Hidden Treasures (Closed)

[Rythe]

Beneath Star Crossed Oceans of Gray
Between those Hues of Life and Death
Below the Eternal Eye and Sickle Sky
Buried be the Treasure that You Seek

Or that's what the scrap of parchment would have said, if Misery of the Windswept Rain hadn't crossed the lines out and written 'Splinterstone ravine, cave system, crescent shaped' in the margin. Rain scowled at the words flapping wildly about between the grip of his claws and the tug of humid, hot air or arid, hot air - depending on which crosswind he happened to be gliding through at the time - and muttered sharp and pointed and otherwise unpleasant things about bandits with a sense of poetry. The stallion had been searching Splinterstone well past three days without luck and with lots of ravine left to go. His wings were tired, he was thoroughly fed up with trying to decide why a shady jungle canopy flitted by to his left while long expanses of sloping scrubland and rocky desert dipped away to his right, and he was very, very annoyed with the thin ribbon of water in the ravine's heart below that flashed and sparkled and shot slivers of the sun directly into his eyes as the day began to wane.

Rain caught himself after he violently shoved the parchment back into his satchel with gritted teeth. Bright blue eyes are forced closed with a slow, deep breath, and Rain listened to the wind whistle past his ears. The stallion felt himself slowly bank in the buoyant darkness of his mind and opened his eyes again to avoid a messy end. His body arched and wing membranes cupped as the verdant edge of the ravine rushed up to meet him, then claws scrape rock and wings blast away dirt and pebbles as Rain settles neatly onto the stone outcropping.

A sigh of relief and released tension escaped as Rain's wings finally got the break they'd been begging for, then the stallion began to look about as he stumbled upon the question of what to eat for the evening.

[tierasa]

Misery of the Fragmented Dream's wings twitched in annoyance as she felt a shift in the air currents. Using a bit of her magic, she shifted them back the way she wanted them to go. It wasn't unusual for the currents in Splinterstone to deviate due to the natural topography of the area, but she was in no mood to deal with them at the moment.

Hunger and a craving for a specific fruit had sent her skyward toward Splinterstone. Dream knew she could find what she wanted here. Glancing about she looked for the landmark butte on the left face of the ravine. The trees she wanted were in that area.

Banking sharply and gliding on the air currents, she spotted what she was looking for. Hopefully, there would be some ripe fruit to eat. Otherwise, she was going to be quite annoyed at having come all of this way for nothing. Back winging slightly she came to rest on a short outcropping on the windward side of the butte. A frown immediately marred her usually delicate features as she spotted another of her kind already in the area.

Not social in the least and even less tolerant of other Miseries, Dream was tempted to turn around and leave. However, she'd come too far to let herself be thwarted by the mere presence of another. "You're in the way," she finally stated after waiting for him to move. He was currently blocking the most direct path toward the fruit trees she wanted.

[Rythe]

Rain glanced over upon the mare's arrival, almost curious to be approached at all, then turned toward her during that moment of indecision. Dainty wings and daintier hues were a pleasant departure for his cerulean eyes, and let's just say he had a certain appreciation for a crown of horns. A little less severe, and the frown would have been pretty too. But she had a purpose here, or so it seemed, and he gathered his breath to ask when she beat him to it.

A wince, brief and fleeting, followed on the tail of her...statement. Then the memory of a sigh flitted through the back of his mind, and Rain felt his nerves bend and beg to snap. Life was so very determined to get him that day, but it hadn't won quite yet.

"I'm sorry," Rain's head dipped with the apology and nose tilted toward his paws to tower his back-slanted horns all the more, "but what am I in the way of? True love? A perfect view? This little patch of rock here?" He scratched a faint little 'x' into the stone beneath his feet with one claw.

