She finally returns to the Jungle. Part of her hates to admit that this is not the first place she ran to after the realm of the death relinquished her back to the living. She had ridden a wave of electric to the Tundra and cracked the sky open looking for him. She had to know that what Vanquish told her was true. Kratos had to be alive, had to be in the Tundra waiting for her. Fuming because she followed the call despite his instructions, and probably fuming because she succeeded where he did not.

Vanquish had been right, and she begins to believe that what he said about Lagertha is true also. That she is safe and sound in the Jungle. Changed as she was changed certainly (how do you see the end of the world and not live differently after that)? So she doesn’t tear into the Jungle on her return, though she does ride a wave of electric from the north of Beqanna to the south. It is endlessly faster than walking, this little trick she discovered as she tumbled out of the sky and toward the beach.

She’s not sure she’d have survived that fall. Probably, as others had, but perhaps not. In the end, it doesn’t matter though. She fell, staring at the earth and uncertain what to do when the electric materialized for her, an endless slide across Beqanna and anywhere she wanted to go.

She slips into the Jungle on her own two feet though, seeking out the general first. Scorch next, because she knows she ought to see their Queen that she had left so suddenly. They had never really finished their last conversation. She moves deeper into the Jungle, looking for the gray General, hoping Vanquish was correct. Lagertha had to be here.

rhy

the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle

Rhy came back with so many sourvenir’s. More than she wanted, truthfully. Being half dead might have it’s perks, though she wasn’t entirely sure yet. She hadn’t figured much of it out, other than the part where she could be invisible, or just a shadow of her real self. Which, she thinks, at least in that form might make her live longer, because ghosts can’t die again. Though she has no idea if that will translate into making her living self live longer though.

She hears the call. She’s not entirely surprised that someone can hear her coming. Today, she’s crashing through the Jungle in a way she doesn’t usually, but she’s too worried to care. Too worried to slip through the Jungle quietly as she normally does. And she knows that call. She breaks into a gallop, or as much of a gallop as anyone can manage in a Jungle, until she nearly crashes into Lagertha.

“You’re alright,” she says, a smile finally splitting her face. Thank god, Vanquish had been right. She can’t imagine losing Lagertha. Rhy doesn’t have that many friends, truthfully. Plenty of sisters, but only a few that really count as her friends. And Lagertha more than anyone else knows her the best.

Of course alright in this context means mostly just being alive. Along with being part dead, Rhy had found her dead parents in the afterlife, had a burned scar from the ice monster (of course ice could burn the electric girl), had visions of her sister and Kratos and Lagertha all dead. She could only imagine what Lagertha came back with. Scars and stories and visions of the monsters at the end of the world. The only thing Rhy never saw. She heard them, of course she heard them. That impossible static. But she never saw them. “What happened? How’d you get back?”

rhy

the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle

She can’t help but laugh at Lagertha’s first comment. Lagertha is about the last horse in the world Rhy ever worries about. But still, she’s also one of the last horses Rhy ever wants to loose, and in that world that still feels something like a dream, anyone could have been lost. No matter what they were, no matter how powerful, Carnage could have left them there. And that would have been the end, really and truly the end. They both know this, of course. They both know that the mouths that ate the world could have been the last thing they ever saw.

For a brief moment, Rhy thought Gail would let them stay there, would let them face the end of the world. For a brief moment, she thought she was going to die. And in some ways, she came to peace with it, though she wasn’t any more ready to die than Lagertha or Kratos or any of the others there. “I don’t think words helped much either. Gail just decided she didn’t want me to die there, though I admit, I was expecting death. She admits. Lagertha had her moment of kind and gentle, something that possibly shocked Rhy more than space had, and so in return, Rhy is more open and honest than she usually is (which is saying something, the girl is not a closed book after all).

“No, Kratos didn’t make it back with Gail either, though he’s safe and sound and furious in the Tundra. Well, technically, none of us did. Gail tried, but Beqanna wouldn’t let her. Truthfully, I think Gail wanted to die. I think that’s probably why she impaled herself.” Gail was almost dead already. She was just waiting to make it official. “We all got shunted off to the realm of the dead. Beqanna’s dead. I nearly died there myself. Well, actually, I sort of did.” She flickers out of view then, going completely invisible (though she has discovered that she can take a semi-corporeal form as well). A nearby rock lifts into the air, though Rhy herself hasn’t actually moved. She launches it through the trees till it smacks into one with a thud, and then flickers back into view. Mostly solid, not entirely this time.  Gray flecks her coat, reminders of her near death experience.

“I found my parents there, in the realm of the dead. I haven’t seen them since I was a child, and now they are gone. Though I guess not really. I know where they are, and I know they are happy. But still. Vanquish found me there as well. He’s the one who got me back. Literally threw me through a seam in the realms. It was sort of hilarious, considering.” She falls silent then, having told all that mattered. Her parents were dead. Vanquish had saved her life. And at least, everyone was all right. Physically, because scars were nothing in the long run. Emotionally, well, how could she ever be the same?

rhy

the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle

She sort of died. It’s an important difference. In her ghost form, her coat is flecked with gray (in some places more gray than gold, really). The effects of slowly dying were not lost on her, were not completely reversed when she made her way back to the land of the living. Though at the same time, while she’s sort of dead sometimes, she’s also figured out she’ll actually live longer. Partial immortality, at least. She doesn’t think she’s entirely immortal, since she’s still slightly alive. She’s not entirely sure how it will affect her, truthfully. Mortal when living, immortal when a ghost. She’d guessing maybe there will be a weird middle ground where she lives longer but not forever. Though maybe she’s just wrong. She doesn’t exactly know how this works.

She can’t help but laugh slightly at Lagertha’s question. “Truthfully, I have no idea. Discovered I can surf on lightning when I was falling between realms. Had no idea.” She can’t help but wonder what life would have been like if there had really been someone to train her. Riagan had tried, but he had no traits of his own. He didn’t know how to relate, not really. She was still discovering new things. There’s plenty she can’t do, of course. But she gets the point. There’s a lot she can do as well.

“Oh, and apparently I have a brother. They told me about him. Still haven’t found him. Leander, if you ever meet a boy that looks like me.” The whole thing was mind boggling, and she would probably always be reeling from that trip. Even if just a little bit. Lagertha mentions her own parents, but Rhy doesn’t know much of Lagertha’s history. She should remedy that someday, though she doesn’t like to pry either. Still, she feels guilty to know so little, really, about her friend.

But Lagertha changes the topic before Rhy can decide how much asking is actually just annoying prying. She asks about Kratos, and Rhy grins slightly. Obviously the cat is out of the bag, though really, she figured that ship sailed long ago. Every time he cracked open the sky above the Jungle, she assumed everyone knew who had come to call. “He was the first horse I could actually touch.” She admits. She’s never told anyone that before. In truth, he’s the only horse she can really touch, at least as herself completely and truly. She can turn off the electric now, and others are no longer in danger. But with him, she doesn’t have to. “I don’t know about soon. The Jungle seems to keep me rather busy. I’m sure you know the feeling. But eventually, I suspect.”

rhy

the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle