"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
10-31-2017, 12:40 PM (This post was last modified: 11-13-2017, 07:07 PM by Solace.)
Solace
Another morning breaks over the eastern mountains of her new home. It still surprises Solace, sometimes, when she wakes up in a place that isn't Tephra. She had spent her first two years of life on the small tropical islands and now they are a days journey away. But when she wakes, in this beautiful place which is not Tephra, the young mare does not sigh and wish to be home - the wild mountain winds caused her face to flush and her blood flow quicker, she hadn't had time to be homesick.
From her vantage point, high in the mountains, Solace's gaze drifts across land below her, where the craggy mountains transition into rolling foothills. When she spots a roan mare along the border Solace's blue eyes watch for a moment before she fills her lungs with cool air and releases a friendly whinny which should cover the mile-or-two between the two mares. The gold and cream girl throws her weight forward and lets her momentum carry her down the steep grade of the mountain. At two years old she is a mix of woman and child, her mane still refuses to lay flat in some places and here legs are closer to 'spindly' than she would like to imagine them. In Tephra she had been more reserved than outgoing - more of an observer, a learner. But here in Hyaline, she was eager to meet new faces and take more of an active role rather than passive.
As she grows near to the newcomer, Solace slows to a trot and tosses her tri-colored forelock out of her eyes. "Hello," she calls with a welcoming smile. Tangerines' daughter hadn't been in Hyaline long enough to know all of the residents, so she withholds a welcome - for all she knew this was one of the regulars. "I'm Solace, what's your name?"
11-04-2017, 10:23 AM (This post was last modified: 11-04-2017, 10:24 AM by Let.)
Corva
Corva is always exploring, poking around, darting this way and that. She chases foxes, butterflies and rabbits – she makes friends with the creatures for she has no one else to talk to but her mother and grandfather. They surely get boring after the first few months of knowing them… Ugh.
Just then, as she is sniffing at a fox’s den, trying to coax them out to play, she hears something in the distance. Falling pebbles and crunching leaves means someone, something, is coming. Usually in these hooded forests it is a stag or occasionally a wandering wolf that has no taste for horse-flesh.. Corva’s teal ears prick and she sniffs curiously at the wind, unable to decipher what she’s smelling (she lacks the experience to realize she smells another horse).
The sound of voices pulls her head first through the brambles and grabby shrubs, her pink nose the first thing to round the bend in the path. There a pair of girls, older than her (women?), stand together. Corva smiles nervously and steps into the light, “Hello.”
As the second newcomer steppes out from the underbrush she catches Solace slightly off guard. "Oh, hello," she says. Then suddenly mindful that she is repeating herself she laughs a little nervously. But the gold and cream quickly mare recovers and offers the brilliantly colored girl a friendly smile.
An icy northern breeze brings the teal girls scent to Solace. She inhales the wild fragrance and is instantly reminded of Keeper - musky animals and secret dens.
"Your coat is beautiful," Solace says with sincerity. "That shade of blue reminds me of Tephra's ocean." She may be a loyal member of Hyaline now, but the volcanic island where she had grown up, and her twin brother, are never far from her mind. She can't help but wonder if this girl is one of Hyaline's residents or a wanderer.
She holds her body at an angle to better include both of the mares in case the roan decides to join.
"What should I call you?" She asks whoever may be intersted in answering.
