Kivara Starscrape Heaves

[canisaries]

Andre, at first, huffed at the notion that the noibat used to be headstrong, as if he still wasn't now, but the rest of his story did convince Andre that the noibat had, indeed, known the bitter taste of humiliation, regret. That it had to come with the price of the life of a person was tragic, though. Too steep a price.

Ben, on the other hand, was thoroughly enthralled by Malachai's tale. A lord of the wild, a lord of the land and skies... a powerful mon. Part of nature, but intelligent. He'd thought him unpleasant before, and perhaps he was, but he was still powerful. Ben wished he could be as strong.

Andre looked up at the stars, trying to gauge their brightness. Had the noibat's story been the final piece, or did they need more?

 

[JFought]

Isidora silently listened to Malachai's story. Residual bitterness from earlier kept her from becoming fully invested, and the events themselves seemed so far removed from any world she had known that she wasn't sure what to make of some of it, but she still took it seriously out of courtesy. He has a flair for storytelling, I'll give him that. Though, how old is he? Do noivern just live longer lives in Laura's world?

After everything was said, Isidora couldn't say she had much sympathy for him (she was never moved by stories of tragic hubris), but he probably wouldn't have wanted it anyway. His relationship with Laura did make a little more sense to her now. Is this why he consents to the whole trainer thing? Is Laura some kind of surrogate? Another chance in his eyes, maybe? Though her guesses felt like wild potshots at a truth she couldn't quite reach. The only thing she knew for certain after hearing that story was that she couldn't relate to the noibat at all.

Whatever. It's none of my business anyway. If the relationship between him and Laura truly meant something to them both, then for her friend's sake she supposed it was only right to respect it and keep her judgmental remarks to herself.

To Malachai's last statement, Isidora finally replied: "No one is. It's the one thing we all have in common." Then she joined Andre in looking at the ceiling. "Hear that dungeon? Is that what you're lookin' for?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

The constellations above had shone brighter with each private 'truth' shared among the group. They teetered on true stellar luminosity for a moment...

one thing we all have in common

...and then flashed silver, appearing not as bioluminescence on a cave roof, but as actual stars and the real curve of a galactic arm reaching through the night sky above them.

When next they looked down, they'd see not cave walls around them, but the snow-quilted surface world – a tundra pockmarked with conifers and pelted by winter winds.

"Remarkable," mused Matthias, softly.

"Certainly. If only the climate conditions were more hospitable," grumbled Malachai.

Laura shivered, and grinned.

"Guess it was what it was looking for," she quipped.

So. Where to next...? Squinting, Laura could just about make out what looked like light and smoke from some kind of fire. That generally meant civilisation, right? Seemed promising enough.

"Cool," she said, gesturing in the direction of (potentially) light, warmth, and company. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Malachai loosed from the ground to range ahead, and together, the group set off.

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