Diable Rouge

"The redwoods feel lonely and lunar and distant, the sun comes in fragments through breaks in the trees, and I feel further from home than I've ever been…these thin lines of light across space tether you to me…"

The pain of rebirth had subsided. A bright, white light crept through the darkness, beckoning the chaser forward.

Home…A voice calls from the light. It is unfamiliar, but tender; trustworthy. ...Go home, Diable Rouge. Despite the uncertainty, Rou follows the voice and walks into the light. A gentle presence embraces him, filling him with warmth and comfort. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and allows it to bring him home - back to Beqanna.

***

Diable Rouge isn’t sure how long he had slept.

Beneath the shade of the towering oak, he rests, curled like a foal against its trunk. Early spring has fallen upon Beqanna, just in time for his rebirth. Grass pokes out from beneath half-melted snow, rodents and bears emerge from their deep winter slumber, and the hazy silver sky turns a welcoming shade of blue. Rou hears the soft coo of mourning doves and the gentle babble of the half-frozen stream before he is fully awake.

He slowly opens his working eye, and it takes him several minutes before he adjusts to the sun’s light. Warm rays of light break through the branches of the oak, bathing the chaser in warmth. He hadn’t felt it in so long, he can barely bring himself to move from his spot. He didn’t realize how much he’d missed feeling the sun on his face, or hearing the chitters of squirrels, or watching the early spring perennials try their best to make their appearance.

He didn’t realize how much he’d missed…living. 

He is alive...once again. A second chance not granted to most had been granted to him. Alive...I'm alive.

Diable Rouge, in a moment of pure bliss, rolls to his back with a joyful sigh. Back and forth he rolls, until finally he rises onto four legs and shakes from head to tail. He’s grinning, wider than he had in years. There’s much he has to do, lost time to make up for, but for now, he basks in the sun.

As he bathes in the warmth, his mind drifts to AuroraElis. He remembers how beautiful she looked in the springtime - more so than usual. Maybe it was the way her caramel frame ran through the newly grown grass or the contrast of her blue and green feathers next to the vast floral blooms, but she seemed to shine around this time of year.

What a beautiful coincidence that he would, hopefully, find her during this season - the season of renewal and transformations. Rou knows it has been decades since they last saw each other and he knows that things surely have changed with her…but he hopes, deep down, that they would be able to pick up where they left off. He wants to embrace her, his towering frame reaching over her withers and pulling her into him.

“Aurora…” He speaks her name to himself, a subdued whisper, feeling it on his tongue. It feels close, intimate. “Ru…” He mutters, chuckling at their shared nickname. It had been like they were meant to be from the beginning. An invisible string had tied them together then, and a connection like that is hard to sever.

Suddenly, he hears the loud jeer of a blue jay, followed by its burbling chirp. Rou looks up and sees it staring at him from a nearby oak. It jumps closer on the branch, tilting its head, before flying away. He watches his blue wings as they glimmer in the sun - an all too familiar sight. The entire interaction only lasts a moment, but the chaser takes it as a sign - he needs to find her.

"...well I saw you last night in my dreams, but there were azaleas where your face should be…they don’t have much, but goddamn they’ve got love."