Everyone But Marten
Most of the group elects to work together - all except for one. He leaves, and a haze separates him, and the sprite accompanying him, from the rest of the group. Everyone else poses questions, feeding off one another’s suggestions one way or another. They come up with a wide assortment of ideas, and there’s a clear excitement to the sprites.
They answer what questions they can immediately - telling Shrykos that they are just specters in the past. No amount of magic can change what happened to Baltia and Stratos but they can still learn from it. Telling Myrna that is where they are - the place where those lands had come from. Telling Famkee that no, there is no magic influencing these groups to do anything they are not willingly doing.
And then, directed by the questions, the scene around them changes.
They show a few skirmishes - a group of youths from both kingdoms out exploring for the day, caught by their parents who let fear spark angry words and a few blows are exchanged before both parties leave with confirmations of their own biases.
The land where the war had been but almost a century before - when herds of land-dwelling horses roam it. They are peaceful, or at least about as peaceful as Beqanna is on a good day. Their home becomes destroyed by Baltia and Stratos because it is somewhere that gives neither one of them the tactical advantage. Those that live here simply became collateral damage - they either chose a side and fought or they fled.
The group from Beqanna overhear a trio of ravens discuss the feud over a shared carcass of a Baltian washed up on shore. They speak of misunderstandings, like some of the group have suggested, but they speak with it without any remorse. They do, after all, see some benefit from when blows become kills.
Those foals that had once snuck to the middle ground to play now secretly meet back up when they are grown, laughing together by the stones - short, stolen moments of peace together that they know cannot last. It is too big of a task for them to change the opinions of two entire civilizations. They take what solace they can and just try not to make things worse. And it works, for a time.
This world spins around the group with a collection of these snapshots and stories as they all move backwards through time. They do not need to go all the way backwards through evolution. Perhaps both Baltia and Stratos did once share a common ancestor, it would certainly make sense, but the moment that actually matters to the task for today happens after that. And it occurs on a beach.
Here, the sprites tell the group, Baltia and Stratos only have vague knowledge of each other. They simply do not mingle - they keep within their own borders. Each perhaps visiting the ground but when both of the kingdoms were much smaller they did not have the same drive to explore beyond their borders. They were, for the most part, content just to exist. Curiosity inevitably always arrives and on this cloudy day, the group watch as a young Stratosian filly lands successfully on the beach - looking very proud of herself for managing it. A Baltian colt is lurking in the shallows, and emerges to get a better look. They both spook each other, but after some cautious investigation they begin to play.
They’ve found their way into a rocky cove as they explore. There is a thin rocky beach, hemmed in by cliffs on one side and surprisingly deep water below. Innocent laughter and games bubbling between them with ease. Neither are accustomed to navigating on the hard earth rocks, nor do they know that their increasing volume is attracting attention.
Giant Rocs roost nearby in the cliffs, and a mother there has hatchlings to feed. She quietly peers down from the top of the cliffs, turning her head to examine the foals below. Her kind hunt Baltians and Stratosians rarely - there is larger and easier prey than horses on the land - but it is not unknown. Like an eagle snatching a fish from the sea or catching another bird mid-flight, they will go for a meal wherever they can.
The Roc’s taloned feet shift on the rocks as it prepares to launch, sending some pebbles and rocks cascading below. A large rock strikes the Baltian colt by sheer awful luck - slamming into his head and the momentum causes him to fall into the deep water. The Stratosian filly, who cannot swim but has spent all day with her new friend, jumps into the water after him - expecting it to be only so deep that she can stand up into it. Instead, she plummets down. The Roc above launches upwards angrily, annoyed at the disappearance of the foals, and more rocks are pushed dowards. They splash into the water, a smaller one striking the filly’s rump and causing her to twist. A larger one hits her and as gravity compels it to sink, it brings the filly down with it. She becomes pinned, too scared or weak to dislodge the stone that has her wing stuck.
The group can do nothing but watch helplessly as she drowns in water mixed with blood.
It is the next day when some Baltians find the remains of the foals. With some handy telekinesis they are able to extract what they can and bring both bodies onto the rocky beach. A shadow from above and a pair of Stratosian’s land. The sprites show how the scene looks to those who have just arrived - a shattered body surrounded by frightening, strong creatures.
A misunderstanding is all it takes, the spark that ignites a fury that will transcend generations. Fear of the unknown mixed with grief is a volatile mix.
The scene pauses as the adults lock furious eyes with one another - the Stratosians seeing their filly drowned and broken, the Baltians so overcome with their own grief they do not know how to explain what has happened to these strangers.
What actually happened cannot ever be changed, the past is written in stone and blood, but the sprites take the group to a version of the past where they can try to alter it. Everyone stands in their own version of this moment - separate from all the others who have come from Beqanna. They stand before the grieving parents - stand feet away from the shattered remains of the foals. In these isolated moments, the parents can see and hear these newcomers.
And it is up to them to change it. They know what is going to happen in the future here, they know that Beqanna’s existence is very real danger if this wound is not mended.
Marten
A veil of hazy clouds rise, obscuring the bay stallion from the rest of the group. They will not see what he does, and neither will he know what they learn together. The sprite near him jitters a little with nervous energy, but it is still connected with its brethren. And united deeper than their magic with their mission to help. They do not know what the path will look like to get to the answer, perhaps this will be one way to get there as well.
What would the sprite show him if he was uninterested in saving the world?
There are many answers to that. The sprite could try to convince him what is worth saving, all the beauties and triumphs and delights that exist in everyday life? Would that move someone like him? But then, that seems like a lot of effort for someone who is not putting in any himself.
The haze condenses around Marten before dissipating and revealing a cove. It is the same one that the others are seeing but Marten is there in that moment, a few short seconds before the Baltian foal is struck dead by the rock and the Stratosian foal hurries to save their new friend. The sprite and Marten will watch it all, following the scene as if tethered to it. They feel and are affected by the environment around them like they weren’t before at the battle. The way that the temperature of the water increases just a little with all the blood that swirls through it, the ripples caused by the rocks that splash down. And they are there beneath the waves when the frightened and battered foal finally drowns.
And then the scene begins again. |
