#but - and this is HC territory again - a titan's process of dying can be LONG

[witchnordemon]

Collector paid no mind to Golden Guard's strange noise (another mortal thing, maybe?), but he absolutely frowned at his very similar thought process - that things had changed while Collector had been trapped... a lot. ❝ But that doesn't- it's not- I don't- ❞ He huffed, pouting and pulling on his sleeves as he crossed his arms, ❝ that's what I was thinkin', but that's not possible - Philip doesn't- he wouldn't... just not tell me about the sky changing, or the water changing, or the everything changing! ❞ By this point, his shadowed form had shifted from seated in front of Golden Guard, to traveling aimlessly up and down the walls; almost like he was pacing. ❝ Maybe it's been a long time. Like, so long, and things are... different. B-but, whatever happened, it happened after Philip got here! ❞ They rambled aloud, almost entirely just to reassure themself, about to posit the question to Golden Guard about when these huge changes occurred... when the Grimwalker in front of them (foolishly) doubted their extremely true and totally unbiased claims.

Oh. No way. They hovered above Golden Guard, a pout scowl evident on their face, they drew in a fake breath for effect, and... ❝ Nnnnoooooohhhh you don't get itttt! You've never seen one! ❞ They whined exclaimed, crossing their arms and traveling the floors and walls surrounding the two as they spoke, in spiral patterns; up and down and around. ❝ They don't die! They really don't! They're not like other Isles creatures! They're so powerful, almost as powerful as Collectors - it's why my siblings sent me to come play, they'd make good friends 'cause they're more like us than the other critters here! ❞ He turned to face the Grimwalker from where he was positioned, his shadowed form projecting forth from his disc to the very back wall of the room. ❝ They become all bones, but they're still in there. They're aware of what goes on around them! They're... their, uh, their- ❞ He paused, thumping the center of his chest soundlessly, ❝ that still works! They're different! ❞

Valor made a noise that betrayed his lack of certainty over the Collector's guess. ". . . Would it really be that far? You can't move in the disc, right? And you'd know if someone took you somewhere else? Maybe it's just . . . Maybe things just changed a lot. I mean, like I said when we first met, Lord Belos once sent me back to slay a bunch of stonesleepers when we found a time pool. I've been to the Hecktaceous Period before and that was a lot different than what either of us know and it was between both of our times. Maybe . . . Maybe the Sparkling Sea is the Boiling Sea, just . . . before it started boiling."

Valor sucked in a breath, the wince clear on his face. What the Collector was talking about sounded a lot like death and decomposition, and death didn't seem to be a thing they really knew much about. Definitely not extinction, at least. He'd already had to explain that to them.

Did he really want to tell them, though?

. . . It was important knowledge. None of his teachers ever cared about his feelings when they imparted knowledge, so he shouldn't let that stop him from informing the Collector.

"Collector . . . I'm pretty sure that's what death is. Getting too old to function and just . . . lying down and no longer moving, no longer breathing? Just being incredibly still? And then decomposing until they're only bones? That sounds exactly like dying, Collector."