Once upon a time.
Isn't that how the story always starts? If her life had been like those stories, hers would have started in an ivory tower. She would have been a maiden, a princess, locked away for safe-keeping because the world was no place for such a dreamer. But Lilli's story had started in a land far away from here, born to a mother who hardened as a result of war and loss, to a brood of siblings who embodied the best (and worst) parts of their parents, to a family that had loved her and did their best to keep her safe. Because she was too gentle, they said, she was to free with her smiles and too soft in her admiration for the world around her.
A girl like that is bound to get ruined, to get broken.
But Lilliana hadn't broken. When her father returned and left them again, when Cernunnos had taken Orani's innocence and had left her sobbing against her crimson neck, when Broch had stepped onto a battlefield but never off of it, when her family disbanded and left for other horizons, Lilli still hadn't broken. It has left scars on that open heart of hers, there is a certain sadness that can settle on her at the scent of heather, at a glimpse of a family. Things she had once had (and still does, she tells herself) but those who had wanted to keep her safe, who had placed her at the center of her family where they thought darkness could never stain her, are gone.
It is only herself as she stumbles towards whatever lay waiting for her, maybe a path? Maybe a future?
She doesn't think that far ahead; she never does anymore. There is only now and it is beautiful. The late spring sun is radiant and vibrant in the season of new life. The River next to her laughs - it giggles at the sky, the birdsong, the loveliness of the day and Lilli can only smile in return. Her blue eyes glance heavenward as they follow the path of a bluebird who darts about with ease, with the grace of all skyward things. Not for the first time, she thinks its a shame to be stuck on the ground. Her imagination soars with the bird and Lilli loses herself between the sky and the water. Her hooves stay firmly planted on the ground but her heart takes flight and her daydreams take her through the mist of the clouds, to the endless, vivid blue of the sky above.
If only, if only...
Isn't that how the story always starts? If her life had been like those stories, hers would have started in an ivory tower. She would have been a maiden, a princess, locked away for safe-keeping because the world was no place for such a dreamer. But Lilli's story had started in a land far away from here, born to a mother who hardened as a result of war and loss, to a brood of siblings who embodied the best (and worst) parts of their parents, to a family that had loved her and did their best to keep her safe. Because she was too gentle, they said, she was to free with her smiles and too soft in her admiration for the world around her.
A girl like that is bound to get ruined, to get broken.
But Lilliana hadn't broken. When her father returned and left them again, when Cernunnos had taken Orani's innocence and had left her sobbing against her crimson neck, when Broch had stepped onto a battlefield but never off of it, when her family disbanded and left for other horizons, Lilli still hadn't broken. It has left scars on that open heart of hers, there is a certain sadness that can settle on her at the scent of heather, at a glimpse of a family. Things she had once had (and still does, she tells herself) but those who had wanted to keep her safe, who had placed her at the center of her family where they thought darkness could never stain her, are gone.
It is only herself as she stumbles towards whatever lay waiting for her, maybe a path? Maybe a future?
She doesn't think that far ahead; she never does anymore. There is only now and it is beautiful. The late spring sun is radiant and vibrant in the season of new life. The River next to her laughs - it giggles at the sky, the birdsong, the loveliness of the day and Lilli can only smile in return. Her blue eyes glance heavenward as they follow the path of a bluebird who darts about with ease, with the grace of all skyward things. Not for the first time, she thinks its a shame to be stuck on the ground. Her imagination soars with the bird and Lilli loses herself between the sky and the water. Her hooves stay firmly planted on the ground but her heart takes flight and her daydreams take her through the mist of the clouds, to the endless, vivid blue of the sky above.
If only, if only...
LILLIANA
i left home on account of snow
(buried all the things i know)
(buried all the things i know)
@[Smidgen]<3
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind