[open] flowers where your face should be [Aurora, any]

[Diable Rouge]

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."

I'm learning how to put the pieces back together, turn the aching to composure

@ AuroraElis if you would like to join

[AuroraElis]

AuroraElis

Sleep had evaded her ever since their encounter in the Chamber.  Some nights were better than others, but tonight the visions come in unrelenting waves.  Each one washes over her, threatening to drag her into the depths.

Her navy eyes open abruptly.  Wide eyed she allows her brain to grasp that she is in fact safe in the shelter they had occupied within the Dale.  The rapid beating of her heart is matched by the rythmatic in and out of her shallow breaths.  Her feathers shift uneasily as her head turns to view Jack and the twins sleeping peacefully.

A twisting in her gut pulls her from the cavern and out into the night.  Her head casts skyward as her eyes search the blackness for the stars that held all her wishes, hopes and dreams.  She finds them there, scattered about haphazardly.  But when a star shoots across the sky, she does not cast a wish upon it.  Instead, she follows the trail of light it leaves behind.

---

She is unsure how far she has traveled that night.  Aimless, she follows the star dust across water and land alike.  The gown of feathers along her back are held taunt to her caramel body.  Even though winter had begun to fade away, the nights still held a chill.  But there is a soothingness to it that keeps at bay the rambling thoughts of her life.

A drifter upon the winds, she finds herself near the river and much farther than she had meant to travel.  Dawn was fast approaching and with the saturation of light, the stars trail vanishes.

With one last look to the sky, her brows furrowed is discontent, she whispers into the atmosphere, "Why have you brought me here?"

Her ageless frame settles beside the babbling waters for a moment, lost in thought as daylight returns.  The warmth of the sun's rays is a welcome reprieve but decidedly she can't rest for long.  Her family would be awakening to find her missing and wondering where she had gone.

Suddenly, there is a call overhead that stills her leave for the briefest of moments.  Her golden flecked eyes shift to find a blue jay flying up from behind her and disappearing into the nearby underbrush.  With a shake of her head, the ivory strands of her mane toss gently along the flesh of her neck before she steps forward...

Not all that glitters is gold

@Diable Rouge

[Diable Rouge]

Diable Rouge

>

“Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven…”

The universe works in mysterious ways.

Diable Rouge had no idea why he decided to follow the blue jay as it flew off the towering oak. All he knew is that the azure feathers reminded him of her and the bird had looked at him in a way that drew him to follow, so he did. It was probably a five minute walk from where they had started to where the jeering bird finally landed beneath another oak’s understory, close to the burbling river. He watches the little bird as it climbs into the shrub, probably to find its nest. Rou smiles, looks away from the bush and back towards the river. 

That is when he saw her.

Their love must’ve been cosmic - they must’ve been birthed from the same stardust, the universe must’ve wanted them together. That is the only explanation he could come up with when he sees her across the water, staring at the same bush he was, if only a bit closer.

AuroraElis is as beautiful today as she was the last day he saw her. Her honey brown skin; her flowing ivory locks; her massive gown of peacock feathers. She glitters in the warm spring sun, light refracting off her silhouette, as if coated in crystals. By god she is there.

Standing a mere yard away from her, Rou watches as she turns away. The chaser lets out a loud, longing whinny. He wastes no time, galloping towards her. “Aurora!” He calls for her, hopeful, yearning. Even when he reaches the stream, the half-melted ice and rocks are not enough to stop him. He stomps through the ice, crushing it beneath his hooves, slipping on moss-covered boulders, until he is there, right behind her, desperate to meet her gaze.

“AuroraElis…” He says shakily. Rou realizes he probably looks ridiculous. He’s half-soaked and out of breath, but he barely cares. The chaser can’t believe she is there, in front of him, in the flesh, rather than in his dreams. He wants to say more, he wants to embrace he like he’s dreamed of for decades, but instead he just stands there, more sheepish than he’s ever been.

 “I’m sorry.” The only other words he can muster before he bursts into pitiful tears in front of her.

"...time, wondrous time, gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies. And isn't it just so pretty to think, all along there was some invisible string tying you to me."

I'm learning how to put the pieces back together, turn the aching to composure

@ AuroraElis

[AuroraElis]

AuroraElis

Watching the jay conceal itself in the wiry brush, she lets out a sigh.  Something had brought her here, a longing deep within her core.  What purpose did this yearning inside her serve?  She had all she needed in the Dale.  Her family, friends, safety.  Everything and yet something was missing...

Her cream dipped frame turns, a front limb reaching to draw her away from this place and back towards her home.  But rising from, now behind her, comes an undiscerned noise.  Frightened, her body spins around to face the intruder, ears pinned and feathers clenched to her side like armor.

