"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
Maybe she is too young to wander off but it doesn't stop the young filly from leaving the Valley's borders. Summer has set before her an enticingly beautiful day, one she can not manage to convince herself requires her to linger in the dark confines of her home. Her Father was off doing whatever it is that Generals did and her Dam was busy taking a nap. If one thing is for sure, Issa knew she did NOT want to nap- how boring.
Instead the little black girl makes her way towards something fun (she hopes), to something new and exciting. It is not long before the sun, high over head, warms her dark, markless coat. She was, for the most part, nothing spectacular to look at. Issa was a plain sort of beauty, black and shining with not a fleck of white to mar her. Her large doe-like eyes were amber and flecked with an array of golds to catch the light in a curious bird-like way. It is as though somewhere, someone had a flashlight and would shine it at her in random intervals causing them to light up in an odd and unexpected way.
She was well-built some might say, in a graceful and soft sort of way. Her head was refined ending in a small mouth, though lacked a severe "dishing" profile- thank the Gods. Her hips were deep, her tail high, she was a leaner sort of muscle meant for endurance but still- she was very plain indeed. A typical Arabian-like build which wasn't much to write home about these days.
The playground is a safe haven for children, somewhere they can throw caution to the wind and simply enjoy the sort of carefreeness that comes with being a babe. It is here that Issa quietly walks, following a fuzzy caterpillar that is inching itself along the green, grass covered, meadow.
"You sure are strange." She speaks in soft tones as to not scare the delicate creature, her dainty footsteps are careful and light. This was her first friend and she had no intention of squishing the poor thing.
The world is a strange and vast place. To the small roan girl with white spattered across her body, it is even more so. She has learned so much since her delicate form had first landed on the dry, endless sands of the Desert. And one of the first things she had learned is that she is different from everybody else. She can do and see things that are completely baffling to a young child like her. To say that this has expanded her horizons far beyond the norm for a filly her age is perhaps the understatement of the year.
But that does not stop her. Nor, I suspect, will it ever.
Today is a new day, and with that new day come so many new experiences. Even more so than usual, for she has decided today is a good day to experiment. She does not yet know the extent or limitations of her ability, but she is swiftly learning. To child like she however, it seems so nearly limitless.
She blinks rapidly for a moment as her sight expands and stretches, as it splits into a hundred different images, filling her mind with impossible things. She laughs briefly at the millions of flutter leaves and swaying grasses before flinching back at the hundred massive noses quickly filling her field of vision. The start causes her to snap back into herself, to release the sight she had so briefly borrowed from the caterpillar.
In the end though, her curiosity gets the best of her.
Peeking from her convenient hiding place, pale eyes the color of cornflowers fall onto the little filly as she stalks the caterpillar whose sight Heartfire had just used. As she steps from the small stand of poplar trees, she catches the faint words as the girl mutters them to the heedless creature. Frowning, she clears her throat briefly, a sound so reminiscent of her father. Her words however, are clear and childlike. ”Perhaps he thinks that you are strange.”
Heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
Her little friend was a curious thing, wiggling and inching along against the grasses. Issa had never seen a fuzzy caterpillar before, no, just some green ones but they never had hair such as this. She wondered why this one was so different because how could she have known? No one had ever taken the time to explain such a thing to her, and caterpillars did not often seen the topic of discussion in the Valley. No, this was something entirely new as far as she was concerned, so carefully she traipsed along behind it.
Where was it going? Did it have a home, a family?
Sound catches her tiny black ears before the movement enters the peripheral of her amber gaze. Momentarily, flames lick up her rump spreading in warm autumn tones across her backside before they melt away again. She jumps a bit at the sound but upon seeing the roaned filly her muscles become less tense, they relax. Her little tuft of a tail wiggles and then the words register.
She giggles, a small sound, blinking back at the slow moving creature. “Perhaps he does think I am strange. Look at his hair though!” Excitement at the discovery littering her words, and they are almost shrill until she reigns the yell into a whisper. “I mean, look, he has hair. How come he has hair? I’ve never seen a caterpillar like him before- or her,” she decides. What if this caterpillar was a lady?
