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+---- Thread: [open] look how they shine for you [any] (/showthread.php?tid=31963)
look how they shine for you [any] - Starbry - 10-22-2025
She watches in awe, and terror, as the ooze replacing the river climbs from the banks. Her legs won't move beneath her as she tries to step back away from the green creeping closer, closer, closer. It touches her hooves and her muscles tense, her instincts telling her move back, run Starbry. Every piece of her being demands her legs move - but she is stuck. The ooze seeps up and over her hooves, slithering gently over her blue hide and sending a shiver through her body.The wisps in her mind reach desperately for the mind of the mare next to her but she can't seem to direct them and suddenly she realizes that she is alone. This stranger won't - can't - save her. Her yearning for company had brought her here to die. Her brown doe eyes close tightly in fear.
Her racing heart is sinking in her chest as she realizes this is going to be it. Is it going to be painful? To die? She has no one to remember her. There is no one that will come looking for her as creatures dine on her corpse, insects clean her bones, and she turns to dust. Nobody will mourn her. Dying as she was born - nothing. It feels like a sob tries to escape her chest but is silenced in her throat.
It feels like hours have passed as the panic consumed her, despite it only being moments. She opens her eyes to take one last look at the world around her. She needs to see the stars. Death may come for her, but the glittering sky will comfort her like a soothing blanket as it had all of these years. Perhaps that's where she will go. Maybe she was nothing on earth, but in death she can become a glittering star to help light the night. And perhaps another will find comfort in the stars, in her.
But when she opens her tear-stricken eyes, still facing the ooze that she was certain would be making its way up her legs to consume her - it's retreating. The feeling of bone chilling dread begins to leave her body. She is still shaking, trembling. Her breaths come in shallow waves as she watches the ooze float down the river, away, towards the vast expanse of the ocean. Something feels different, like something settling into her bones, but she's alive. Starbry then looked up at the sky. She needed to be sure that the stars were still there, and they were. She could count on them to always be there.
A sigh of relief left her and suddenly she felt so heavy. She wasn't going to die tonight, not yet anyways. The mare that had been next to her is forgotten. Starbry isn't sure if she died, ran away, or was still standing there - she couldn't force herself to look that direction to see what the stranger's fate had been. Her blue legs, tinged in remnants of the ooze, began to move and she stepped away from the river. She kept walking, noticing that dawn was arriving and the ooze had vanished from her legs. Had the grass wiped it away or had it disappeared? It didn't matter. She stopped in front of a giant oak tree and admired the autumn colors dripping from its branches. Her yearning for company had evaporated just as the ooze on her legs had seemed to do. She took a deep inhale, dipped her head, and closed her eyes to relish in the feeling of her heart beating, the morning breeze against her body, and the sun arriving to warm the earth.
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Topsail - 10-23-2025
A relit cigarette never tastes the same, and thats all I'll preach about rekindling old flames
Once upon a time, dawn had been her favorite time of day. There was something about the way to sun chased the stars away that had made her smile and her heart swell. The darkness hid things from her, and she had no taste for hide and seek. The sunrise had been her promise of a new day, of new life, of new beginnings. Somewhere along the way though she was tossed into the darkness.
I was in the darkness, so the darkness I became.
Necessity made her adapt that mantra, at least in the beginning. Torn from the Gates and elevated to Queen in a foreign, dark land...she had no choice but to pretend. No choice but the turn a blind eye and plaster a sneer on her pretty face. Eventually, she forgot it was an act and simply became it, body and soul.
She rarely ventures out in the daytime anymore. The darkness around her heart seems to shrink back from the warmth, preferring the cavernous spaces within the shadows. But today she changes course, leaving the Meadow and following the trail to the River. It is quieter here than even the Meadow was, and for a moment she drops her facade and lets the sunshine warm her bones. It sinks in deep, threading through her muscles and sinew and settling somewhere between her heart and her belly. She closes her eyes, content to exist and nothing more. Something breaks the tranquility though, and she wakes abruptly, no sign of sleep or weariness to be seen. On guard, on alert, ready. Old habits die hard, or so they say.
