[OTP][PRP] Visions of the Unknown (Soul and Shadow)

[StarScarred]

As the morning sun rises and with it a deepening mist throughout the Swamp, so too does Soul Drift. No dreams the night before, which is a rare enough occurrence, but not unheard of, either. The need for movement is still there, now more a force of habit than anything else, so he gets to his feet and determines himself to explore the nearby area he'd stopped to sleep in. This part of the Swamp is thinner with trees than elsewhere. What greenery does survive here is stunted and shorter, and the humid heat he's used to does not seem so humid. Indeed, he can see through the thinned trees to the dry, sandy land before him, the earth cracked with heat. It is an odd sight, all that land without trees or green, but it feels like a familiar sight--- if only from his dreams a few nights before. Why the Swamp wanted him to come here, he does not know, but Here he is. Wherever that might be.

And it is hot, indeed. He sweats, and the sand from the area is kicked up by a breeze, sticking to him, marring his bright blue-green coat with splotches of untidy orange-red. Spectre sits atop his horns, her wings drooping from the heat. Pearlsong seems even worse-- a waterbird as he is. Still, though, Soul Drift continues to walk along the edges of Swamp and Unknown, half sheltered in thin shade.
 

[fluorescein]

She doesn't notice until after the fact and a vast stretch of land separates her and the previous den. It's a different terrain with an alienated air. Not her usual stomping grounds, she's elated. Hot as hell, but riveted nonetheless. A chill strikes her the same time she notices a stranger with his entourage. Fight or Flight or her personal favorite, ******** it All. Naturally she continues. New area to explore. She gazes at the matted buck and issues an invitation before galloping beyond the horizon.

"Race you there"  

[StarScarred]

The heat and the strange land in front of him captures all of Soul's attention. He doesn't immediately notice the dark doe behind and to the side of him until she shouts out her invitation and rushes past in blur of red and black and flying hair. It's such an odd occurrence that he doesn't immediately respond. But when he does, he lets out a laugh and chases after her.

The heat only gets worse as their sparse shade disappears into nothing. Soft soil turns more and more into hard, cracked sand and Soul chases the stranger to the end of the last of the trees where he stops, panting from both heat and exertion, and laughs softly again, his eyes bright with amusement and the recent thrill.

"Well.. that was unexpected! And who, might I ask, are you? The openness doesn't frighten you? It does most, you know-- frighten them, that is."  

[fluorescein]

"'Come play with me' said the shadows, and I followed" she stated, pausing to n** the dirty leaf buck playfully on his neck. She was out of breath. Her hooves weren't used to the unforgiving cracked land.

"Your questions will keep on multiplying if I stop to continue and we'll never get there." She did not whine. She stated facts. She collapsed onto the earth to rest. Closing her eyes, she imagined being surrounded by icy cold waters. It was a trick her father would do each time he became troubled or it became too hot. This trick wasn't working so successfully. She could hear the other buck's pants. Rolling over, she looked for shade. Spying it, she walks over to her share and lands delicately on her rear ends to meditate and hone in on the compulsion she felt. Looking up, she asks, "Do you recognize these type of trees? I've been just about everywhere and back but this is a new type."  

[StarScarred]

Soul chuckles softly at her playful manner, before huffing out a breath in an attempt to regulate it a little more. He's in good shape-- he travels a lot, but it's still hot, and there's nothing he can do about that. Except to endure it, of course, and he doesn't complain. It's his choice to remain, after all. Well, in part. It's not like he could ignore that urge any more than he could ignore his own name.

"..Only in my dreams. I've seen them there, and this land, too, in my dreams. It's the first time I've been here, though. They're smaller than the trees in the Swamp, aren't they? Not so many leaves, either. Rougher looking." He looks up at them, then wanders to the nearest one where the doe is, and brushes his face against it's rough bark. "I move with the voice of my dreams.. I'm Soul Drift, by the way."  

[fluorescein]

He kind of moved like an oldie and even talked an old buck. Wizard he could have been or a lunatic, but he was engaging. She stares at her hooves to mentally tally the mileage they had to endure. She was sprightly from the very beginning suiting her needs and pursuits greatly. Flicking her head to the side, she peers closely to him, finally stilling to pay attention.