“I’m Issa, what’s your name?" A question that might be of more interest to the other, because maybe she thought the caterpillar was boring. Issa is sure Rhonan would not have been interested in helping her figure out the fuzzy thing, even if he had helped her a bit when she was born.
03-26-2016, 09:45 PM (This post was last modified: 03-26-2016, 09:47 PM by Heartfire.)
Show them the joy and the pain and the ending
There is much a girl can see and learn when she can view the world from a nearly limitless amount of perspectives. But while she can see much, she cannot hear, nor can she peek into the minds of those whose sight she borrows. This creates so many unanswerable questions for a bright and curious child. Questions she has been striving so hard to find impossible answers too.
Unfortunately it is hard to question creatures who cannot understand her language.
And so, she learns what she can watching through the eyes of others. But she cannot answer such basic (and frustratingly so) questions such as where this particular caterpillar is going and whether it has a home or family. Though based on what she has seen thus far, she cannot believe that these creatures have much ability for such intense deliberation at all.
The other girl’s excitement draws a smile from her as her pale blue eyes spark with amusement. There are so many odd creatures, the least of which are hairy bugs. Though, were she being honest, she could not possibly say why the little beast has hair.
"Well… you have hair,” she says briskly, her confident and worldly tone belying her actual lack of knowledge. ”Why shouldn’t he have hair?” If she were really being honest, she would admit that she doesn’t actually know whether it is male or female. She simply feels as though it must be a male.
Issa. She catches the girl’s name as she continues almost without pausing for breath. Gaze turning back to the darker filly, she studies her with open curiosity. The horses of her previous acquaintance had never before shown such an impressive ability to talk about seemingly nothing.
"I’m Heartfire." Interest having been piqued, she continues after only a brief pause. ”Where are you from?”
Heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
Indeed childhood is not lost on Issa, nor the innocent curiosity that accompanies it. The world is vast and will only grow still should she ever have an itch to explore it. For now the sweet lands of play will suffice, already plenty to do and see outside of her homelands. Why, she even had two new acquaintances, both of which she would never guess or expect. Especially the caterpillar, curious thing as he was.
Still, she cannot help but be enamored by the ever crawling animal, how long must it take him to get anywhere? Oh she hoped he wouldn’t be squished on the way, or worse yet- eaten. Her tiny nostrils flare, sending a burst of warm air into the path of the tiny creature at her newest revelation. The itty-bitty curling away from the intrusion.
“You’re right maybe they should all have hair”, her eyes widen at the sudden realization of this otherwise trivial possibility. “Oh my gosh, what if it falls out?!” Oh dear, does it really? Issa hoped it didn’t, would that mean her own hair would fall out as well? She’d be left bald and gangly and considerably plainer than she already was.
The slack in her jaw is replaced by closed lips as the other girls voice finds her ears. Heartfire Well, she could remember that couldn’t she? Still a tad forgetful but she vowed to do better when it came to names and what others were called. It’s rude to say ‘hey you’ or ‘hey girl’ you know?
“I’m from the Valley.” That she says with conviction because she knows for certain that is what her home is called and she was very proud to have remembered. “It’s by the mountains and the Jungle” Only a few specific geographic points in a very big place but enough to see her home if ever she was lost. Hard to miss a big thing like mountains, even harder to miss the neighbors in a sprawling Amazon Jungle.
“Where do you live Heartfire? Is it dark?” The Valley was dark, was it the same in other Kingdoms?
03-30-2016, 01:02 PM (This post was last modified: 03-30-2016, 01:04 PM by Heartfire.)
Show them the joy and the pain and the ending
Sometimes she is not entirely certain where she is when she peeks from the eyes of another. There are so many places that she has not actually been. Perhaps she has already seen this girl's home. Certainly she has seen her fair share of dark places.