It is a mare, and one glance is all Topsail needs to know she has been startled by something. The grulla mare glances around, tightening her hawk wings to her sides just in case. She may no longer have the aid of a beast, but she is still fierce in her own right. But she sees no cause for alarm, at least not at the moment. She reaches out with her mind, but the mares thoughts are too scrambled for her to care to listen in on. Instead she approaches, a smirk lifting her lips. "Boo." she says, she silky voice weaving through the other mares mind. She waits a breath, waits for a reaction before speaking again. They are nearly always spooked by her speaking voice that comes from her mind and not her mouth. "I'm Topsail. Should I be running? You seem...flustered." With that she falls silent, the smirk still lifting her lips as she flicks her tail nonchalantly over her hips.
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Starbry - 10-23-2025
look how they shine for you
look at the stars
She has never really had a place to call home. Never had something to call a family. Just an abandoned young girl, wandering around, lost in her thoughts and the stars. As she has grown and aged, however, she has started to develop a yearning for something. Friendship? Family? A home? She isn't sure. She just knows that there is something missing and after that experience at the river, she knows she is not ready to die.
Starbry doesn't hear anyone approaching and so the sudden boo in her mind shatters through her racing thoughts. Her eyes opened wide and she sharply raised her head, blue mane tossing around as she looked around for the source. She settles her gaze on a winged mare with wings tucked against her back. Starbry had always admired those with physical traits and envied anyone and anything that could take to the sky. The sound of another's voice in her head, without purposefully dipping into their head, was unsettling. It made her want to itch the places between her own thoughts. She shook her head at the feeling, and before she gathered herself enough to try and tap into this stranger's mind, the voice came again, tickling her mind in the strangest way.
She squinted her brown eyes in curiosity before checking their surroundings again, carefully watching for any areas of unusual heat that would signal something or someone hiding - but she saw nothing. Grass and trees and water glowing with the rising sun. It was just her and this stranger.
"I'm Starbry." Her voice was soft and gentle but cracked slightly as she reached the end of her name. Her throat seemed dry. It was likely from the panicked breathing, but there was no chance she was going to go drink from that River. She looked at it cautiously in the distance. It was rushing along, sparkling and clear. No green sludge to be seen. Maybe she had imagined it? "I think I may have just had a really bad dream." She looked down at her blue legs and there was no green to be seen. Though there was no evidence of the ooze, she could have sworn she still felt something. Like something was buzzing along deep in her bones. Perhaps just leftover adrenaline?
She returned her eyes to the mare, Topsail, still unsure if she should turn and run. Something still made her feel uneasy, but she had been longing for company, right? "I'm sure it's nothing. Are you from here?"
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Topsail - 10-24-2025
A relit cigarette never tastes the same, and thats all I'll preach about rekindling old flames
"Are you from here?
It is an innocent question. Something one asks when they are initiating idle conversation with a stranger. But for Topsail, the question weighs heavy on her shoulders and for a moment, she debates letting that porcelain facade drop to the ground. It would be so easy, she thinks, to shed that damp coat of bitterness and loneliness she's carried for so long and replace it with something warmer and lighter.
Old habits, however, rarely die without a fight.
"Bred here, born here, ruled here...so yes, from here. Its nice to meet you, Starbry. she says softly in that carefully polished way of hers, though her mouth doesn't move. Her eyes watch the other mare carefully, taking note of her slight unease. A bad dream, she claims, and Topsail offers her a nod of understanding. She's had plenty of those herself, mostly involving her wayward children. For a moment, she thinks she can feel the other mare in her mind. It is slight, barely a ripple, and if Topsail herself wasn't a telepath she might ignore it completely. But she has plenty of experience in other people's minds and recognizes the mare for what she is immediately. For now though, she shrugs it off, though she does not forget it.
What she does notice is the way Starbry keeps glancing at the river, and she watches her with both confusion and contemplation. "As I said, I've been here my whole life. Visited most of the lands, though this is a new one for me. And while I've seen many, many monsters in my time, I've never seen one come from the river." she says, her words trailing off into something of a chuckle. She probably should stop here and ease the other mares mind. She could lower her head and graze and just be content with the company she's been given. But for once in her life, Topsail is trying something new. Playfulness. It is something even her children never got from her, and she isn't sure how to go about it, but figures now is the time to give it a shot.
So with a wicked grin she meets eyes with Starbry, then sends her smooth voice through the other mares mind. "Besides, its not the monsters you can't see that you should worry about. Its the monsters in pretty wrappers that will eat you whole.
