ORIGIN

The soft click of hooves echoed through the Forum. The amphitheatre lay pitch black in the lightless dark, and silent bar this sound.

One keen of eye might pick out the distant, ghostly green-white lamps that slowly swayed, eerily unattached to anything in the void of Orion. The lights were out; yet this--these--were lights. They were eyes. These eyes, for one drawing quite close, would barely illuminate the long, pus-matted black equine head, the long, spindly legs that slowly drew Khloros along the outer edges of the amphitheatre. He seemed to be circling it, looking in; yet surely he could not see.

The horse was merely moving along, quiet, lost in thought as always. He kept to himself; and he was rarely approached. Part of that was his appearance, when the caves were light: a pus-coated, emaciated-looking creature. He looked sick. Others, he assumed, instinctively avoided him. And part of that was his odor, his stench: a miasma of disease.

One would have to be ill, themselves--or blind--to approach him. Well, now all were blind; they were on equal footing, there. Perhaps someone would be sick enough to not care at his rancid stink.

Khloros wandered, for now, the ghostlight eyes a beacon to his location, his mind lost wondering--as it often did--on Orion, on who must have once lived here, and on how they might have died. At how insubstantial and fleeting mortality could be.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Envy was lost; they had wandered until their throat burned, and their stomach began to pine for food, but no matter how hard they tried, they simply couldn't seem to find the way back to the stream where they presumed their Mother would be waiting for them, with paws full of freshly caught fish and a river full of light, and the illuminated pebble that Envy had hidden in their special sleeping spot waiting to be played with or used. Envy felt like they'd wandered far, but alas, Orion was very big, and their legs were very short.

The tall, towering but crumbled buildings towered around them, blocking sight to anything which might have provided a hint as to where they were, one indistinguishable from the next.

And yet- as the emaciated little one turned around yet another corner and wandered out onto yet another empty street, they began to hear the distant sound of hooves drawing ever louder; something that told them someone was heading their way. And they could see lights, too- a dull green glow that dimply illuminated their way. Without hesitation, Envy trotted towards the light, sucking in breaths to soothe their tortured throat. Their tongue, dry as it was, couldn't shake the bitter tang of their gem, and Envy shuddered, trying to tap into the power that had brought them back from the brink the last time.

They felt a momentary surge of power flowing through them, and the hair along their back raised in a brief shudder of pleasure, and then they felt their mouth moisten, their fur growing damp and a shudder of joy rushing through them. This time hadn't been disatrous- the little weasel felt confidence jolt in their heart. Maybe they could make it- they were finally beginning to get the grip! They didn't even need to go back to the stream!

Their stomach loudly disagreed.

The hoofbeats against stone were growing louder, and as Envy rounded one last corner, they saw him- a huge, towering beast that caused them to freeze in their tracks, standing stock still. Although sized as an ordinary horse, with Envy at only four inches long, the stranger was a giant to them.

"Speech"

The tall black horse was lost in thoughts, so when the unending expanses of rock before him--visible only at quite close range, lit by his eyeglow--were suddenly and inexplicably interrupted by the shape of a weasel, he was quite surprised.

Khloros pulled up short, head jerking back and up, staring down. He snorted through wide, pus-caked nostrils, and peered unblinking down at the tiny shape.

Is it one of those who can think, and speak, or is it a mindless, like the rats? It does not look like the rats; but it seems smaller, even, than they.

Curious, the thin horse took two steps forward, lowering his head all the way down, his ears pricked up. His demeanor was not threatening, but then, he was very large. As he came he sent out his magic, reaching like thin fingers of energy, trying to feel whether the creature before him was a healthy one, a strong one.

"Hello?" he tried, long head tilting slightly.

It would be interesting, he thought, to have some company for once--darkness, or not.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

With the towering creature leaning over them, peering at them, Envy shied down, long body arching until their front and hind paws rested uncomfortably close to one another, and it was only now that the little one caught the scent that shadowed them; a scent so powerful and so rank that it caused their eyes to water. They opened their maw wide and stuck out their tongue, the smell bringing nausea once again to the forefront of their mind and causing them to cover up their nose with a small pink paw.

"Aargh! That's disgusting!" they shrieked as though nothing else was of consequence, rising up onto their hind paws and covering up their nose even harder. "The smell! Blech! Make it stop, idiot!"

Envy glared at them with lilac eyes narrowed, though tilted their head at the sound of their voice, looking insulted as though the giant horse wasn't entitled to speak to them. Either that, or as though their tone implied Envy was unintelligent. Still, the small weasel continued to shy away; that head alone was many times the size of their entire form.

"Hello!" they responded sharply, skittering backwards. "What do you want?" they didn't care to remember that they were the one who'd sought out this huge and smelly creature.


"Speech"

His magic whispered along his senses, bringing back the knowledge that this tiny thing was not sick. It was healthy, so far as he could tell, though the sensations coming back from the small creature were faint indeed. It was, perhaps, simply too small for his magic to truly "find."

Khloros listened, meanwhile, to its words with none of the idle movements one might expect from a healthy living being: he barely breathed, and there was no twitch of his ears, no blinking of his ghostlight eyes, no swish of his tail. He also showed no signs of insult, as he heard the angry words spat toward him. He simply listened, taking what the weasel said and turning it over and over in his mind, examining, considering.

Disgusting. My appearance? What do I want?

At length, he did blink, considering for a moment that the tiny creature might be some sort of wish-granting fairy. The thought was here and gone before it could truly take root, though, and he found himself considering, instead, the question. He rolled it over and over in his mind, standing silent--and stinking--for some time before responding.

