he caught her instinctively, before Zeke's scream startled him into dropping her. Whoops. "Told you we'd find him." He slithered closer to Zeke, holding his hands up. This counted as scaring the shyke out of him, he supposed. Not as dramatic as he would have liked, but whatever. "Calm down, it'ss just... never mind." Rey sighed as the bard dropped into a faint. Well, that hadn't been nearly as entertaining as he had hoped it would be. "Well. Now what do we do, wait for Ionu to depossit uss at the entrancce?"

[Aislyn Leavold]

Well, he almost caught her. Almost.
It was the thought that counted, right?
Nope. Rey was still a shyke.

Scowling angrily at the mud that covered half of her clothing, Aislyn began flicking the stuff off of herself, one drop at a time. It wasn’t as if they were in a rush, was it? They had all the time in the world, being stuck hopelessly in the god forsaken maze.

Wiping off a particularly large handful of mud from her leg, Aislyn deciding it would be a shame to waste such a perfect projectile, instead aiming it directly for Reysin’s beady yellow eyes. She didn’t even care if he through it back, she couldn’t get any dirtier than she already was. Instead, Aislyn turned her back to the giant snake (something she would never normally do,) and turned her attention to Zeke, who was still, unsurprisingly, laying sprawled in a puddle of mud.

Sighing, Aislyn decided she was going to have to play peacemaker here. Picking up the man’s head and sitting beside him, Aislyn quickly checked if he was still breathing. Breathing was always a good thing.
Luckily, it was a good thing Zeke was still participating in. Though that was about the extent of her medical ability, so for several ticks the woman just flicked her eyes between Zeke and Rey, hoping either Zeke would wake up, or Rey would know what to do. Not that she truly expected him to have any experience in medicine. The Dhani seemed like more of someone who hurt people, not helped them.

Letting out another heaving sigh, the woman sent another death glare Rey’s way. She had so many responses to his earlier comments, but it seemed none of them would see the light of day, just because Zeke had decided he had a phobia of snakes. Had it really been neccisary to faint, though? Rey wasn’t that scary…
Fetching a glance over the fanged, yellow-eyed monster that her earlier companion had become, Aislyn rethought her statement.

Despite her lack of medical ability, Aislyn quickly realized that if Zeke didn’t wake up in the next few minutes, they were going to carry him. And, with Aislyn’s lack of muscle, she was going to need Rey’s help. Great.
Aislyn motioned to the man’s feet, hoping Rey would get the message and pick him up. Whether he used his hands, feet, tail, Aislyn really didn’t care, but they were going to have to move Zeke somehow.

”If Ionu doesn’t deposit us at the entrance... Which seems to be your only plan, by the way, we’re going to have to find it ourselves, aren’t we?”
Aislyn paused in her speech for a moment to take in a large lungful of breath. Rey still wasn’t moving, and Zeke was heavier than he looked.
Though she had long since decided Rey wasn’t worth her time, Aislyn was still bubbling with anger, itching to let out just one more snarky comment. When Rey showed no concern for their fallen companion, however, something tipped her over the edge.

If they were going to get out of this alive, they were going to get out of it alive together. So what if Aislyn might have wished very hard that Rey tripped over his own feet and broke his neck? She was at least bringing Zeke back, preferably alive.

Forgetting her attempt to lift the limp man, Aislyn let Zeke slump to the ground again, throwing her hands up accusingly at Rey. She couldn’t carry Zeke alone, and Ionu save her, she was going to get Rey to help.
”You know what? Fine. Do what you want, but you won’t know the truth until you accept it as is. I’m not telling you anything until we get out of here, with Zeke in tow."

Aislyn was practically bursting with anger, not even caring what she said anymore. He already knew everything, didn't he? He was just trying to get her to admit it, just to play with her mind.
"You don’t scare me, and what I was running from was far worse than some ‘big bad snake beast’. It was something bad enough, and petching scary enough that Ionu gave me their power to avoid it ever happening again!”