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Starbry - 10-24-2025
look how they shine for you
look at the stars
Bred here, born here, ruled here. Starbry has never met a king or queen before. Never even visited a kingdom or knew much about them. She'd heard stories and whispers of this one and that one. Some things that should only exist in nightmares, sweet love stories, and tales that seemed too wild to be true. Wars, falling lands, rising lands, reincarnation, rebirth, redemption. She's heard all of the stories but never seen it for herself.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Topsail. I've never met a Queen before - current or former." She replied to the soft touch in her mind. She almost laughed but didn't. That would have been rude. While she may not have been well socialized, she was not rude. Not a laugh because it was funny particularly, but because it was so strange to be looking directly at Topsail, her mouth still, but her voice weaving through Starbry's thoughts. It was less startling now than the first reach into her mind had been.
With Topsail's words about monsters and the river, she gives one last cautious look at the water. Still rushing innocently along during its journey to the ocean. Fall leaves have begun to adorn the top of the water as they fall from the trees and there are occasional sticks and other random objects bouncing along. All in all, it appeared perfectly harmless. She relaxed a bit more, trying to ease her muscles as the daylight warmed her body. The feeling of wonder ripples through her as Topsail speaks of visiting lands and seeing monsters. Starbry was born and existed, and that was that. "I suppose you would have much more experience than I would." She said softly and chuckled, "I have been here and there, but nowhere of note." and she sighed, thinking about how she would love to see more things than grass and trees and water and the terrible things in her dreams.
Another soft brush into her mind comes, but she doesn't flinch or laugh. She meets the mare's eyes as she hears Besides, its not the monsters you can't see that you should worry about. Its the monsters in pretty wrappers that will eat you whole.
"I wouldn't even know what to look for." She replied thoughtfully. What do monsters look like? Surely some have scales and breathe fire from mouths filled with sharp teeth. Others with three heads covered in forever blinking eyeballs and wicked spiked tails. Ghosts and things that go bump in the night and invade your mind, take over your body. Of course, not all monsters look the way you would expect. She had heard stories of terrible deeds done by someone who you could come across on a day like today, just like Starbry had come across Topsail. With that thought she felt some unease again, "I guess anyone could be a monster, if they wished."
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Topsail - 10-28-2025
A relit cigarette never tastes the same, and thats all I'll preach about rekindling old flames
The Gates had born her, but The Valley had raised her. Her days spent lounging beneath the boughs of the Mother Tree paled in comparison to the years spent dancing in the confines of the Valley. Birdsong was replaced with wolfsong, sunshine overtaken by shadows. Like a nocturnal plant she had flourished there, becoming something more than her parents had ever thought possible. Her father had traded her for a political alliance, but even he couldn't have foreseen what she was to become. What she became.
A monster. A beautiful monster, true... but a beautiful monster is still a monster.
She gives Starbry a smile and a small chuckle, shaking her head slightly. "Well, I was a princess too, but that was many, many years ago. The kingdom I ruled doesn't even exist anymore. Saying it out loud makes her somewhat sad, but she doesn't stop to dwell. That was a whole other lifetime ago, one she isn't sure she would go back to even if she could.
The conversation shifts again, and Topsail can't help but take notice of the mares new unease. Topsail knows she's to blame for that, but still she can't help the wicked smirk that twists her lips. "My kingdom was full of monsters. Some obvious, some not. Her shoulders roll in the semblance of a shrug, nonchalance adding a lilt to her voice. She knows she is only stoking the fire of unease, but she's carried the charade too long now to stop. "Some even said I was a monster. The Raptor Queen, they called me... Her voice trails off and she turns her eyes to the forest, dropping her facade as she loses herself to memories of a life long lost.
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Starbry - 10-28-2025
look how they shine for you
look at the stars
"It doesn't seem much from before exists anymore, really" She said with a small shrug. She hadn't seen a lot of Beqanna before, but this was all very different than what she could remember. "I never really lived anywhere." and she laughed softly. She had always been a nomad. Here and there, everywhere but nowhere all the same. Always too busy daydreaming and stargazing to do anything with real purpose. She had always been safe and mostly happy, so can she really complain? No, there was nothing for Starbry to complain about aside from her loneliness which was entirely self-inflicted.
