From Myth to Nightmare || Nuriko x Raksha || Private

Alone again. Only a few hours ago she would have been glad to be sole again but now it was strange and it felt uncomfortable. The presence of the vivid colt had been soothing for her soul and now that he left she felt really odd. Raksha had no idea for how long she stood there, and watched the door that had closed behind the young pegasus colt.
The mare had promised to meet him and his adoptive parents later, but for now it was wiser to leave.
When they finally found the way back to the city, Breidan looked tired, and still a little bit shocked. And he was slightly limping.
Beside him was she, in comparison to the small colt a gigantic mare, with scales spread over her face, legs and back. Not to forget the massive antlers on her head. No one would doubt that she was a kirin.
Mare and colt presented a curious sight and almost every horse they crossed had a shocked expression on their face. They all drew the wrong conclusion, but no one was brave enough to confront the kirin.
Or at least, not directly. Raksha would learn later that one or two of them directly ran to the King’s Guide.
Her plan was to make her way back to the labyrinth. She just wanted to get out of the city again, away from the crowd with their accusing gazes and murmured insults. The kirin mare tried not to pay attention to them at that actually worked - to the point where some horse blocked her way.
Raksha stopped and looked down on the unicorn. It was a stallion, blue roan coat and extraordinary blue-colored horns. His mane and tail also had a blue tint, probably dyed. But maybe the most striking on his appearance were his clothes. Most other horses she had seen since her awakening were barely dressed. A few subtle cloaks or jewelry here and there, but nothing like that. He seemed important.
“What do you want?” she snorted coldly and met his gaze.

Her ears folded flat against her neck as he looked her up and down, sizing her up, judgingly. “Funny, I could say the same about this herd” the mare replied sharply and slightly lifted her head to make herself even bigger than she already was.
So Breidan really had said the truth. Other kirins did actually live down here, the unicorn just had confirmed it. She had to find a way to meet them, sooner or later.

When the stallion told her the reason for his visit, she let out a choppily laughter, but it was no humour in it. “Would have anyone cared if I had a horn, or wings instead of scales and antlers?” she asked scornfully. It was a rhetorical question and she knew the answer.
“I’ll go with you, but I fear it will be a rather short walk, for I can summarize the story briefly.”

The mare walked beside him and took a quick glance at him from the side. “Raksha. No miss. And who are you? A Guardian of Justice?” she asked suspiciously.

He expressed himself well, that and his robes told him that he was someone important and that she’d better not made him angry.
“Long story short, the colt got lost in the tunnels, on his way to school. I was there at random and lead him the way out. At first everything was alright, but when he saw that I’m a Kirin, he started to panick. He blindly ran away and his ankle got stuck between two stones. I released him and brought him home. That is it. The truth”

The Kings Guide. So that was interesting. That conversation could either turn out rather well for her, or really, really bad if she managed to upset the proud equine beside her.
It was clear from only one look at him that he was an advisor, not an executor. His cloth were impractical for a possible fight. His mind was vigilant, but not his body. Definitely not a fighter.
And Raksha had no idea why or how she noticed the subtle signs that told her all that.

“There is no need to thank me for that, everyone had done the same in my place.” she said lightly and out of the corner of her eye she noticed the strange look that Nuriko gave her. “What? Is it such a great surprise that I helped him instead of...what? Torture an innocent colt? Eating him alive? I’m no monster.” Her voice was cold and sharp as ice.

She definitely had enough of those horses, looking at her as if she was about to set their rumps on fire.
“Let’s just say that I’m in the labyrinth for a while. Your people let me no other choice. They didn’t seemed like they would tolerate me in the city…I woke up in Sterling. A really unfriendly horse brought me to Nariah, he told me that there are other kirins here, and the colt confirmed that.”
It wouldn’t be a disadvantage for her to tell him that, for it was rather obvious that someone in her situation would try to find other kirins.
“I wanted him to show me the way out of this...tunnels, but he told me that kirins aren’t allowed to leave this place. Why not? If everyone here seems to hate my kin so badly, why am I not allowed to go home?”
Now the slight tone of frustration and anger mingled into her voice, while she looked directly at the King’s Guide.

It made her feel wake to depend on his lead, but she was more than aware that she would get lost in that tunnel maze within a few minutes on her own.
“I understand that this situation must be...difficult for your herd, but for us...me and the other kirins is it even harder. Not only that every equine I met so far has treated me like I’m about to come into their home and wipe out their whole family. And I don’t even know why. I don’t even know who I AM. What gives them the right to judge me if they know even less about me than I do?” she asked with a frustrated undertone in her voice. And it was not only that. It was about this terrible place. Her bones ached under the weight of the earth above her head and from the few flashbacks she had when she woke up, it was also clear why she felt that way.
“I know, and I’m sorry for my reactions it’s just...not easy. I don’t like to admit it but I really could use some help.”
The kirin mare’s ears moved back and forth, the sounds become louder, so they must get closer to the city again. And Raksha had no idea if she was glad about that or not.
“I’d like to learn...would I be able to get some books? About the fate of my people? And what have happened in the world afterwards?” she asked a little unwillingly.

Despite everything her mood lightened up immediately when he mentioned another kirin. The name didn’t sounded familiar but at least it was a brethren. Well presumed that this king’s guide wasn’t playing a fool trick on her.
“I’d be glad to meet him. Thank you”