"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
Lonely. She's been lonely for as long as she can remember.
She's comfortable with her own company. She has to be. But as she stretches her neck out to drink from the small stream, her mouth is dry with misuse. She hasn't spoken to another living being in so long.
As the foliage parts and she steps into the meadow, she sees other horses, their tails flicking lazily in the sun, weak as it is in winter. She shrinks back into the trees, trying in vain to blend her pale coat into the darkness.
After a few deep breaths, she steps out again, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. Many of the others here were surely of ancient Beqanna lines, but she had none to boast of. A foundling who has almost forgotten how to talk, starved for contact and nourishment.
She finds a quiet corner of the field and takes her first bite of grass.
E L I N D O R
god knows, I am dissonance waiting to be swiftly pulled into tune
Raised by a doting mother, Starlin has never felt unloved. There was emptiness, of course, the heavy silence that followed any inquiry about her father and then, later, her twin. One was gone before her birth, and the second stayed too briefly. Mother has never seemed concerned about their disappearances, but then: Mother is never concerned about anything.
She has filled that silence by keeping buys – long runs down the beach, swimming in the icy sea. Now that winter is creeping into Beqanna, she finds her way down to the Field, old enough at last to be taken seriously (or so she hopes).
Starlin had reached her adult height this past summer, but is still clear from the leanness of her figure and the bright innocence in her eyes that she is still very much a child. A confident one though, one who walks through the trees as though she owns the place, her curious blue-grey eyes flicking from one interest to the next.
One she lingers on, a pale mare alone, and after a moment of deliberation, she decides to approach. The perlino mare looks as harmless as a stranger can, and Starlin stops beside her with a smile.
“Hey there,” She says, bobbing her head in a polite greeting. “I’m Starlin. What’s your name?”
A pair of pale eyes closely follow the minimal grullo tobiano girl’s movements. She hadn’t been in Nerine very long – she was only a newborn after all – but right from the start the other girl had caught her attention. And from that moment on Kahvi had decided that she wanted to be just like Starlin.
Though born in Beqanna, her linage is unknown. It had been Nayl who found her in Nerine and she was the only motherly figure the navy blue filly knew. No linage to boost with, though already starting to become part of a different family. And hopefully be part of a circle of friends too.
The only reason why she was able to keep up with Starlin, during the hike from Nerine to the Field, is because of the low pace. Her short legs are only just able to keep up: Kahvi is barely in shape to make such trip. The icy wind ruffles her transparent wings, but the cold doesn’t bother her.
From a slight distance she watches Starlin approach a pale golden mare and she cannot help herself but to wonder who this was, and why Starlin had left Nerine in the first place. Due to her curiosity – that and her adoration of Starlin – Kahvi had followed her, not sure if she was even allowed to. Not wanting to get send back, she lingers behind.
Only a child would think that pretending to not be there or someone else would work, Kahvi moves closer. Her head dips towards the grass, like she’s paying close attention to something in particular, but her ear is focussed on Starlin and the stranger. She’s trying to overhear their conversation, so she would be able to see and learn more of Starlin.
And imitate it. After all, the young filly is sure that it’s the right example to follow.
She has not long found a spot away from everyone else when she's approached by a stranger.
The filly, named Starlin, introduces herself, so forward and friendly. Elindor doesn't know what to do; she's never really been spoken to unless something was needed from her, but she feels that this young filly is simply being friendly. A small part of her tells her she's being too trusting, but she tries to ignore it.
"I... I am Elindor." she replies. "I've only recently come to these lands. Where are you from?"
E L I N D O R
god knows, I am dissonance waiting to be swiftly pulled into tune
Starlin has heard the rustling behind her, but she had assumed it was another recruiter, likely close on her tail in order to try and horn in on her conversation. The grullo horse turns, ready to meet a taller gaze – and finds no one.
No, she sees, there is something there, a navy blue shape in the brittle winter grass. Starlin narrows her gaze in focus. Ah, she sees. It’s Kahvi. The faint frown on her face turns to a small smile, and she looks back to the perlino mare. The stranger introduces herself as Elindor, a pretty name that Starlin repeats to herself.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she adds politely before the perlino asks a question.
“Welcome to Beqanna then. I’m from Nerine, as is my little shadow back there.” With a smile, she gestures to the poorly hidden Kahvi, and whickers and invitation for the child to join them. “I’m here to see if anyone in the Field might be interested in coming to live in Nerine.” Starlin says to Elindor, “Are you maybe interested?” The words are well-rehearsed, but do not sound stiff. Starlin has practiced for this – her first trip to the Field – for a long time. She is fortunate, she knows, that she has found someone that hadn’t run away when she’d approached.