What do I want? His thoughts stretched out and brushed through the web of his memory, of those who had suffered, of those he had aided, or killed.


"I want," Khloros slowly responded, his voice raspy and damaged, "to put an end to pain."

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

In the long silence, Envy recoiled some more at the scent and had soon squirmed their way back to a more comfortable distance, their body winding up coiled against the ground and their neck craning to peer at them nervously, judging the situation. If the large one decided to attack, there was no feasible way to get away, they thought, not in this state. Right now, it would be safest to sit here and wait, see if they could find a moment of distraction to slip out.

Besides, maybe it was friendly...?

Envy looked into those wide and unblinking eyes, caught another whiff of their sickness-inducing scent, coiled some more, and found that they sincerely doubted it. Their back end began to twitch in a subconscious desperation to flee even though their front paws remained rooted firmly to the ground.

When finally they responded, in a voice that was ancient and broken, Envy found themselves chilled to the core, not just by their words, but by their voice. Their nausea was beginning to mount again, even though they new there wouldn't be much left in their stomach to lose. Their vision began to swim and jaws, drool. It was as though the huge horse was seeing right through them; Envy's mind immediately went to their brief life, one full of suffering. but that made them realize that they didn't want it to end now.

One thought came to the forefront of their mind and refused to go away. Suddenly they were paralysed in fear,
not even instinct able to convince them to move.

"P...Pain...? ...My... pain?" they asked at length, the words struggling to emerge.

They began to tremble, clearly terrified. Their breaths quickened, smelling of metal. and their heart-rate had mounted to an almost constant note, like the beating of a hummingbird's wings.


"Speech"

Khloros peered down as the tiny creature reacted in fear, jittering away and coiling up at the very limit of his vision. The darkness was near complete, but still she remained, barely visible in the faint pool of sickly light cast by his own eyes.

What does it fear? He slowly lifted his long head, looking about with a small turn of his thin neck, nostrils flaring as he took scent. But bar his own stench, he could smell nothing--no odor of predator or blood. What, then, sent them scurrying, so?

He turned his attention back to Envy, considering. It was fearful of the notion of his... ending pain. Did it enjoy pain, then? More importantly, was it in pain?

He paced a couple of steps closer, though he did not draw too close, respecting the creature's space and apparent terror of him. He peered with unblinking eyes, and uttered a soft and whuffling snort of bewilderment.

"Are you in pain?" he asked, his voice raspy, but his tone as mild and as unthreatening as before. He was gripped by a sort of empty curiosity, very little emotion stirring within his blight-damaged soul.

Must it be killed? Or perhaps helped? I wonder what ails it, or perhaps I have misunderstood.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Envy saw them look away, look around- and in that moment, they felt -no, they knew- that they should have bolted, but they remained locked in place, eyes round and confused as they were fearful. They sniffed, but whatever they smelled, they didn't let on.

Their voice- the same as before, that same, ancient voice, prying, piercing, this time asking them. Envy's ears drooped. They opened their jaws to speak, but instead emptied their gut of bile onto the stony ground, the bitter taste knocking them from frozen terror into action- but instead of running, they burst into tears. "Noooo!" they yelled, dropping onto their belly and covering their face with their paws. Despite their efforts to keep everything inside, words came tumbling out. "I might be hungry and thirsty, but I don't hurt! Please don't try to end the pain because it's not pain! I don't wanna die!"

Humiliation and fear bubbled almost to breaking point, and they hated that feeling.

Their size, their scent, and their words- even though the motives behind them were insubstantial at best- created assumptions and ideas, and they found themselves fearful of the large death horse.



"Speech"

It is terrified.

Khloros peered down, for a time, listening to the creature howl in terror and cower from him. Why? He was no monster. In fact, upon slow consideration of his past, there had been those who had once called him "God."

Slowly, a faint sense of pity stirred the stallion's generally insensitive heart. He considered, and after brief hesitation, came to a decision: he lowered himself gradually down, onto his front knees, then folded his body neatly onto the rock, watching the weasel from a distance.

There, he thought; I am no threat to you, little one.

Aloud, however, all he said was--

"I did not come to bring you pain. I will not harm you."

He then paused, considering, watching the cowering weasel, and spoke again.

"There is little water, here. What is it that you eat?" His voice was quiet, gentle despite its rasp, and curious. The emotions--though dulled--were there, and he had no intention of harming Envy. Not now, anyway. Not yet; he had no reason to.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

Envy lay on their belly, their eyes welling and breaths short and sharp, as they sniffled dramatically into their paws. They raised their head and watched as the equine lowered themselves down onto the rocky earth with their legs folded beneath them. It was only now that they could see the state their body was in- almost as bony as their own, matted and ragged to boot. Envy let out one last sniff and was silent, ears twitching lightly.

"You didn't? Are you sure?" they asked doubtfully, scrambling to their paws. and just like that, their fear turned to anger. Rage at their own humiliation boiled in their belly and even as the nausea subsided their emotions had begun to turn bitter. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" they muttered, at no-one in particular. Finally they returned their gaze to the horse. "Hmph. Is that so you can tease me? I wasn't crying, by the way." they huffed, thinking back, and feeling their ears burning.

As they were questions, Envy shook off the resentment, somewhat, and tried to sit tall and proud as they could, their still-watery gaze fixed on the horse.

"Mouse is good," Envy said matter-of-factly, their jaws watering slightly, even though the acidic taste of bile somewhat quelled their appetite. "And fish is too. But eating is hard."

They flicked their tail at the horse, remaining a safe distance of several feet away from the horse. It wasn't like they'd want to move in closer with that smell hanging about them.

"Who are you, anyway?"