Yanhua
Softly, the mist rising from the redwood forests in the south made its way up the main road, enveloping Yanhua in its midst. He trod quietly into it, lowering his horns for a moment when he passed through the outer curtain of white. The nothingness of a heavy fog no longer scared him like it did when he was a foal growing up in Taiga. By now the tingling embrace of the mist felt welcoming, compared to the icy grip of Icicle Ise. It was still cold, but nothing like the misery of swimming in those choppy, gray seas. He would take a heavy fog over the muscle ache and NDE’s any day.
Shaking the moisture off his whiskers, Yanhua breathed in the smell of the trees and earth as he kept to the wide pathway, then he exhaled and a hum of gentle yellow light brightened his already glowing hair. Like a lantern, Yan truly gleamed as he clopped along, but the light wasn’t simply for artificial purposes. With it, he chased away the longer shadows and could see the road ahead. He picked up a trot, flicked his tail, and left Nerine behind him for a while.
Almost as soon as he did, an echo found him. Someone or something nearby was suffering, and the likes of it stopped Yanhua dead in his tracks. He lifted his head and clenched his jaw, waiting for the images to come flashing through his mind: Anger, fighting and clawing; Betrayal, weeping and disbelief; Pain... the last images ripped through Yanhua’s brain like a bolt of lightning, but the sensation was over quickly. He was glad for that: the emotion had almost been unbearable.
“Hmm.” He exhaled, relaxing the muscles in his face again after the visions had passed. That echo had been freshly made, which meant he could bet on the creator being somewhere nearby. Yanhua, poised on his tiptoes, waited quietly and flicked his ears ahead.
There.
A faint sound, but still a recognizable one. Crying… someone nearby was sobbing. The chestnut stallion didn’t think twice; he left the main road and drifted off into the woodland hills like a curious, glowing ghost. The fog itself revealed nothing for a minute, and Yanhua could only follow sound through the maze of trees, but the pitch rose as he drew closer, its tone very unfamiliar to him. Not like any horse, and yet not like any creature he’d seen here in Taiga before. A mystery, Yanhua thought, losing himself to the trail of Clarissia’s changing voice and the deep darkness of Taiga’s endless woods, until at last the noise leveled out. Yanhua crept quietly ahead and peered out from the gloom, and there he saw Clarissa for the very first time.
She was just finishing her transformation. A few glittering scales were fading off her skin, revealing the golden pattern underneath, and in the late evening din she stood out in a way Yanhua couldn’t dream of, even with the help of his mane and tail. She was… one of the most intriguing and beautiful horses he’d ever seen, and her sudden appearance reminded him of previous encounters with mysterious passerbys. Taiga certainly didn’t lack a flair for the strange, he’d come to know. The ethereal mare had been crying, and for a second or two Yanhua thought she might be hoarding something. He couldn’t be sure. He only knew he couldn’t stand here (when had he come to a stop?) prying into her business, and he was almost certain she’d heard his arrival by now.
“Lady,” He called out formally (gently) to Clarissa, having no other name to go by, “your crying… I heard it on my walk. I’m sorry -” The horned stallion bent his long neck and turned his eyes away from the mare, trying his best not to be offensive, “- but I’m not one to turn a blind eye.”
Yanhua had never sounded so certain of a thing in his life as he did right now, speaking to Clarissa. Her suffering was quite literally his burden to bear as well, and it went against the very nature of Yanhua’s existence not to try and help a soul in need. He weighed the risk and focused on Clarissa again, then took a tentative step into her clearing.
“I’m a watcher in these woods, born and raised between the giants. Believe me when I tell you they can soak up your pain like water.” He murmured, finding it impossible to tear his eyes away from the gilded swirls covering her skin. “My job is the opposite.” Yanhua’s voice lowered, soft as the moss underhoof.
“Tell me how to make the tears stop," he asked her, "and I will do it.”
Shaking the moisture off his whiskers, Yanhua breathed in the smell of the trees and earth as he kept to the wide pathway, then he exhaled and a hum of gentle yellow light brightened his already glowing hair. Like a lantern, Yan truly gleamed as he clopped along, but the light wasn’t simply for artificial purposes. With it, he chased away the longer shadows and could see the road ahead. He picked up a trot, flicked his tail, and left Nerine behind him for a while.
Almost as soon as he did, an echo found him. Someone or something nearby was suffering, and the likes of it stopped Yanhua dead in his tracks. He lifted his head and clenched his jaw, waiting for the images to come flashing through his mind: Anger, fighting and clawing; Betrayal, weeping and disbelief; Pain... the last images ripped through Yanhua’s brain like a bolt of lightning, but the sensation was over quickly. He was glad for that: the emotion had almost been unbearable.
“Hmm.” He exhaled, relaxing the muscles in his face again after the visions had passed. That echo had been freshly made, which meant he could bet on the creator being somewhere nearby. Yanhua, poised on his tiptoes, waited quietly and flicked his ears ahead.
There.
A faint sound, but still a recognizable one. Crying… someone nearby was sobbing. The chestnut stallion didn’t think twice; he left the main road and drifted off into the woodland hills like a curious, glowing ghost. The fog itself revealed nothing for a minute, and Yanhua could only follow sound through the maze of trees, but the pitch rose as he drew closer, its tone very unfamiliar to him. Not like any horse, and yet not like any creature he’d seen here in Taiga before. A mystery, Yanhua thought, losing himself to the trail of Clarissia’s changing voice and the deep darkness of Taiga’s endless woods, until at last the noise leveled out. Yanhua crept quietly ahead and peered out from the gloom, and there he saw Clarissa for the very first time.
She was just finishing her transformation. A few glittering scales were fading off her skin, revealing the golden pattern underneath, and in the late evening din she stood out in a way Yanhua couldn’t dream of, even with the help of his mane and tail. She was… one of the most intriguing and beautiful horses he’d ever seen, and her sudden appearance reminded him of previous encounters with mysterious passerbys. Taiga certainly didn’t lack a flair for the strange, he’d come to know. The ethereal mare had been crying, and for a second or two Yanhua thought she might be hoarding something. He couldn’t be sure. He only knew he couldn’t stand here (when had he come to a stop?) prying into her business, and he was almost certain she’d heard his arrival by now.
“Lady,” He called out formally (gently) to Clarissa, having no other name to go by, “your crying… I heard it on my walk. I’m sorry -” The horned stallion bent his long neck and turned his eyes away from the mare, trying his best not to be offensive, “- but I’m not one to turn a blind eye.”
Yanhua had never sounded so certain of a thing in his life as he did right now, speaking to Clarissa. Her suffering was quite literally his burden to bear as well, and it went against the very nature of Yanhua’s existence not to try and help a soul in need. He weighed the risk and focused on Clarissa again, then took a tentative step into her clearing.
“I’m a watcher in these woods, born and raised between the giants. Believe me when I tell you they can soak up your pain like water.” He murmured, finding it impossible to tear his eyes away from the gilded swirls covering her skin. “My job is the opposite.” Yanhua’s voice lowered, soft as the moss underhoof.
“Tell me how to make the tears stop," he asked her, "and I will do it.”
I GOT | Extra | FEELINGS
@[clarissa]