She is starting to adjust to the voice in her mind now and looks up towards the sky as it comes weaving through her thoughts again. The dawn has been breaking, giving way to a warm morning as the two mares have conversed. All of the fiery colors of autumn lit up beautifully in the morning glow, soothing her nerves. "Which kingdom was it?" Starbry had a feeling she knew, only because she had heard stories here and there. The Raptor Queen. She returned her gaze back to Topsail with that, her smile hadn't faltered.
She notices the mare's demeanor has slightly changed, nothing major, but she can feel it on the air and see in her eyes as her voice wavers in her mind. Starbry followed her gaze to the forest and thinks for a moment about reaching into her mind to see what may have caused the change, but she doesn't. She doesn't get the feeling that she should be afraid, and so she decides she isn't as she looks back at her. "Well, you're good company for a monster. Maybe I should have met more." Her head tilts slightly, "What was your favorite part about where you were from?" She doesn't realize how poorly of a question it could be. She's hoping not to strike a nerve and discover if Topsail still has a monster inside, but she's a curious creature, perhaps a bit naive, but always well meaning.
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Topsail - 10-30-2025
A relit cigarette never tastes the same, and thats all I'll preach about rekindling old flames
She hasn't really thought of The Gates in years. It had been a good place to grow up, she supposed, as good as any place. She had been sheltered there, even adored there, but there was always something lacking. It wasn't a lack of magic; The Mother Tree saw to that and gave her gifts freely to any in the kingdom who would use them for good. It wasn't a lack of friendship, either. There were always other foals around for her to frolic with, though they had more of a tendency to abide by the rules than Topsail did. In all manners The Gates should have been her favorite place, but its lack of shadows and mystery and might had always left her feeling hungry. Always hunting for more.
A hunger she didn't even realize she had until The Valley filled the void. An ache she hadn't felt until the pain was no longer there. A place she hadn't missed until she found it for the very first time.
"The Valley. I ruled The Valley, beside the great magician Eight." she says softly, her iron gaze meeting Starbrys kinder one. "I thought I would hate it when my father sent me there to rule. I dreaded it every step of the way. But once I was there, the wolves and the shadows welcomed me like an old friend..." her voice trails off, all but disappearing in the sound of the rushing water. Its been so long since she's thought about those days, and something about the memories tug at heartstrings she forgot she even had. But before she can be lost totally, her eyes snap back to the other mare as an idea takes hold. "You've got mind powers, do you not? Instead of me telling you, let me show you." And with that she fills her mind with the swirling fog and wolf-song she had loved so much. The memories change and she is standing alongside Eight, her shoulder barely brushing his. Together, but not, a formidable team in their own right. Another shift shows her in her other form, with gnashing teeth and razor sharp claws meant for nothing else besides violence and destruction. Her children are there too, that brood of four mouse-colored boys and a girl that she had bore Eight. As the memories fade to black and a sad smile works its way across her lips, she finally gives herself a moment to reminisce about all she had and lost all those years ago...
For once, Topsail is grateful when the conversation shifts back to something lighter. She finds that easier, somehow, than remembering. A laugh rings through her mind before twirling its way through Starbrys, and it is a genuine thing. "Lucky for you, when Beqanna fell she took my monster-hood with her, so what you see here is what you get." Other than the power she had and fear it caused in others, Topsail doesn't miss much of her other form. It had been a reckless thing, hard to control and always succumbing to its most basic wants. "But enough about me. Old queens are boring, even Raptor Queens. What brings you to The River, and what brings you here in such a fluster? I've still yet to see anything alarming from that body of water you've looked at a dozen or more times.
Ooc- I blame whatever this rambling is on a lack of coffee and sleep >.<
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Starbry - 10-31-2025
look how they shine for you
look at the stars
If Starbry would have had to guess, she would have picked the Valley. She had never been there and had never met anyone from there, but she had heard the stories. The legends. Stuff parents would tell their children as spooky bedtime stories. Starbry had loved to listen to legends and stories and imagine the lives and tall tales. Her head tilted slightly as the mare seemed to trail off before almost startling as she quickly focused back on her. She was going to answer about her mind powers, tell the mare that she wasn't really experienced in using them. She would occasionally reach out to see if there was anything on the surface, she could easily pick off the mind of another, but she had never tried to dig around. If she had, she would surely be noticed clumsily picking through another's thoughts. But as she opened her mouth to answer, her mind was filled with Topsail's memories.
