[private] keep a little fire burning || ellyse

[Smoak]

Keep a little fire burning;
however small, however hidden.

He doesn't know for how long he has lain beneath the intertwined trees of the thicket, or for how long his hazel eyes have lingered on the slow rolling magma of the glowing lava stream a safe distance ahead of him. The sky has darkened, settling an orange glow on Tephra, but Smoak sees none of its beauty - he is lost in thought, relieved to the point of tears that his mother is home, but so cold with worry for his dad. The yearling colt sighs shakily and forces his hazel eyes to close where his head rests on his legs.

Smoak.

His eyes open immediately, full to the brim with unshed tears as he turns his gaze on Ellyse. She is tattered, broken. The gashes across her face draw his attention and the colt nearly sobs to think of the pain she must have endured, wherever she had been. Wherever dad is. He is on his hooves quickly, his dirt-flecked body moving to the champagne mare until they are nose-to-nose. He inhales her scent deeply and his tears begin to fall as she whispers to him. "I didn't know if you were... I was so... The twins..." he exhales a slow exhale before pressing his bone-plated head to her shoulder, careful not to press on any of her injuries "I missed you, too. I'm so glad you're home, mom." His throats tightens, forcing the colt into silence.

He tries not to cry, but it's too late for that, and it makes him feel selfish. "Are you alright, mom?" He doesn't want to cry because he knows it will make her feel worse, and she has already endured enough. He clears his throat and relaxes against her, but refuses to move away from the bloodied champagne mare.

Smoak

lineart colored by sanaa

@[Ellyse]