"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
12-07-2015, 04:50 AM (This post was last modified: 12-07-2015, 04:53 AM by Amorette.)
She had been looking at them, her gaze switching from Thatcher to Illae, Thatcher and back to Illae again, with a hopeful and excited sparkle in her eyes. She wanted them to come with her to the Gates, to show them the beautiful place she could call home and she wanted it to be her new friends home too. That would make it easier to hang out together too.
Of course Amorette hadn’t forgotten about her sister-like best friend, but the more the merrier, right? So her heart fluttered in excitement when both of the other two children agreed to come with her, a wide smile appearing on her lips. The smoky black girl’s gaze moves towards Thatcher, her head tilting a little to the side before she nods. ”Of course they will. They don’t turn anybody down” she replies instantly, stepping forward to press her muzzle gently to his shoulder. His striped coat still intrigues her, she mentally notes that she should ask her maman about it, but underneath her touch his coat feels just like anybody other’s.
Once Illae jumps away she is soon to join the other filly, standing alongside the dark girl. The wide, excited smile still adorns her lips as she turns back to look at Thatcher, whinnying softly to invite him to join them, before Amorette takes off in a light trot into the direction of the Gates.
The excitement keeps her going, legs that should be tired are still feeling light. Yet that doesn’t mean that she has forgotten about the other two who she leads towards her home. Amorette’s heart swells in pride, both because of the sight of the Gates’ lands that stretch out in front of them, but also because she had been able to show Thatcher and Illae her home. Her home that could be their home too, if they wanted.
She turns to look at them enthusiastically, smiling widely, before turning back to look at the sight in front of her again. ”Isn’t it beautiful?” she asks them. Now the spring has settled in the Gates had started to bloom again, rich green grass covering the hills, trees once again supporting green leaves and flowers to bloom everywhere. ”Come, come! You should see our magic tree! Casting the two another grin she takes off, this time only in an eager step, faintly remembering herself that their trip had been long and tiring enough.
Amorette led the way, and along with Thatcher, Illae left the meadow behind her.
The journey was long, but not so arduous that it became difficult nor her breathing laboured. As they crossed from one terrain into another, traversing through forests and over sand dunes, Illae could not help but wonder at the magnificence of the world she found herself in. She had thought she had seen everything, had known everything. But she had known nothing of the bigger world, had known nothing of this, only the meadow. And her eyes were glazed with an enduring wonder as they travelled. So many adventures to be had, one could so easily tumble into the next. No longer would she need to laze in meadow grass and sunshine because she had been bored, or flitting shadowlike through tree trunks and branches spying on others because she had been burning with a curiosity and there had been nothing else to feed it.
This was just the beginning, from now on her adventures would be endless. And with an excited snort Illae picked up her pace when she suddenly realised her inner thoughts of wonderment had left her lagging behind the other two.
Eventually Amorette stopped, turning towards them, her eyes welcoming and her maw cloaked jovially with a smile, and Illae knew they had arrived.
And there they were, The Gates. Folding out before her, hills lush with spring grass and wild flowers. It was everything Amorette had mentioned, everything and more. “It’s more beautiful than anything I know.” She whispered, her voice pitching with an imbued awe as her big dark eyes took in everything.
‘Come, come! You should see our magic tree!’
And Illae followed them both, just as curious and just as excited. Thatcher seemed like he was about to jump out of his stripes, and Illae couldn’t help but giggle as she trailed them.
‘Can we touch it?’ Thatcher says, and Illae wondered that too. And she sensed Thatcher’s excitement become entangled with something else. Was it fear? Hesitation? Illae wasn’t sure. And she bumped Thatcher playfully against his cheek with the tip of her muzzle. “Why so concerned?” she teased, before glancing back to Amorette, her eyes alight with the only question that mattered.
“What type of magic does it do?” she asked. It would be hard to imagine anything here could be evil, and yet Illae understood from the stories her mother had told when she had been much younger that magic was as complex as it was vast. Thatcher’s hesitation was perhaps sensible.
She finds the Gates truly beautiful, especially during the spring and the summer. It was simply gorgeous, but also warm and inviting. Even though Amorette hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings at first, she now would easily admit that her birth land was plain and boring and cold. Compared to the hardness of the mountains the Gates was a paradise, an easy place to live. And the smoky black girl wanted to share it with her two new friends, along with all the old ones.
This year the tree is more beautiful than it had been last year, but the traces of the fire that burned it down were still there. She didn’t fully understand what had happened and why, but to her it didn’t make the magic tree any less magnificent. That her adoptive father didn’t want to tell the story about the burn tree was something entirely different. Yet Amorette could and still can feel the miracle it houses and she admires the way that the magic makes it possible for the tree to recover after all that hardship.
It is Thatcher that pulls her out of her thoughts and she turns to look at him with an apologetic smile, shrugging her shoulders slightly. ”I guess so?” she replies, only after Illae had done so first. Amorette glances around to see if any of the adults is paying attention to them. Then her smile grows a little mischievous. ”We could always go to try and find out?” she continues as she looks at both the other foals again.
Honestly, Amorette doesn’t know that much about the tree, only that it has magic and that it’s the Gates special thing. And of course she is familiar with her own adoration for the tree, but other than that there is nothing. Her father hadn’t mentioned anything about it, but if it would be bad, he would’ve warned her, she is sure. And there should be a guardian near the tree if that was true. So she sees no harm in it when she moves forward again, the smile on her lips spreading as the turns to look back at them.
”The first one to be there!” And she is off. Her short legs carry her forward, racing to reach the magic tree as fasted. Her excitement is the same as the one from when she had first met Magnus. The way he had allowed her to touch his newly gained wings (they were a gift from the kingdom) had sparked just as much in the little girl as now.
