08-24-2019, 11:02 PM
Darkness spreads across the sky like a bruise as the mares approach the tree line, the sound of rushing water as loud as the wind in the tree tops overhead. Lilli’s body radiates energy, she is ready to bolt and barely contains herself, her worry that Neverwhere will lose her way now the only thing thing keeping her near. The dappled brown mare shakes her head, her mane falling rakishly to either side of her neck.
“I won’t get lost, you can go ahead.” The ground underfoot has become rockier as they come nearer the water, the trees thinning so that the understory grows thicker, and she snaps her tails side to side with the memory of snagging branches, though she managed to shake free of the offending plants some time ago. Although the searing sun has dropped away, her vision really is not much better, it is only less painful, and the tearing has stopped, leaving only pinkish-brown porphyrin stains trailing down her cheeks like some kind of sad clown. The throb of her scarred skin has gone, only the tightness remains, with it’s occasional pang. Overall, she prefers the night.
With the chestnut leading, Neverwhere makes her way through the bushes and the grasses that spring up suddenly as the trees fall away, and then, at last, her hooves crunch familiarly on river rock and sand. The air has the tang of algae and the mineral scent of water tumbling wild over rock, dissolving them slowly over centuries. Her nostrils flare, full of it, memories of other times she has encountered the smell, times when it was more than a passing interest, but a necessity, life. There weren’t many of those times, she had learned quickly in her travels to find and follow water, learned where to dig to find it, what plants to eat – and in the end, to avoid some territories entirely in certain seasons.
The ground shifts under careful feet, hoof striking scattered rocks with a ring, and to the east, the moon is rising. It’s cool glow glints off the water ahead, dancing and leaping, and banishes thoughts of deserts and searing heat from her mind. She catches up to Lilliana, who has drawn ahead while Neverwhere remembered.
And then, remembers what she’s forgotten.
“I… I don’t think so. And I doubt they miss me, or think of me much.” She lifts her head, peering into darkness, “That kind of life consumes you, there’s not a lot of time for memories unless they’re useful.”
The silver-maned mare has no doubt her family is doing as it has always done, somewhere many miles away. As they draw near enough that water laps coolly at the warm shell of her hoof, she dips her knotted muzzle to it, drinking, and then lifts her head, attention returning to Lilli with silver droplets falling to darken the grey rock below. She didn’t learn in her travelling how to react to someone comparing her to their mother, so she lets the words hang, unsure how to accept them.
“And what about you, do your think your family is looking you? Hard to imagine anyone would want to leave there, you already had magic ,” and monsters, it would seem, “coming here just seems like more of the same.”
“I won’t get lost, you can go ahead.” The ground underfoot has become rockier as they come nearer the water, the trees thinning so that the understory grows thicker, and she snaps her tails side to side with the memory of snagging branches, though she managed to shake free of the offending plants some time ago. Although the searing sun has dropped away, her vision really is not much better, it is only less painful, and the tearing has stopped, leaving only pinkish-brown porphyrin stains trailing down her cheeks like some kind of sad clown. The throb of her scarred skin has gone, only the tightness remains, with it’s occasional pang. Overall, she prefers the night.
With the chestnut leading, Neverwhere makes her way through the bushes and the grasses that spring up suddenly as the trees fall away, and then, at last, her hooves crunch familiarly on river rock and sand. The air has the tang of algae and the mineral scent of water tumbling wild over rock, dissolving them slowly over centuries. Her nostrils flare, full of it, memories of other times she has encountered the smell, times when it was more than a passing interest, but a necessity, life. There weren’t many of those times, she had learned quickly in her travels to find and follow water, learned where to dig to find it, what plants to eat – and in the end, to avoid some territories entirely in certain seasons.
The ground shifts under careful feet, hoof striking scattered rocks with a ring, and to the east, the moon is rising. It’s cool glow glints off the water ahead, dancing and leaping, and banishes thoughts of deserts and searing heat from her mind. She catches up to Lilliana, who has drawn ahead while Neverwhere remembered.
And then, remembers what she’s forgotten.
“I… I don’t think so. And I doubt they miss me, or think of me much.” She lifts her head, peering into darkness, “That kind of life consumes you, there’s not a lot of time for memories unless they’re useful.”
The silver-maned mare has no doubt her family is doing as it has always done, somewhere many miles away. As they draw near enough that water laps coolly at the warm shell of her hoof, she dips her knotted muzzle to it, drinking, and then lifts her head, attention returning to Lilli with silver droplets falling to darken the grey rock below. She didn’t learn in her travelling how to react to someone comparing her to their mother, so she lets the words hang, unsure how to accept them.
“And what about you, do your think your family is looking you? Hard to imagine anyone would want to leave there, you already had magic ,” and monsters, it would seem, “coming here just seems like more of the same.”
Neverwhere
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