hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour
—
Pravda had decided to travel to Denocte under the recommendation of a significantly older stallion who he bumped into—literally, not figuratively—while feverishly searching the Deluminian library for stories on the Night Court. It was simply a matter of Pravda’s routine search into the more intricate histories of Novus as a whole, but the older stallion had proceed to chastise him for being such a “book worm” and that it was no way to live life.
Pravda supposed, then, that the only way to truly live life was to travel several miles to the city of Denocte and experience their current harvest festival firsthand. It was a moist fall day that bled into a chill fall night, one where the leaves shook on the trees. Pravda may have gotten lost on more than one occasion, which accounts for the amount of time his journey took, and he was loathe to admit the fact the only reason he found his way at all was due to Prigovora’s guidance. It was something the raptor would not soon forget.
He is quite fatigued by the time he reaches Sideralis Prairie, and when he discovers a number of tents and caravans he is pleasantly surprised. After asking around, he discovers they are Novus residents who have travelled to attend the Harvest Festival. He finds a willing vendor selling hot, spiced cider and some sort of sweet pumpkin bread before, on the vendor’s recommendation, travelling to the maze.
Pravda is reluctant to admit his ignorance on the topic. He does not want anyone to laugh. But when he arrives, he realises that he does not know what a maze is, and staring at the towering opening to a complex system he finds himself at a loss… He stands off to the side, working up the courage to ask one of the other equines as they enter. Finally, he finds the courage. “Excuse me? Would you like to… ah, accompany me… into the maze?” His face flushes sheepishly. “I’ve never been in one before.”Or heard of them. But he decides not to add that.
Pravda thinks, after a long moment, he would have preferred his books.
Sloane had heard of this Harvest Festival from some of the other Delumine residents. It had been buzzing around the court all summer and now that it was finally in town, it seemed as though Delumine was nothing but a ghost town. People had left early one morning, packing their bags and never looking back. Sloane had stuck around. After all, why would she ever want to participate in a festival? There was too much laughter and happiness and nonsense to make her nauseas.
But then, a thought came to her.
She had heard of a maze that offered a fun activity with a little spook involved. Knowing that there was something out there that would increase the heart rates of innocent bystanders, Sloane was immediately interested. And so, she too packed her bags and set off to Denocte.
The journey had been long and tiresome, but she had arrived no worse for wear. She waved off some of the vendors who were trying to sell her this and that. No, she was here to scare the hell out of other people, not relish the goodness of apple cider or pumpkin spice.
As she came upon the maze, she looked around at some of the others who were gathered at the entrance. The sun was already beginning to set, but that did not discourage Sloane. The darkness would allow her to scare that much easier. After all, a black horse in a black night seemed to fit in rather well.
Stepping forward, Sloane began to enter the maze. She had to try to find the best spot to hide in so she could scare unsuspecting victims. But as she passed through the entrance, someone spoke. She looked around for a moment, realizing that it was she that the other was talking to. Out of all the people standing around, why had he picked her to talk to?
Groaning, she turned to look at the other for a moment as she tried to think of some excuse to get out of having to go in with someone else. However, she couldn’t think of a damn thing. "I suppose…if you are okay with helping me scare the children." Social graces were not her cup of tea and she probably looked little terrifying with how excited she was about scaring children.
hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour
—
It was less enthusiastic of a response than he would have liked. “I… don’t mean to inconvenience you. I’m sorry. And—scaring children?" Pravda’s bewilderment colours his tone. He trotted forward so they were side-by-side as they began to enter the maze and, at aloud and ghoulish cackle in the distance, he visibly jumped. “Why are you trying to frighten children?” He asked, in an attempt to cover his discomfort. For a moment, he thought about asking if she could explain to him the definition of a maze and its purpose. Was it to frighten children? It seemed slightly sadistic to him.
He decided against questioning her, however. The rows of corn stalks around them sufficiently snubbed whatever remaining light existed from the setting sun. His ears swivelled constantly and his bi-coloured eyes flicked uneasily between corners. They arrived at the first junction, where the maze split into two separate paths. Pravda edges right, but side-eyes his new companion. “Is this the way?” he asks, thinking that, perhaps, they were meant to head in a specific direction.
He could not have more clearly asserted the fact he has no idea what it means to “solve a maze’ then if he had asked for a definition. He must admit, there is something vaguely sinister about the mare—if only because she is large, and dark, and in the dim light of the corn stalks it is almost as if she is not a horse at all. Finally, Pravda asks another question. He has been staring too long, he realises. “What court are you, miss?”
Sloane | "speaks" | notes: i'm so sorry this isn't very good!
The stallion might not have meant to be an inconvenience to her, but just sharing the same air as her was an inconvenience. She hated being in groups (groups meaning any additional bodies other than herself) and she definitely hated having others tag along when she was trying to do something productive by herself. But he seemed genuinely sorry. Good, he should be. He shouldn’t just assume that everyone wants to pair up and be buddy buddy with anyone. Sloane was a lone wolf and him wanting to accompany her was just an annoyance. But Sloane was trying to be tolerant of others. She was smart enough to understand that the majority of people were social and wanted to be with others of their own kind. She just had to keep telling herself that he had no idea she would rather do this maze alone.
However, as he finally registered that she was going into the maze not to find the end but to scare the children, Sloane couldn’t help the way her lips curled into a grin. He was utterly shocked by her revelation. Sloane wished he had a mirror in front of his face because the look he was giving her was absolutely priceless as he tried to wrap his head around just why she wanted to scare children.
She entered the maze, hearing the steady clip clop of his hooves as he joined her. Yellow, slit pupils looked over at him as he asked about why she wanted to frighten children. But then, there was a cackle in the distance and the way his body jump at the sudden spooky sound made her snicker. Perhaps she should abandon trying to scare children and instead spend her energy trying to scare him instead. "Because I can. Isn’t it Halloween? Isn’t tricks part of the holiday?" She had never been a fan of holidays, most of which encouraged gathering with family, friends, and loved ones…none of which she had. But Halloween? It gave her a perfectly good excuse to scare the shit out of unsuspecting people. What more could she asked for?
The pair continue to meander along the path lined with dried corn stalks. When they come to the first juncture, Sloane pauses. She can see her companion lean towards the right and as she studies, she determines that he is probably right…even if he had no idea what he was doing. The left led back towards the direction they came instead of taking them further into the maze. At his question, she shrugged. "How the hell should I know? Just try it and see." She didn’t have a map and had yet to enter the maze before. She supposed this direction was just as good as any.
As the two of them veered right, Sloane fell into step with him. Silence filled the space between them. Crickets chirped in the distance, the sound of eerie laughs and groans filled the maze. Sloane allowed the smirk to stay painted across her lips, even when he asked her what court she was from. Did it really matter? "Delumine." Dawn Court is where she had called home. It wasn’t like she was actually loyal to any court at all. Delumine had given her an island to live on and left her relatively alone. What more could she ask for?
However, Sloane was quickly learning that conversation was a two way street. Even if it wasn’t a street she wanted to travel along, she could tell it was helping make her maze partner a little less anxious. So with a sigh, she looked over at him. "And you? Which hell did you choose?" They were all slices of hell, she supposed. It was just a place to lay her head for the night. Some were fiercely loyal and others, like herself, just took up space.