[Yisanareysin]

At this point Rey didn't know whether to be annoyed or impressed. Was she trying to bribe him into carrying the bard? She was certainly not going to be able to carry him herself. "You ssay that like I would have just sslithered off or eaten him." He grumbled. "Like I ssaid, I'm not the ssnacking type. And besides, Micah would kill me if I ate her bard." He rolled his eyes at her next outburst. Blah blah blah I'm not scared you're scared blah blah poor me bad things happened blah sooooo petching scary blah blah blah Ionu gave me their power bl- "Wait what?" His head snapped towards her. "Ionu gave you their..." 'Proof that our lady Siku has given me her power, child'. Azure, just like her deity. The azure triangle, with its shimmering aura. He had seen that shimmer before on his mother. A different shape, a different color, but similar. Venenum. "You're... marked." He gasped. His face split into a broad grin. "By the gods you're marked. So that's what that is." He said, pointing at the triangle at her shoulder. Maybe another glimpse of its aura... nope too dangerous stop thinking about it. He hadn't considered, hadn't even realized that was possible. Siku was their mother, and it was only natural that her children would receive her blessing, whether for valor or service, but it had never occurred to him that other gods would mark mere worshipers. But how did marking this child benefit Ionu? Did it even benefit them? Why would a deity mark anyone who was not their kin unless they needed them? Well, the same reasons that humans helped others, he supposed. Amusement and a sense of superiority. But that, well, that brought up so many fascinating possibilities. And was that what Ionu's mark did? Allow the bearer to conjure up visual illusions only? Limited, but oh the things you could do... He shook himself. Escape the maze first, daydream later. Bending down, he picked Zeke up. The bard went on one shoulder, his pack on the other "Well, then, if you have Ionu's favor, getting out of the maze sshould be eassy for you." He had genuinely not intended for that to come out as sarcastic as it did. Oops.

[Aislyn Leavold]

Petch her big mouth.
Though in a way, she also liked it.
Aislyn had immediately clamped her jaw shut after she had seen the look in Rey’s eyes after she had spoken. It was a look of something she had never seen him wear; Awe. At her.
Yes, it made her feel like such a special snowflake, despite the fact that she, at that moment, absolutely hated the man.

It didn’t take too long for Rey to start talking again, though. His reaction was truly priceless, and for several ticks, Aislyn didn’t even regret accidentally telling him. Then again, with every secret he knew, he became more and more of a threat. She hadn’t been kidding earlier when she had said that secrets and fear were just as good weapons as fangs and poison. In her case, she was now faced with both.

As Rey rambled on, eventually pointing to her shoulder, where a large rip in the fabric was. Her shirt had gotten completely ruined from her fall, and now hung from one shoulder, with the other sleeve ripped quite severely. One consequence of that, however, was the fact that her mark was on full view, emitting a faint azure glow. Perhaps it was Ionu’s extreme presence in the maze, or maybe she was just seeing things. Probably the latter.

It seemed Rey’s entire opinion on her changed entirely when he realized she was marked. He picked up Zeke, who had up until that point lay limp on the floor, and slung him over his scaly shoulder, almost eagerly. It was strange how quickly one's’ views of you could change once they knew you held importance. People were stupid, stupid beings. And that included Aislyn herself.

Aislyn couldn’t find much to say. She would seem like a shyke to continue yelling at him after he had seemingly forgiven her, but she couldn’t exactly find another topic to talk about. She didn’t want to tell him any more about her marking without him sharing something first, yet she could find no questions to ask. What it was like to be a snake? How he expected them to get out? How long it had been since he had… Eaten someone?

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a seemingly sarcastic comment of Rey’s, though Aislyn felt a sliver of sincerity in it, as if he was expecting her to lead them through the maze. That made her laugh, she may have Ionu’s favour, but she didn’t know what that did for her. It hadn’t seemed to do anything yet, other than them not being dead. That was always a plus.

Though she didn’t want to admit it, Aislyn truly had no idea how to get out of the maze. ”Ionu’s Favour” didn’t appear to be doing anything for her, so she was going to have to get out of the garden on her own will. Looking around, Aislyn tried to find something that could help them figure out where they were. Perhaps a landmark, or a fountain that appeared in the same spot. No, the fountains disappear and reappear as they like. Something else must stay in place…

Bending down and plucking one of the delicate flowers from it’s perch in the ground below, Aislyn began walking further down the path, twirling the stem of the azure plant between her fingers. It reminded her of the flowers her mother used to plant, before her garden died. Not that her mother cared, it seemed. She cared for the dead plot of land just as lovingly as she had when it was alive. Aislyn let the flower fall to the ground. Her mother truly had lost her mind. Sighing, she watched the plant, splattered with raindrops, land in the mud, beside several other flowers of the same type.

