❝Its been far too long, Lan.❞ Voice carrying within its soft timbre a warm familiarity as Akivili floats up toward the concealed visage of colossal cosmic divinity. The Trailblaze appears meager in the shadow of towering retribution that was the Hunt, but felt not a trace of intimidation when seeking audience from whom was considered a dear friend. Just as They occasionally had before Their disappearance.
Stars bend to Their will, drawn forth to pool beneath Their feet. Creating a lustrous platform on which They can stand level with Their companion's face. ❝Are you well?❞
The Reignbow Arbiter does not answer at once. The cosmos have fallen silent before Their bow countless times. Entire civilizations have held their breath from under the weight of The Hunt's gaze. Yet this silence is different. It is not the stillness before judgment. It is disbelief. Akivili ?
How many stars had bloomed, burned, and rupture since that voice last drifted acros the heavens? Lan had learned long ago that counting only made the absence heavier and The Hunt does not look backwards.
The name leaves The Reignbow Arbiter scarcely louder than a whisper, as though speaking it too loudly might shatter the illusion before Them. It is not denial born of anger. It is denial born of hope too painful to embrace. It is impossible. How can this be?
“Your path ended. I've traveled to the end of the broken Silver Line and found not even a trace of you. I searched long beyond that and there was nothing left to follow. Tell me … how?"
The confession is quiet. Their voice catches, not from weakness, not ever from weakness, but from a grief that had fossilized into something ancient. It was grief that had forged Lan into divinity. It was rage that had drawn The Skybow into existence across the heavens. The endless pursuit of vengeance had become Their purpose, Their path, but Akivili has taught Lan the joy of the journey itself. The companion who turned every hunt into an adventure, every distant world into an invitation, every unknown horizon into something worth chasing simply because it was there.
All that died with The Trailblaze and nothing remained but duty. There is no joy in the pursuit, there never was, and it was all folly from the start and foolish of Lan to believe it so.
"I accepted that I would never hear your voice again."
The colossal size of The Hunt lowers Their head ever so slightly, bringing Their concealed visage nearer to Akivili. Close enough to truly see. To search for some flaw in the illusion.
But there is none. Only an old friend.
Just as Lan remembered Them.
The question, when it comes, is almost fragile.
"Cloudstrider, my friend ... how are you truly here?"
Every road walked alone. Every moment Lan had looked toward the endless horizon, knowing The Trailblaze would never appear over it again. It is not the question of a hunter seeking truth. But of a friend who, after an eternity of mourning, cannot bring themself to believe that The Trailblaze has finally returned.
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