"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
09-04-2016, 08:37 AM (This post was last modified: 09-04-2016, 08:37 AM by Jinju.)
Jinju
First she lost her mother. Then found herself in an unknown place, even realising that her adoptive mother was nowhere to be found too. Last came the fire, which set a single tree on the mountain on fire. After that she had been too afraid and upset to notice anything else. Jinju didn’t link the fire to herself either, so she was also unaware of the fact that the magic got pulled from her upon leaving the mountain. Yes, the black filly had felt something, something that pulled on her as she barged through the invisible barrier, but she hadn’t really paid much attention to it. The other emotions kept her mind busy enough.
The field she barged into was another unfamiliar place, but at least it was something you would expect to find. Maybe, just maybe, her mother had found herself a way to this meadow? ”Momma!” she calls again, again and again. Jinju’s voice is all shrill and her throat sore, but nothing compared to the tills that spill from her red eyes. ”Oh mom, please! Where are you?” One last time she whinnies, standing completely still, even holding her breath, to carefully listen if Lexa responded to her calls. When no answer follows, she breaks.
Once again she stands somewhere, completely lost and alone. This time she’s older and holds more experiences and memories, but that is exactly what makes it harder. Jinju clearly remembers her adoptive mother, the Jungle and the life she had lived there. The first time it had been different, she had been aware of the ‘missing’ of her mother, but she couldn’t remember how the mare had looked like. Mostly knew of her existence basically, and the one of her older brother. With Lexa it was different and Jinju had learned how to love the appaloosa mare if she was her real mother. And now she was gone too.
Her calls have died down, now knowing better than keep calling out, since there weren’t any ears to hear them. The tears, however, don’t stop. She’s crying, hiccupping and desperately gasping for breath in between. Trying to find some comfort and shelter Jinju starts walking, head lowered towards the ground, hoping to find a small collection of trees or bushes to hide.
now don’t you understand…that I’m never changing who I am?
She had heard the calls, even above her prayers for absolution. The sound of a crying child was enough to stir the heart of the utmost hard of hearts, and yet, this one seemed to be crying for someone in particular. In this apocalypse, it was to be expected, unfortunately. Hearts crying out for loved ones, loved ones gone away—dead, or just running.
But she hears the calls nonetheless and finds herself heading off in that direction, sprinting as if her feet were still blessed by the wind. Her ability to run—even without her magic—amazed her, despite her shortish stocky legs. When one is so used to being blessed, one tends to forget the physical abilities that they are possessed with. Such was the case for Reagan.
It is Sunday and she has only just finished her morning Mass; she had bowed her head to God and asked for his forgiveness for the umpteenth time looking for a way to be given back her abilities. It all fell upon deaf ears. And so, without religion or faith to hold her, the Irish woman was as alone as the calls she heard upon the horizon. Perhaps this is the reason she seeks out the child. Perhaps she just wishes to undo the mistakes of her past with so many children behind her, and yet not one of them could actually call her Mother.
She stops in front of a small filly, and notices that the child has been crying. She does not ask—she feels she does not need to. But the old mare reaches down and pulls the young girl to her side and nuzzles her back with the velvety softness of her muzzle, before whispering calmly into the girl’s ear. “I’ve got you…there is no need to cry anymore. Who are you looking for?”
Her calls aren’t the only ones, just as that she wasn’t really alone out there. Many, many others had gathered, all searching for their loved ones, all missing someone. But no-one seemed to pay any attention to the little black filly that obviously shouldn’t be out here alone. None, except for one. By the time Jinju notices the rhythm of galloping hooves, hooves that were rushing in her direction, her head jerks up, hopefully to lay her eyes upon Lexa’s spotted form.
It are not Lexa’s eyes that meet hers. Instead her teary red orbs take in a stranger, shorter than her mother, but still much taller than Jinju herself. As she stumbles upon her feet, reaching out towards the stranger, the gray mare had already closed the little distance that was left between them. It’s soothing and comforting, what the feeling of being cared for could pull from a child. Silently Jinju starts to cry again, basking herself in the embrace that she much needed.
