A smile starts and doesn’t stop once she realizes who has found her.
“Terran,” she says. Not brother, not kid, not even rock-licker (though it takes an immense amount of self-control to keep from saying this last one). She has said his name so many times in her head, all those years wandering alone. She has made it a mantra in her mind, a tether to the homeland she missed but could never return to. But here, in the dark and deep woods, it is like a promise she cannot wait to keep. She says his name aloud and it means that she is here, with him, and she will not face another day alone.
“I’m glad you did the legwork for the both of us, then.” Titanya’s rare smile turns into a less rare smirk as the black stallion settles in. Those overlarge wings of his shake and displace the air around them, swirling eddies of dust in the filtered motes of light. She wonders where they’ve come from, wonders what kind of life he’s lead since they separated. With a tender eye, she sees him as the boy she remembers. The leggy dark colt with a strange hunger in his belly, but no graceful wings weighing his back. Mother had so loved him. She had too, of course. There had been no jealousy on her part, only an aching desire to be with him always, to protect him.
How she has failed.
But the man that stands before her now is likely better for her absence. Besides the danger that had drawn her in like a siren’s song, Terran hadn’t consumed anything terribly deadly without her watchful eye – obviously he has managed. He has a family, at least, which is more than she can say for herself. He mentions Ander and Jinju and she is surprised to find that she’s anxious to see them again. Despite her thus-far well-meaning but selfish life, she’s eager to share it now. Terran unknowingly teases her by diverting the conversation back on her.
“Can’t we just bring the children in and forget about it?” Her brows quirk upwards questioningly. “Fine.” Her shoulders roll in a helpless shrug. If it’s that story he wants, buckle up brother. “I stopped the apocalypse.” She is pleased, clearly, as she says it. “Well, me and a few others. We fought Conquest, Famine, War, and Death to stave off the end of the world. I died, I think, in the end.” Her eyes are unfocused for a moment at the memory of her own death. The phantom pain of His hooves crashing down on her head hits her hard. “Somehow, it didn’t take, death.” She smirks at him then like she hadn’t expected it to.
Titanya fills in all of the details, the memories as sharp now as they’d been the day they happened. She finishes with: “I now hold War’s seal inside of me. It’s why I stayed away for so long, to keep the seals separate and therefore, safe.” She shifts from one side to the other, the heavy weight of her story pressing on her. She’s not even sure he’ll believe her. “See?” The monochrome mare focuses and becomes less solid, fading away in the gloom. She comes back slowly and then turns her attention to Terran. She makes him denser, his skin hardening like self-made armor in response. “You could put a dent in that tree now.” The mare nods at the pine nearby, giving him a not so subtle suggestion.
Titanya
I've got no roots,
but my home was never on the ground
@[Terran]: I used her density manipulation on him at the end. Please let me know if you want it changed and I happily will! <3