Thunder (G/T P!Septiplier)

Through the Grapevine

The heated waters felt like floating on a cloud beneath the warm rays of the sun. For a moment, Jack could imagine that he wasn't sitting here, tethered to this alien "earth" 's ground. It was as if he was high above himself, above Amy and Mark, their voices so far away yet crystal clear, like snow or the night sky.

Crystal clear... 

The deep violet sky surrounded him, but all around glittered thousands, millions, of stars twinkling high overhead. Their ancestors, and all the lives of creatures who's time had come and gone. Their cycles had yet to begin anew, and here was above the blanket of scattered clouds, free to admire the beauty of life. Free to follow her heart and journey wherever she wanted in the heavens.

She took forward with momentum and bounded across the skies with unfathomable agility, abandoning the place above the ancient springs. She couldn't help but watch over this forest, despite its history: it was as if a part of her had never left the shelter of that turquoise canopy. But she knew her place was here, in the skies, watching over their creation. How many trips had she taken through this same route? How many times did she feel so tired that her eyes would droop and close, only to open and continue as she was? 

Her hooves struck the next cloud, cool snowy fog emanating around them like they did that fateful day. Oh how it still hurt to hear her brother's cries, who howled his beautiful songs only for her. She followed the same river that her ichor had created, starry eyes piercing through the veil of trees to study the lands out of her reach. Tiny wings stroked the air. Hearts beat in bodies strong and frail. Leaves quivered as they clutched their branches and flowers in cold sleep, all basking in her glow and haze.

Tonight, her journey called her further toward the upper ice cap, near the mountains. And her heart leaped like her graceful steps at the chance to go. Perhaps she could venture close enough into his domain, to the peaks her height, that they could see each other again. 

But Harmony had to be maintained... At all costs...

"... ack? Jack, Jack!" Jack sharply blinked awake, and he realized he was lying on his back, soaked from head to toe. He stared up at Mark and Amy's concerned stares for a brief second, and then he sat up and looked around, bewildered.

"Wh-wha...? I'm—?" He checked himself over, then stared back up at the couple with wide eyes. 

"Are you alright, Jack?" The human gave a nod, allowing Mark to relax his shoulders with a relieved sigh. "You must have been tired. We looked and saw you had fallen beneath the water's surface." Jack glanced at the springs that were just visible behind the giant. Strange, he couldn't recall how long he had... With a jolt in his chest, Jack flipped his head back up once more, and he saw that the moons were no longer directly above him. The snow clouds had disappeared as well, not that they ever touched this holy site.

"How long did I...? But I was just...!?" Jack gestured nonsensically up at the night sky and ground, leaving Mark to bunch his brow together as he failed to understand. The human abruptly hauled himself up onto his feet, and he limped over to Mark's hand to give the warrior's wrist a demanding push, coupled with dragging his hand across the skin in the shape of a parabola.

"Oh, you want to draw." Mark quickly turned toward their discarded belongings, which Amy moved ahead of him for and handed his bag. With a grateful nod, he turned back to Jack to set it down in the lush grass beside him, and his free hand quickly thereafter offered two simple tools: a decently large stone tablet, and a quickly re-heated blob of paint, both formerly tucked beneath the pelts at the very bottom of the pouch.