"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
She is not one of them. This land was wrought with history, she felt it vibrating from the rain-soaked ground as she walked. Something hung in the air, like a suffocating fog. Something drastic had happened here, a change. But she is not part of it. She can’t even remember how she got here, a huge chunk of her memory a black void. On a beach she had awoken, the edges of the waves lapping at her crumpled form. Washed ashore like a battered piece of driftwood, she had blinked the gritty sand away with bleary eyes. This place was not home. And even though she knew she would be weak on her own, without the protection of a herd, she had climbed to water-weary feet, her eyes on the treeline that sprouted away from the coast.
She had been walking through the forest for some time now, and even though she had yet to come across another horse there were signs of them everywhere. A well-worn path was winding amongst the trees, and every now and then she would see a tendril of mane or tail clinging haphazardly to the brush. Her steps were cautious, peering around from behind the curtain of black forelock to check her surroundings. It was difficult to be quiet, but she was being mindful of her steps, keeping them light against the damp ground. The air was cool, but through the tops of the trees she could see the sun trying to strain through. It had to be afternoon, if she were to guess.
Gradually, the trees begin to thin. She thrusts her body up the slight incline, her small ears flicking forward to catch the voices that carried across the breeze. She ascends to the top of the knoll, and from there she can see the full expanse of the field that stretches before her, a carpet of emerald green sprinkled with way too many horses. It had been far too long since she had last interacted with anyone, and she could not help but notice the pattern taking place. There were mares, but they were surrounded. All of them seemed to be being coerced into something, and already there was a bitter taste forming in her mouth.
She still wasn't sure what kind of land she had washed up on, and as she carefully began to back away towards the treeline, she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
briseis. you’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece
fyi I am very slow poster, I don't really have the privacy to post, so I will post when I can!
Perhaps she was pushing herself too hard, maybe she wanted to prove that she could do this a bit too eager. The intentions were good, but the insecurity that lied beyond it a bit less. That all didn’t change a thing about the fact that the young black mare was on her way to the field again. With the spring the forest had started to color green again and she could hear the birds chatter all around her. Here in the forest she felt comfortable, used to have the vegetation surrounding and shielding her. It was different in the field.
So perhaps it was meant to be that she ran into a lonely looking mare, this quickly after leaving the safe line of trees behind her. Curiosity lies in her ruby eyes as she studies the black mare, her head tilting a little to the side before coming to a halt. Now she was standing here like this, Jinju honestly didn’t really know what to say and she silently complained to herself why she hadn’t joined her father on his trips more often. In fact she wondered why she had thought it had been a good idea at all.
Taking a deep breath Jinju crosses the last distance that still keeps them apart, a shy but pleasant smile on her lips as she dips her head a little. She might be tall, but she obviously was still young. ”Hello” she greets the stranger, then she pauses in hesitation. ”Are you perhaps looking for a home, that you come from the field? Or.. am I too late?” It would surely disappoint her, but at the other side, she had to realise that not every recruit attempt would be so easy as it had been back in time when she and her father had run into little Heda.
From the corner of her eye she can see another mare, slightly younger, but also black. When she realizes that the other mare is going to make her way towards her, Briseis has to fight the instinct to turn and walk away. Partially out of fear, but more so because of her introverted nature. The fear itself was not a fear of horses, per say, but rather that she had already discovered that this land was incredibly strange, and the horses that lived here were unlike any she had ever met. And as the stranger gets closer, she can see that her eyes are abnormal - a startling scarlet red. The last stallion she had met had been peculiar as well, and Briseis was beginning to wonder if she was the only horse in this entire place that was just, simply, a horse.
