And it only hurts when I'm breathing
My heart only breaks when it's beating
Let us see. She had this. She had reached the last possible area in the night court to try and find this relic. That didn't mean she had searched the four other lands which made up Novus, but at least she would know if this relic was here or not. Alas, even if she found it she didn't doubt that she would still truck herself toward the other locations in an attempt to see these lands to their fullest and perhaps find an extra relic which could be lying around?
She shrugged off the thought of the other lands for the moment, though. She didn't have the energy to think about them when she knew that these mountains were bound to be dangerous. Her hooves were quiet, carefully placing themselves and testing almost each and every rock that she dared to use as footing. Aye, she didn't want to fall and this one trail was still very sketchy in her eyes. She had made her way into the night court through this path - but even then she had not trusted how one would be able to move through with large groups. In fact, she praised the lords that she was such a small mare - believing that if she had been much heavier that the path might not have been able to support her bodice.
Noxia wanted to search - to peer for the relic in crevices, to actually force her mind to work and participate. Yet, the fear of tumbling to her death kept her strictly upon this path - especially as she began to see the velvet and copper hues of a sunset begin to form across the sky. It was almost night, and she was certain that for once she might actually have a clear sky to see the almost full moon and bask in its subtle glow. Yes. That sounded perfect... even if it lowered her chances even more of actually finding whatever this relic was supposed to be.
"Old Noah looked out into the driving rain,
Them Unicorns was hiding, playing silly games,
Kicking and splashing while the rain was pouring,
Oh, them silly Unicorns."
Humming along, but still... Next time, I thought grumpily. I'm going to find a safer way to this last land. I shudder, feeling quite uncomfortable after my path down the canyons of Solterra and up the mountain peaks to... the land of Night, I suppose. More than once in all this journeying through Novus I've felt myself at risk of death or at least serious maiming. The path I took was narrow, but luckily I'd passed the horrible cliff edges awhile ago. Now I'm just worried about falling and breaking a limb. The sun's waning light is offering little if any help, but what can I expect in the land of Night? I reach a plateau area and stop to rest my aching limbs. I've definitely lost weight by now, having been traveling almost non-stop for who knows how long now. I hear noises - the sound of hoofbeats along another path. I stand there for a moment, listening to the clip clops along the path as I wait for the equine to show itself (for the noises clearly sounded like another hooved one). I don't see anyone appearing and I take a few steps in the direction of the noise, peering down a path to find a light-colored mare headed my direction. I wonder whether to speak or not, not wanting to startle the mare from her momentary safety. Better to let her know of my presence before she looks up and takes fright just at my sudden appearance. "Lady Comrade!" I call softly. "I hope not to surprise you - hello." Voice gruff, but friendly. I'm no threat, no murderer.
And it only hurts when I'm breathing
My heart only breaks when it's beating
Okay. One step. Two steps. Check the rocks - kick off a few loose ones and listen to the sound as they tumble down, down, down. So. Yeah. We definitely don't want to go that way, because that sounds like a definite death. Though, for some reason, she keeps on kicking rocks off the edges every few steps. Yes, because if she kicked enough of them off the edge then one time they wouldn't fall into oblivion. Totally the smart move. Totally made sense.
Yet, as she did this she had almost pulled herself into a trance. It was taking most of her concentration to ensure that she didn't slip off of the edge and tumble down to the same death that the rocks had been sent to. Her eyes flicker up as she reaches a broad section of the cliff - with a nook that could easily situate a few different equines depending on their size - to see a slightly larger stallion before her. Blue eyes widen just in as he speaks, seeming to have noticed him at the same time that he noticed her. Though, she guessed he had far less social anxiety than she did. Lady comrade? Her ears twitch in confusion, though listen to the rest of his statement. The gruff voice seems to be hesitant, hoping to not have surprised the mare before offering the usual greeting.
Gently she shakes her head. "Uhm. No. You're f-fine." she whispered, voice slowly ramping up in volume until it was a normal, but still quiet, level.
Really? Are you going to lie? He totally surprised you. I swear, Nox. The facepalm moments. They are real.
Slowly, she inched to the side - placing herself into the stable nook and then dipping her head a little. "Sorry if I'm blocking the way. I... I was just trying to look for the relic up here. You may pass if you need to..." hesitant, but smooth voice slid into the sunset. Aye, much more movement around here for the night probably wasn't of the most intelligent ideas. So, for now, she would stay in this nook. If this roan stag with horns wished to keep going forward then that was up to him. She... she would not.
