Welcome to Gaia! ::

How long had it been since he had left that cave? It was hard to tell, time meant nothing to the stallion as he wandered in this new world of bright colors and offensive smells. What was this disgusting world? He couldn't entirely remember where he had come from, but the vague tingling of memory told him that the previous place had been more pleasant to his senses. With a sigh the stallion stopped and took in this new land. It was disgusting! A strange sound reached his ears, though it seemed to be coming from behind him. Turning his head he saw no one there. Flicking his ears he snorted in frustration and turned his attention back to the land before him. However the sound continued and slowly shifted from soft squeaks to voices.

"Are we just going to stand here all day?" A feminine voice called out.
"Oh do him some time, can't you see he's getting used to things." Another voice replied, this one sounding male.

Those voices...they taunted his memories. Who were they? Once again he turned to look behind him but no one was there. Two rats skittered around his back and he watched them closely. It took him several long moments for his mind to process things, he knew these rats, they had been with him since....well for as long as he could remember, which wasn't saying much given his poor memory. "I see you two made it. I thought the journey would have separated you from me." But these rats had proven to him many times that nothing would get between them and him. It didn't matter though, something in his faltering memories told Thanos that he needed these rats, that without them he would be lost. "This land does not appeal to me," He told them as he turned his attention back to the green land before him. "but until I can find out way back we shall remain here." There was some reason that he had come here, but be damned if he could remember what it was. That memory would surely return to him soon and then he would ensure that that reason be turned into reality.










NOTE: The rats do not actually talk to Thanos, he hears their voices in his mind because he is crazy. Any nearby Soquili or other creatures would simply hear the rats squeaking.

As his eyes slowly adjusted to the assault of color this world presented Thanos tried hard to remember his purpose for coming here. Clearly he wouldn't have come to such a brightly colored and offensive land if he didn't have a great plan in mind, this had not been a spur of the moment decision. No one in their right minds would willingly come to such a disgusting land, not when he had been in paradise before - at least what his twisted mind considered paradise. As his mind searched for those missing memories his eyes went unfocused, he wasn't good at multitasking and what did he need to see in this ugly land while he stood here thinking? He did his best to tune out the rats rambling, they didn't seem to be wanting to help him figure out why they were here, and he needed quiet in order to work through his scattered thoughts.

Right, focus, think. Why had he left? Better yet how had he gotten here? Why did the rats matter to him? Why? Just why? Damnit that was too many questions! He gave his head a shake and tried to focus again, just one question at a time. He could manage that...maybe. Okay, first question to answer, why had he come here? It shouldn't be that hard to find the answer, it had to be somewhere in this mashed up brain of his. Feeling the rats moving around on his back was distracting enough and he tried to focus even harder on his thoughts when one of the voices shouted at him and he was forced to pull his attention back to the present.

"We were followed! One made it out after us! You must kill her or else she will ruin everything!" The female voice shouted.
"No, you are wrong. We were not followed." Replied the male voice. "And I do not think killing her is the answer. Besides, she looks half dead already."

What were they talking about? As Thanos' eyes slowly refocused, the glow in them intensifying he took in the mare walking slowly past him. It was the first sign of life he had seen in these new lands, outside of the obnoxiously persistent plant life that seemed to encircle him completely. His mind slowly processed what the rats were saying, taking in the mares appearance and condition and then her words. Wait, was she talking to him? Or was it about him? Why her head was nearly touching the ground as she moved along. Perhaps the one rat was right, she was half dead, though she lacked any of the...exposed innards that he portrayed. Maybe she was talking about the rats, but would she have even seen them with her head so low? It was all very confusing and Thanos didn't have enough mental power to figure things out. Finally with a shake of his head and a slight snort he spoke to the mare. "What do you mean?"

He stood there staring at her with his glowing eyes, which had grown dull to show his lack of understanding at the moment. Where all the others in this land so close to death as this mare appeared? Could that be in a land so obnoxiously bright and filled with obvious life? None of this made any sense, and thinking was far from his forte.

"Of course he is a vision of death you stupid nag!" The female rat cried out. "Will you kill her already! She clearly thinks you are to be here death, best give it to her!"
"Really War that's not fair. The mare may be looking close to death but it is not his right to take her life." That was the male rat talking.

