No Man’s Land.
A Horse stands idly, its Rider brushing its fur.
Drewitt.
War.
“My life has been one plagued by loneliness, one where I walked a lonesome road with no one but my experiences by my side.” He shakes his head, patting his steed. “Yet, even at my most exiled, I could always trust that I had someone in my shadow. For so long, my confidant was a hound of war named Colt.”
The horse, fur blood red, leans into Drewitt’s touch as he takes the reins in hand. He tugs tightly, watching as the stallion lowers itself to him.
“In life, as in war, you must be willing to place your trust in one another. Many in Arcadia allow their lives to lay in the hands of shared blood, shared ideals, their meetings tied together by pure fate. A thin red string not unlike the reins of my steed that connects them together.”
Placing his boot in its stirrup, Drewitt mounts his horse, sitting on his saddle with a sense of belonging, his steed rising without provocation. “Yet,” he says with a chuckle, “unlike the leather in my hands, the string of fate is a fickle, fragile thing. With every moment that it experiences even the slightest friction, it begins to fray.”
Drewitt looks towards the darkness in front of himself, his horse marching forward ever knowing towards the dust before them. “And in the frays, all it takes is one moment, one quick tug, a single slice of the edge of eternity to cleave their bond in twain.” As the beast continues its stride Drewitt reaches out, carving through the dust of No Man’s Land.
“And those who put their faith in their ally, their family, even their best friend… They must come to terms with the fact that the bond they once shared may never be repaired. You could try and tie the string of fate back together, but even the tightest knots can become undone.”
Together, horse and rider, Drewitt walks through the dust, ending up side by side with another rider, another steed.
Gemini.
Pestilence.
Drewitt looks towards his ally, giving her a confident nod. “We are Horse and Rider, omens of war held together by a bond even stronger than fate. By the burden of battle. The hoofbeats of our stride like war drums on the horizon.”
“Our relationship, like these reins, are unbreakable. The connection between us is stronger than any two soldiers, the blood beneath its hooves mere remnants of the fates who succumb to us. We are the pestilence of your companionships, the final plague that will bring your fragile camaraderie to an end as we tear your bonds in two.”
His horse shakes the dust from its mane, Drewitt giving it a reassuring pat on the neck as he stares out towards the horizon. “With the sound of hooves comes a plague, comes desolation.”
Following Gemini’s lead, Drewitt’s steed marches forwards, side by side.
“Together, we ride on. To Pestilence. To War.”
His words echo alongside Gemini’s, a haunting refrain to her horrid promise.”
“Together.”