He could recall tales on the olden tribes that used to frequent the swamps, though if he were more specific, they were not tribes in particular, but shamans. Horses that dedicated themselves to a specific deity, and had easily become one with the swamp. The shamans had known much about the plants and herbs, the swamp itself, as well as mixtures of poisons and salves. He had heard word of mouth about them, and never in his years of living had he really seen a group like the Ilati. Once or twice, maybe, thousands of years ago, he had met a group close to such a thing, but they had devolved in to madness, melted away in to nothing.
Relic took in a breath and let it out again, the sticky heat of summer finally melded away in to the crisp air of fall. It was a perfect time to explore the swamp; less humidity and it didn't feel like he was inhaling water each time he drew in a breath. It was a cool sixty degrees or so, the very beginnings of the fall chasing away the dying summer. A perfect combination of weather.
Cloven hooves pressed in to the boggy ground, feeling it pull at them, the usually immaculate heavenly colors becoming quickly dirtied. Relic didn't mind, really. He was a sage, a scholar, not someone that winced at dirt and grime.
"I don't suppose anyone is around... though if I were an Ilati... I would be spying from the shadows and judging the one that came in to the swamp." The sage mumbled to himself more than anything, ears twitching forward as he moved another step or two, deeper in to the lands and feeling the lukewarm water lap at his ankles, thick and muddy.
Soon the sticky warmth of the swamp would give way to the bitter cold of winter, already the atmosphere around the swamp sparrow beginning to change. A bitterness tainted the air, whispering the promises of the winter to come -- and Rhea dreaded it. Winter after winter she had endured amongst the Ilati, curling away from the icy touch in favor of the warm embrace of her fires. Such was the way of her bloodline, although she did not know it.
The girl was draped in the grey moss that swayed from the trees, a cover for the glistening scales that covered her body. It tangled in her dark locks, across her horns and caused the slender form of her body to appear much larger than it was. She wore it like a cape, or a mask, weaved with old bones whose masters were long forgotten. She was watching, as she often did, from the shadows afforded to her by the large groves of trees.
She could not recount the number of strangers that she had watched walk through the swamps over the years. Some she had seen their journeys end here, death finding them in a cruel twist of the hoof. These murky waters were unforgiving, and the creatures that dwelled here were known to be dangerous. In recent days, their little slice of Terrastella seemed to be constantly invaded -- thanks to a gathering held near one of their sacred trees.
The girl took a deep breath, and it’s departure was little more than a soft sigh upon discontented lips. The stranger she watched today was very different from the one she had met upon the knoll of the abandoned hut. He looked more like her, a litany of scales in vibrant hues echoing Caligo’s darkness. Her gaze was sharper than it had been, aware of the danger awaiting him just ahead if he continued on that path. The dilemma was, that she had no idea if she wanted to spare him or not -- or let his foolery put him in the midst of danger.
An irritated sound left her throat, uncommon for the kirin. She was not one to be irritable, but something...something was bothering her. ”If you go that way, you’ll walk right into the Kelpie’s brood.” She called loudly, her voice echoing in the stillness. ”A fine fate, if you wish to end your life.” The witch shifted her weight, ducking once more behind the grove of trees she used to observe him.
A call through the swamp caused him to pause, and the kirin bobbed his head slightly, hooves instead pushing down in to the bog more, his good eye sweeping over the swamp. There was no real source to the voice, an eerie thing indeed, and Relic drew in a breath instead. An Ilati, perhaps? Or someone else? Whoever it was, they had called out the warning, and he would be foolish to at least not divert his path in some way.
An old fool, trusting like he is, but he doubted any harm would come from changing direction in a swamp when he knew the way out.
"For as many years as I've lived, it'd certainly be a foolish way to end it all," he answered back, smiling slightly as he did. It was a mere pull of his lips, and he relaxed himself as he shifted his weight, instead backtracking a little ways to ensure he wasn't going in the direction of the Kelpie. At least the hoofprints left behind would serve as a warning to himself, should he choose to move again.
For the moment, he was merely curious, blinking his eyes and allowing himself to relax. "Will you show yourself?" Innocent enough. He doubted they -- she? -- would, but that was no loss on him should she choose not to. Many desired to be left alone, but if she did, would she have warned him?