War. Yes, that was what the female rat called herself. She was always telling him to kill or maim something, trying to get his anger to work for him. And the other one...what was his name? Thanos thought hard to recall what the other voice was called...Softy? Sunshine? Peace? Yes, Peace was his name. War and Peace. He suffered their eternal conflicts because he needed them, more than he would openly admit to anyone. But this wasn't helping him figure out what the mare was talking about. Should he tell her that he was this grim reaper she referred to? Or should he tell her the truth? But there in lied the problem, Thanos wasn't exactly sure what the truth was. His memories were so broken and missing that he knew almost nothing about what he was doing here, who he was, where he came from. That was what the rats were for, they told him what he needed to know, but even then it was unclear whether they were telling him the truth or not.

He realized that it had been a while since the mare had stopped talking. Would she wander off if he didn't say anything? He felt torn, part of him wanted to stand here and talk with her while the other part wanted to go back to trying to retrieve his memories from his shattered brain. "Uh." Was the only thing that managed to make it out of his mouth when he opened it.

"Speak to her." The male voice urged. This was followed by the sound of it and the female rat fighting, which meant War clearly didn't like what Peace had told him.

Thanos gave his pelt a shake to try to break up the fight but knew it was pointless as they would do so until someone was the victor, and that was usually the female War. Right, talk to her. He could do that. And so Thanos let his mouth do the talking, not really thinking about what he was saying because that would complicate things. "Grim reaper? No, I don't think so. I have never heard that term. But a vision of death, yes. I have seen death, experienced death, I...am walking death." He paused for a moment and then without knowing where the words came from he said. "You can walk with me, with death, and I will lead you there one day."

Okay. Okay? Okay.The word moved through his mind like a rampant tumbleweed. His offer to her had been spur of the moment, having given no thought to it before hand...and yet after it was given he felt this odd sensation within him. He wasn't quite sure what that sensation was...fear, hope, longing, stress? It could be any of those or something else entirely, all he knew was that in those moments between him stating those words and her simple answer Thanos was on edge. If she had said no...well he wasn't sure what he would have done but he would have needed to do something. And yet to his surprise, and...joy? was that the right term? she had agreed.

Thanos blinked, or least his equivalent to a blink his glowing eyes flickering a moment. She had agreed to walk with him. He felt...happy? Was that was it was? Honestly Thanos didn't know what this strange feeling was, it was so foreign to him. But whatever it was the fact was that she would be coming with him. More importantly she had to come with him. HAD to. He couldn't say why but she just did.

"What have you done you bumbling idiot?" The female rats voice shrieked in his ear. The fight was over and she had once again come out the winner.
The male rat was busy licking his wounds while resting on the stallions back. "You should probably tell the mare your name." He suggested.

"Okay." He said, though it was actually in reply to the rats, more specifically Peace. War wouldn't be happy unless he killed the mare and even then she would likely complain about how he did it so for the moment he just ignored her. It would mean listening to her complain for some time but Thanos had gotten pretty good at ignoring the rats when they weren't telling him something important, something that he wanted to know.

Now what should he do? Peace suggested giving the mare his name but it didn't seem like the only thing to do. He told her that he would lead her to death, but that wasn't what he was willing to do...not yet at least. He had to get them walking first and that meant...Thanos blanked out for several long minutes. Meant what? His eyes dimmed again and his poor mangled brain tried to think of what it meant. After some time, he wasn't sure how long, he gave his head a shake, it was useless no answers had come to him. "Thanos." He finally said as he began to walk, pausing to make sure she would actually follow him, that strange feeling, different from the one he felt earlier, fear perhaps, tingling in his mind. She had to follow. "They call me Thanos." And then he began to walk once more, slowly as he didn't think she was capable of anything faster than the slow shambling walk she had been doing when he had first seen her.

She moved slow, very slow, but Thanos didn't mind or care. Until he could remember the reason he was here there wasn't any reason to rush. Once he figured it out though...well he wasn't sure what would happen, he supposed he would do what he had came here fore but what about the mare? He couldn't say that she complicated things, because he wasn't quite sure what complicated was, but she added a new element to thing. He could just simply walk off to accomplish his goals, Surely she would just return to whatever she had been doing before she met him...which honestly didn't seem like much. Or he could bring her along...it would slow him down though.