AuroraElis…

Hearing her namesake is not what she expects and so a singular ear twists forward as her navy eyes scan the stranger for recognition.  There is a familiarity in the scars of his face, in the cloudiness of his eye, in the red of his hue.  She mutters the only distant memory that surfaces, “Rou?”  Stricken with disbelief she backs up a step or two. 

He is standing before her, wet from the waters he has waded to reach her.  The heart in her chest skips a beat as she thinks if this is just another mind trick.  At least before her visions had been of his decomposing corpse laying at her feet.  How cruel would it be to show her him just as she remembered, all those years ago.

With a gentle shake of her head to try and rid the vision from her mind, she closes her eyes with a silent prayer.  It is then more words are spoken, causing her other ear to tip forward at the apology.

Her eyes open to find him just as he was, standing within the river, looking up at her with now tear filled eyes.  The doubt on her dished face is still obvious, but her words sound more sure now, “Is it really you?”

A part of her wants to leap into the waters and embrace him as they had many times before.

Before he had left her…

Tears began to fill her eyes as she stared at him unmoved.  She just began to heal.  Just began to live again.  All of that swept out like a rug from under her instantly. 

It all came rushing back.  The day he had left Tephra to go prove himself worthy.  The days she spent searching for their son, Phoebus, alone.  Then when she had finally returned -empty handed- to find his cold dead body on the beach.  

The many years after that she had spent wandering her empty world.  The hopelessness hanging over her like a suffocating cloud of ash.  Everything came flooding back at just the mere sight of him.  And yet hatred does not find her heart.

Thru the pain and the tears, she swallows the lump in her throat, and with a kind smile gracing her face says, "Y-you came back." 

Not all that glitters is gold

[Diable Rouge]

Diable Rouge

>

The water billows around his leg - cold in the early spring weather. He stands there, damp, shivering staring at her with tears streaming down his face as she stares at him in disbelief. Death had separated them long ago - it comes as no surprise that she wouldn't believe it was real. 

"Yes..." He answers her when she asks if it is him. He looks down at himself, chuckles a bit at how pathetic he looks, then meets her gaze again. "Yes, it is really me." Diable Rouge wants to tell her of the story - to let her know about the dreams, about the strange magician in the Afterlife, about the sacrifice he made to come back to her, about the searing pain. However, none of those words find his lips - how could he so selfishly regale his tales when she had suffered in his absence? 

Rou pulls himself from the freezing stream, moves closer to her. She smells familiar - home - like honeysuckle and rose. He doesn't dare cross her boundaries, instead allowing her to see him in the flesh, to show her that he is really there. 

"Y-you came back." She says through shaking breath, gracing him with a smile he's not so sure he deserves. So much had probably changed in three decades. He feels ashamed, selfish for showing up unannounced when she undoubtedly had moved on. However, when he sees her smile, looks carefully at her perfect face, he forgets to even care. 

"I did..." The chaser says simply. He stands only feet from her, and despite the urge to move closer, he does not. He looks down to his hooves, brows furrowing. "I'm sorry I left in the first place, Aurora." Tears begin to pour down his face again and he crinkles his eyes together, desperately blinking them away. "And I'm sorry for coming back...unannounced. I guess there isn't really an optimal time for rebirth." 

I'm learning how to put the pieces back together, turn the aching to composure

@ AuroraElis

[AuroraElis]

AuroraElis

Bitterness was never a part of her.  No matter how many times she had been hurt.  No matter how many times she had been abandoned or given false hopes, she found a silver lining.  

That day she had left to go find their son to introduce to someone and to tell him his father had returned home was the last day she had seen either of them, alive.   Phoebus was nowhere to be seen and she had gotten lost down some tangled web of magic, so she was unsure how long she had actual been gone.  Long enough that something had happened, long enough that Rou had succumb to his mortal allotment of time.  Her only regret was not being there in his final moments; to hold him, to comfort him, to say she loved him one last time.

It was a cruel irony that the magical realm she had departed to also spat her back out with the powers to heal.  She had been too late.

So now as he stands before her -alive- standing in a cold river, wet and shaking, she backs up a few more paces to allow him to remove himself from the hyperthermia that surely threatens him.  He chuckles to himself, and she smiles kindly to his humor.

Her caramel face observes his.  There is a clear hurt painted across his features and she wonders just what it is that ales him.  With soft, sympathetic eyes, she listens to his plea.  And it is only when he finishes that a soft shake to her head comes, "You died Rou, there is nothing to be sorry for.  I am the one who is sorry."  Her navy eyes shy eye from the gaze they held on his face, "I should have been there for you, and I wasn't..."  

