i am the mace, the map, the fall and the high
There is a sharpness to him that hadn’t existed before, a hollowness that always seems to follow in the footsteps of life. It’s nearly inevitable, yet one always hopes they will be among the lucky few. Reave knew better. Has known for so long now, though the how has long been something of a mystery. Too many choices. So many that even for a creature with his peculiar talents, he hadn’t been able to discern them.
There is a stillness here in the midst of the forest. Though, upon reflection, perhaps it is merely his heart that is still. Birds trill from their perches amongst the branches and small animals scurry about in the dens as they prepare for the season to come. Yet that stillness lingers.
Until it is interrupted by a soft step and gentle voice that intrudes so loudly on his milling thoughts. His blue eyes fall until they find a small jewel-bright filly peering up at him with vibrant innocence. Possibilities stretch before her, innumerable and enticing, yet Reave doesn’t bother to pluck at them. Instead he merely stares, feeling ancient beneath her youthful gaze.
Strange, that. He is not truly so old when the years are tallied, yet he feels it anyway. Perhaps it is the marks now carved so deeply into bone that had brought it. Or perhaps it is merely a life lived so much in excess.
He’s not feeling terribly philosophical today, so he does not bother to dwell on it. Tipping his head, he peers at the girl much the same way she peers at him. The corners of his own lips twitch, threatening a smile that never quite reaches his face. There is a wryness to his expression, a dry humor in his voice when he speaks that almost begs her to reconsider their newfound acquaintance. “Has no one ever warned you away from strangers?”
reave
@glean