Such dilemmas. Not to mention way too much thinking.

Wait, did she just say something. Regret. That was her name. Thanos liked it. "Regret." He said, repeating her name, feeling it roll off his tongue. Yes, Regret was a good name for her...whatever that meant.

"Ha, Regret, what a stupid name." War chirped.
"I think it's an appropriate name for her. Though why anyone would name their offspring Regret I will never know." Peace chimed in.

"It's a good name." He said to the rats...or perhaps it was to Regret, it was hard to tell who he intended it for, but surely all of them would hear it and interpret it in their own ways. Thanos fell silent then, the constant natter of the rats filling the void between him and Regret. She was a mare of few words not that it bothered him one bit, he wasn't much of a talker, there was too much to think on for that, too many memories to try to recover from his mangled brain. Besides the rats always interrupted him when he tried to talk so he avoided it as much as he could, talk only when needed, that was the way to it.

They walked for...well Thanso wasn't sure, it felt like a long time, though after glancing over his shoulder it didn't seem like they had gotten very far, but at this slow pace what else was to be expected. He had almost forgotten Regret was there, mostly because his memory was terrible, as the shuffling of her hooves blended into all the other background noise that he filtered out of his hearing. But then a voice asking him where they were going and his mind snapped back to reality from wherever it had been and he had to stop. He went still for a moment, perhaps two before returning to the slow walk. He didn't answer right away, instead he turned his glowing orbs that were once eyes toward Regret and watched her as they walked. Finally after what might very well have felt like an eternity to anyone else Thanos said. "I don't know."

He wasn't sure how much time passed between when he spoke and Regret answered, though he supposed some time had passed. From what little time he had spent with the mare so far she seemed to not be in a rush to go anywhere or to say anything right away. Not that he minded. If he was perfectly honest he wasn't sure what he did mind...if that made any sense, but he wasn't sure about that either. That would be something to ask the rats later, first he would think on it, try to work it out in his jumbled brain before asking what they thought it all meant.

"She needs to just lie down and die already. We are wasting time with her!" War chirped in her usual irritated voice.
"Nothing is a waste of time." Peace told his sister before moving closer to Thanos' ears. "You should speak to her." He encouraged, though doubted the stallion would do so.

His ears flicked at the rats words but he didn't quite know what to say to the mare. What they were doing now, traveling slowly and silently, seemed to be working, so why interrupt that with pointless talk. Besides what could they possible talk to each other about. Thanos' eyes roamed around while he plodded along, Regret shuffling along with him, green near his feet, green in the distance where trees were, green on both sides. Seemed the only relief from the green was the obnoxiously bright blue sky..and Regrets dirt covered hide. She was the most appealing thing to look at...wait did he just think that? What does that mean? His ears flattened against his skull for a moment as he tried to sort it out. But as soon as his thoughts tried to track those words back and make sense of them he completely forgot what it was he was trying to think of. Damn.

Grass. Trees. Sky. Regret. Rats. That was his world now, though most of it he didn't like. This land was so unappealing...so ugly. He wanted to go back to....wherever he had come from. What was the name of that place? He wasn't sure anymore. Though he had thought there had been others. Not other places but others like him, but not quite like him. What a confusing thought that was. The stallion shook his head and glanced behind him. How long had passed since they had last said a word to each other? Though he couldn't remember the exact spot they had met at Thanos was certain he could no longer see it...and that bring burny thing in the sky was closer to the land. A few long moments passed before he remembered the significance of that...it would be night soon. He didn't need sleep, at least he didn't think he did, but Regret likely would, she wasn't like him enough to not need sleep he thought.

"We..." He started and then forgot what he was about to say. He kept walking, knowing she was there by the shuffling of hooves behind him. Let's see here...walking a long time, Regret not dead, night soon....take a moment to put it all together and... "...we will stop soon." He finally announced to her. "To sleep...you sleep at night?" He asked, since even though he thought she might need sleep he wasn't sure, but also honestly didn't feel like wandering around in the dark. What if she got separated from him? He shouldn't care about that....and yet he did...for some reason. Plus he needed time to think on things and the enveloping darkness of night should help him do so while not being distracted by the horrid colors of this land. "Continue on in the morning."

