[open] A Brand New Day

[Rook]

The morning arrived comfortably warm, the rising sun still unyielding to the arrival of autumn. Still, time marches on, as was evidenced by the gilding around the edges of the leaves that rustled in the comforting breeze. Birdsong rode the gentle wind, a medley of voices that intertwined into the rest of nature’s backdrop. 

The young prince rubbed against the rough bark of a tree, letting out a final yawn as he began his day. A dark ear flicked, and he found himself absentmindedly naming the species - a warbler, a mourning dove, a flicker - and could occasionally make out a message within the chortle. His granddam had spent his first year teaching him about the birds, giving them names and what to listen for. He still had a long way to go to call it communication, however certain words stood out from the rest. . . . Berries . . . Stream . . . Fair winds . . . it was enough to point him in the direction of breakfast.

As he began to amble through the unfamiliar forest, his mind wandered to what had been. He was named after a bird, his mother had told him. A rook is a black bird, a relative to crows and ravens. He had arrived to the world jet black, a mess of feathers and long limbs with white ticking on his face, immediately unafraid. Though he had greyed out to roan, his mother had never stopped calling him her “little bird,” much to his dismay in front of the other colts and fillies. Even on the day of his departure, she had mussied his forelock affectionately, wishing her little bird a beautiful life. 

That journey, which had only started a few months ago, led him here. A strange new land, no friends or family, and countless opportunities. At the very least the birds here did not lie, which was a benefit to him; he arrived at a crisp stream and dipped his head to drink before moving over to a bush still heavy with fat sweet brambleberries. 

And so, our little bird’s story begins.

|| OOC: Here goes nothing! I’ll make this post pretty at some point. Open to anyone who wants to meet the newest addition!

[vallebeth]

It’s been a while since she’s done… well, anything really.

So she meanders, quite alone now that she has matured. The maternal hovering lasted quite some time, but Bible has finally accepted that her youngest is adult enough to venture out on her own. Having grown lonely in the isolation chosen by her mother, she seizes the opportunity with delight and eagerness.

There is no destination in her mind, only an invisible path that her feet follow. It takes her through the darkness that she loves, the shadowed fingers caressing her skin even as it peels and rots it from her body. A strip of mangled skin dangles from a foreleg, tickling her as she moves with ease and grace, despite the ruined flesh. She has never felt much shame in the odd manner in which her body responds to the darkness (the benefits of having a blind mother), but she has recognized that it can make others uncomfortable, so she occasionally enjoys using her rotted appearance to shock the few that she’s interacted with. The very thought pulls the corners of her mouth into a slight grin, untouched by the decay, thanks to the sunlight that provides an ever-present glow to preserve her pretty face.

She pauses when the birds begin to sing their sweet greetings to the dawn, causing a twinge of excitement to work its way through her. Ah, daylight approaches, bringing the promise of wholeness that won’t frighten away a prospective friend, something she is quite hungry for.

The sound of gently moving water reaches her ears as well and she moves toward it instinctively, though only ventures as far as to just barely see the banks, as the sun has not quite fully risen yet. Hidden among the trees,, she waits patiently, like a predator (albeit a good-natured and well-intentioned predator) waiting for something hapless to wander close enough to snare.

Thankfully, her wait is quite short.

The boy emerges quietly and goes about his morning, not knowing what lurks in the shadow. He is near her age, that much she can tell. She does not know much about men and their ways, other than Bible’s vague ramblings about ‘monsterous’ sons, so she is hesitant to reveal herself at first. But eventually, loneliness  wins the internal battle.

She can feel the weakening of her magic as the light swells with each degree of the sun’s ascent, but she finds enough to push the darkness and shadows from herself, allowing enough time for her skin to knit itself back together before she decides to move closer to him. She steps forward, no longer bruised and decaying, and instead her usual steel-grey self. Soft golden dapples shimmer beneath the dangling ropes of brighter gold and blue glitter that encircle her neck and stretch along her back and flanks. Her matching blue horns and hooves catch the light just right, sparkling just enough to hint at their jeweled composition.

Oh, she is quite a vision, though she doesn’t quite know that (again, blind mother and all).

She is surprisingly quiet in her movement, despite the carpet of crisp leaves at her feet, so she calls out to him, head tilted inquisitively when he looks.

“Your wings are quite pretty.”

Vallebeth

image by strigif0rme | GIF
@Rook

post total: 541
running total: 2087 / 2026