Elaina says her name again, her name sounding so familiar and comforting from her cousin's mouth. Elaina has said her name a thousand times; through midnight whispers to youthful games. They have said each other's names a thousand times and upon hearing Elaina say it again, Lilli could hear it a thousand times more. She could never get tired of it. Her heart is close to bursting, is bursting, with the joy and the happiness and the relief she feels at seeing her sunshine cousin. Elaina has always been a beacon hope in the darkness, has always been a torch to light her way and it is no different now. Whether they are in Beyond or Beqanna, whether they are facing Underworld or teasing Alvaro, they are together and there is nothing that completes Lilli more than her golden cousin. The months hit her suddenly, a tsunami of emotion washing over Lilli and all she can do is feel everything.
You look like you've seen a ghost, Elaina says and Lilli laughs, the midnight spell broken. "What would you call yourself then?" And though the laughter is warm, though Lilli is smiling, there is something that flashes across her eyes. She had never expected to see Elaina again. What she had expected for the future... well, Lilli didn't know. She had just known that she had to leave. But here is Elaina, bright in the darkness, glowing on a night when there is no moon and Lilli still can't escape the shock of seeing her beloved cousin again. Her best friend. Her sister. She had thought that she had closed a chapter on her life and here was Elaina, ready to start over again with Lilli. If she had only known.. and yet, how hadn't she have known? Elaina had the beauty of being one of the most stubborn horses she has ever known (this includes her mother and father) and there is a part of Lilli that isn't surprised at all, that murmurs in the back of her mind 'are you really so shocked?'
And even when Lilli's mind tries to reach for a reason, she smiles. Elaina has always defied logic.
Overwhelmed by emotion, she moves forward. Her chiseled face reaches towards Elaina's until their foreheads touch, one lightly pressing against the other. Lilli lingers thing letting the feel of her cousin wash over her, letting the smell fill her soul and letting the darkest parts of her finally illuminate. It has been so long since she has embraced anyone, been embraced by anyone that sensation immediately gives way to comfort and security. She closes her eyes and just lets herself stay there, wrapped up in everything that Elaina is and at the moment that they find themselves. Elaina doesn't know how afraid Lilli has been, how hard she has tried to be brave in the face of change. She has felt so lost, more so than she has ever been. And to find her cousin now consoles Lilli in a way that she didn't know she needed, how desperately she needed.
Elaina is the answer to a fervent plea, a prayer wrapped up in a canvas of beautiful gold.
She breathes gently and stares into the amber eyes that look back at her. Finding strength and peace, she fulls away from Elaina. Her scent still lingers in her nostrils, on her skin, in the air around them.
It is Lilli's turn to be slightly confused. "Kensa?" she asks, her head tilting ever so slightly. Her eyes look away from Elaina to the abyss around them, trying to make out the Hyaline that she speaks of. It all looks like shadow and darkness to the chestnut girl. "I don't know it," she replies, still feeling new and infantile by Beqanna standards. Ir feels like a foolish thing to say as she stands in Hyaline now. It had all been Pangea to her, a place of the old gods and magic. She dismisses the night around then and by the time her blue eyes return to Elaina, she grins. It lights up her face, banishing any doubt or concern Lilli might have originally had. Her cousin's question, however, makes the smile falter and allows the shadows of night to come calling. "I'm sorry," she murmurs quietly and somehow Lilli still finds the bravery to meet her cousin's questioning gaze. "You were gone," she replies, stating another obvious fact. "Malachi was taking his family to Ethos and Mother was waiting for Father.. I just wanted a change. I needed something different.. after everything that happened," comes the quiet admission.
His name hangs unspoken between them and Lilli can't bring herself to say it though she feels his presence even here.
And then she is so grateful for Elaina. There are so many things to speak of and she feeds the girl every piece of news she has longed for since she has left home. The spell is broken and Broch is gone. In his place is an earnest expression, Lilli wanting to know everything Elaina has seen and everywhere she has been. "Bri? And Roland?" she almost squeals this, so delighted to hear that her early guesses about Brynn's eldest son and her older sister were correct. "They have a child?" That comes as a surprise, perhaps as big as Elaina's presence here. She laughs and smiles wistfully, nodding as her cousin continues to talk. "I believe it. If she's anything like you, it wouldn't be shocking at all." There is a longing then and part of her wishes she had gone to Windskeep. She wishes she could see the place where so many members of her family dwell, to know the place that so many of them gave their lives for. The place that her father almost died for.
The yearning grows for a moment and Lilli thinks that someday, she will go to Windskeep. Someday.
The chestnut tosses her head playfully, sending crimson locks cascading down her slender neck. "What haven't I been up to?"she smiles teasingly. "And I've met a few someones. There's been Neverwhere and Brazen and Bane and Pond and a few others," Lilli retorts. But all teasing aside, she softens. "I've been living in a place called Taiga. It's in a place called Nerine. It has a lot of trees but it isn't all that bad," she adds, hopefully painting enough of a picture that Elaina doesn't worry. When the moment quiets and peace finally replaces the excitement, Lilli circles around the backside of her cousin and slides along next to her, gold melting into auburn. In the serenity of night, under a blanket of stars, Lilli looks up to them and can't help but smile. She feels beholden to those stars and Lilli has no idea what she might offer them at that moment. Blue eyes glance back to her cousin, happy and content to simply rest beside her. "And what about you?" she murmurs. "What trouble have you been stirring? I hope you're not already leading some poor soul on a merry dance," she laughs, memories of days gone by flashing before her.