Luckily for both of us, I was not trying to pass her. Trying to squeeze by would have doubtless made both of us rather nervous. Gathering from her shaky voice and the way she hugged the wall like her life depended on it (and it probably did), I figure she is terrified of the ledge. I glance at it and feel a tremor in my legs. I'm a bulky fellow and I don't think I'd manage it safely. I back up on the flat plateau and gesture for her to join me.
She's quite polite in how she tries to make way for me, and apologizes for supposedly blocking my path. I might have been more assertive myself and said HEY MOVE. But, you know, that's me.... "I have no need to pass you. Come up here, there's more room and fewer death traps." I tap the solid ground to emphasize that it is safe where I am. Of course notice I said fewer death traps, not none. I watch her quietly, but with a reassuring (if not slightly uncomfortable) smile on my face. Smiling isn't part of my daily routine, at least not that kind of smile. The blue-eyed belle seems sweet and kind, and I feel should try to mirror her, if only because we are two poor souls out in the night on a goddamn mountain. Stupid souls, perhaps.
I gesture around to the smallish plateau with a wave of my horned skull. It was fairly empty but not completely bereft of mountain foliage, nooks, and crannies. "I am searching for the relic, too. I haven't looked here yet, if you'd care to join me. I'm sure looking at night isn't the best idea." Aye, I think that's polite enough!
And it only hurts when I'm breathing
My heart only breaks when it's beating
Nox could feel her heart dropping as she continued to peer out from the nook, with a perfect view of the death path below her. Gods, she hadn't thought it would get this late when she had set out. This wasn't the smartest, but now she needed to find a way to an actual safe portion of this mountain pass before she died in the darkness of the night.
Wait, did he speak? Her eyes snap back toward him quickly as he claims to not need to pass her. Then, he says that there was more room where he was with fewer death traps. Nox swallows a little, watching as he taps the solid ground. Then, she tries to judge if there was adequate room on the plateau area for both her and the stag to end up positioning themselves. Her eyes have started to adjust to the darkness well, and she can make out what appears to be a slightly awkward smile on his face as he gestures to the area around him with his horns.
It takes hers a while (at least in her eyes, for it was only 30 seconds in reality) for her to decide that she could move forward toward this stallion and his horns. Then, as she starts to move toward him - eyes trained closely to the ground and watching every single hoof-fall she made - he starts to speak again. Aye, so he was looking for the relics as well. That was definitely interesting. He made note of it not being intelligent to look for the relic at night, though. Which, really, was a point that she had noticed and had decided that she was going to end up looking for it later when there was light. Just... she needed to find a safe place to stay for the night in order to do it. "Yes... I hadn't expected it to get... as dark as it did as quickly. It was a bit longer of a trek out here then I had anticipated..." she tries to explain as she finally steps foot on the plateau. "At this point I just want to find a safe place for the night..."
I stand there quietly then, watching her as she stands on the path. Perhaps deciding if I'm telling the truth, if it is safe to move upward... or if perhaps I'm some sort of threat? After all I have the higher ground, big pointy horns, and I'm this big tough guy! (Or at least, that's how I see myself.) After a moment she moves upward along the path, joining me where it is flat and less terrifying. I back up slightly to give her room to find her place and make herself more comfortable. She seems rather nervous, skittish even, like a fragile doll that I have to be careful not to break. (And certainly I can see myself as the proverbial bull in the china shop. Without a doubt.)
"Aye, I suppose that's a good plan," I rejoin the conversation, and agree wholeheartedly that the sun descended quite quickly, and it takes much longer to trek up a mountain than an eager beaver might expect. I glance around at the rocks surrounding the plateau, which is the size of a medium pond. It's not exactly the best place to sleep - there's no shelter, it's not comfortable. I grimace, thinking of having to rest here for the night. But she makes a really good point about the situation we're in. I glance back at the lass. "I'm Rostislav, by the way." I move toward the edge of the plateau and begin nudging around rocks, hoping to stumble upon something interesting. Such as, oh, a relic? "Have you had any success in locating this relic? I have been far and had little luck." Of course by that I mean no luck, except for finding others who have also been on the search that keeps me continually busy, continually traveling. I surrender to the idea that I'm not going to find anything up here in the darkness, and let my body sink to the ground with a grunt. I stretch out my legs, relaxing, and turn a pleasant gaze to the mare.
