Help me out before I drown
Save me now before I give up
Love can be a poison, he knows this better than anyone, but he doesn’t suffer from it any longer. He thrives.
The transformation in the ravaged one-eyed stallion is impressive. Ledger had always tended to keep to the skinny malnourished side thanks to centuries of neglect and mistreatment, both his fault and others. Now, when he catches his reflection in the stream, he barely recognizes the horse staring back at him. There is a brightness in the gold flecked eye that had once been dull and a thick layer of muscle and fat spread across his bones. He can see his father in him now and while those emotions still bring up much confusion, he finds he doesn’t mind. He doesn’t mind many things now and even the bear seems to be on a mutual wavelength with him these days. As if he was a true shifter, not disconnected from his ability the way he had once been.
Loess had been good to him and Oceane was only part of that. It was his guidance of the young Cheri, his reconnection with his long-lost daughter Dawn, the sense of home and family that he had never truly felt before. And Loess is home now. He cares for the red canyons, the hidden cavern that is no longer just his but theirs. He devotes his entire life to Oceane and her kingdom, finds a purpose in living again. It doesn’t mean that he still doesn’t succumb to his anxieties from time to time. There are plenty of sleepless nights, haunting nightmares, knowing that the darkness Cheri had found in him was still there. But he no longer shoulders his burdens alone and that makes all the difference.
When he’s not instructing Cheri in the art of diplomacy, when he’s not exhausted after helping Oceane with wish after wish to better understand her new powers, when he’s not holding her close or making love to her… He continues to explore Loess. He has been here over a year now and there is still so much to see. He hasn’t met everyone that calls this place home and while Oceane doesn’t seem bothered, he wants to do better, be better, for her. So today he stretches and yawns as he exits the cave as a bear, shuffling out into the morning dawn squinting and blinking blearily. With another yawn, he snaps back into his equine shape and sets out to find someone who he has been long overdue in meeting.
The Champion of the South.
Ledger
@Tarian