"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
09-12-2022, 04:01 PM (This post was last modified: 09-12-2022, 05:06 PM by Hound.)
out for blood
It had been a long time since Hound wandered about. Perhaps it was her age, her distaste towards others, or simply the need to fall into herself. Regardless, she finally managed to leave the safety of her home. Home may have been a stretch. She had been meandering around for years. Nearing almost twenty years old, Hound had seen many things. She had lived through hell and had no intention of looking back.
The cold air was welcomed. The chill running down her spine made her feel alive again. For once, she felt aware. She knew she was dying. The coagulation in her lungs and burning in her chest was more apparent every day. But all she new was she was here.
She was alive. For all the anger she had harbored for years, Hound finally knew she needed relief. At this point anyone was welcomed, anyone was accepted. The pressure building in her chest was finally gone. Death was imitate. All she wanted was to feel seen again.
She watches the older mare from a distance, half-hidden by the shadows cast from one of the large, strange rock formations that littered the otherwise barren landscape. She could have drawn the darkness around her as a better disguise, could have even shifted into the black snake that she favored so much, but she was not all that concerned with being seen. She did not intend to be hidden for long—she just liked to watch them first, to see what they were like when they thought they were alone.
They usually behave differently once they catch sight of the eerie looking girl watching them from the shadows.
She never could pin-point what it was about her, exactly, that they don’t like. She was, after all, still essentially a child, not yet being two years old. Perhaps it is the twist of her horns, or the unsettling silver-glow of her eyes; or the knife-sharp tip of her tail, or the fact that her skin glistens with scales rather than the satin-soft coat many were accustomed to.
Or maybe they can feel the ancient dark that had been reborn into her blood and bone, malevolent and pulsing in the air around her, untethered.
She has not yet learned how to convince them to not be afraid, has not learned how to present herself into something more agreeable.
Growing bored of her observations, she finally peels herself away from the shadows and makes her way towards the stranger. There is a small smile on her face once she gets closer, though it is perhaps a bit too poised to appear natural. It is too practiced, and it does nothing to soften her too sharp feature. “Hello,” is all she says in way of greeting, stopping once she is a respectable distance away, letting her tail flick idly behind her.
INNOCENCE DIED SCREAMING, HONEY, ASK ME, I SHOULD KNOW
Though her ears and eyes are not are sharp as they once were, Hound is idly aware of the fact that she feels watched. Out of habit, she initially bristles, before softening at the thought of speaking with another. Ears flicker forward, expecting to see a stranger and nothing more. Stranger does not even begin to explain the unsettling figure heading her way. Hound cocks her hind leg, leaning gently on it and tilting her heavy head slightly left. She tries to come across merely amused, and not as if her heart is beating rapidly in her chest.
It was a youngling, that much was obvious and not at all intimidating. But the easiness ended there. Curling vines of bone from the child's head were slightly unnerving, but it was her coat- or lack there of that caused the old mare's jaw to drop open unintentionally. She had seen some strange equines in her life. Ugly, stupid, stunning, mystique looking. But the only word that looped in her mind was snake.
And yet, something about the filly intrigued her. How wonderful it must feel to be so different, so unlike everyone else aimlessly wandering around looking for some meaning in what would only ever prove to be a meaningless life. She says a simple hello, her smile a little practiced. Perhaps it's just her mood for the day, or the fact that this creature is one of the strangest, most intriguingly unsettling things she's ever seen, but Hound's ears flicker forward and she remembers her minimal manners and snaps her jaw shut.
"Well hello. Please, forgive me I was slightly startled." She pauses, completely unsure if this sounds genuine or forced. She decides she doesn't care. She has nothing to lose here anyway. In a gentle, dip of her head she attempts a youthful sort of play bow that looks rusty and disjointed. "Hound. And you my dear?"
Hound
@Severe this is my first time doing this in forever so bare with me too! also I love her and the song quote
