"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
Nutkin never knew the horrific circumstances surrounding her conception.
(that Fur had been taken against her will despite the season riding her hot and heavy. how she had been hunted down and claimed as one more trophy-lay by someone far more powerful and wicked than she’d ever known was possible.)
Sprung from ill gotten means did not mean she was any less loved. Quite the opposite in fact! She came out more cervine than even her mother was and this spawned a strong mothering instinct in the shy feral creature to love and nurture her child. So Nutkin flourished beneath the attention that Fur gave her.
She learned the paths of the forest on tiny cloven feet. Learned the width and depth of the mighty river. Learned the safest thickets in the meadow for sleeping.
But she began to stray further and further from her mother’s side. Adventure and exploration both called to her in strong siren-songs that were hard to ignore. Nutkin began to answer them with a bright challenging look in her nut-brown eyes.
Finally, her poor mother could take no more and left her for odd stretches of time in the fairies’ care. Nutkin didn’t mind at first. The fairies kept her company but one by one, they flittered off and she found herself alone. Which normally she was content to be by herself... lately, something had changed- she wanted a friend. No friends! Lots of them!
All Nutkin received in return was the low sigh of wind blowing around her.
He'd only found one other horse so far besides his mom, and he knew for absolute certain she, or any of them, did not look like this one. And some how he was completely at ease with that, almost welcomed it. He felt so different, and so he felt like he sort of fit in here, with this girl that doesn't look like him or Mommy.
"Hullo," he said softly, braving the sunlight and for once in his life making the first move. He did best in shadows, hiding and watching and stayig quiet. He tried not to show how utterly terrified he was.
His black coat soaked up the sun without visible proof, the white of his markings glowing from the radiating light. Faded, blue eyes stared at her in an open kindness - it was the only way he knew thus far. His mommy was very gentle and loving.
"Do you live here?"
His attempts at conversation were poor, and he didn't know much at all about the world he lived in. But he was trying. And not hiding. And that was new, and sort of thrilling, and absolutely scary. His feet were a little too close together, his head tilted to peek at her with innocent interest.
"I like your feet. They're my favorite. Or well, paws maybe are, but I like yours too." He blushed in embarrassment, and fell quiet. He'd never spoken so much to anyone but Mommy before.
09-23-2018, 08:43 PM (This post was last modified: 09-23-2018, 08:43 PM by Lichen.)
There was the wind, and her.
Then there wasn’t. Because he came along. Gentle but shadowy, except for the patches of white that gleamed and glowed. Nutkin couldn’t help how she stared; she’d never been taught otherwise. Stared, and smiled.
“Hi,” she echoed softly, afraid to speak much louder in case it scared him off. He seemed as meek as a mouse despite his brave approach. All she could was smile at him, not quite as terrified as he was though she’d never know it - he hid it that well! - but scared enough that he might all of a sudden turn tail and leave her there. It was the loneliness that she feared above all else.
(mama was off chasing after the does; a herd that graciously tolerated her presence but knew she was not truly one of theirs)
She stretched her neck out to him in just one quick light-as-a-ghost nuzzle. Nutkin liked his smell, wild and boyish and woodsy. It brought another smile to her face in a long chain of endless smiles that came easier and easier the longer she was around him. “No. I live in a forest.”
A forest, she’d said.
Not the forest.
That distinction had yet to be made. Couldn’t because she was looking at his feet planted close together as he went on to point out the difference in her own and how he liked it. “Thank you,” said as shyly as he surely must have felt - as she now felt, one cloven hoof worrying the earth. “Paws would be neat... but I like my feet too. You’d look good with paws though.”
Nutkin didn’t bother to add that it was because he reminded her of shadows and slinking; things that ought to offend her more cervine nature but somehow (thankfully!) he didn’t.
Xero was not usually one to be quiet or shy. She was far more likely to be grumbly and huffy and stompy and sassing about, but sometimes a girl had to make an exception. And besides, her sass had started to wear off, with all the cold and lonely that winter had been, and the way it faded into spring but still left a chill in bones that had started to show through floof she was not ready to lose. Sass took so much energy, and she’d started to run awful low on that.
So it was a subdued, scrawny, shaggy-looking little miss who crept into the playground, lacking her usual bounce and vigor. But maybe that was for the best, ‘cause the people she found seemed soft and shy and quiet. “Hi,” she said softly, head low and peeking up at them as she snuck closer. “Is...is it okay if I come join you?”
Big silvery-gold eyes peered through dark lashes, and she twisted her mouth to the side to worry at the inner corner of her lips. Maybe she’d gotten bad at people, ‘cause when she first came down the big mountain, she was all bold and forward, bright eyes and a big old smile. Or maybe too much time by herself had just sucked away her smile little by little.
At least she had lots of company in her dreams. But it was not the same.
Xero stopped close to the other two kids, but not quite with them, just in case maybe they wanted to be by themselves. Still, she tried a hopeful little smile and joined in the conversation. “Paws are really cool,” she agreed, glancing at the girl with the neat sorta horns and feet that were split in two pieces ‘stead of one. “They’re good at grabbing things, and for climbing too. Especially like trees and rocks and stuff. Plus some paw things have sandpapery tongues that tickle-scratch, and they have real good rumbly purrs that make extra good snuggles.”
Another nervous glance between them, and she smiled a tiny bit brighter and took a step closer. “I’m Xero. Who’re you?”
@[Nutkin] @[Cimmerian] I'm so sorry this took me forever. D: Thank you for waiting for me, I'll be fasterrrr nowwww. And if I'm not, poke me. D:
He of course blushed again when her little nuzzle touched him, dropping his eyes with a helpless smile. He liked how it felt. Like when Momma did it but with a sneaky zing of something else in it. His smile grew even more, his eyes lifting to her face, when she said she lived in a forest. Because so did he! A super nice one.
A new person showed up though, and his eyes widened. He instinctively shifted nearer the most familiar thing he had so far -- the first girl. Only a little. But he stopped himself and watched quietly, glancing up from his feet on occasion as she talked. He nodded though, of course, when she asked if she could join them. He wasn't really sure that was okay with his first girl but he did it anyway because he was so nervous.
The second girl agreed too that paws were cool, and he raised a little smile at her. And then she introduced herself, Xero, and asked for their names too. He looked at the first girl, and realized that he was calling her that in his head, which means he hadn't gotten her name yet. He hadn't even noticed! He was not the best at this...
"I'm Cimmerian," he said quietly, looking back at Xero and then falling quiet to watch them.
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