But she chooses to stay rooted in place, carefully observing the stranger. The smile on her face seemed benevolent enough, although this only allows Briseis to relax a little bit. With a guarded gaze she watches the other girl, two slender ears flicking to and fro when she speaks. Her own head tilts now, a slight frown creasing her brow. "Home? I don't have a home. I'm not from here." She snorts lightly, something akin to a laugh breathing between dark lips, "I still have no idea where here is, to be honest." And even though Briseis still did not trust this girl, or anyone else in this place, she cannot help but think of how nice it would to have a place to call 'home'. Something she had never had before. So it is with some hesitancy, and also just a dash of hope, that she offers the beginning of the introductions. "My name is Briseis."
briseis. you’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece
She’s merely a mare. She might be tall, but the girl inside her is still clearly visible. Jinju had so much more to discover and so much more to learn, no, she could hardly be called a mare, a woman. However, discovering and learning is what she is doing now, by entering the field and approaching this mare. Or was the black mare approaching her instead? The ruby eyed girl just brushed it off, rather thinking she had finally found the courage to do this. Though the thought that the other mare had already found a home clearly disappointed her. Well, that was until she said she didn’t have one. A small but genuine smile tugs on her lips. ”Then let me welcome you to Beqanna. Would you like me to tell you something about my home?” she asks, her head tilting a little to the side.
Before she knows it she has taken another few steps forward, her youth and joyful feeling not even realising that the other mare might find it uncomfortable. She doesn’t reach out to touch though, and just looks at the other girl with a wide smile, eyes twinkling as she thinks of her home. The Taiga had really become her home and Jinju didn’t mind to share it with others. Instead, she wanted to see her home full of life. ”I’m Jinju and the Taiga is what I call home.”
Beqanna. That is what she calls this place. Until this point, Briseis had never heard its name spoken. She hadn’t even been sure that it had a name. Her previous home didn’t. It just simply existed. The shorelines and the meadows, the mountains and the forests, they had all been nameless. They were places, with different fingerprints and heartbeats, with their own unique faces and souls, but never had any of them bothered to give the lands a name. She isn’t sure if that makes it any less of a home, if a place can even be real if it doesn’t have a name. And again, she begins to get the feeling that there was a lot more to this place than its name.
She says her name is Jinju, and ever so slightly she nods her raven-colored head, an acknowledgement. ”Jinju,” she repeats the name, almost to herself. There is no it’s a pleasure to meet you that follows, partially because Briseis lacked what many would call proper social skills, but also because she hadn’t decided if this was indeed a pleasure. She was reserving her judgement until she got to know the mare better.
Taiga, Jinju ays, and she can feel her head starting to spin. Beqanna. Jinju. Taiga. There were so many names, so many places. She is on the surface of something that tunnels further than she had imagined when she first washed upon the shore. Instead of trying to decipher everything for herself Briseis decides it is time to simply start learning. The only way she was going to figure it all out was to submit herself to this new land. ”I would appreciate it very much if you told me about this Taiga place. Were you born there?”
briseis. you’re ripped at every edge but you’re a masterpiece
IM SO SORRY. My battery on my laptop died that same day I apologized the first time for not replying, so I can only post when I go to my parents and steal my mom's laptop D;
She dips her head when the woman repeats her name, a soft smile on her lips. Silence stretches on after, but Jinju doesn’t press it. She can understand that one might need some time, after all, it could be a lot to take in if you weren’t familiar with it. She had been there once too, after the reckoning, but she had been much younger and had needed someone to take care of her. That had been Reagan. Reagan was now the Taiga’s magician, protector and leader.
It is her wondering if Briseis is not from around here that makes her hesitant to answer the question. Or, phrase that differently, hesitant how to answer. ”No.. I wasn’t” she says with a shake of her head, ruby eyes travelling into the distance as she pauses for a short while. She was born in the old Beqanna. Lived in the very same meadow as they were close to now for a couple of weeks and through the Den she had found her way with Lexa to the Jungle. ”I was born when these lands were still different. Still Beqanna, but different.”
When her red gaze finds the one of the fellow black mare again she’s smiling apologetic. ”Things changed, we call it the reckoning, and the old lands are gone now. Instead we formed new groups and claimed new lands. The Taiga one of them. Its pine tree forest, I like it.” Jinju isn’t sure she’s doing a great job requiting, but at least she was trying, right?