Tears begin to well in her eyes as she thinks of that day.  Finding him alone.  No one should die alone, and the decades after that she had ensured it.  She was there, for each life that found themselves on the shores of the beach.  If they wished to be saved, she would do them that favor.  But if they wished to depart, she would stay with them until their soul had been freed from this realm.  

She chuckles softly as he speaks of his return as if it is an inopportune burden.  "What matters is you are where you want to be...  If this is indeed where you wish to be?"  Looking back to his face she wonders of the afterlife and what returning would feel like, but she does not mention it.

Not all that glitters is gold

@Diable Rouge

[Diable Rouge]

Diable Rouge

>

Diable Rouge feels his heart swell as she shakes her head, reassuring him that he didn't do anything wrong. Her own regrets spill from her lips like ink on a page, as her navy eyes well with tears. It is then that he approaches her, slowly, draping his head around her shoulders and pulling her close to him. He realizes he probably should've asked, but the instinct to comfort her overwhelmed any other thoughts in his mind. 

"Oh, Aurora," He coos, nuzzling her withers gently before pulling away to look at her. "I was never mad at you, and you shouldn't be sorry. Death is...untimely." He shakes his head and sighs. Rou knows that seeing him again is probably devastating, that it is bringing up all the sadness and guilt from the past three decades to the surface. 

Aurora's next question takes him aback. He hadn't really thought about if Beqanna was truly where he wanted to be. He had been...happy in the Afterlife, save for unfinished business and reoccuring nightmares. Kaiode and his mother kept good company, and he feels himself choke up as he remembers the deal he made with the magician. 

They will never remember you again... Diable Rouge closes his eyes. They wouldn't remember him, but he had a chance to make new memories, to fix what he had broken. They would be content, happy in their afterlife...so shouldn't he give himself the chance to be happy in his new life? 

Diable Rouge opens his eyes, once again meeting Aurora's gentle gaze. He smiles and nods his head. "I've waited decades to see you again, to make things right..." He says. "There is no place I'd rather be than here...with you. I've been given a miracle." 

I'm learning how to put the pieces back together, turn the aching to composure

@ AuroraElis <3

[AuroraElis]

AuroraElis

He pulls her close and she melds into him.  It feels as though they'd never parted.  He had never died and she had never been without him.  Except he had, she had, and everything they had no longer existed.  Even their children, gone.

The smile on her face softens as he pulls away and he speaks of the present, of them.  She wanted nothing more than to pick up right where they had left off but she knows things could never be exactly as they were. 

Her golden flecked eyes shy away as she thinks of what he says.  She then thinks of her children, of her home, of Jack, Amen and all she has created for herself over the last couple years.  It wasn't anything grand, but it was hers. 

So, she smiles and speaks kindly, “I am glad you are back Rou, truly I am, but... it's not that simple, for you and I.  Not anymore.  So much has happened since you've been gone…”  A sadness tugs at her heart as she looks to him once more, “I must be getting back home to the Dale.  Perhaps we can meet again soon and catch up.”  She phrases it as a question, but it is a hopeful statement, one that rides on many variables.  Too many to speak of at this given moment in time.

The gown of feathers on her back pull in tight against her body as she turns to the north.  A single tear wells in her eyes as she leaves him standing there... Alone.

Not all that glitters is gold

@Diable Rouge  To Be Continued... <3

[Diable Rouge]

Diable Rouge

>

Diable Rouge knew after decades of his absence, that things would've changed for AuroraElis. But as they stood there in the meadow, Aurora's petite frame melting into his broad chest, the chaser forgets about his death for a while. He forgets that he had been gone, forgets that Aurora had created an entire life without him. They pull apart, and his heart aches as he looks at her. The words she speaks hurt, but Rou is nothing if not resilient, and he nods, giving her a soft smile. 

"Things became less simple when I departed...I understand," He looks down to his hooves and paws at the half-frozen ground. "I came back not only for you, but for Phoebus too." He admits, looking up at her. Their only child. Their son. Their boy of fire. He would be a man by now. Rou knew that he needed to bring back the child he and Aurora lost. Their family would never be the same again...but, perhaps, they could heal what was broken...together. "I will meet you in the Dale, after I have found our boy." He nuzzles her cheek delicately. "I'm here to stay this time...I promise." 

Diable Rouge watches as she turns north and walks away. He does not dare say he loves her - not yet, not when the pain is so fresh for both of them - but he thinks it, and he feels it. He watches until she is but a small dot on the horizon, then turns southwards to tie up more loose ends. 

I'm learning how to put the pieces back together, turn the aching to composure

@ AuroraElis <3