Starbry gasped, slightly startled by the rush. She closed her eyes and allowed the memories to turn through her mind. Trying to experience the sounds, the feelings, immerse herself in the views like she was there. It was a rollercoaster. The power, the violence, the love and the hint of longing. A long life, a full life, a life that seemed well lived. As the memories fade from her mind as quickly as they had entered, she snaps her eyes open to stare at Topsail. It left an odd feeling behind, seeing another's memories in her own mind. She almost felt...jealous? No. Not quite jealous, but disappointed. She had nothing of the sort to share with this new companion. Starbry meets her sad smile with a gentle one of her own, "That was...amazing." She said softly, unsure if that was even the proper wording. "A life well lived"
Her soft smile broadens as a genuine laugh weaves through her mind. The kind that warmed her body just as the sun did. There was something even better about laughter directly into her mind and surpassing her ears, and she giggled slightly at the feeling. "I certainly wouldn't say you're boring, old or not." she chuckled again. Her smile faded slightly as her attention was redirected again to the River. She hesitated but then turned her head to look at it. Still innocently rushing along, clean and clear. "Well." She started and then stopped. She wasn't entirely sure how to even explain herself. "I saw a mare standing by the river and I was going to introduce myself." She turned back to face Topsail. "When I got to the river's edge, there was this...green ooze over the water. The mare threw a stick in and it started to bubble up and before I knew it, it was rising over the banks." She stopped and sighed. "I tried to back away but it was like I was cemented in place with it climbing my legs - like it was alive. And as fast as it rose, it retreated, and was gone."
She was sure she sounded insane. She felt insane, recalling what had happened. She was so certain she was going to die in that moment. "And maybe it was a bad dream. I don't see anything on me from it, but I feel odd. I feel different. Something feels different." She didn't know what it was, and being distracted by conversation had helped her forget the feeling so deep in her bones. Like a strange buzzing in the marrow, tingling along the pieces of her where her magic lived. "But there isn't anything different." She laughed again then, "God, I feel insane just saying it out loud."
RE: look how they shine for you [any] - Topsail - 11-17-2025
A relit cigarette never tastes the same, and thats all I'll preach about rekindling old flames
As the sun moves through the sky and towards the horizon, Topsail finds herself relaxing. It is a foreign feeling, that calmness that settles over her skin and deep down into her bones. She has lived the majority of her life on edge, always looking for slights or threats, both real and imagined. She hasn't realized what a heavy burden that was until it was no longer clinging to her shoulders.
Another smile, another unvoiced laugh. It is a girlish and silly sound, but she thinks it would be an enjoyable thing to feel in her mouth if she could. She knows now why her sire and dam were eternal optimists, always filling their cups from the fountain of joy. This warmth, this...contentment? It is a feeling she could get used to.
"Thank you." she says, and the sincerity in her voice matches the slight bow of her head. It is not until now, in this very moment, that Topsail realizes Starbry is right. She has lived, and lived well. Perhaps not by the standards her parents had set, or those set by her kingdom, but she has met and exceeded her own standards. That is all any of them can ask for in the end.
She breaks from her reverie to listen to the young mare, her eyes finding the river once more. Clear water flows along innocently, gurgling pleasantly as it makes its way over the rocks and around the bends. But Topsail knows better than most that wolves are prone to hiding in the skin of sheep. So she doesn't scoff at the other mare, or question her sanity. Instead, she steps away from her and towards the waters edge, her hooves sinking into the mud. When the water laps against her fetlocks she lowers her head, dipping her black muzzle into the water and drinking deeply. The icy water hurts her teeth and freezes her belly, but otherwise tastes no different, and certainly doesn't taste of ooze or monsters.
When she's had her fill she raises her head, clear water dripping from her muzzle. "Thankfully, it doesn't taste any different." she says, her eyes twinkling. A chill passes over her, and she grits her teeth against the onslaught of shivers. With a glance towards the sky she notices the moon beginning its upwards crawl, and she gives it a half smirk before turning back to Starbry. "Winter time means long nights...maybe the river will turn again?" she says with a shrug of her shoulders. She's seen too much to outright deny the others claims, but her curiosity has always been a ferocious thing and seeing is believing.
