11-05-2020, 12:45 PM
Anything could be, Straia says and it does nothing to bridle Aela's ideas. They run as wild and free as the gales and storms in her blood do. The painted Dominus shrugs her shoulder and Aela mirrors the motion - tries it on for herself and replicates even the impish smirk (though hers quirks more towards one side, a familial trait inherited from a father she will never know). The Ravens could be more. The Magic could be more. This place.. this Pangea - as promising as it already is - could be more.
Aela could be more.
(And how the greatness that she is destined for sings at that; it longs to be set free.)
For the moment, the girl and her enthusiasm share a memory with Straia. One of the moment before - the way that she looked through Aela's piercing blue eyes - and she hopes that the Magician will see the compliment without her having to think it aloud. There is nothing about Straia that looks out of place or uncertain; the Dominus stands solid (or so it appears to Aela) in the knowledge of herself, her capabilities, and her ambitions. She exudes the power she wields and Aela knows that this is something she wants for herself someday.
Aela wants to strike the Earth with every stride meant for a purpose: there will be no room for doubt where she walks.
For now, the dream fades. Straia generously offers her a choice and Aela considers the weight of both. She is a fine-boned filly who will never have the advantage of size or brute strength on a battlefield. The escapade in Nerine with the dappled boy has taught her that. There is the potential for her to be a tenacious fighter but that tenacity would come at the expense of injuries and Aela would prefer to stay in one piece (even if she can heal herself). I would make a good diplomat, Aela thinks with Straia's nudging.
She lowers her gaze a moment - remembering that not all horses are mindreaders or Magicians like Beyza - before tentatively lifting her blue eyes up to the Dominus. (Aela never carries doubt but this is the first time that she has asked this and the vulnerability that follows is an unfamiliar feeling to the empath.) Would you... help me?