In any case, that is neither here nor there. For the time being, their conversation remains focused on one tiny caterpillar. Issa’s shocked and horrified question causes a slight frown to tug at the roan girl's lips even as a furrow forms upon a nonexistent brow. ”Well, of course his hair will fall out! she exclaims, as though it should have been obvious. ”I mean, it has to in order for him to turn into a butterfly.” Her frown deepens as she considers the conundrum further. ”Or a moth. Maybe he’ll be a moth.” She doesn't actually know for sure. She knows only what she has seen, and she has never seen this exact caterpillar before.
It is unfortunate though that she couldn't know why Issa had been so concerned about that particular fact. If she had, she likely would have been rolling on the leaf strewn ground in laughter at that image. But alas, she is destined to be denied such hilarity.
In short order, the conversation swings around to their respective homes, causing the intense frown marring Heartfire’s lips to ease. ”Oh no!” she says with a shake of her small, dark head. ”I live in the Deserts. It's very bright and sunny.” She pauses, curiosity suffusing her features. ”Why? Is the Valley dark?” Pause. ”Can I see it?” It takes every ounce of her inconsiderable will power to resist simply delving into the other girl's sight, but after Papa had admonished her for being so rude as to do something so inconsiderate to another horse, she does her best to ask first (at least, if she can ask. She wouldn't tell Papa about the ones who couldn't understand her). Not once, however, does it occur to her that Issa might not understand her actual meaning.
Heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
Are you OK with this? If not, let me know! Heartfire's just super nosy lol
Her worst suspicions are confirmed, the other roaned girl is sure the little critters hair will fall out. That is terrible, wouldn’t it be cold? She would be cold without hair, she just knows it. When was it going to fall out? When was her hair going to fall out? A mess of thoughts and questions fill her mind until a new theory is thrust upon her.
Become a butterfly…
A butterfly, really? Well now, that was something new and exciting and completely unheard of. No one had taken the time to explain such trivial things to Issa though she isn’t sure she had asked all that much of its members. Most of them didn’t seem the type to entertain her young mind, feed her imagination or bank of knowledge. She found them a hard edge group, dark but warm if you poked them in the right direction.
“That’s how a butterfly gets made?! Out of this little worm?” She simply can’t believe it, what a wonderful thought. “A moth? Sooo, it might not be a pretty butterfly?” Of course the girl had always just considered the moths the “ugly” ones, the plain ones, kind of like herself. However as she thought on it longer the discovery gave her hope. Maybe she was like a caterpillar and there was a chance she could turn into a butterfly after she lost her hair.
“So when my hair falls out will I be a butterfly? I could be right? Or maybe I’m a moth..” It was clear that the moth was not her favorite of choices. “How long do I have to wait for my hair to fall out?” Time was of the essence wasn’t it? She would probably be made to wait forever for her great change and she was impatient as most young things tend to be.
“Oh, that sounds really nice but hot maybe.” Of course anywhere that had so much sun had to be hot didn’t it? “You want to see the Valley? Yeah that’d be fun we can go see the Valley.” Why not, it wasn’t every day Issa stumbled across another child, she had to be nice right? If she wasn’t, then Heartfire wouldn’t want to play with her anymore she worried.
She had never paused to consider that most girls (indeed, even boys) her age are still rather naïve about the world. So much of the world is open to her in a way that it is not to others that she had never needed to consider how others learn things. Of course, the only other child she knows as yet is her brother, and she would often share the things that she saw with him. So it is quite odd to realize that not everyone gets to see these things.
I mean, she had never really considered butterflies and caterpillars to be that interesting before. But this girl offers a new perspective to her, one she is infinitely curious about.
With only a few simple words, Heartfire had apparently inspired a new round of questions in the darker filly. Were she a slightly more serious child, she might only stare at Issa with a quizzical expression upon her face. As it is, that quizzical expression soon gives way to a giggle. That giggle is swiftly followed by another, and when the image of a hairless Issa pops into her mind, there simply is no going back as peals of laughter burst from her lips.
