And when all the lights are broken, You keep the fire going
Hoping that perhaps the quiet mountain peaks could offer him respite on such a long, exhausting journey home, Yanhua wasn’t surprised that a gathering of three outsider stallions had done just the opposite. For most of his young life he’d hoped that these purple snowcaps could be explored by his hooves, somewhere the goats akin to his likeness only tread. Down here in the shadowy valley, underneath a quiet blanket of trees so different from his own, where @[breach] shifted down from her branch to change shapes and join them like a proper horse, Yanhua began to wonder if that wish would ever come true. Her words were open, but her expression was not, and in an instant the tallest stallion of the group felt small and insignificant beneath their sharp points.
If he was ever bothered by the opinions of others, perhaps Breach, @[spirit], and Risk (who joined their leader thereafter) might’ve succeeded in their task - maybe Yanhua would’ve felt his cheeks flush and his jaw tighten.
But he reserved those kinds of emotions for very few horses, and what Leilan often mistook as youthful idiocy, Yan simply thinks might be his way of exposing his personal weaknesses to the dragon-shifter. Here, in Hyaline, he meets the homelander’s distrust with a quick, warm smile and the upturn of his ears. While the Freyr speaks, Yanhua’s cheek tilts slightly and his knowing gaze slides deftly towards his twin brother, where he hopes @[Nashua] might look back. Call it intuition, but just to be on the safe side he sends his winged companion a brief memory of himself happening upon their mother in the fog of the redwood forest. This memory, unlike the one he’d cast out to Leilan earlier, is a bit more honed and slightly more focused on the intended target. It would shock him to find out that anyone else gathered might’ve picked up on the echo, unless they also had a knack for psychic tricks.
His answer to Nash’s question was clear: it meant he’d find Lilliana and talk to her, tell her everything he’d told them here, tonight.
Just as Leilan finished, Yanhua straightened his head and spoke up. “It’s my fault, really. I was on my way to Taiga from the scene in Pangea and I… sensed Leilan, so I called him here.” He shrugged, noncommittal. For a long while he let the mare and other horses have their turn, and when the conversation broke once more he spoke up as way of finally easing out from the confrontation for good.
“I speak for myself, of course, but I would take kindly to your ‘members’ visiting the northern forest.” Yan paused with a chuckle as deep as a tolling bell, eyeing Leilan before looking back at Breach and her covey. “The redwood elk need thinning. A particularly troublesome bear stalks the river, and he’s my favorite nuisance. Maybe you - or one of yours - is up to the task of seeing him out?” Yanhua grinned, the easy remark illuminated by his ever-glowing forelock. For all he knew, the shifting mare might only be one kind of other animal.
For some reason, the polite request caused pressure to build between his shoulder blades, so he lost interest in talking from there out. Yanhua held his smile, but shuffled on his split toes in an attempt at easing the unexpected (and unwelcome) ache.
If he was ever bothered by the opinions of others, perhaps Breach, @[spirit], and Risk (who joined their leader thereafter) might’ve succeeded in their task - maybe Yanhua would’ve felt his cheeks flush and his jaw tighten.
But he reserved those kinds of emotions for very few horses, and what Leilan often mistook as youthful idiocy, Yan simply thinks might be his way of exposing his personal weaknesses to the dragon-shifter. Here, in Hyaline, he meets the homelander’s distrust with a quick, warm smile and the upturn of his ears. While the Freyr speaks, Yanhua’s cheek tilts slightly and his knowing gaze slides deftly towards his twin brother, where he hopes @[Nashua] might look back. Call it intuition, but just to be on the safe side he sends his winged companion a brief memory of himself happening upon their mother in the fog of the redwood forest. This memory, unlike the one he’d cast out to Leilan earlier, is a bit more honed and slightly more focused on the intended target. It would shock him to find out that anyone else gathered might’ve picked up on the echo, unless they also had a knack for psychic tricks.
His answer to Nash’s question was clear: it meant he’d find Lilliana and talk to her, tell her everything he’d told them here, tonight.
Just as Leilan finished, Yanhua straightened his head and spoke up. “It’s my fault, really. I was on my way to Taiga from the scene in Pangea and I… sensed Leilan, so I called him here.” He shrugged, noncommittal. For a long while he let the mare and other horses have their turn, and when the conversation broke once more he spoke up as way of finally easing out from the confrontation for good.
“I speak for myself, of course, but I would take kindly to your ‘members’ visiting the northern forest.” Yan paused with a chuckle as deep as a tolling bell, eyeing Leilan before looking back at Breach and her covey. “The redwood elk need thinning. A particularly troublesome bear stalks the river, and he’s my favorite nuisance. Maybe you - or one of yours - is up to the task of seeing him out?” Yanhua grinned, the easy remark illuminated by his ever-glowing forelock. For all he knew, the shifting mare might only be one kind of other animal.
For some reason, the polite request caused pressure to build between his shoulder blades, so he lost interest in talking from there out. Yanhua held his smile, but shuffled on his split toes in an attempt at easing the unexpected (and unwelcome) ache.
And when all the nights feel like they're closing, You're leaving an opening