Tell me your stories; Popinjay

It's true that she has been slow to return to the Taigan woods, high on adventure and unwilling to let go the last wisps of it. It had seemed like no more than a few days, and yet it had also seemed like weeks, traveling through someone else's dream of Atlantis until she landed on that white beach. When Popinjay finally returned to the tall trees of her homeland, she had stayed on the move, finding her family late at night and leaving them early.

It's possible, then, that Lethy has not even seen the still-red scars tracing up her daughter's left flank from where the splashing magma had rained back down from above. Every day the pain grew less and if she feels anything at all now, there is no hitch in her step when she comes to the buckskin mare's side, night-caped and eyes shining. Her grin is breathless, she is always ready for a race.

When she presses close to her mother, she touches her muzzle to her cheek and there is a spark of electricity that arcs between them. The air is dry and she is so full of frenetic energy, these little shocks have happened so frequently since her return. It makes her sneeze, her head rolling, her neck twisting dramatically so that the black tendrils of her mane fly wildly in the air. It leads to a squeal, then a buck, and without a word the seal bay is galloping away, weaving deftly between the trees as though they as insubstantial as the snowy fog.

Popinjay

She was not quite what you would call refined

@[Izora Lethia]

RE: Tell me your stories; Popinjay - Izora Lethia - 11-07-2019

The sight of her daughter was a fresh of breath air for the buckskin mare. Her youthful spirit a contagious mood as she closed the gap between them. Her purple eyes blazed with excitement as she pushed her body still, her muscles pleading for relief but she pushed harder still. Only when Poppy brushed her muzzle to her cheek did she falter in their escapade. A shock of electricity passing from the girl to her, running deep into the crevases of the ridged scar that adorned her face. Her eyes widened a moment as she let up from their race trying to comprehend what happened. If Poppy had felt the same fizzle of electricity she showed no sign as she broke off, taking to the giant redwoods.

Lethy shook the confusion from her mind, it must have been the dry air that saturated the forest around them, a freak incident. She replaced the concerned frown that had found its way to her face with a determined smile as she took off after Popinjay. Where the girl was small and quick Lethy was familiar and built to run. It did not take long for her to catch up to her seal bay girl.

When she did catch up, coming up behind the girl her brow furrowed in concern once again as her eyes locked with the harsh red scars that spotted Poppy. Poppy. Where have you been? How did you get those? she asked breathlessly, concern dripping from her mother tounge.

forget me not; but never remember

Lethy

@[Poppinjay]

RE: Tell me your stories; Popinjay - Popinjay - 11-13-2019

How to even begin?

The young mare only laughs in reply, taking the advantage of Lethy's surprise to regain her lead, turning sharply and darting off into the undergrowth. She has always been nimble and sure-footed, and now is no exception, black legs finding solid ground easily, never fully committing to the shadows below the ferns until slate-grey hooves feel the firmness of earth beneath them. Leaping over one of the many fallen logs inside their woods and weaving around the great grey boulders, she maintains an steady curve until her path slowly, slowly, brings her up behind and beside Lethy once again where, dancing close, she lets her teeth scrape playfully across the mare's golden skin. Her breath comes in great gasps, nostrils flaring as they run until they are both exhausted, cascading out of the trees into one of Taiga's rocky meadows where only the only burnt husks of trees reach into the sky, no longer bearing leaves.

As they slow at last, the lazy sun of a winter's sunrise just peaking through fire-darkened trunks, she matches her stride to her mother's, though the taller mare's stride is longer and Poppy must work to maintain it. She does not mind the work though, tail flagging and dark eyes shining brightly in the grey light of the rising sun. It is not until their pace finally comes to a walk that she even remembers the question at hand, the scars dripping down her left flank. She has nearly forgotten them, the pain long gone and only the occasional pull of scar tissue. The red flesh of her healed burns is not as elastic as the black skin it has replaced. Her ear turns back towards the scars, considering them oh so briefly - she can only just see them without turning her head.

"I've been everywhere!" She says between excited breaths, exhaled in clouds that break up into nothing as the two mares press forward into them, "And it was only a bit of lava," she frowns, remembering, but just for a moment before then grin returns, "Anyway, most of it rolled off the mud before it burned."

Popinjay

She was not quite what you would call refined

@[Izora Lethia] sorry this took so long!

RE: Tell me your stories; Popinjay - Izora Lethia - 11-17-2019

Her muscles constricted and released as they ran freely through their home, no predetermined destination, no orders to follow, no politics or duties to run to. Her breaths deepen, despite not having worked this hard in quite a while they came easily, steadily. The mother and daughter duo came to a walk amongst the broken carcass of Taiga. Where the rest of the great woods had rebirthed and thrived after the great fire, this place had remained as a reminder of what the ancient place had survived. A mark upon the land that screamed there was nothing that could break it completely. Lethy's purple eyes watched the brilliant sunrise ignite the fire stricken meadow, beauty finding it's way into even the most devastated of places.

Her attention drifted to Poppy as she exclaims her adventures, having been everywhere. She finds herself recognizing the excitement behind the statement. Her daughter informs her that her adventures included lava, the red scars glared defiantly at Lethy as she listens to the end of Poppy's tale. Her brow crinkles as she remembers the current of electricity that had passed between them earlier. Maybe her conclusion was not exact. Had it been a misconception to believe the air had simply been dry? She was not as niave as she had been years ago just arriving on Beqanna's shore. Magic was everywhere in Beqanna, in fact she herself had just been called away by a feeling to participate in a quest. Seeing her first born daughter, an impossibility in any other place.

Maybe her daughter had had a similar experience. As much as Lethy pushed aside the idea, her daughter was growing up. She would undoubtably have her own experiences. It was not her place anymore to protect her from such things. She smiled softly at the girl, Well, I hope you had fun. Those marks will surely make it difficult to forget. he own scar pulsed softly across her face, she only hoped her daughters scars would bring back hood memories and not painful ones like her own. Should we go wake the others? Maybe you and Owin can take over the rest of my border patrol this morning. she said with a half cocked smile before turning back towards the way they came, the ever rising sun warming her back.

forget me not; but never remember

Lethy

@[Popinjay]