Solar Wind wasn't really sure why he was completing this task. Part of it was pure curiosity - Scoria had told a tall tale about some spring of incredibly pure water in the bog, and he just couldn't believe it. He hadn't spent much time in the bog, but the time he had spent left no impressions of pure anything. He was pretty sure Scoria was insane, but he was willing to at least look.The other part of it was the reward, though. You only got so many chances to receive a treasure from an ascended in your life, and he wasn't going to pass this one down. Though he couldn't help but be a little sad about this particular item. A heart stone when he had no one to share his heart with? Felt a little bit like a paper cut on his ego.
The journey out to the bog had taken way longer than he'd anticipated. It was a few days and many hours before he reached the stinking, sinking grounds. By the time he did make it the sun had already set, and he was forced to make his horn glow to see where in the world he was going. The warm glow unfortunately cast surprisingly eerie shadows across the landscape that left him feeling anxious with every step. He regretted coming out alone and not asking a friend to tag along. At least with someone to chatter with and help look he wouldn't feel quite so.... watched.
The first few hours of searching the bog were pretty uneventful and frustrating. More than once he leapt out of his skin when a branch moved or an unidentified bog-creature skittered by near him. He was pretty horrified by the state of the water and plants as he waded through. Even in the dark of the night he could see how murky and sick the water looked. Slick, oily substances coated the surface, shifting colors as the glow from his horn hit them. And many of the trees here were far past dead. They were hollow and broken, unable to even support their own weight anymore when rainstorms came through.
Granted, bogs weren't supposed to be beautiful and pristine. They were made to sponge up all the bad things and protect the surrounding areas from floods and pollutants. But this one had clearly been forced far past its limit. Solar Wind felt sad looking at it all.
He was getting pretty exhausted and disheartened by the time the sun started to rise again. His hooves were dragging and the grey almost-light that peaked across the horizon just made him feel bleak and ready to sleep for a week. He was pretty sure that whatever Scoria had talked about just didn't exist at all.
At least until he nearly stumbled into it.
For a second he didn't even know what he was looking at. He'd gotten so used to those disgusting waters that when the light finally revealed something clear and pure looking he wasn't sure it was real. But it was. It was almost sparkling in comparison, untouched by the noxious poisons around it. He stared into it a long time, too tired to really process.
Scoria had said this could show you your true love. Or at least the path to them. He contemplated for a moment what that could mean for him. If he took a sip, would he be on a new path? Or was his path always meant to lead to that person?
Did he even want to take the mystery out of it? He would like to maybe settle down and have someone to go home to other than his dad, but it felt like cheating himself if he just drank some water to make it happen.
He shook his head decisively and leaned down to fill his water bladder from the spring. He'd bring this back for Scoria and wouldn't touch it again. He didn't want to mess with fate or overthink his life. He'd fine who he was supposed to be with, and he'd do it on his own timeline. After all, he was still quite young.
The trek back out of the bog seemed worse than the way in now that he had spent all night slogging through it. But he was exhausted and needed some rest, and certainly wasn't going to do it here amidst the muck. He'd spend a few hours escaping this toxic landscape, rest his eyes on solid, dry ground, and then get back to Scoria to receive his reward.