That was what made her stop.
In the center of a patch of the azure flowers was a single stalk, flowerless. No petals lay on the ground, merely a cleanly cut beheaded stalk, missing all signs of natural wear. It hadn’t been the rain that had plucked the flower, nor the wind. It had been Aislyn. It was the same petching flower they had passed before.

”...The flowers…”

Thinking aloud, Aislyn took another look around her. The plant life looked very similar, if not identical to what she had noticed earlier, back when Zeke had reappeared.
”The flowers.. The flowers! We’ve been going in circles! Look!”
The plant life around her came in vibrant different colours. That was one thing with the garden; Every plant was different, anything from simple roses to full on berry bushes that sported tiny fruits. Yet one thing was common among all of the flora: Aislyn had seen them all before.
”That means the plants don’t move, or they would be in different positions when we saw them again…”

That was it! That was their key to escaping the maze!
Letting out a laugh, Aislyn stood up, the rain pushing her hair into her face,
”Maybe Ionu’s favour won’t help us, but the flowers will.”

[Ruzekiel Soren]

The oblivious Zeke was not doing so well, mainly because he was currently stuck in a deep, dark, icy pit encircled by a gang of beautiful, deadly vipers intent on eating his face. He tried valiantly to kick them away, but there were too many of them and eventually they began to lunge at him, hissing furiously as he turned around in helpless circles like a dog chasing its tail, dodging leaps and blows from the snakes as they all crowded around him, threatening to overwhelm him. They bit into the fabric of his beloved coat and tore it to scraps, ripping off the sleeves and tearing the carefully sewn pockets open, littering snapped weeds, broken plants, smushed herbs and glittery trinkets onto the dirty, snow-spotted ground. One of the bigger snakes leapt up and its needlesharp fangs snapped closed centimeters from his throat. He managed to catch it in time and throw it away from himself, but the distraction allowed an opening for another to attach itself to his ankle, and still yet another to his forearm, slicing and ripping deep into the skin. The faint bear pawprint, half torn away, began to bleed excessively, unnaturally, and Zeke swore in pain, falling to his knees clutching the spouting wound. Within seconds, they were upon him. This was it. He was dead as dead gets. As he slumped over onto his back and held up his hands in defeat he felt cold, scaly smooth ropes slither around him as the snakes went in for the kill. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for them to make a fountain of his jugular... ... He opened one eye. Then another. What the... The snakes were gone, and in their place were...flowers? Why, in death, of all things, was he surrounded by flowers? Certainly they were lovely and fragrant and all that, but-- In fact the pit was gone too. Now Zeke was lying underneath open sky, surrounded by stalks, stems and petals. It seemed dying was nicer than he’d imagined. He stood up, and upon observing the area found that it was all field, covered in long green grass, flowers, and huge patches of sweet-smelling clover. Zeke let out a great whoop and immediately dived into the swathe of clover-carpeted ground, breaking his dive with a clumsy whoof and, undeterred, rolling back and forth in the great green stuff. He came to a stop at the edge of the patch and sat up, plucking a sky twine flower and twirling it between his fingers. Then he heard a strange popping sound. He looked down at the stalk and realized that the flower was...regrowing itself, at an amazing rate. He peered at the superflower suspiciously until a breeze came rustling the field into grassy waves. The sky twines began to bend almost as if they were pointing. He looked into the direction the wind was blowing the flowers and--Was that a gate? It was! He stood up and ran towards it, but it became no bigger in the distance. Still, the flowers and clover and grasses in his way bent as if trampled into a winding path headed straight for the gate. Then he realized what they had to do. “Follow the flowers!” Zeke announced sleepily, jolted out of the dream by his not so brilliant revelation. Oy, his head hurt....where was he, exactly? He was hanging upside down like a bat--that was interesting--and half his face was smushed up against something that felt like...scales? “What on earth...” He froze, suddenly remembering exactly what had led to the impromptu dream. There was a strange angular woman, he recalled, and...then there was the Dhani--or, what he assumed might be a Dhani in one of their forms. Scales. Oh no. He looked down once more and...well, this just got even more scary and uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, and tried to keep his voice from shaking as he declared, with a painful amount of false bravado, “Allright, naked snakebeast--Or, Dhani, whatever you go by. Either eat me or leave me to die but this is incredibly undignified.”

