Drip.
Dewdrops on iridescent leaves, shadows over a bed of fallen pine needles. Two figures stepped softly over gnarled roots and morning cold, soft voices whispering memories and thoughts of home. Chill breezes swept across the forest-
Drip. A bough swayed in the gentle wind, gleaming iridescent in the gentle sunlight. Two figures passed beneath it, deep in conversation while the world breathed about them. A lonesome bird warbled a cry to time, and the sigh of wind responded.
Drip- crystal water flowed over time-smoothed stones, cold pebbles on the streambeds of Xhyolok. Briefly shadowed, two figures fording dappled sunlight and soft whispers, traded stories of Nolabo’s gentle breath and warm winds. Two figures, far from home, in a forest of frost and pine-
Drip.
A dewdrop splashed against Siqxhe’s cheek, causing him to flinch. The water was cold- chill and biting, different in the most basic sense from home. “...cold.” He shivered punctually-
Laeo only laughed his sharp laugh. “It’s autumn yet. In the depths of Xhyolok winter, snow covers the ground like a blanket of petals.”
“That sounds awful.” Nevertheless, he imagined it- rain storms frozen in time, drifts of fluffy white, snowflakes on the breeze. “I can’t believe they sent us out here. It’s empty. A…” Wasteland. Verdant trees, lush fields and little white flowers that poked out beneath meadow grasses, tentative remnants of spring. Morning dew, drops of water glistening on boughs of pine…
Laeo snorted softly, glancing out into a forest, darkly. “I’m more interested in why they requested for a Nola physician. I mean-” He blinked, glancing back toward Siqxhe with something that wasn’t quite worry. “The lords of north Xhyolok are famously reclusive. To risk their secrets…” He shrugged, letting the conversation bleed into the edge of wind. It didn’t matter that the college picked Siqxhe to travel to the top of the world instead of the royal hospital. Nor did it matter why- they were already thousands of miles from home and all too cold.
Surrounded by the breadth of dew and north, sunlight- so cold, so wane. Beauty. A chill wind- sweeping through weary radiance and vibrant forests, quiet. “Maybe they needed the best.” Laeo nodded to Siqxhe, who tried a weak smile that didn’t fit the sweeping woods and solitude.
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“Still. I can’t think of a reason why they’d call me. The Sakaxhy have domestic doctors- it’s not…” They crested a hill, and the very essence of argument slipped his mouth. He froze, staring- out, upwards, toward a metallic gleam and all expanse. It made a bit more sense… even Laeo stood still beside him, momentarily stunned out of anything to say at all.
Iridescence as wide as the horizon, black as memory and gleaming with the very light of sun. Impossibility, incredulously- Siqxhe waved a hand in front of his face, but it couldn’t have been anything other…
Immensity. He stared across rolling seas of pine, fading until they became a single cohesive color, fading until they disappeared beneath the shadow of God. The land sloped up into jagged hills and stone outcroppings, immense mountains somehow made small beneath the majesty that was majesty, the immensity that was grandeur, the horizon of metal that was that universal deity. It dominated the whole of sky, silver black and perfect…
Laeo breathed in wonder, a silent grin written across his face. Two figures, children of Nolabo and warmth, took tentative steps toward a behemoth of black steel and the quiet darkness- the shadow of God.
.........
Two metal feet on the ground, silhouette against the bright sky and Eternity Falling. Nimble fingers clutched ages and ages, time beyond reckoning as he looked out across the jagged mountains of Xhyolok. Humanity...
The Lord of Cold Places watched the snows, the winds and the rains and the endless cycles that were life, waiting. Tracking… hints of metal on the wind, and darkness- evoking memories of cold days and old nights. Long dreams of hallways that stretched to eternity in both directions… A Sibilant's dreams. Pine needles crunched beneath his weight as he stepped forward, watching the mountains and their guardian above them, so massive. Somewhere in there…
He would- stepping, forward- slipping quietly into the shadow of mountains and the Highlands. He’d find her. She couldn’t hide forever.
Polarity Iridescence would keep her secrets no longer. He would not let her-
Once, at last- he faced the sky and all his arctic dreams, gleaming stars ever-falling beyond the pale blue sky… only one obstacle. Impassive, he wandered forward beneath a shadow older than civilization. Only one Polarity Iridescence, and beneath the Eternity Falling and all the cold of near-winter, he was coming.