spice and everything nice { anyone from anywhere }

[Camelia]

I will run the streets and hostile lands, I will touch the rain with all I have
I will breathe the air, to scream it loud. My feet will never touch the ground.

The sky above her reminds Camelia of the prettier, better things in life. With the sun fully digested by the horizon, the darkness is an unfathomable depth were it not for the immense constellations and their loving moon. The stars are pale, twinkling freckles against the dark skin of the night and she cranes her neck back to watch them dance. They are so very far away and her heart aches for Heaven’s Gates.

Her father used to take her to the top of his favorite hill (the one that looked out over the beauty of the kingdom) late at night, sneaking out from under her mother’s nose. The breeze was always a little chilly, but Camelia would snuggle against her father’s protective shoulder and she’d be warmer. The stars seemed closer then – as if she could reach her small nose out and touch them. Those were her favorite times with Finnley. Sometimes he would tell stories (about the bear he once encountered, about the constellation shaped like a swan, about how he met Kaelie) and sometimes they would sit quietly and watch the stars twinkle.

Camelia inhales the bitter air slowly, allowing it to burn as it slides through her lungs. It wakes her from her wistful dreaming, forcing her to focus on reality. Tephra is in need of members and there are many homeless souls all desiring a place to rest their heads. She hadn’t planned to stay in the Field into the night, but the wintery sunset had been gorgeous and the stars even more so.

Lowering her neck, the slender mare glances around the Field. There isn’t too much activity – the day’s snowing has left the welcoming clearing high with drifts and slick with ice – but a mare hopping along catches Camelia’s interest. A smile stretches over her lips and she begins to pick her way through the snow to reach the small pony. By the time she gets there, a stallion has also arrived. His glowing spots draw Camelia’s eyes and she watches them dance in the night. Everything glows around them, illuminated by the moon and its dancing lights, but his spots seem to glow even more than everything around them.

She hears the tail end of the stallion’s words about the snow and her brown eyes brighten. “It makes everything glow, doesn’t it?” Camelia smiles once more, and despite the nighttime it is as if the sun has appeared again. “It’s just such a beautiful night.” She sighs contently, genuinely. “I’m Camelia.”

Camelia