[Yisanareysin]

Flowers. Rey was seriously beginning to regret having said anything, since apparently all the insight that Ionu's favor bestowed on his marked was an appreciation of nature. (Not that she had been appreciating the natural beauty of this snake, oh nooo) And, apparently, an appreciation for directions? Just how exactly had she determined from the flowers that they had been going around in circles? Looking closer at them, they seemed to be simply regular flowers to him, or as regular as flowers in Alvadas could get. And of course the plants didn't move, they were petching plants. What in Hai did she mean different positions? Was there something about the positioning of the flowers that would lead them to the exit? That seemed incredibly silly. Which, come to think of it, probably meant there was something to that theory. Well, at least she sort of seemed to know how to navigate their way back. It was something, at any rate. Even if he still had no idea just wha- "Follow the flowers!" He felt the words more than heard them, as Zeke's jaw moved against his scales. It tickled, and he stifled a slight giggle. The urge to laugh only intensified as Zeke spoke, and Rey rolled his eyes, grinning slightly. "That'ss my evil, naked ssnakebeasst plan you ssee. Embarrasss you to death, then eat you. It makess digessting eassier." He coiled up and lowered himself to the ground, allowing the bard to either get off by himself or flop onto the ground. "Really, Ruzekiel, you are an embarasssment." He teased. "I thought you ssaid you had met one of my kind before. Did you sscream and faint when you ssaw her too?" He paused for a moment. "Or him. Too."

[Aislyn Leavold]

It was alive!
Or rather, he was.
Ruzekiel had begun mumbling sleepily from Rey's shoulder, rambling about something Aislyn couldn't hear. She did, however, hear a relatively clear phrase; Follow the flowers!

He certainly was a strange man.
Then again, he was a strange man who didn't yet know she wasn't Nise.
At least she had that going for her.

Quickly remembering the face she had used, Aislyn put on her disguise, one illusion at a time. Hazel eyes, black hair, rougher skin, softer face, no gnosis, and of course...
Looking down at her mud-splattered plainclothes, Aislyn remembered the fancy cloth that had nearly given her away. ...That petching silken skirt.

Hopefully Zeke hadn't seen her true self, or at very least was too drunk to remember it. On top of that, Aislyn had to pray Rey didn't tell anyone about it, whether he knew her name or not. If he went around spreading the word- Though who he’d spread it to, Aislyn didn’t know- she was done for. From his reaction, it seemed people didn’t respond well to being tricked; Or at least, this type of trick. She had to make sure he didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have the time. Lyn couldn’t say a thing, not now, when Zeke was up and about. Though she hated to admit it, Aislyn really did wish Ruzekiel had hit his head a bit harder, just so she had those extra chimes to explain herself to Rey.

As the man orientated himself, Aislyn prayed to Ionu she looked right before preparing herself to speak.
”Follow the flowers indeed, Zeke. You missed a lot when you were… Well, out.”

Figuring she should explain herself, Aislyn waiting for Ruzekiel to right himself, before continuing down the path. ”It’s been so obvious from the beginning, you see. The fountains and hedges all move, but the plants... They stay rooted in place. You could use them to orient yourself, as it were. How that would help us get out, well…”
In all truth, Aislyn hadn’t figured out how the unmoving foliage would help them escape, but it was a clue. Perhaps there was something else they didn’t know about the maze, or perhaps they were doomed to go off of what they had. Either way, they had to work together.

”It would help us not go in circles, at very least.”

Aislyn didn’t have much of a plan after that. Perhaps if they memorized the positions of the plants… No, Aislyn didn’t have the memory for that. Besides, the maze was huge, and who knew how many identical flowers there were.

