The shrine felt restless. Like someone had come in and disturbed the peace. Not targeting anyone in particular, just coming into the area to cause a ruckus, leaving the residents annoyed and unable to find the culprit. This was not an uncommon occurrence for the shrine, something that greatly bothered Nyomi, who put it on herself to keep the place in check. Stallions seemed to think themselves privileged enough to ignore the traditions of the shrine to stay away. Not even the ghosts seemed to detour them from exploring the grounds. She understood it was interesting. Something like the structures here she hadn't seen in her travels, yet. And the fact they were completely deserted, at least to the naked eye, was even more intriguing to those who came within eye-shot of it. It seemed in the years since the disaster, those living in the areas around the shrine had forgotten the purpose of it. Had forgotten the most important request of the workers to stay away when the snow had melted. She would remind them had she found them. She was fully prepared to blame their disappearance on the disaster. Attempts to keep the Rift from spreading could have failed in the beginning and extended to these small groups of Stars living on the outskirts of the Kuze territory. Or extended far enough for the Stars to see it and become frightened enough to leave forever, thinking something had gone wrong with the rituals.
At least those were her theories. There were none who were able to talk who could confirm this. The ghosts had one track minds.
Though even one track minds could become restless. Which brought her mind back to the problem at hand.
As the orange mare turned a corner, she stopped and quickly backed up so the wall was hiding her. On the other side of the hallway, the old Master of Ceremonies was passing from one wall to the next, whispering something the mare couldn't quite hear. She did, however, catch the word "missing" before the ghost faded into the opposite wall.
Missing. Something or someone important was missing. Most likely it was someone, as a missing object would cause a bigger reaction. It must be someone important to cause the ghosts to become disturbed. It was not Reika. She was in the grounds somewhere and besides. Yashu never seemed to care if the Priestess wandered off. As if she was certain the mare would always return. So someone else was missing.
Slipping out of the shrine, Nyomi raised her head to the sky, shifting her ears this way and that, hoping to hear something from far off. She was not expecting to since the ghosts were very quiet. As she expected, she heard nothing. She saw nothing.
Soon after, a flock of birds erupted from the trees to her left. Head whipping around, Nyomi dawned her wolf's skin without hesitation and took off running after the spot the birds had taken off from.
GunSniper
