Strange Place || Any

[Hestia]

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there...
dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before...
Loving with a love that was more than love
- Edgar Allen Poe

She stands by the edge of the great open land, under trees that are not her trees. When had she last been to this place?

~ How’s the grass this morning? Edible?~

She looks to the ground setting her jaw as the vines tighten choking out any emotion that may have crossed her mind.

~ Well I'm not dead now am I ~

She should have been stronger.

~ I bet you wouldn’t talk such a big game if you ate some pine needles. They’re everywhere back home, and let me tell you, they do not go down easy ~

Who did he think he was talking to her like that? At the time, a nobody, just some random recruiter. What a joke Beqanna had played on her that day.

~ I’m Fennick ~
~ Hestia ~

She could have escaped him then, could have escaped the rest of the story that would unfold and change her.

~ we could use someone like you. ~

Bonded by word, signed by blood, sealed in flame. The first day of the rest of her life.

~ not like I have anywhere else to be ~

Not once had she returned to this accursed place, not once had she ever a reason to. For the first time since returning to her dear Valley, she enters the recruiting scene. Yet it’s not for the Valley she stands here this day looking over the groups for strong female figures. It’s not even her precious Jungle that she begins the process of choosing whom to approach. Its for Nerine, a new child in a new world just learning its first steps.

It’s hard not to notice the filly race across the land towards her prey. Well to Hestia, most are fillies. Amused by this show she waits a little longer, watching from the distance at their soundless conversation. A smile crosses the mare’s lips, it’s a smile the old hag recognizes all too well. One that she, herself has used on many occasions before the world became a bore for her. Green eyes zero in on the newcomer, she’s perfect, for once her and the voice can agree. There’s a spark in this one. For ill or good, it matters little, all that matters is that passion. It’s a fire she knows intimately and knows exactly how to coax it into a blaze should she be given a chance to do so.

The zest for life, strong vibes role from the female pulsing outwards tantalizing Hestia to come and gamble her chances at recruiting her. Hestia doesn’t speed up, just walking leisurely through the grasses towards the two women. When she gets to them, she hears the mention of mountains, but pays no mind to it. Choosing instead to focus her attention on the black and green mare. Her tail switches lazily when she halts in front of the two. Quietly she stands there, not interrupting them for a moment. Just observing, listening, taking everything in. She’s what you are looking for, yes, this one is perfect for them, and the hag is pretty sure that they would be perfect for her as well. Hestia nods to them both. Giving them the opportunity to let her slip into the conversation naturally.

Hestia

©Photo by Stanislav Istratov