While this thread is AW, it is asked that Rift be allowed to post first.
Continued from this thread.

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Anticipation wreathed the Arborspire as though it were its own magic, an element shot through with hope and sparks of excitement. It seemed as though the Sanctuary held its breath, the birdsong falling silent as though in wait.

A shadow passed from the forest into the clearing beneath the great tree, one that seemed formed of the very shadows of the jungle, sleek and silent in its movements. It stood six feet tall, the tines of branching antlers stretching for even greater heights. The rubies sat within the sockets of its eyes gleamed as it looked around, as though--despite being gemstones--they could see the forest around them. The great cat curled itself into a sitting position, the vines and autumnal leaves wreathing its form rustling and then falling still. It seemed a statue, then, the only movement a soft, pulsing glow from the veins of what might have been ruby gemstone peeking through its hide in jagged stripes. These held warm colors, as though fire guttered low within the beast.



The tension was broken. The birdsong resumed, the Sanctuary now sounding as though whatever it had been waiting for had arrived. Bated breath had turned to joy, and the Arborspire felt complete.

@Rift

Not long after the visage of Sebastian disappeared into the forest, Rift came crashing after him. He stopped at the edge of the treeline, amazed at the sight before him. The great cat sitting before the tree, statue-like in its stillness, regal in its pose. The birdsong in the trees and the faint glow of the Arborspire gave it an air of serenity he'd never felt before. It felt as if there was a missing piece that was now filled, an empty place Sebastian had left, now given purpose again.

He approached slowly, almost unsure of himself at first, winding his way through his garden until he approached the guardian figure that looked like his brother. He could remember flashes and pieces of Sebastian. They had the same body, the same face, although the eyes were different and he didn't remember him being so large, or covered in streaks and vines. Perhaps part of the wish, or some magic deep within Eridanus that had changed him into something new.

Just like Rift was something new, now.

He stopped before him, looking up and tilting his head. "Hey. Are you...Sebastian? Or are you something else?"

The shift in the creature's position would be enough of an answer for many: the slightest turn of the body, the head moving ever-so-slightly so that those ruby eyes could capture and hold Rift in their regard. There was something otherworldly in that movement, something not only of Gembound. The gaze, though peaceful, was empty of recognition.

It did not speak, as yet. It simply watched and seemingly listened, for the moment, observing Rift with placid calm.

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Others may now join this thread.

@Rift

Oliver had followed only a little behind Rift. He didn't want to intervene, or interfere, just... be with him, just in case. Just in case something went wrong, or... even if it didn't.

He wanted to help, in any way he could.

Sebastian--was it him?--looked so very different. And he acted differently, too. Oliver wasn't sure if this was his wish fulfilled, not truly. He looked... at peace, dignified, in a quiet way that the panther never had. Like something... ancient, he thought.

Not only that; but the little glade, too, seemed to open branching arms to welcome him. It was as though he belonged here. Like this was his place, too--Rift's, and this new guardian's, this guardian who had once been a friend.

Oliver came up half-alongside Rift, stopping just before he'd pulled even with him. He looked at him, then to Sebastian, but...

...the cat did not answer.

Oliver didn't speak, afraid to break the moment, somehow. Instead, he watched in nervous awe.

The panther's head turned to look at him and for a moment, Rift was hopeful, but looking into his eyes, into the expression on his face, calm and blank, he realized that he didn't know him. It wasn't Sebastian, not really.

But...that was okay. Rift had come to terms with it. He took a deep breath and sat down next to the massive guardian. "That's...okay. I am Rift. This is...was my garden. But I think it's more now? It's not just mine anymore. Just like how I'm not really the same Rift and you're not...Sebastian." As he spoke, he willed flowers to gently open around the Shephard, flowers that he distantly connected to Sebastian, but he was nervous and still trying to catch up with reality. The magic twisted and instead a number of weeds began to overtake the nearby grass. He frowned. Well, damn he was gonna have to deal with that later.

"We were both friends - brothers in another life. We both died. And we're both new. I only remember flashes but its ok...if you don't remember anything. Do you remember anything?" He wasn't hopeful, but he felt a little lost in the presence of this calm protector that seemed to know his purpose, even though he had only just stepped among the trees for the first time.

The Shepherd remained perched there, peaceful and ethereal in the wake of spreading grasses. One great paw lifted, and it was surreal for a beat, like the cracking of a stone statue with veins of visible red beneath; this was then placed down gently upon the weeds. It simply remained there.

Life was life, whatever label one might deem it. The weeds, too, were beloved.

There was a long moment's staring, as the creature considered Rift and--perhaps--his words. It wasn't clear if he understood, or would even speak. Perhaps he was merely a forest spirit, as feral as a bird or deer. The second ticked on. But then he did speak, a voice not unlike that he'd once had, but deeper for his size, and holding a strange (but not unpleasant) reverberating echo to it.

"I remember... purpose." One ear flicked, and the red eyes--once fiery--blinked slowly. "Friend. Protector. Flames... among the trees." Then its gaze lifted, staring off into the forest, and it lapsed once more into silence.

@Rift

The voice resonated something in him, distantly familiar, painfully different, and he knew that's what Sebastian's voice had sounded like. But just a little different, a little more.

A friend, that's what they were. A protector, yes, Sebastian had always protected him and the forest. It was enough. Two old friends, two new lives, yet still connected.

Rift's chest rumbled in his content and he turned towards Oliver with a smile in his eyes. "It's not him, but it's okay. Kind of like how I'm not me anymore. You know?"

He looked back up at the Shephard. "And you are here to protect again? The sanctuary and the forest?" He glanced back at the forest, seeing, just beyond the line of the trees of the Sanctuary, the glimmer of white. "It is not in the healthiest state at the moment."

There was another long, stretching silence, almost as if this echo of Sebastian waited for the breeze to pass--to 'speak' uninterrupted--before answering Rift. Again it was a response of very few words, slow and distant, as though this Shepherd spoke from a place of consciousness that was not quite the usual Gembound's point of view.

"Yes." A pause, those red eyes finding Rift's green. "And those within it."

Oliver, crouching a little behind Rift as to remain unobtrusive, glanced to him and nodded. "Yeah," he answered softly.

Beyond that he still did not want to interrupt. He watched, with awe--and deeply pleased, too, that his wish had worked. Sort of.

It hadn't made things the same as they'd once been, but... it had brought peace to Rift, and returned life to a creature that had died. ...Mostly?

A sudden thought occurred to him, and he physically jolted. He didn't want to interrupt, but it bothered him. "Rift?" he asked softly. "Is it weird that... the forest is sick because of Order... but they're the ones who gave you back his stone?" Deep confusion roiled through him. Did it mean something, that they'd given back the essence of a protector of the very forest they were tainting?

It couldn't be a trap, could it? They could not have known that Oliver would Wish it back to life. Yet... what if it had been tainted, or changed, or... Or they had some use for this new Guardian?

He shook his head, brow furrowed, but the coincidence was too strange and he couldn't dismiss the thought entirely.

@Rift