[WP06] Swarm, Winter

[Ruriska]

Quote:

2. You are suddenly, urgently parched, and must drink at the oasis. Even if you have already indulged there, this time you realize as the water hits your stomach that perhaps things are not exactly as they seem. You are first drowsy, then sleepy. The effects cannot be mitigated: you fall asleep--but first you feel an urgent need to lie down at the foot of the tower

They reached the tower but Swarm had little interest in the object. It was unusual; she would admit that if asked. It didn’t look at all natural but at the same time, it didn’t affect her enough to put any sort of attention on it.

It was the sand and the heat that were her main concern now. Away from the shade of the dune there was no protection from the fierce sun and Swarm had never experienced anything quite like it. It was stifling and her dark coat only made it worst.

When she looked out across the endless expanse of dunes, you could see the heat rising from the ground in shimmering lines.

Swarm blinked and touched her parched tongue to the top of her mouth. At least from here the location of the water she had smelt earlier was clearly visible thanks to the trees and the flocks of bright, energetic birds.

She cast a sideways look at the other doe and started walking again. It was time for a drink.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

As they crossed sand that offered no reprieve from the heat and unforgiving sun, Winter felt cranky that the entire situation had no basis in logic and she was seemingly stuck in the severe predicament. It was not helping matters that her companion was utterly silent and as lost outwardly as the huntress herself felt inwardly. The way that the sun's rays made the sand waver and shimmy felt a lot like stripes on the black pelt of the other doe, making her feel a touch dizzy.

Winter rolled her tongue around the inside of her teeth, trying to drag it over the sharpest parts just to make herself salivate. It wasn't working, however, and she realized her encroaching thirst that did not feel...right. It didn't feel natural. Winter knew her body and what was happening was as though she was rolling the slippery sand around in her mouth. It was wrong it was wrong it was wrong--

She looked at the other doe for a moment, flicking her tail and picked her pace up a bit, parting her lips to breathe in more through her open maw. The thirst coupled with the heat and her mouth feeling like it was drying out was making her senses entirely muddled, giving her a small touch of panic.

Ruriska

Seems RP's after Tuesday are bad for me. >_> If you want, we can make this a few responses to cover the thirst, sleeping, and waking up. I feel awful for my time I'm taking but I've been ecstatic to have this RP with you. <3

 

[Ruriska]

Her nose was flared to catch the smell of water but she kept a steady, unhurried pace across the sand, knowing that as soon as she tried to speed up she would no doubt find the earth shifting beneath her hooves. Swarm kept her gaze locked upon the trees tops and the shrieking birds that rose in bright flocks only to circle around and fall back to earth. Food, her mind said, but it was really only the water she cared for. It was the thirst that left her throat feeling scratchy and dry and made her body heavy.

They crested a smaller dune and below sat the oasis. Swarm turned her head to the other doe and though to most her expression remained distant, there was a flicker of relief in her gaze that she hoped to share. "Come…" she said, the one word slipping out in a harsh little sigh.

Then she didn't care for whether she fell or not, she ran the rest of the way to the oasis. Past the birds that squawked loudly at her from above until she skidded to a halt beside the water. It was perhaps a little muddy and feathers floated idly across the surface, but it was water and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

So she drank, gulping down the water until her throat no longer ached and her belly sloshed when she moved. Then she stumbled back, eyes wide and body overcome with exhaustion. This was not right. This was certainly not how she should feel. Swarm set her body into a rigid stance and refused the sudden need to sleep win.

Chrystali

Don't feel bad. I'm really not fussed at all. This had been fun and that's all that matters to me. >o

[Chrystali]

Her silent companion may not have been too concerned about speed, but Winter soon found the darker doe running ahead. It was only then that she realized there was, in fact, an oasis, one she had somehow missed in all her panic and confusion over just what was going on with her sudden thirst.

She tried to pluck her way in a manner more suited to haste, but her dark hooves felt hot on the sand and the thirst was making her cheeks feel drawn and her jaw ache. Winter felt if she moved too fast, she might dry up and shrivel away in this land of unforgiving sun. She was not too far behind the other, however, and the soft word breathed from the other's lips was perhaps the friendliest thing she'd heard in her life, and most welcome. The doe uttered an inarticulate sound of what was as close to gratitude as she could muster, putting her front hooves into the deliciously chilled water and sinking her muzzle into the oasis, drinking deeply.

Though her thirst was slaked, the water carried with it a new problem, a price to pay for their presence no doubt. Winter abruptly lifted her head, the deceptive liquid dripping down her maw, her sunset eyes fixated on her dark companion. She could taste the other's rigid discontent as surely as she could taste the last chill of the water numbing her tongue, the heaviness of it filling her belly and starting to drag the rest of her body down with it. She wanted to be angry, she wanted to fight, but she could feel the cold tendrils reaching into her skull and tugging at her eyelids. Winter was no match for the magics that were rampant in this place, and she was beginning to succumb.

Tossing her head, backing out of the water, her legs began to tremble with the difficulty of keeping herself upright. She didn't want to fall here, no, she didn't want to fall in the sand...but if she were to be up against the deviled tower, perhaps there would be shade to be afforded when the sun dipped...?

Nothing was making sense, and stumbling, driven by her need to be near the red stone, Winter all but drug her nose through the sand, her entire body drooping and failing under the charm of the oasis. Winter fought it, even knowing it was helpless, like drowning with all her legs bound. She breathed heavily and only sunk to the sand when her body practically collided with the tower. She slid along it until her form was inert against the sand, her eyes seeking the other doe -- and with one final, defiant huff of breath, Winter gave in to the black, and slept.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

It was all wrong.

This was beyond her understanding as both Kimeti and a wasp and Swarm longed for the Swamp, but she was here instead, in this world of sand and heat. She watched the other doe take off towards the stone tower, felt her own body quiver with the desire to follow. Around her the birds continued to shriek until she desperately wanted to block her ears and hear nothing ever again.

Sleep, her body urged her, sleep by the tower.

The Kimeti fought and so she let the wasp take over. She sighed softly and released all her tension. Her mind was too panicked; it was better to let her instincts do as they wished. The wasp kin followed in her companion’s hoofsteps, up the dunes and back to the tower, where she sunk into the sand, black against white, and slept.

When she woke later, she would see Sister and Brother and forget her dreams, even as she shook the sand from her back.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

She awakened later with Frostbite curled against her side, sleeping in the generous shade of the underbrush and low-swinging trees of the Swamp. Winter felt slightly disorientated, shaking her head and slowly getting to her hooves.

The doe stared in perplexed uncertainty as grains of foreign sand slid from her body, their brightness swallowed by the greenery of the Swamp. There was something about it that nagged her, a distant memory of a dream...but all she could recall was a soft drone, the sound similar to a wasp, and all else was forgotten.

Ruriska