Part of her wonders if she should ask about Aerwir. But if Elaina is here and he is not then that particular issue never got solved. She decides to say nothing, to simply stand shoulder to shoulder under a summer sky and finally find the peace, tranquility, love that she has been so badly needing with the one she has always counted on, who always came when Lilli needed her most.
@[Elaina]
You look like you've seen a ghost, Elaina says and Lilli laughs, the midnight spell broken. "What would you call yourself then?" And though the laughter is warm, though Lilli is smiling, there is something that flashes across her eyes. She had never expected to see Elaina again. What she had expected for the future... well, Lilli didn't know. She had just known that she had to leave. But here is Elaina, bright in the darkness, glowing on a night when there is no moon and Lilli still can't escape the shock of seeing her beloved cousin again. Her best friend. Her sister. She had thought that she had closed a chapter on her life and here was Elaina, ready to start over again with Lilli. If she had only known.. and yet, how hadn't she have known? Elaina had the beauty of being one of the most stubborn horses she has ever known (this includes her mother and father) and there is a part of Lilli that isn't surprised at all, that murmurs in the back of her mind 'are you really so shocked?'
And even when Lilli's mind tries to reach for a reason, she smiles. Elaina has always defied logic.
Overwhelmed by emotion, she moves forward. Her chiseled face reaches towards Elaina's until their foreheads touch, one lightly pressing against the other. Lilli lingers thing letting the feel of her cousin wash over her, letting the smell fill her soul and letting the darkest parts of her finally illuminate. It has been so long since she has embraced anyone, been embraced by anyone that sensation immediately gives way to comfort and security. She closes her eyes and just lets herself stay there, wrapped up in everything that Elaina is and at the moment that they find themselves. Elaina doesn't know how afraid Lilli has been, how hard she has tried to be brave in the face of change. She has felt so lost, more so than she has ever been. And to find her cousin now consoles Lilli in a way that she didn't know she needed, how desperately she needed.
Elaina is the answer to a fervent plea, a prayer wrapped up in a canvas of beautiful gold.
She breathes gently and stares into the amber eyes that look back at her. Finding strength and peace, she fulls away from Elaina. Her scent still lingers in her nostrils, on her skin, in the air around them.
It is Lilli's turn to be slightly confused. "Kensa?" she asks, her head tilting ever so slightly. Her eyes look away from Elaina to the abyss around them, trying to make out the Hyaline that she speaks of. It all looks like shadow and darkness to the chestnut girl. "I don't know it," she replies, still feeling new and infantile by Beqanna standards. Ir feels like a foolish thing to say as she stands in Hyaline now. It had all been Pangea to her, a place of the old gods and magic. She dismisses the night around then and by the time her blue eyes return to Elaina, she grins. It lights up her face, banishing any doubt or concern Lilli might have originally had. Her cousin's question, however, makes the smile falter and allows the shadows of night to come calling. "I'm sorry," she murmurs quietly and somehow Lilli still finds the bravery to meet her cousin's questioning gaze. "You were gone," she replies, stating another obvious fact. "Malachi was taking his family to Ethos and Mother was waiting for Father.. I just wanted a change. I needed something different.. after everything that happened," comes the quiet admission.
His name hangs unspoken between them and Lilli can't bring herself to say it though she feels his presence even here.
And then she is so grateful for Elaina. There are so many things to speak of and she feeds the girl every piece of news she has longed for since she has left home. The spell is broken and Broch is gone. In his place is an earnest expression, Lilli wanting to know everything Elaina has seen and everywhere she has been. "Bri? And Roland?" she almost squeals this, so delighted to hear that her early guesses about Brynn's eldest son and her older sister were correct. "They have a child?" That comes as a surprise, perhaps as big as Elaina's presence here. She laughs and smiles wistfully, nodding as her cousin continues to talk. "I believe it. If she's anything like you, it wouldn't be shocking at all." There is a longing then and part of her wishes she had gone to Windskeep. She wishes she could see the place where so many members of her family dwell, to know the place that so many of them gave their lives for. The place that her father almost died for.
The yearning grows for a moment and Lilli thinks that someday, she will go to Windskeep. Someday.
The chestnut tosses her head playfully, sending crimson locks cascading down her slender neck. "What haven't I been up to?"she smiles teasingly. "And I've met a few someones. There's been Neverwhere and Brazen and Bane and Pond and a few others," Lilli retorts. But all teasing aside, she softens. "I've been living in a place called Taiga. It's in a place called Nerine. It has a lot of trees but it isn't all that bad," she adds, hopefully painting enough of a picture that Elaina doesn't worry. When the moment quiets and peace finally replaces the excitement, Lilli circles around the backside of her cousin and slides along next to her, gold melting into auburn. In the serenity of night, under a blanket of stars, Lilli looks up to them and can't help but smile. She feels beholden to those stars and Lilli has no idea what she might offer them at that moment. Blue eyes glance back to her cousin, happy and content to simply rest beside her. "And what about you?" she murmurs. "What trouble have you been stirring? I hope you're not already leading some poor soul on a merry dance," she laughs, memories of days gone by flashing before her.
Part of her wonders if she should ask about Aerwir. But if Elaina is here and he is not then that particular issue never got solved. She decides to say nothing, to simply stand shoulder to shoulder under a summer sky and finally find the peace, tranquility, love that she has been so badly needing with the one she has always counted on, who always came when Lilli needed her most.
@[Elaina]
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind