ORIGIN

Water.

Karma was drawn to it. Not in the same way, perhaps, as one who drew magical power from it; quite the opposite, in fact. Right now, water was very much her enemy, a source of frustration and embarrassment unlike anything she’d thus encountered in her short time of existence. She stood for some time, staring down into the icy depths of the river, violet eyes lost in the infinite flow of rushing water. The rapids spoke in their ancient language, chattering endlessly as they frothed and rushed against one another, only to intertwine into a single flow. She didn’t understand the words, but she listened to the cacophony, and it soothed her in the unique way that wild places can. She sighed, taking a step closer to an area of the bank that wasn’t quite so severe in slope, and reached her head down to take a drink.

The water was bright, clear, and shockingly cold. As such, it was immensely satisfying, though it was so cold that it sent chills racing down her spine. She ventured to put a tentative hoof in the edge, enjoying the feeling of the water as it pulled at her slender limb. It was such a powerful thing, so uncontrollable, so eager to pull her in and drag her away to the dark unknown.

The thought thrilled her nearly as much as it frightened her.

She looked downstream, tracing the currents until they disappeared behind the stone it had bitten into. Satisfied, she pulled her hoof from the water. Her journeys had left her weary, and with a cursory glance to ensure she wasn’t under immediate threat, she took a few steps to a large smooth stone and folded her legs beneath. The sound of rushing water lulled her as she began to doze, oblivious to what dangers might befall a lone child sleeping in the heart of the caverns.

She awoke, delightedly helpless, into a world vastly unlike her own. Trees rose around her, but they were much unlike the primal survivors she’d encountered in Eridanus. Ancient oaks towered high above, up into a blue ceiling that seemed infinitely far away. Below, they shaded a peaceful grove, where Karma found herself wild and carefree. Faceless fawns danced around her, playing, and for a moment she ran with them. Thunder rumbled in the distance, but the children didn’t care; what was rain to a wild thing? It grew more ominous and more frequent, however, and concern began to creep into her heart. She turned for a moment away from her friends, but when she turned, there was only white tails fleeing into the forest in alarm. From what, she dared not look, but simply bolted in their direction, eager to catch up. As she entered the forest they had slipped into only a moment before, they were already nearing the farthest reaches of her vision. The fawn doubled her efforts, amazed at her own grace and agility as the ground seemed to fly underneath her footsteps.

And that’s when she fell.

She must not have seen the hole beneath the pile of autumn leaves covering it. It swallowed her whole in an instant, plunging her into total darkness. Shocked, the fawn jumped from her slumber, quite confused for a moment to find herself curled up next to a babbling river. This held no comparison, however, to the shock that awaited her as her eyes focused on a large rock she hadn’t recalled before, oddly stacked. In her grogginess, she watched as it almost seemed to be moving. And somehow… the thunder was here. She must still be dreaming, right? As if the original nightmare wasn’t ambiguous enough. Violet eyes watched the rushing water for a moment, and it was only when she looked back up to the golem that it occurred to her that it was moving, and in fact, was moving much more quickly than she liked.

The fawn sprang to her feet, terrified. The scrapes of the monstrous thing became all too real as she stumbled backward in a mixture of awe and horror. Karma began to bolt away from the thing, away from the river, instinct winning the battle with her natural inclination for curiosity. Wildly, she glanced around for some kind of something- anything to help her. Panicked and uninspired by what she finds, the fawn focused hard on the ‘leg’ of the thing closest to the river, and wrenched with all her might, trying to pull the thing into the water.