”Momma..” she murmurs in between the sobs, slowly looking up to meet the gray mare’s gaze. ”My.. my mother. Lexa.. She took me home to the Jungle.” With those simple words she suggested how it had been. No, Lexa hadn’t birthed her in the Jungle, instead the Amazonian Queen had found her at the Den and had offered her a place among the warrior women. But at least Lexa had proven herself as a mother, unless the dam that had given life to her. ”Do.. do you know where momma is?”
now don’t you understand…that I’m never changing who I am?
The name that the little one dropped was one that was familiar to Reagan. Lexa. They had been together during the time that the shadows had dropped and the mountain appeared. There had been an earthquake, and then, when Reagan had come to, there was no trace of the former Amazonian queen anywhere. The spotted woman had vanished into the myst just as sure as most of the land had dropped off into the sea, taking many inhabitants and all of the kingdoms along with it. What had happened to the Jungle, she was unsure—but if this little one was alone, she supposed that it too had disappeared into nothing.
She reached down and nuzzled the small one, who still not given her name, pulling her close once again, before stretching her neck, looking around for any traces of the girl’s mother, or adopted mother in this case. Lexa was nowhere to be found, seen, smelled—or heard. And so, having just given birth to her own daughter, Reagan found that she was full of milk for the small child to drink should she require it, and looked down, her green eyes softening as she eyed the small black filly’s darling little face.
“I do not know where Lexa is, my lovely. But I am here for as long as you need me. If you still take milk, I can help there as well. I cannot replace your mother, but I can protect you if you’ll let me.”
Perhaps, having picked up a stowaway, Ruan would find that she had too much baggage about her…
She had been there when the Jungle had vanished and at the same time she wasn’t there when it had happened. Instead she had been on this mountain, the one she could clearly see from the meadow she stood in, but she didn’t have memories of how she had gotten there. And honestly, due to the panic and fear she also couldn’t exactly remember much detail of her flight down the mountain. Jinju didn’t really have to either, rather forgetting it and soothing herself in the gray mare’s presence.
Lexa. The stranger called her mother by her name, that would make her an acquaintance, right? She knew the former Amazonian queen, but at the same time she didn’t know where her mother was. No-one seemed to know and neither did the appaloosa mare answer her calls. Lexa always got to her when she called. ”Momma isn’t here..” she mumbled, more to herself than in a reaction to the gray mare. Her head dropped somewhat to the ground, tears flowing silently.
By the time the stream of tears stops, Jinju finds herself still pressed against the mare’s side. Swallowing the dry lump in her throat she looks up, red eyes still teary, but at the same time dull. ”I.. Thank you for the offer, but I no longer feed of milk.” She almost speaks too formal, obviously having collected herself but clearly not in the right way. ”I’m Jinju” she finally drops her name, pausing a moment before continuing. ”Can.. Can I stay with you, aunt …?”
She hoped she could.
OOC: Sorry. This is kinda lame. Yesterday's muse clearly didn't continue today.
now don’t you understand…that I’m never changing who I am?
Reagan had known women like Lexa quite well… for you see, as time goes, the characters same, but the kinds of characters never change. She had known many queens, and had had more in common with Lexa than she ever would know possible; and she hoped one day to see the other mare again. This one, this little black filly who so needed someone to look after her, continued to weep for the loss of her mother, and Reagan could not help but reach down and stroke her rump to let her know that everything was going to be okay. She had a home and a direction for them to go, and she intended to take this one with her.
“You can come with me, little one. And you may call me whatever you want. If you feel that ‘Aunt’ is a good title, then I will go for that, for I will always label myself a sister of the jungle to which you loved so well.” Heading off in the direction of the mountain to follow Romek, she calls back to Jinju to see if she still would like a home with the older grey mare. “Would you like to come with me, my dear?” I will make sure there is plenty to eat and drink on the way, and we can rest as often as you feel you need to.”