((And yes, I totally changed my answer for his eye color. <.<))

[tierasa]

Dream was not amused by his sarcasm and tossed her head in annoyance. Hunger was certainly not helping her mood. Narrowed grey eyes surveyed the stallion before her. She had never seen him in Splinterstone before. Then again she avoided other creatures as often as possible. Had he not been between her and her dinner, Dream might have thought him attractive. The draconic wings and tail were well-appointed, and the set of long horns that donned his head were striking not unlike her own. Glints of talon peeked through the long hair that covered his feet. Yes, had he not been between her and the fruit she desired, the stallion might have managed to capture her attention.

Curious though Dream was about what his purpose was here, she decided that was best left for later. The growling of her stomach was demanding her attention first.

"You're blocking the path," she finally answered having completed her assessment of the situation. "I'm quite hungry and there are some fruit trees down that way in a grove." Dream preferred to be direct. It prevented unnecessary misunderstandings. "You're more than welcome to keep your patch of rock so long as you step aside."

((I had to write this whole thing twice. Hit the wrong thing and poof... whole post gone. I don't think it reads as well as the original, but it's 3am. XD))

[Rythe]

Oh.

Such a small thing to be rude about, and Rain couldn't quite help the brief backward slant of his ears or the faintly narrowed eyes before he turned away from her. He did manage to still his tail and tongue before they gave a retort at least, but, well, it was annoying. No one would fault him that...But it wasn't all bad either, the stallion thought as he saw the mare's trail thread off in front of him and he began to walk it. Sure, sticking ahead of her on this desired path was bound to aggravate, but one good turn deserved another, and he was hungry too. Speaking of...

As the shadowfall of the trees and their leaves began to flit over his coat, Rain glanced back in the mare's direction to say, "Thank you. And for the tip, I'll stop standing in the way of your hopes and dreams. That bit of rock never meant much to me anyway."

Funny thing, those words sounded so casual coming from him just then, almost pleasant even.

((I hate when that happens! D: So much that I all but stopped writing things in web browsers! >.< ))

[tierasa]

Her hopes and dreams? He had some nerve! He didn't even know her! And why was he walking down her path? She certainly hadn't invited him to join her. If she wanted to eat however, it seemed she had no choice but to follow him. It was too late now to go elsewhere to look for food.

Dream held her tongue as she walked a few paces behind the stallion and instead concentrated on his shadow-dappled coat. He reminded her of storm clouds. She was certain now that she'd never seen him in this area before. "If you insist on accompanying me, don't you think you should at least tell me your name," the mare finally broke the silence that had fallen between them. "The grove is to your left."

[Rythe]

"I'm sorry, but it didn't seem like you wanted to know my name. Misery of the Windswept Rain, it was a pleasure a meet you." At least for a little bit, but he had a mind to turn that back around. Rain glanced to the left, said a quick, "Appreciated," and turned as directed upon seeing her grove through the low hanging leaves. Little flashes of color mingle within the bright yellow-green bows ahead and he wondered at the fruit they bear to be such a prize to the mare.

With another glance back and hint of a grin, Rain asked, "Would the assertive Lady share her name with me?" Then his head turned back around and up and up as the first tree of the grove stretched out above. A breath expelled some of the stallion's lingering grievance with the day so he could say, "Wait just a moment, please."

Rain crouched and found it easy to ignore the ache in his wings knowing the mare stood behind then sprang upward almost like a cat. A short flurry of wingbeats extend the leap and he bounded off the tree's flank to land on a low limb with his wings neatly furled. Claws scrape bark as momentum carried the stallion forward and his tail arced around then swept back through the air behind with a quick little flick.

[tierasa]

Dream watched with curiosity as her companion leapt into the tree and alighted on the branch. Windswept Rain was it? She wondered if he had air magic like her own or perhaps a different form. It would've been much more practical after all to use a bit of air magic to knock the fruit from the trees rather than climb one. She kept that thought to herself though.

Assertive lady? The mare thought about it for a moment and decided that was a true assessment of her behavior. However, she felt he was being a bit tactful. Anti-social at best and downright rude at her worst was more truthful. "Misery of the Fragmented Dream," she supplied at last. "Though I suppose the Misery part was a given."