The young one is forward, but welcomingly so.
Elindor didn't know if she could handle the flowery prose she'd heard stallions use in the past to coax mares into their herds. She preferred honesty and frankness, and she knew implicitly she could trust Starlin.
Nerine. She had heard of this place before, but never visited. She knew it to be almost as far away from the Field as one could get, and she was suddenly astounded at the bravery of this filly standing before her, when she herself had been nervous of short journeys and interactions with strangers. Here was a child half her age who had seemingly travelled further than Elindor had in her whole life. If this was the kind of personality that came from Nerine, she wanted to know more.
At the mention of a 'shadow', Elindor looks over Starlin's shoulder to see some movement in the brush further away. A small smile catches her lips as she remembers her own childhood, following the older colts and fillies.
"I-- Thank you, yes," she replies, "I have heard of your home, and I would be very interested in joining you on your journey home..."
She peers back at Starlin's companion. "Will your shadow be joining us?"
E L I N D O R
god knows, I am dissonance waiting to be swiftly pulled into tune
Okay, so that was how things were done. Not at all like she had done when she had first stumbled upon Nayl, but to her own defence, she’d just been a lost little baby wandering into the unknown. Nobody to look over her, nobody to guide her, well until Nayl of course. And Kahvi liked to copy what the piebald mare did, but, it didn’t stop the navy girl from looking up to Starlin.
And that was a whole new guidebook to study, this chapter about greeting strangers.
Step one: say hello with a smile.
Step two, following right after one: introduce yourself and informs to other equine’s name.
Step three: “It’s nice to meet you.” After the other equine has introduced him or herself.
Step four: Answer any and all question. Oh, and don’t get caught.
Starlin noticed her. It flusters Kahvi, but at the same time it thrills her. For a moment she wonders if she should just pretend that she still isn’t there, that she hadn’t heard what Starlin had said. Or that Elindor, too, noticed her. But that all became not an option when the minimal grullo tobiano calls her out.
Secretly it’s a little exciting too, now she can go and say hello too and study whatever Starlin does up close. It takes Kahvi little to no time to trot to Starlin’s side, but then she’s shy to face the stranger. Her silver eyes stare up to Elindor, her dark head tilted slightly to the side. ”Hi..” she says softly, pressing herself up to Starlin’s much larger frame. ”I.. I’m Kahvi..” she adds, but not without glancing up to see if this has the approval of her big example.
”Are we going back home?” she then asks, this time her words directed towards Starlin. Young as she is Kahvi longs for home, and the comforting presence of the mare that had taken the motherly task on her.
As Elindor looks past Starlin to Kahvi crouched in the grass, the grullo filly takes a moment to look over the perlino mare. She is not much older than Starlin, and they are rather similar in height and build. Only in color – pale cream against splashed deep dun – are they strikingly unmatched. Kahvi is like them too in her foalhood, though her brilliantly colored coat is as different from Elindor’s as the perlino’s is from Starlin. They’re an eye-catching trio, the three of them, but Starlin is unaware of it.
The young filly is thinking only of her goals: recruit and befriend and learn to fight.
Those were the driving forces behind a true amazon, or so her mother had told her. Loyalty to the kingdom comes first, and secondly to the queen. She is fortunate, Starlin knows, to have both a strong queen and a strong kingdom. The realm of the Amazons had not always been so lucky. The love of her kingdom emboldens her, and when Elindor looks back to meet her gaze, Starlin complies rather than look away. Despite her displayed confidence, Starlin still occasionally shows her youth as well.
“She will be coming, yes.” The tobiano replies, “Kahvi lives in Nerine too.”
As Kahvi comes up to introduce herself, Starlin continues the movement, leading the other two toward Nerine. As they travel, it occurs to the girl that perhaps she might have given Elindor the wrong impression about their realm. What if she thinks the place is populated only by children? What if she’s worried about Starlin and Kavi being out alone and is following out of pit?
“There are grownups there too,” Starlin adds, “Queen Nayl and my mother. Princess Isobell and her father, Guardian Lior.” The words fall easily from her mouth, titles and names that probably mean very little to Elindor.
ooc: i debated posting this here or in Nerine, since Starlin is starting to head there at the end of the post. Maybe whoever replies to this first can post in Nerine?
