@Adrien asked if it was normal so he could tell she couldn't have been here longer than a year at least, so as they worked he shook his head, "No. It gets colder in the winter, but its supposed to be cool and lovely and blooming green right now. But this isn't the first time strange weather has overtaken the island. I don't think it will be the last either." It was was hard not be taken back to those long months lost in the Mist, uncertain if he was even living or dead, wondering if maybe he'd drowned in the ocean and left in purgatory. "Especially here," he said in agreement to her assessment that there was no place like home, "There is a magic here I don't think I could find anywhere else." It was nice to think about the brighter sides of his life for once. The accented lioness seemed to be the sort to bring that out in the others. It was nice. Brave, too, as she seemed content to remain on her own and trust herself to keep out of such violence. "Just... don't walk into any weird mists, okay? From personal experience, its no fun." He's serious, but he laughs as he says it, seeing the perspective from an outsider's view for once. Sometimes his life seemed very absurd when he tried to explain it. "Sure," he agrees to steer this time, doing the same thing she had as they began to shift the next part of their makeshift staircase toward the edge. The water was still rising but the storm seemed to finally be slacking off at least. Khal's heavy blonde mane was drenched and clinging to his neck, but there was little point in shaking it out until the rain stopped altogether.

So the chill that currently blanketed the pine forest was unnatural indeed. "I hope I get to see it like that soon, then." As lovely as the snow-covered pines had been, there was something special that came with the lushness of spring, the surge of flowers and greenery that bloomed across the land. How nice would the forest smell, once the pine branches were no longer smothered in frost?

"It is odd though. How everything seems to be going wrong everywhere, but in different ways." The rockslide that had trapped her in the labyrinth, the storms suddenly rolling in on the coast, and even the deluge that they were presently being drenched in as they worked. "Maybe it truly is magic." She commented with a not-quite smirk, amusement sparkling in her violet eyes. "I just hope you have more good magic than bad."

@Khal's advice about mist does indeed sound like a perplexing thing, but considering the number of things currently going haywire, Adrien feels inclined to take him at face value. "If you say so, I'll do my best to resist the temptation." She gave him a serious nod, but she can't quite hold back from joining in with his laughter. He's a rather likeable man, she thinks. One who allows her to feel genuinely playful.

The journey to the pit's edge seems to go faster this time now that they are somewhat familiar with the pattern, though Adrien does find the task of pushing the rock to be more taxing. She isn't that delicate though, so she manages. "Watch your toes." She called as the second step of their staircase finally rolled over the edge. She peered after it with squinting eyes, gaze critical. Yes. Yes, this seemed to be working out alright, even if the stacking was unpredictable. "Well! Two down and...er, maybe three more to go?" She glanced at her companion with a shrug, tossing her sopping wet bangs out of her eyes.

"I think I saw some more over here." She calls over her shoulder, paws already carrying on to the next decently sized stone. They might be here for a while indeed, but at least she was in good company.

/exit Adrien via finishing stacking stones in the rain?




speech

code by Cloudy; art by irish

Mistrusting as he usually was, Khal also believed deeply in his own instincts, and they all told him that Adrien was a bright and kind spirit. Perhaps if they met again they could even call each other friends. "I would say its not always like this, but it happens more than you'd like. All I hope is to maybe be able to predict it one day." He replied as they worked, guiding the boulder they pushed as they went, referencing a desire to master the art of pathfinding, becoming attune enough with nature to live outside the comforts of a permanent home. Like his mother had in her own youth. Her parents had manage to build a life outside of politics and raise children together, hadn't they? It was something the Valour man dreamed of for himself and his own beloved. "Whether the good outweighs the bad remains to be seen, but if you're ever curious about the more mystical things that can happen here, I could tell you about some of it sometime." Maybe not when they were being pelted with mud and rain perhaps, but his unique position as half 'outsider', half native made it easier for him to bridge the gap for the new reality the newcomers sometimes faced. As they watched the second boulder roll haphazardly into some semblance of an appropriate place, he raised a muddied paw to forehead and pushed his own blonde locks away from his face. He nodded in affirmation to @Adrien's suggestion of three more, though there was a slight burning in his muscles already. He supposed that just meant he was getting a good workout in. exit khal via stacking rocks fade