He wasn't entirely sure what 'What I have to' meant, but he figured it must be that she didn't always sleep at night. Did that mean that she sometimes slept during the day? He wasn't sure how anyone could sleep in all that green and blue with the bright flamey thing in the sky staring down at them. Creatures in this land were so strange...but how could he think that the only one he had seen so far was Regret and she didn't seem at all strange to him. Not that he could say what strange meant. There were so many words and thoughts that popped into his mind and yet he didn't know what most of them meant. He would take some time tonight to think about them and if needed talk with the rats to get their input on these things.

His eyes slowly moved in the direction of Regrets small gesture.One moment passed. Then another. Then he gave his head a nod understanding what she meant. She wanted to go to the trees to sleep. Did she sleep in a tree? His glowing gaze turned to Regret, then back to the trees. If she did he wasn't sure how she climbed up them, she could barely walk. Such strange creatures in this land.

"We will leave here there while she sleeps. I tire of her!" War chirped.
"Don't do that." Peace called out. "She needs him as much as he needs her."

Thanos' ears flicked as the rats spoke. "I will not leave while she sleeps." He told the rats angrily, though his gaze was set on the trees. He turned slightly as he continued to walk, heading for the trees instead of the continuing expanse of meadow. How much of this green stuff was there in this land? What he craved was hard rock under his hooves...and fire....though he wasn't sure what a fire was or why it always tingled in his memories and why he wanted to be near it.

His gaze moved up to the burny thing in the sky. They might make it to the trees before it was dark. He could see in the dark quite well, but he wasn't sure if Regret could. He considered walking just a bit faster to get there in time but then quickly banished the thought. She might not keep up and if he got separated from her....well he wasn't sure what would happen but deep in his gut he knew that wasn't an option. Maybe the male rat was right, that they needed each other...whatever that meant. "I don't think I sleep." He said, though whether it was to Regret or just him thinking out loud it was hard to tell.

With every step the burny thing in the sky got closer and closer to the edge of the land in the distance. They might just make it before it was completely dark. Though already he was starting to forget where it was they were heading and why they were going there for that matter. He tried to think on the reason when Regret spoke again.

Perhaps he had simply forgotten when to sleep. Those words bounced around his broken mind for several moments. He had forgotten many things in his life, if what he was experiencing now was life, at least as far as he remembered he had forgotten many things. And that in itself was an even bigger conundrum that anything else. How could he remember that he had forgotten things if he couldn't remember what those forgotten things were? Was the world always this complicated? Or was this some kind of punishment for him breaking the barriers between life and death? So many questions and he could never seem to find the answers to any of them no matter how hard he looked. Perhaps Regret was the answer. The stallion glanced at the mare for a moment before putting his gaze back to the trees in the distance. The answer to what?

Thanos let out a small snort. Why was every question answered with another question? Gah, it just happened again!

"This is wasting our time! Kill her and be done with it." War was becoming more infuriated by the minute.
"Can't you see that he wants this?" Peace asked his sister. "It will be good for him."
"Good?" War shrieked. "He needs no good in his life!"
Peace sighed and curled into the stallions stringy mane.

Thanos did his best to ignore the rats. They were a constant distraction and rarely helped his find his memories or learn anything new. And yet he could not part with him, he needed them for some reason, though that reason eluded him at the moment as well. He could ask the rats why they bothered him more than helped him, but often times when he asked them direct questions like that they went completely silent. Peace, the male rat, had explained to him at one time why they did that, but in this moment the reason also seemed to be missing from his shattered mind. He could ask Regret, but they had only just met, so he doubted she would know the answer. Wait, what was the answer he was looking for?

These many thoughts were interrupted when Regret touched his side. It was a soft touch, just enough for him to know something had brushed against his side but it affected him so deeply he couldn't figure out what was happening. That touch changed his life...somehow. But why would she touch him? It happened so quickly, one moment she was touching him and the next her head was lowered again as they continued to make their way to somewhere. Did she want his attention? He wasn't sure, but he swung his gaze back to her once more and waited to see if she would say something else, not realizing that he himself hadn't said a word in quite some time now.