"Dreams? I don't have them very often. I want to see these trees. I feel like we should keep on going further." She rolls away to look up to the trees and flicks her tail. And as quickly as seasons change, so does her energy level. She spikes up, rubs her horns against the bark for good luck, something she picked up, and waits out of courtesy. "Ready when you are, Soul Drift. I'm not moved by dreams but I have this gut feeling something big is out there. Let's see if our paths cross further. "

She was like her dad. You can go for quite a while before knowing someone's name. It wasn't always necessary.  

[StarScarred]

Soul shrugs a little, a small, almost playful smirk on his lips. Indeed, he usually does sound much older than his years. It's the work of the Swamp, no doubt-- all the things he's seen and learned from his dreams, and from following them to the visions they show him. Still, though, he's not quite so old yet, and that spark of youth is never really hard to find in him. It's the light of youth in his wander-lust, the curiosity and the hunger for learning about new things. So, he simply nods at her, his eyes curious but patient, even with the burning energy just under the surface.

"I've always had them. The Swamp, I think, wants me to see many things, but so far it seems I haven't yet found whatever it is I'm supposed to really see. Maybe this will be that time? I never know. It could be any dream, I suppose--- in the end. But, let's go," he grins again and turns toward the heat of that sand. He keeps in mind the fact that there likely won't be much water out there-- and that they'll have to be careful of this, but for now, he isn't worried.

"Perhaps I'll just call you Shade, then hm? You mentioned something about shadows earlier.."  

[fluorescein]

"If the Swamp wants you to see certain things, then that old Spirit wants me to learn" she whistles back. "Shade works, oldy." And so she begins her wandering to see what else she can learn. If she were of the surly sort, she'd joke about how great it would be to find whatever it is they are looking before before they become rotting carcasses, but at the same moment she notices how she has yet to see carrion or even scavanegers. Or any other lifeforms besides nature's green. Even the skies are ominous in their barren open fields.

"It'd be great if it rained just once to see what the waters will bring out" she sighs to herself, ever hopeful.  

[StarScarred]

Pale eyes glance over to the darkly colored doe and he starts out toward the very fringes of the Swamp-- where it's unclear if it can even be called the Swamp anymore. That great open space is sparsely littered with odd, short trees the further they go and eventually, he can see, they likely end all together until there's nothing but open space and sky. An odd thrill rushes through him at the thought of that. He's not leaving, not really-- just exploring. He'd never leave Mother Swamp.

"Well.. let's go see if we can find anything then. Not that I can really see anything out there in all that open space.. but who knows." Soul Drift continues on with 'Shade' as he's decided to call her, "Maybe it'll rain."  

[fluorescein]

The last bit brought to memory of an old tale she heard from a smooth head owl. "Supposedly there are dances a creature can do to ah, encourage, or bring about torrents of rain. I wonder where these stories originated and if there'a grain of truth to them" She laughs. Rain would be a nice distraction. Thunder, even. Anything to break the silence, the flap of wings and their own voices.  

[StarScarred]

Soul likes the thought of that. There is something kind of magical about the thought of dancing to bring the rain-- rather a pretty thought, in fact. It makes him laugh a little, softly, and he looks up at the sky which, without all the tall trees overhead is much easier to see.

"Perhaps we should dance to bring the rain." It's mostly joking, but partly not. "Though I have to admit that I'm not really much of a dancer... Have you ever seen this dance before?"  

[fluorescein]

"No, but it shouldn't matter right? Intentions are more important anyway." she says this in a really non-haughty tone. But as they progressed, the heat gets to her and her mood sours. Rain. Maybe they should dance. If anything, it would be interested to see the buck dance. Hopefully he won't break a hip. She smiles and cocks her head, "You should try dancing right now"  

[StarScarred]

Laughing softly, the buck agrees. He looks dubiously up at the searing blue of the sky, dotted only here and there with thin, wispy clouds, and then shrugs a little. "Well, it's worth a shot. But if it doesn't work, I vote we head back into the swamp. It's too hot out here, and there doesn't seem to be a great deal to explore in this empty place, anyhow."

With that said, he makes the first tentative move to dance. He feels ridiculous and as awkward as a newborn foal, too, and the very absurdity of it makes him laugh, even as he moves in a sort of stomp-step-slide that isn't quite a rhythm, but is certainly.... something.

"Come on, then! Let's see you dance, too-- it was your idea," and there's the hint of a grin, there as he wiggles and twists, and moves about.