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You are suddenly, urgently parched, and must drink at the oasis. Even if you have already indulged there, this time you realize as the water hits your stomach that perhaps things are not exactly as they seem. You are first drowsy, then sleepy. The effects cannot be mitigated: you fall asleep--but first you feel an urgent need to lie down at the foot of the tower.
Ascent glanced over to Tree as the other took a seat, smiling softly. "We should certainly rest, for though I've no manner to see just how far we've come, I feel like we've traveled a long ways. A rest would be good, and maybe we'll get lucky and someone will pass by." Flicking her auburn tail, the Kiokote moved near the Kimeti, relishing the cool feel of the high shadow over her pelt as she folded her legs beneath herself, prepared to wait.She is only relaxed for a handful of heartbeats before she feels the most unfamiliar and unpleasant sensation of her tongue feeling too large in her mouth, her cheeks drawn against her teeth. Ascent opens her mouth to try and ease the feeling, but it only worsens when the acrid air touches her teeth. Shaking herself with sudden unease, she got back to her hooves, looking around in an anxious and uncomfortable manner.
"Did you see any oasis on our way here?" she asked, her words clicking softly with each dry pass of her mouth. It was getting worse, her throat starting to feel sticky with lack of liquid. "I need -- I need a drink, ah, I'm -- excuse --"
Manners failed her as the feeling of being parched became overwhelming. Leaving the shadow of the great spire, she trotted across the sand and around the monument, looking, searching - and as if the desert knew she thirsted, she spotted an oasis on the opposite side of where she'd been laying. Eager, she broke into a gallop to reach the water faster, a small touch of panic touching her chest as she felt as though her entire body was going chap. Ascent slowed her speed into a trot and didn't stop moving until she was knee-deep in the oasis, lowering her head and burying her muzzle into the cool water, drinking deeply.
Even as the cool liquid touches her belly, she knows something is wrong. There's a heaviness to the water that isn't right, a feeling that seems to quickly spread through her body. Ascent barely manages to get to ankle-high water before the weight of it became too much, the Kiokote falling to her knees with a small splash. Her head bobbed with the force of her weariness and her eyes fought the drooping to find Tree, to make sure she didn't befall the same fate -- but she couldn't see, she was starting to lose her ability to panic, even. Trembling, still clinging to a small measure of grace, she pushed herself with enormous effort back to her hooves, the sleep taking just a little longer in her larger, muscled body.
It felt like she traversed from the oasis and through the sand for days, her passage marked by the drag of her hooves and belly, but a strange sort of peace stole over her as she found herself back in the shade of the tower. Once there, she all but collapsed back to her knees, and then onto her stomach, lolling onto her side. Ascent uttered one shuttering breath in the faint whisper of her beloved's name, and succumbed to the darkness.
Aric Val