[PRP] Away, Away (Wood Spider & Strange Land) FIN

[lostandtold]

"I have never met any kimeti who used such charms," he answers, following her at a docile pace. "You are, as far as I know, the first. I wish to learn." Her logic does make sense, and he finds himself nodding with her.

But asking the charms? That seems...well, odd. It's definitely not the first thing he would think to do, and he's relatively certain that it's not the first thing most Kimeti would think to do. Wood Spider is...eccentric, to say the least. Still, she doesn't seem insane, or malicious, and he's still curious.

"Did you ask the charms, then? To gain this knowledge?" He picks his way through the mangrove roots, almost delicately.  

[phoenix kiss]

Wood Spider stopped to answer him, having scrambled to stand on top of a large, moss-covered boulder. It wasn't as easy as it looked considering her round tummy, but it provided her with an easy way to see a lot of the Swamp at a glance: better than trekking around in the heat, at least.

"Most things have voices," she explained, gaze scanning the horizon, "If you just listen. But most people don't, I guess," she says, finishing her scan to let her gaze fall back on Strange Land. "Their voices are very small." She flips her tail against her flanks and then hops nimbly off of the rock, hooves making squelching sounds in the mud. "I ask them, yes," she adds, beginning to walk deeper into the Swamp, "And most of the time they tell me. Or it's obvious what they do."

"Let's walk deeper into the Swamp. I want to find something sheltered."  

[lostandtold]

Strange Land stays at the base of the boulder, looking up at her thoughtfully. "I've only ever heard the voice of the Swamp, never of objects." A flick of one ear dislodges one last fly, and he dances back lightly to let her hop off the rock. "Do you enjoy speaking with them?"

He knows the voice of the land, of the sunrise and of the way the sunlight lays in strikes over twisting mangrove roots, but eggs, grasses, and skulls? What sort of personalities do they have?

For now, he follows, curiosity about the doe outweighing curiosity about the vast plains to the north. There will always be time to head back north.  

[phoenix kiss]

She lands with a light thud and then begins to slow down her search -- looking for a place to leave her sacs where they'll be protected. With the blessing of the other kimeti in the back of her head, she knows they have a fighting chance, but it's in Spider's nature to be picky. She glances over her shoulder at Strange Land and nods. "I don't think I'd be myself without them. I have a collection of them, scattered back in my own den. I've collected them ever since I can remember."

Eventually they come to a broad, shallow area of the swamp, almost a floodplain -- the sunlight paints bright areas of glitter across the water, and cypress knees stick up from the shallows as far as the eye can see, with the occasional huge tree to break up their surroundings. Spider sighs delightedly, switching her tail across her flanks, and then nods. "I think this will do. Help me find a deep den, and I'll be finished."  

[lostandtold]

"They seem the integral part of your life." Much like music, he supposes, is his. With Echo fluttering among the branches, and intermittently coming to rest on one of his horns, and Wood Spider leading, he settles into a contemplative calm.

When they reach the shallow area, Wood Spider's voice breaks him out of his thoughts, and he blinks, turning to study the area. "Of course. This is a very good place." He pokes around the roots of the trees, looking for someplace secure for Wood Spider's young.  

[phoenix kiss]

It doesn't take her long -- eventually the two kimeti come to a huge cypress tree, somewhat bigger than all of the others around it. Underneath it, tucked in among the roots, is a large den. Soft green moss grows all over the wood and earth, and there are no rocks or jutting roots to poke Wood Spider, or a foal, if they shift. The pregnant doe is likely an amusing sight as she wriggles down into it and turns around, making sure that it's comfortable enough -- when she settles, she grins up at Strange Land. "This is perfect, don't you think? Thank you for coming with me. I've enjoyed talking to you. So many others think I'm ... odd." She tips her head at him, a thoughtful expression. "Will you sing songs about them when you go?"  

[lostandtold]

He tries his hardest to be suitably grave, watching her as she works her way into the den. "It's a wonderful choice." He tips his head, smiling. "We all may seem strange to others. I will sing of you and your search in the days to come, Wood Spider. May the Swamp provide." Turning, he heads back to the north -- back to the foreboding plains and the source of the strange pull.  

[phoenix kiss]

She watches him go -- sad to see him leave, but relatively certain that he will sing songs of her over the plains and in other places she cannot go. Grunting as she makes her way out of the den, up the small incline that leads from beneath the towering cypress, she watches him go for a moment, sad that she hadn't thought to leave him with anything to keep him safe. He wouldn't have needed it, she thinks; bucks of his type are prepared for all that comes.

After a moment, Spider turns around and heads back down into the little den, placing her remaining charms on a small flat rock off to one side. Now that she has a place that is safe and warm for her foals, with or without the charms, she is satsified.

And the Swamp will provide. He said it himself.