”Neither of you would happen to have any ideas, would you?”

[Ruzekiel Soren]

Zeke huffed indignantly, squirming around on Rey’s shoulder until he fell to the ground with an unceremonious “oof”. “It was a her, and I’d lost too much blood to scream,” He muttered from the mud, picking himself up, mustering whatever dignity he had left (not much) and looking down at himself, checking to find that his coat was muddy but intact and breathing a sigh of relief. “Besides,” he continued awkwardly, pointedly looking away from Rey. “It was..*ahem*...it was the ale. Now, assuming that my first impression was incorrect, you are not planning to eat me.” He stuck out his hand for the naked snakebeast to shake, looking down at the ground, his face red as a tomato. “Ruzekiel Soren, singer of songs, teller of stories, er, chaser of chickens.” Huh. His made-up titles weren’t nearly as good when he was scared out of his wits and embarrassed to boot. He’d have to keep that in mind. Although he did sometimes chase chickens. “Now,” Zeke said, turning on his heel, “Random woman, Monsieur Dhani, I have to find my friends. If you will excuse me.” He turned around and started off in the other direction, but before he had gotten three feet, a hedge sprouted thick and tall directly through the path, blocking his way. Zeke sighed. “Orr I’ll just stay with you lot, then.” He turned back to the Dhani and the woma... “Nise! Wha--what...have you been here this entire time?” Zeke looked between the two of them, the dusty gears in his brain starting to turn as he put two and two together. He swallowed, and, keeping his face as steady as possible, he looked up at the Dhani. With a hurt look and a trace of minor annoyance he asked, “...Rey?” His face fell and he let out a big breath in a whoosh. Some of the things he had said earlier that night came back to him and he felt a surge of shame. Perfectly nice, though creepy chap. He’d been under Zeke’s nose the whole time. He pressed a palm to his forehead and stood there for a moment as he took it all in. If he’d learned anything in his life it was how to avoid the negatives, especially when it came to one’s own shortcomings. He shook his head and stuck his hands in his pockets, rustling the stalks and petals and herbs he’d procured during his moonlit walk. It was comforting to have the rooted clumps of earth crumbling between his fingers. “Doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that we get out of here as soon as possible.” Zeke set a slow pace behind his two companions, and they were a few feet ahead of him now as he strolled, his expression uncharacteristically dark. As incredible and interesting as this maze was, he was getting a little tired of wandering aimlessly in circles, plucking flowers, and getting hit in the face by garden sprites--wait a moment. He looked in his pockets. If the flowers stayed the same...did it matter if they were in the ground? “OY!” Zeke exclaimed, running up to Rey and Nise “I have an idea.” Minutes later they stood at a junction with three paths. Zeke looked to make sure the two others were paying attention, then crouched in the dirt and placed a big flower petal smack dab in the center of the pathway. “There. Now, if my theory is correct...” He paused--then dashed to the left, ran a bit, expecting Nise and Rey to be at his heels. Then he dashed to the right, and then to the right again, and took another right. He skidded to a stop in the middle of a clearing with a fountain and four paths, and right in the middle of the left-most path was a bright blue flower petal. “Ah-HA!” He shouted gleefully, plucking up the petal and holding it up for the others. “We can use these flowers and stalks to find our way out!” He paused and looked around at the other three paths, placing the petal back and meandering over to the next pathway. He stooped down and studied a flower stalk--just a stalk. It was the same one he’d passed earlier on when he’d lost Rey and Nise, and then ran into, well...Rey and Nise. “...and I passed here before..” Zeke mused. He stood up and crouched to check the left-most path. Stalks there too. “Brilliant.” He grinned and sprang up, gesturing toward the last path with a flourish. “Behold the road less travelled! Onward Nise, Sir Snakebeast.” And with that he flounced down the path. After a few minutes of walking Zeke paused and took a petal from his pocket and placed it on the ground before continuing. When they came to a fork in the path he stopped completely. “Wait a minute...This doesn’t exactly solve how to go in the right way, does it? Hm.” He sighed and turned to the two travelers. “Well, I’m officially out of ideas. Though it’s a start.”