when we were young and free

[Avelina]

Although she had a built-in best friend with Cru, Avelina was excited for her first trip to the playground. She had suggested it (gently) - already more in tune with her mom’s sadness than she probably should be. Maybe if Agetta had an afternoon to herself, she’d feel a little better. None of it made any sense to the young black filly, of course, but surely it couldn’t hurt. And then when they were reunited later, they would be sure to have lots of stories that would make the white mare smile! And that’s all Avelina wanted to see. Now, though, this filly wasn’t smiling at all. Not finding anyone immediately upon arrival, she and her brother had elected to play a game where they would take turns hiding. Only, Cru - even with his bright white coat - seemed to be a lot better at the ‘hiding’ part than she was. She had been wandering around for a while, trying to puzzle out where he had gone. It felt like cheating to call out his name so she settled for wandering through a thicket of trees and whispering it to each trunk - as if he might be around any of them. avelina

for Narya

[Narya]

i've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
and now i see daylight

When Anonya had left her here, Narya had tried to follow her mother, her doe-like eyes large and glimmering with tears that gathered on the rims. “Please don’t go,” she had pleaded with her softly, and the smile that her mother had given her was a sympathetic one. “You will be fine, Narya,” the pale mare had whispered as she pressed another kiss to her forehead, “I want you to make friends your own age, and that isn’t going to happen if you’re just with me all the time. I promise I will be back for you before dusk.” She wilted a little at the fact her mother was not budging on this, but the promise of her coming back was enough to make her reluctantly agree.

She was too young to know all the ways her mother’s heart was broken, and too young to know that Anonya was afraid her sorrow was going to bleed all over her young daughter. Trying not to feel abandoned she had turned away from her mother’s retreating form, and stared hesitantly at this new place.

Moving away from the clearing where most of them gathered she began to wander through the thickets of trees, doing her best to stop checking to see where the sun was at in the sky – secretly begging it to lower just a little faster. When she hears a voice whisper a name she startles sideways, accidentally squealing outloud in alarm. Her heart hammering in her small chest she turns to find a dark filly, and with her eyes wide she manages to stammer, “I’m sorry, I….I didn’t know anyone else was here.” Her cheeks feel hot, both from embarrassment at being scared and from the fear itself. “I’m Narya,” she offers her, and she’s not sure why, maybe just out of desperation to move past the fact she had been frightened by someone’s voice.

narya

@[Avelina]

[Avelina]

Avelina is so intent on her search for her pale brother, that she is not paying attention to anything else - and when she hears a nearby squeal she startles too with a quiet shout. Her green eyes then finally spot a bay filly, right about her size, and her fright is completely forgotten the moment she sees someone else - making way first for concern “Oh no, I’m sorry if I scared you!” And then finally her usual warm smile takes over as she is quick to offer up her own name as well as an explanation as to why she had been wandering around whispering at trees. “I’m Avelina - or Ava. I’m looking for my brother. He looks just like me… well, except he’s white… and has light blue eyes…” Avelina frowns slightly as she trails off,  thinking that this means she and her brother really don’t look much a like at all. Then how can they be twins? With a small shake of her head, she brushes aside those thoughts and her smile returns. “Sometimes he turns into an animal that can climb trees or blend in though so I never know where he might be.” Avelina looks up to the branches for a quick moment, wondering if that rustling was just the wind or a squirrel - and was that squirrel somehow her brother? But, though she wants to find Cru, her search moves to the back of her mind as she refocuses on Narya.  “Do you have any siblings?” avelina

@[Narya]

[Narya]

i've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
and now i see daylight

The other girl seems friendly, and she can feel herself beginning to relax. She is not sure why, but the idea of making friends had seemed terrifying. She had been so certain that no one would like her. Even from her mother’s shadow she had been able to see that she was, in comparison to so many, entirely plain. She remembers the first time she had met her father, and marveled at his magnificent wings. She remembers every stranger they passed in the meadow, and how they glittered and glinted, how they were every color of the rainbow. Even her mother, though a simple white, still had a mane and tail tangled with flowers, and a heavenly glow that reminded Narya of what angels on earth must look like.

But she was just bay. Though her mother would tell her that she was not just bay, and Anonya would go on to compare her to all the other beautiful auburn things she could think of, and remind her that magic might find her when she is least expecting it.

“Ava,” she repeats the other girl’s name, and follows her gaze up into the trees. “Um...I don’t think I’ve seen your brother, but I guess if he turned into a squirrel I might not have known it was him?” She turns her attention back to the filly, wondering if she can do something like that, too. It would be just her luck to make a friend that would most likely be bored by her inability to do anything.

“Not really,” she says with a shake of her delicate head. “They’re a lot older than me.”  Her mother didn't talk about her older siblings much, and she knew she had more half-siblings from her father, and Anonya spoke of them even less. She was too young to understand the complicated nature of Plume and Anonya's relationship, but she was intuitive enough to know the tension was there. She didn't pry; she learned that she hated the quiet sadness on her mother's face when she did.

“Is he your twin brother?” She asks with a little bit of awe in her voice once she realizes he must be their age if he was possibly in the playground.

narya

@[Avelina]