Ever observant, she had noticed the slight strain to his wings as he'd surmounted the tree. "What has brought you to Splinterstone? You've obviously come a long way." She craned her neck to look up at the stallion still perched in the tree. The branch was heavy with the greenish yellow fruit that had brought her here. A few were showing patches of orange indicating they were the most ripe.

[Rythe]

Rain darted from one hanging fruit to the next, sometimes stretching out or down with tail curled against something supportive to test the firmness of a specimen with his claws. A richer scent, mature rather than faintly crisp, kept him longer as he began to get a feel for the selection and an eye for those beginning to orange. He had just started to sniff a likely choice when the mare's voice carried up and caught him fast.

The fruit was still between his claws when Rain carefully leaned over and craned his head to get a good view of Fragmented Dream's back. Sure enough, that soft pearl mane continued all the way down. Their kind were so rare that the 'Misery' part wasn't quite the given in the stallion's eyes. Rather, he had assumed the tell had ended where her wings began, and wasn't this a pleasant surprise? Could explain a few things too. With an easier grin, he righted himself and tugged the fruit free with a deft jerk of his paws.

"I overheard that there might be a few special Sharian baubles in the area, maybe even magic ones. They would be worth finding for me if it's true," Rain replied as he backtracked across the branch to wrap a second option in a forelimb, one a little softer and kissed a deeper orange across its surface, then bit it free with a snap and twist of his head. It was less a step and more graceful fall that took the stallion from his perch with the pair of fruit wrapped in his arms. Wings billow out, tilt and tip while he drifted down then give a pair of flaps before folding back and dropping Rain the last little bit.

The landing wasn't quite so graceful, but with a quick step, a few furtive motions from his wings, and one flick of his tail, Rain managed to find his balance on his hind legs. A small, huffed breath of relief later, and he presented Dream with the choice of his two picks. "Bright days and gentle winds, Misery of the Fragmented Dream," the stallion grinned pleasantly. "Here. Seems right that you eat first."

Maybe she would even give him the customary response of 'warm nights and clear skies'...

[tierasa]

Dream sniffed appreciatively of the proffered fruit before selecting the one on the left. Eat first and talk later, she decided. "Thank you," she replied simply before biting through the fruit's tender flesh. He had chosen well. It was sweet but not overly so with that tang that she had been craving.

So that's what had brought him to Splinterstone? Some sort of hidden treasure? She was fairly familiar with the area and had yet to hear such a thing. Then again she didn't seek the company of others. The mare quickly swallowed her first bite.

Dream supposed she should return the greeting. What was she supposed to say again? Oh yeah, "Warm nights and clear skies, Misery of the Windswept Rain," she answered unsure if that was the exact response.

Hiding her sudden slight insecurity behind the fruit, she decided to finish it quickly and then indulge her curiosity. "What exactly are you looking for," she asked. "Baubles is a bit vague. Do you have a specific place you're looking for?" Dream just couldn't help herself. She just had to know.

[Rythe]

The tang made for an invigorating flavor, Rain decided as he nibbled on the piece of fruit left to him, but even more pleasing was hearing the mare's response to his greeting. His ears lift and head dipped in amiable recognition to those well-worn words, and hopefully the beginning of something equally agreeable.

So of course Fragmented Dream pounced directly onto the tricky part. Rain swallowed carefully and hid his muzzle behind his fruit to quickly lick his lips. "Well, baubles is the best I can be sure of, but I do have a specific place I'm searching for, so it's not entirely folly." He grinned gamely then gave himself a moment to enjoy another bite of his fruit before continuing a bit more slowly, "The difficulty is the directions I have are a little cryptic - some foal's idea of keeping the things hidden from those who aren't suppose to find them." Rain shrugged and gave her a thoughtful glance, "Maybe I am just being led around by the nose, but I can't let this one pass me by..."