She had meant to ask for the gray mare’s name. She had given her own, but didn’t get a name in return. Jinju had hoped that the mare would’ve filled in her own name in the blank after ‘aunt’, but she didn’t. The black girl wanted to refer to the mare on a familiar base, one that would make it clear what kind of relationship they hold, but Jinju wouldn’t be able to call her mom or mother. Lexa was the one to hold that title. In her opinion aunt would be a good alternative. ”What… No. May I ask for your name?”
For a short moment her eyes widen as the gray mare heads of, leaving an obvious confused and slowly panicking Jinju behind. ”Coming!” It doesn’t take her long to catch up – even though she’s exhausted from the running/fleeing and crying – when her new found aunt calls out to her. Her voice had sounded almost too cheerful, but the relief was adamant. She nods, telling the other mare that she had understood it.
It takes Jinju a while to notice that they were going in the direction of the mountain. She doesn’t want to go there, remembering she had left the place with a fire burning behind her. ”No.. Not there. Fire..” She lightly protests, her mumbling loud enough to be heard, just as the fear that suddenly controls her voice again.
now don’t you understand…that I’m never changing who I am?
So pulled was she into her own world that Reagan was unfamiliar with the culture of little ones. As she started heading for the mountain to follow Romek and his crew, she heard Jinju choke and shutter behind her… No. Not there. Not fire…
Reagan’s eyes went closed for a minute and she tilted her head to the clouds, finally understanding the true nature of the little one she had taken one under her wing. The child was born of fire, and thus, upon the mountain, had been exposed to her abilities and thrust into a world she was unfamiliar with—only to have it all taken away. Reagan’s nature was one that had always come naturally to her, but she could understand the fear that comes with being…different.
Within seconds she is back and next to the filly, looking down at her… “My poor Jinju. My name is Reagan, milovely. And are you afraid of the mountain because of the fire you saw there? Fire that you perhaps…created?” She wuffled her amusement a little before whispering into the small girl’s ear. “That just means you are special. I am special too, that way. And when we get our specialness back, I can show you how to use your fire any way you wish. But up there, on the top of the mountain, is where we need to go right now. That is where the magic is—where your fire is kept… And where my magic is kept. But I promise it is nothing to be afraid of, and I promise to protect you. Shall we go then?
She nuzzled the Jinju’s soft mane, plaiting the hair with her teeth as a way to show affection, looking to see if the filly was finally ready to traverse up the mountain, to learn who she was and to try and attempt to re-claim her inheritance on this world.
How could she have known about her nature? Never before had Jinju been in contact with fire, nor seen it, but she had sensed the danger of it immediately. It wasn’t logical to link the fire to herself, she had always been just Jinju. A little – and soon to be not so little – black filly who had inherited her father’s red eyes. It had been the eyes that had made Esileif believe that her daughter had some kind of hidden power, but when it hadn’t shown itself she hadn’t hesitated to drop her daughter off at the Den. She had no use for untraited children. Wasn’t it kind of comical that Jinju turned out to be special anyway?
So when Reagan starts to speak, the truth startles the young girl. The fire was hers? Had she been the one that had created it? But how was that even possible? Never before had her power shown itself, why would it now? She was too young to understand how the change, the mountain and Beqanna influenced them all, including her.
Jinju can only look up at Reagan baffled. ”M-my fire?” It somehow made sense – the fire must come from somewhere and it had just started like that – but at the same time the idea was ridiculous. But which child didn’t believe in magic and dream of all the possibilities in the world? Jinju certainly was one who did, the comfort dreams gave her had pulled her through the hard times. And they would again.
She nods, pressing herself closer against Reagan’s side as her eyes close for a short moment. It still sounded a bit strange to her, but she trusted the gray mare. And thus she followed her, fear still adamant and heart beating loudly in her chest, but ready to follow Reagan to the end of the world. After all, aunt Reagan would keep her safe, right?