And it only hurts when I'm breathing
My heart only breaks when it's beating
As she moved closer to him with hesitant steps he backs up just enough to offer her the space that she needs. He said that it appeared to be a good plan - finding a safe spot for the night - and she is glad that she wasn't the only one who agreed with this frame of thought. Though, a safe place, with these treacherous valleys and only one good path, was probably not something one was going to find easily.
The brute offers his name while he moves around the rocks that he is near and she flinches each time she hears even the tiniest of stone clatter against the ground. "N-Noxia," she offers, swallowing and moving closer to the center of this tiny plateau. It is only when she feels relatively safe that the rocks she stood upon wouldn't fall out from under her that he speaks again. Apparently, he hadn't had much luck finding this relic either - though she hadn't traveled too far or looked too hard in the process. Quietly she shakes her head - long locks cascading over her shoulders and sliding across her chest in the process. "I haven't found any sign of a relic yet, either. Though I will admit that I haven't left the confines of my court's lands yet. I wasn't sure how safe it was to venture further out..." It was gentle words from her mouth, just above the volume level of a whisper.
Still, he seems to believe that this area is going to be the safest he was going to find for the night and allowed his body to sink to the ground. She eyes him - taking in his horns and shifting her weight a little before allowing her eyes to take in the small wall near one edge of the plateau. She moves over towards it before allowing her body to collapse against the wall - eyes trained upon the brute. "I'm guessing you hadn't found a safer place for the night then this area," she mused - feeling the chill of the night air as it began to fully set in. "I'll try and help you look when the sun comes out - for the relic I mean... - if you'd like the help." It was quiet, and she said it mainly to help keep some sort of complacency present in the stag. She didn't want him suddenly deciding she was a threat to him finding this relic (if he felt like he absolutely had to) and then kill her while she slept.
Yes, because everyone is a murderer out for blood. God, Nox. You're paranoid and crazy. I hope you know that. Not everything wants to bite you - some just want to exist in the same air as you. Is that so hard to understand? Oh, who am I kidding? Apparently it is that hard to understand.
The gray dove is so nervous, I can take her fear and anxiety. It makes me rather uncomfortable as I lie there, for I can't figure out what's freaking her out so much. Is it me? I think about it... but of course to me I'm completely ordinary and far from frightening. (Even if I sometimes pretend to be.) She introduces herself - with a stammer - as Noxia. What a strangely potent name for someone so... small. I'd say 'weak' but I can't bring myself to be that demeaning. At least not yet.. Maybe she's just shy? Her continual conversation tells me that she's from this area, of the Night Court. Finally she settles down on the ground nearby, but her eyes seem calculating as they bore holes into me. I stare back with a bit of defiance, not one to be intimidated by such looks and daring her to try to melt me with her laser eyes. (What laser eyes, Rosti? What!) She asks me if I had found a safer place and assumes that I had even looked. I don't admit that I didn't look anywhere else, and had only thought to lie down here when she mentioned that it was too dangerous to be traveling in the dark. I was the fool that was going to just keep going and eventually fall to my death. But I don't tell her that because I don't want to seem like a complete moron. I avert my gaze for a moment as I ignore that comment. But then she offers to help search for the relic, and I turn a grin back toward her. "That sounds like a good plan, Noxia." I dip my nose, then lay down my head to rest on the cold, hard ground.
It wasn't the best sleep I'd had, and it was wrought with dreams of Damaris, Kiara, Vitani... my past. Oxy, Midas, Africa, Seele. There was so much that was gone without me. A home, a family. The things I had not placed enough value on until they were gone. Fire, explosions, storms plague me in my sleep. I wake with a start, wet with cool sweat, and am greeting by blinding sunlight of a late morning. I blink my eyes and try to see, but it's going to take a few minutes for me to fully regain vision. I rub my face on my knees, ridding them of sleep and the nightmares that still dance behind my lids. I stretch my legs which had moved to a tucked position underneath me. A groan passes my lips and suddenly remember that I did not sleep alone last night. (Ha.. see what I did there?!) I look toward the spot where Noxia had presumably fallen asleep last night....