"Why don't you join me?" the stallion suggested as his eyes shift away to watch his claws fiddle with the half-eaten fruit. "We can find out together."

((So late! D:))

[tierasa]

A foal's folly was it? Perhaps he was correct and this was some kind of wild goose chase, but Dream was up for a challenge. She considered herself quite clever and was certain she could solve whatever the stallion's conundrum was.

While Dream was never really one for company, she was always up for a challenge and even more so for a chance to prove her intelligence. Perhaps she could put the negative aside long enough to join in Rain's treasure hunt as it were.

The Misery used a brief gust of wind to knock down another fruit. It had been a long flight after all. "Sharian things can be quite valuable. Perhaps I can help you. I'm a bit familiar with this area. What information were you given," she asks beginning to warm a bit to the stallion.

((So sorry this took so long. Sooo much to do for the house))

[Rythe]

Something made Rain glance up and over as the fruit was knocked from the tree, but he spared it no more than that glance before he turned back and finished off his own with a rather pleased expression. With the almost meal out of the way, the stallion shifted to his hindquarters and plucked a slightly crumpled bit of parchment from his satchel, "I hope you can." He worked the parchment around in his claws, "I thought I knew what I was looking for, but after flying so long, I'm not sure... Ah, hmm." His brows scrunch together slightly, "I'll say it as it was given to me, and we can see if it makes you think of anything?"

Rain faintly cleared his throat, "Beneath star-crossed oceans of gray, between those hues of life and death, below the eternal eye and sickle sky, buried be the treasure that you seek." He turned the parchment around then and held it out in case Fragmented Dream wanted to try and read what was left of it.

((And I've had a project that's kept me overly occupied. And braindead. >.< So it's okay!))

[tierasa]

Fragmented Dream snorted before devouring her fallen fruit. It wasn't as nice as the ones Rain had personally picked, but it would finish slaking her appetite. "I see what you mean by foal's folly now," she commented after pondering over the riddle for a few minutes. "The clues all seem to be saying the exact same thing." She shook her head.

"The eternal eye is the sun. The rest is all grey skies. The one line that might be helpful is 'sickle sky'," she mused aloud. "Most would assume that meant the moon, but the moon isn't the sky. It's in the sky. So where could one go where the sky would take the shape of the moon and yet still under the sun?"

Dream began to pace slightly as she thought. It was an old habit that she'd tried to break, but never seemed to be able to shake entirely. "A place beneath the sun where the sky becomes the shape of a sickle," she muttered as she paced. Suddenly, she stopped as a thought struck her. "Do you think we could be looking for a cave," she questioned the stallion. "A cave where light comes through an opening in the shape of a sickle?"

[Rythe]

Rain nodded after starting in on his third bit of scrounged up fallen fruit. Flying so long really worked up the appetite! "That's exactly what I think, but I've been flying over this ravine for a few days now. Barely any caves, and none sickle shaped. In short, haven't found a thing. Not that much left to explore either."

He sighed lightly as ears dip and then gaze slipped to the bit of fruit between his claws. The ache of tired wings seemed to herald the sense of hope beginning to fade away. For now at least, he thought as the look in his eyes and cant of his ears make the subtle shift to an old determination. "...So I was hoping you might know of such a place nearby?" The tail lifted to a question as the stallion looked her way again.

Yes, Fragmented Dream's frown really could be quite pretty. Rain might have to give her a few more reasons to think.

[tierasa]

The mare gave him her best grin. Should she tell him or see if he could puzzle it out for himself. She was beginning to find him a bit interesting. Perhaps she should actually be nice for once and just tell him what she knew.

Dream had heard a rumor some time back when she'd last come to Splinterstone to raid the fruit grove. She'd been trying to ignore the others nearby, but some of their conversation had drifted over to her anyway. There had definitely been something about a cave, and she thought she'd heard moon. It could have been moonstone, but even so it had to be worth looking in to. She wished she'd paid a bit more attention now.

