Inhuman Relations #9
"How far is it?" You ask breathlessly, tiring from even your short sprint; you are unused to your ungainly hooves.
"All too close," the sphinx mutters, lashing her tail and springing over the rise. "Half an hour or so, not that we can measure the time with watches or anything. Do you have a watch?"
"Uh, no, I don't," you mumble, as if ashamed. "I did, but - "
"Figures," Sadhana cuts across without waiting for you to finish. "That's his trick. Doesn't allow you anything from your old life so you'll slowly forget it. Or at least that's what he believes. Cruel bastard. Can't even tell the time now. Without that, surely all we are is dumb animals? Slowly becoming less and less..."
Falling silent, you follow her over the rise, glancing back at the barren landscape, the valley sliced into a U-shape as if, many years ago, a glacier had carved a path through, leaving little mounds of moraine during its destructive retreat. With suspicions in mind, you stride beind the sphinx, stilling suddenly at the sight of a clear lake, cut into the side of the mountain like a giant's bowl. A sheer cliff rises ominously behind the lake, casting a dark shadow over the water, which you suspect is freezing. Even in the low light, the surface seems to dance and sparkle, regardless that there is not a single hint of a breeze to stir it into life. Though the air is pleasantly warm against your short hair coat, you shiver and hug your arms around your frame; Sadhana huffs impatiently and swats her tail at you, waking you from your dreamy reverie.
"See the lake?" She says, dropping to her haunches with a soft sigh of feathers.
"It's pretty hard to miss," you answer shortly - the question does not really merit an answer in your current condition.
"Don't be like that," she snorts. "I thought you wanted help? The bow's at the bottom of the lake."
"At the bottom of the lake," you repeat incredulously, advancing towards the dark waters. "And how, pray tell, am I to reach this wonderful bow?"
Smirking, Sadhana looks you up and down, appraising you for the task ahead.
"You swim of course."
"Divine," you mutter, pacing warily to the edge of the shallows and staring down into the darker water, where the light did not reach. "How did this bow get here, anyway? It's not like it was lying around for someone to find since forever, right?"
Stretching laboriously, the sphinx settles herself down on top of the curiously warm pebbles - there is no sun for them to borrow heat - her head dropping to her paws as she makes herself comfortable.
Written by Amethyst Mare on 19 June 2012
