04-10-2021, 08:29 PM
And if you're homesick, give me your hand and I'll hold it.
Taiga. It was the land that Ori had followed her cousin to in the darkness, the place that Lilli called her home and had raised a family. Although the gold champagne had taken her first steps into the land of ancient, towering trees in the shade of the eclipse, she had also come with the hope to someday see it for herself, rather than just in the memories that Lilli had shared with her.
True to her hope, the sun had returned, bringing with it not only light and warmth, but also having bathed the champagne in its glow (quite literally!). She still wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the new glowing marks on her body, but the sun’s return meant that now she could drink up the sights of Taiga for herself, that she could explore and find every little beautiful thing she knew lay in wait somewhere, so it was alright, she was sure.
There was so much to learn, and so many places to explore, but for now, the girl of burnished gold was taking it all one step at a time, wandering through a piece of the woodlands and occasionally stopping to observe the way that the sunlight hit a particular leaf or listen to the birdsong that filled the woods. It was all so beautiful, and well worth the wait to see.
She picked her pace up to a trot, changing the direction of her head this way and that to take in as many sights as she possibly could. There was so much to see, and the stretching shadows were a reminder that she was running out of time to see it all today. It was the next sight she found that made her stop in her tracks and utterly lose her breath.
A part of the forest that had several trees, as massive as their redwood brothers, but whose bark was instead silvery, and whose needles appeared in vibrant shades unlike any she had ever seen on a tree before. She had to take a closer look, so the cantering steps that shortened the distance between her and the incredible trees was the natural progression of events.
A blurry figure of her colors was reflected in the tree, and she couldn’t help the laughter that came from seeing the very distorted collection of colors that vaguely echoed the scenery around them, but was still mostly bathed in silver. She swayed a bit to the left and right to see just how different angles looked, and probably would have continued doing that for longer than she would have cared to admit before something else caught her ears in the wind.
Some kind of sound… a song? It was something more than the crickets that warned of the waning light of the day, and it was much clearer than a distant cacophony of their music. (In fact, the relative closeness of the music was the most surprising part! Although she hadn’t been paying too much attention to her surroundings, Ori hadn’t noticed anyone especially close) It was such a gentle sound, and Ori knew her next task of investigation for the day. She quickened her pace towards the sound of the melody, keeping it slow enough so she wouldn’t trip over a stray branch in her inexperience navigating Taiga.
The music became more and more clear as she continued to close the distance between herself and the source of the song, and memories of the songs that her mother would sing and teach her and her siblings played in the back of her mind. Although there was certainly a resemblance between this song and the ones she heard in her youth, there definitely was a difference between those songs and this one. Exactly where those differences lay wasn’t clear to Ori, but the fact that those songs and this had some key factor that separated them was certain.
The tune grew more and more clear as she grew closer to its source (not that her search had been especially long), and she slowed her pace before pushing aside the final massive fern leaf that stood between her and the song. With a swift movement of her head, she found herself before a tall, bronze-ish stallion with horns and glowing wings, mane, tail, and star-shaped marking upon his chest. There was something so distinctly familiar about him… and then the odd-eyed champagne realized exactly where she’d seen him before.
He didn’t have wings in those images, but when Lilli had shared memories of her children with Ori, she had seen a figure of a flaxen chestnut colt with the same horns, short tail, and glowing marking on his chest. The stallion standing before her definitely would fit the bill for a grown-up version of that foal.
Lilli’s son. it still felt weird to say, even in her own head. However, the fern leaf she had pushed aside assuming its place back once again - a place her face currently occupied - startled her back into the present time. After a moment passed for her to process what happened, she ducked under the frond and took a step forward so all of her was in front of the fern and before the taller stallion.
“It’s such a pretty song,” She explained, a somewhat sheepish smile appearing on her face, lyrics somewhat apologetic in tone, “I wanted to see where it was coming from and… well, I guess I found it.” Her smile shifted into one of happiness as she looked at the stallion before her, hoping that her intrusion wasn’t too unwelcome, and always happy to meet someone new.
True to her hope, the sun had returned, bringing with it not only light and warmth, but also having bathed the champagne in its glow (quite literally!). She still wasn’t entirely sure what to think of the new glowing marks on her body, but the sun’s return meant that now she could drink up the sights of Taiga for herself, that she could explore and find every little beautiful thing she knew lay in wait somewhere, so it was alright, she was sure.
There was so much to learn, and so many places to explore, but for now, the girl of burnished gold was taking it all one step at a time, wandering through a piece of the woodlands and occasionally stopping to observe the way that the sunlight hit a particular leaf or listen to the birdsong that filled the woods. It was all so beautiful, and well worth the wait to see.
She picked her pace up to a trot, changing the direction of her head this way and that to take in as many sights as she possibly could. There was so much to see, and the stretching shadows were a reminder that she was running out of time to see it all today. It was the next sight she found that made her stop in her tracks and utterly lose her breath.
A part of the forest that had several trees, as massive as their redwood brothers, but whose bark was instead silvery, and whose needles appeared in vibrant shades unlike any she had ever seen on a tree before. She had to take a closer look, so the cantering steps that shortened the distance between her and the incredible trees was the natural progression of events.
A blurry figure of her colors was reflected in the tree, and she couldn’t help the laughter that came from seeing the very distorted collection of colors that vaguely echoed the scenery around them, but was still mostly bathed in silver. She swayed a bit to the left and right to see just how different angles looked, and probably would have continued doing that for longer than she would have cared to admit before something else caught her ears in the wind.
Some kind of sound… a song? It was something more than the crickets that warned of the waning light of the day, and it was much clearer than a distant cacophony of their music. (In fact, the relative closeness of the music was the most surprising part! Although she hadn’t been paying too much attention to her surroundings, Ori hadn’t noticed anyone especially close) It was such a gentle sound, and Ori knew her next task of investigation for the day. She quickened her pace towards the sound of the melody, keeping it slow enough so she wouldn’t trip over a stray branch in her inexperience navigating Taiga.
The music became more and more clear as she continued to close the distance between herself and the source of the song, and memories of the songs that her mother would sing and teach her and her siblings played in the back of her mind. Although there was certainly a resemblance between this song and the ones she heard in her youth, there definitely was a difference between those songs and this one. Exactly where those differences lay wasn’t clear to Ori, but the fact that those songs and this had some key factor that separated them was certain.
The tune grew more and more clear as she grew closer to its source (not that her search had been especially long), and she slowed her pace before pushing aside the final massive fern leaf that stood between her and the song. With a swift movement of her head, she found herself before a tall, bronze-ish stallion with horns and glowing wings, mane, tail, and star-shaped marking upon his chest. There was something so distinctly familiar about him… and then the odd-eyed champagne realized exactly where she’d seen him before.
He didn’t have wings in those images, but when Lilli had shared memories of her children with Ori, she had seen a figure of a flaxen chestnut colt with the same horns, short tail, and glowing marking on his chest. The stallion standing before her definitely would fit the bill for a grown-up version of that foal.
Lilli’s son. it still felt weird to say, even in her own head. However, the fern leaf she had pushed aside assuming its place back once again - a place her face currently occupied - startled her back into the present time. After a moment passed for her to process what happened, she ducked under the frond and took a step forward so all of her was in front of the fern and before the taller stallion.
“It’s such a pretty song,” She explained, a somewhat sheepish smile appearing on her face, lyrics somewhat apologetic in tone, “I wanted to see where it was coming from and… well, I guess I found it.” Her smile shifted into one of happiness as she looked at the stallion before her, hoping that her intrusion wasn’t too unwelcome, and always happy to meet someone new.
-- ori
@[Yanhua]