When she is finally able to contain her amusement, she takes several deep breaths for saying ”Oh, Issa!” Deep breath. ”You’re a… horse!” She giggles again, her struggle to contain her mirth failing far too quickly. ”Horses don’t lose their hair. You’d be bald!” More giggling. ”A bald…” Giggle. ”Bald horse! Can you imagine?” It takes no more prompting for her to break down into fits of laughter again.
Little does she realize that her very own grandmother had been decidedly bald.
When she is finally able to contain her laughter (for real this time), she turns her attention to their discussion of homes. And when the agreement comes to see Issa’s home, it takes no more persuasion for her to take her up on that offer. In the next moment, her sight has become Issa’s. She has not practiced this particular ability often, but practice makes perfect, right? In a moment, she is seeing what the other girl has seen, just small flashes until a large valley opens up before her, dark and forbidding and altogether magnificent.
”It’s brilliant!” she says, excitement lacing her tone as a smile begins to curve her lips. ”Just brilliant!”
Heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
Laughter floods her ears, changing Issa’s concerned expression to one of surprise. Her worry lines slowly smooth and her baby face takes on a less troubled appearance. Giggles are quick to fill the air, Hearfire rolling with amusement and voicing it just as freely. Issa was sure it would be funny to walk around with no hair but she had not expected the girl to laugh at her. She was going to be bald, this was no laughing matter, this was an emergency.
When words of protest reach her black mouth explanation finds her ears and seals her lips shut. She was a horse, she was not a caterpillar. Well then, suppose that does makes sense but just in case Issa would be very careful when bathing. Too much scrubbing was sure to prove differently and she had not before considered the embarrassment walking around naked would bring. Not before now.
“I would be bald. I’d be naked, what if someone saw me? What if Rhonan found me like that.” That would be downright terrible. She was sure her stand-in family would not be very taken with her if she arrived home hairless. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure she would have any friends at all if she were bald, that was a very sad thought.
With little more than a blink of an eye something takes her sight, images flash before her and she suddenly feels ill. What happened? Was she having some sort of day dream? Girls had those she heard, small lapses of time when your head went all fuzzy and pictures floated before you. The churning in her stomach was enough to make her unsure and the excited praise from her new friend only solidified that trail of thought. With a queasy look she groans, shaking her head in disagreement.
“No it isn’t brilliant at all. I don’t feel so good, what did you do?” Each intake of breath slowly settled her but the threat of bile still lingered. Flickers of bright fire danced along her chest and stomach to match each flip and flop she was feeling on the inside.
05-07-2016, 01:46 PM (This post was last modified: 05-07-2016, 01:47 PM by Heartfire.)
Show them the joy and the pain and the ending
Her laughter, it seems, had managed to offend the girl. She hadn’t meant it, not really. But she couldn’t take it back. Nor would she if she could. It had been just too damn funny. And really, a bald horse? Hysterical.
Let’s just hope she never meets her grandmother. She would likely come to rue the day.
With an amused snort and quick shake of her head, she offers Issa what comfort she can. Or at least, what passes for comfort with her rather anemic capabilities. ”Oh Issa. You would have to be bald first before anyone could see you bald.” Well, that is not strictly speaking true. Heartfire could make them see her as bald. But she’s not quite that mean.
Although, on the other hand, it would be a rather stupendous prank. For a moment, or several of them, she is sorely tempted to try it.
But the prospect of seeing the Valley outweighs any hilarity such a prank would offer. At least at this particular moment. So without any further thought or consideration, she jerks the girl from her comfortable, safe world to explore hers. It never occurs to her that Issa might not appreciate her world as much as Heartfire does.
As the other girl’s words register, Heartfire steps back, releasing her sight to stare at the darker filly. Her surprise is palpable as Issa asks what she had done. What did she mean? She had told her what she wanted to do. ”I saw the Valley, just like you said we could,” she replies in bafflement. ”Why, don’t you like it?”
Heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