"You're in luck," she declared grin widening slightly and with a flick of her ears. "I think there is a place nearby worth investigating. However, we'll have to go on foot as we'd never be able to reach it from the air, and I'll be honest I'm not entirely sure where we're going. I heard pieces of a conversation about a place that might be what we're looking for. That's all, but at least it's something."

[Rythe]

"And something is more than I've had," Rain conceded with a bit of a grin. "So thank you, seems you've changed my fortune around." Plus a tasty meal was nothing to sneeze at, he reflected along that pleasant vein. "I wouldn't mind a walk either... To be honest, my wings are beat, so finding this place of yours sounds like the ideal way to end the evening." That, and flying right after eating was never pleasant, although he made sure not to over eat just in case, tempting as it had been.

The stallion turned and gave a stretch of his back and slow, tired flap of his wings, talons digging little furrows through the grass and earth at the end. "Even if it's not what we're looking for," he continued, "I'll be glad of the company." Rain dipped his head to her with the slightest cant and offered the lead spot with a gesture of his paw, "After you, Fragmented Dream."

[tierasa]

Dream was extremely pleased with herself. She was quite cunning after all, and having that small piece of information to add to the riddle made her inordinately proud of herself. "Well, I suppose then that I must be lucky." Her otter tail twitched with pleasure.

The mare hadn't realized quite how tired the stallion appeared and had to wonder just how long he'd been travelling to reach Splinterstone. She didn't live that far from the area herself, but rarely explored beyond the fruit grove.

Dream tossed her head slightly. "I don't mind your company eithr... surprisingly," she admitted as she began to follow the path through the back of the grove. "It's this way and then north if I remember correctly. It shouldn't take us too long to reach it. I think maybe a couple of hours on hoof."

[Rythe]

Rain chuckled softly, "Surprisingly, hm? What's so surprising about enjoying my company?" The question came as a bit of a tease as he fell in beside Dream where the trail allowed, and gave way grudgingly when it didn't. Simply talking to someone besides himself felt good for the stallion, and he found himself wondering how long it had been since he'd had even a simple conversation.

Attentive ears and lingering eyes betray those inner thoughts somewhat, despite Rain trying to force his senses away from the mare now and again to maintain a feel for where they were and were going. Getting lost would be more than a little embarrassing, in front of Dream or otherwise, but for some reason, keeping a bearing didn't seem quite so important just then.

[tierasa]

The mare fluttered her wings slightly. Butterfly wings didn't fold as neatly as draconic ones, and Dream had to be careful of low hanging branches. Her wings were delicate and could easily be torn. "It's surprising because I don't generally like being around ... well anyone. You didn't sense that from the beginning," she responded. "I wasn't exactly friendly."

Dream stole a glance over her shoulder at the stallion who was still following closely behind. He was well proportioned, and he certainly was holding his own against her rather sharp wit. She also had to admit that his eyes were a striking color. Quickly she turned her attention back to the trail ahead. Hopefully he hadn't caught her appraising him.

"I think we're getting close. It shouldn't be too far away now. That's the marker," she gestured to a forked tree that had been struck by lightning. "I think we go west from here." She glanced to the left where things were beginning to look a little more rocky even beneath the dense canopy. If there were a hidden cave, it was likely to be in that direction.

[Rythe]

Unfortunately for Dream, Rain had caught her appraising glance, and he found himself grinning for it. "I may have sensed something like that," he commented dryly, "but do you...ever get the feeling we were given the bitter life, Fragmented Dream?" Rain sounded lost in thought, and his gaze momentarily drifted to that distant place. "I've wondered what it would be like if we hadn't. Sometimes, I try to live it too." And sometimes it even worked.

The thought left him curious if some of that bitterness was the cause of her dislike of others, and then what she saw when she looked at him. Their first exchange seemed more the shame - she looked to be a fine mare, and sharp to go with the prickly. Rain finally admitted to himself that he was quite enjoying the view of her back and delicate wings, enough to get a sense for the care she took of them. So when a bird decided Dream had shied too near and leapt into flight, he quick-stepped forward and reached out a wing to catch the swaying branch left behind before it snagged the mare, which happened to place his shoulder where the her hip was going.

