Keeper-
Scales and sinew.
Keeper saw that too; she failed to see harsh angles and jagged edges because what she did was as comparable to the indomitable faces of mountains. She saw incontestable strength from jaw to wither to hip. In the black of that skin, she saw the contours of obsidian uncovered from the earth, fat raw chunks of it that were hard and sharp but oh so beautiful! Keeper saw the rawness and ferocity that she lacked in the plum hairs that fell down Magnificent’s neck and in the rich purple of her eyes. She saw something of the mythical dragons in that mare, and nothing else.
She did not see herself as soft and smooth. Not as unkempt as she was having come straight from the woods. Her dark hair was snarled thick with knots and brambles, even bits of branches and bones and her skin held a bit of that winter hairiness to it that made her look rough and in need of a good grooming. Keeper left bits of her hair and her fur all over this world, as much as it left it’s mark on her in thorny scratches on her thin hips and skinned up knees. Compared to Magnificent, she looked like something that just crawled out of the muck but that was okay with her.
It is after all, how each perceives the other and in their two very different sets of eyes - each saw the other as beautiful.
For just a moment, Keeper’s face falls. Magnificent does not laugh much? That is tragic. In her mind, that is absolutely tragic. Not like Keeper laughs enough herself but she understands the power of laughter, how it can lighten the heart and brighten one’s face just enough for just a moment and moments are sometimes all that matter down to the distillation of minutes into seconds, like heartbeats and breaths - quick things, almost like secrets. Magnificent had a laugh that was like her - hard, bright, and beautiful. Keeper wanted to hear more of it.
“We can fix that.” she decides, feeling determination heat her cheeks as she offers up another smile. Smiles, like laughter, have power too. She then shook her head, laughing just a little. “No one,” she promises; considering that Keeper lacked much in the way of social interactions. Odd, given that she is thus far successful in not causing someone to run off though she expected them to give her odd looks and even odder sentiments but somehow, they all seemed to just accept her for who she was, whatever that might be. Just like she accepted Magnificent as she was, grand and intimidating but too brilliant to ignore.
(Something about moths and flames might have come to mind here, but that is far too cliche for even Keeper to endure.)
It is Keeper’s turn to be stunned.
She lacks expectations. Had not anticipated that the black with her horn and her lethal looking wings would actually accept her daring request without some hesitation or backlash. However, Keeper does not hesitate and beams her happiness right back at Magnificent through a big smile. “You will not be disappointed!” she crows happily, giving a little hop before she spins around and orients herself with the proper direction of the mountains that harbor their secret lake and bountiful blossoming trees that she has never given much thought to until now. Her eyes pick out the proper path that shall take them to the first of two rivers.
Keeper composes herself and jerks her head towards the path as her eyes roll backwards to assure that Magnificent is indeed following her. “There are two rivers that must be crossed. You could fly to the other side though…” she offers up the suggestion because it makes the most sense. Keeper will ford the shallowest parts of the rivers. She’s done it before and likes the challenge of when the current finds her legs and forces her to swim, head above the water until her hooves find purchase on the pebbly bottom below. Swimming is good for her muscles, reminds her that she is not magical like any of them - not in appearance, not even in her boring old blood.
She stops on occasion to snatch a mouthful of clover or quench her thirst in a melodious stream. Stops even to make sure that Magnificent does the same, keeps her strength up and keeps pace with her own smaller self. It seems like a long trek but Keeper has never noted the hours it takes to get there. Horses never notice things like that. Their legs eat miles and hours with no difference between the two and before she knows it, they face the second and last river and are across it with no issues. Before them now looms the mountains, and Keeper only knows one trail in though there are more than she has had a chance to learn.
“Well, what do you think so far?” she asks her companion, easily coming to think of Magnificent as hers in some fashion, be it friend or otherwise. The trail is before them, upwards and steep and not without it’s own pitfalls of pebbles and sliding dirt. Sometimes it is narrow, and sometimes large enough to let a horse pass but Keeper has succeeded up this slope before and she’ll succeed again. “The best is yet to be had just on the other side,” she promises though, this time more in a whisper than anything else. It occurs to her then, that Magnificent could just fly over the mountain and see for herself but Keeper thinks that would spoil the surprise...
not knowing how deep the woods are and lightless
@[Magnificent]
ooc: apparently Keeper likes to build suspense! lol <3