[private] Bloodfeather || Lilliana ||

[Wolfbane]

He should be heading to Tephra and he will, he will, just not right now. Not while the weather is turning into the more bearable type, and not while the night is so clear and lovely like this one. Instead of raising his wings and taking to the starlit skies where a heavy moon clung to a black and voidless universe, Wolfbane did away with both bird-like appendages and stalked the open Forest southeast of Loess and Hyaline. His hooves, nearly black except for the twinkle of his iridescent fur, echoed a steady tempo. He had a lumbering gait that crunched dead leaves and took him in no particular direction, and his eyes - shifted to those of an animal that could sense heat and see the visible trail of sweat and scent like a colorful ribbon through the dark - followed the trail of one familiar mare who’d come this way not very long ago.

Lilliana.

Her scent, much like her color, looked to him like a golden-burgundy thread that looped around trunks and sometimes disappeared through tangles of thorn or bracken. Bane paused at one of these passings, lowering his mouth and nose to the glossy little leaves that still tasted like her, and closed his eyes before inhaling.

Why her?
He’d thought this several times before. Initially, looking back on their first meeting in the Field, it didn’t seem that she could’ve drawn him in so suddenly and with alarming strength. Wolfbane had always considered himself a stallion of sound mind and heart, not easily overcome with boyhood crushes or one particularly inclined to risk destroying a happy home and union. But Lilliana was … different. Not by magic and not by any other unnatural sense, just different in the most refreshing and unexpected ways.

He wanted to know everything about her, and found that he wanted to impart his history onto her as well. Lately it seemed that their world couldn’t or simply wouldn’t approve, there’d been too much unrest in Wolfbane’s life and too much promise for Lilliana’s future in Beqanna. Maybe that’s why he’d decided to ask her for more time alone. Maybe that’s why Bane felt emboldened enough to defy what was socially acceptable or morally correct: because the world, Lilliana’s friends, and his own sense of honor forbade it.

He opened eyes that reflected holographic colors in the subtle light of the moon and remembered sharply their last meeting, including Neverwhere. Maybe he was out here because Lilli had said yes when he’d expected a polite no.

Wolfbane slunk past the spot he’d paused at, quieter than before when he eased along the breadcrumb path Lilliana had unknowingly left behind. Without his wings he felt lighter, quicker, and the upright mane that extended from his forehead down along his back looked like one heavy, white dorsal stripe. It stood out against the dulled colors of the autumn woods, already dark from the lack of moonlight able to pierce through the half-empty canopy above.

“When I said I’d come and find you later, I didn’t expect you to go out of your way to make it such a challenging hunt.” He spoke aloud, the words giving away a smile unseen in the night.

@[lilliana] hello i assumed she'd be out-and-about but if you want this moved to Taiga it can be done