"Pardon," Rain said lightly for their mild bump and brush. The stallion waited a step or two to follow again then glanced over his shoulder for the sense that they've wandered a ways from the ravine. Not for the first time, he wondered what Dream's cave would be like and where it might lead them.

[tierasa]

The mare glanced over her shoulder at the slight brush. It hadn't really bothered her though normally she would've immediately shied away from the contact.

"Bitter," she questioned with a toss of her head. "Every where we go we're treated with disdain, rudeness, and out right hatred. I choose to give it back to them." The mare snorted as unpleasant memories surfaced at the front of her mind. There were many reasons why she was anti-social.

"You try to live like you aren't a Misery? That seems like it'd be rather difficult. We're kind of hard to mistake for anything else," Dream replied. "How would that work?"

Pausing to sniff the air for a minute, Dream glanced around them to get her bearings. It was a good thing she had an excellent sense of direction. "Do you smell that," she asked her companion. "It smells like tandil berries. We're getting very close now. I recall the mention of a copse of tandil near the cavern."

((Thanks for being patient with me. I started this reply the other day and my computer ate it.))

[Rythe]

"It works as well as chewing frozen bark, more often than not," Rain admitted readily in the face of Dream's pointed question. "And aye, it's a just and richly deserved turn to spit it back into their teeth, and they back again. It's all as natural as breathing." Something hard had entered Rain's eyes, and it laced through the song of his voice. He turned his gaze away so that the mare would not think he directed it at her if she chanced to look back again. "But I am not content. Some fool yearling inside me still believes we were meant for better than we were made to be."

The stallion's tone retreated from that edge as his guards began to slip back into place and eyes drifted to Fragmented Dream. Her soft pearl hues and delicately colored wings tugged his mind toward the present, and Rain faintly sniffed the air though there was little need as he thought of it - "I do smell tandil berries." That realization left him on a pleased, even eager, note, enough that he suddenly drew near her haunch again but shied just short of actually crowding the mare aside in his haste.

((::Fistshakes at compy:: And no worries. I understand how these things can go, especially when having to rewrite stuff. >.< ))

[tierasa]

"Well, we are Miseries. It's expected of us, and I'd so hate to disappoint them," Dream smirked as the road ahead turned sharply left. "We may yet somehow find our own happiness in this life. It just may need to be away from everyone else. We'll never avoid the stigma all together after all even if every Misery in existence was a saint," she snorted.

The mare could feel her companion following her closely now, and yet she was still not bothered by it. They should be nearing the entrance to the cavern at any moment if she had understood anything of what she'd heard. "Ah ha!" She lifted a hoof as a black maw in the face of a rocking outcropping came into view. "That should be it." Her otter tail swished happily nearly banging into Rain. She had known she could find it. "Let's hope we've got the right place."

[Rythe]

"Maybe," Rain added with a wry smirk of his own. Not a whole lot more he could say to their situation - truth was truth, though none of them were saints to begin with...

Rain's gaze darted ahead at her exclamation and that tinge of eagerness ran through him again for the earth and rock yawning wide to greet them. He glanced up and over at the waning daylight, but it wasn't going to matter much in the ground anyway - just a step or two earlier into darkness. So the thought was banished as he spoke his agreement - "Let's hope!"

The stallion shifted halfway into the brush and stepped alongside Dream to cant his head toward the cave. The backward sweep of his horns was almost regal with the soft gleam of the sunset, and an easy grin graced his muzzle as he asked, "Want to head in first, or shall I?" Even saying those words, the stallion seemed to lean closer to the dark entrance, his paws angling into the next step. Maybe that eager, fool yearling wasn't buried quite so deep inside him after all.

((Getting close! But not quite near the end of this venture, methinks. ~_^ ))