you’re miles away but i still feel you
The silence before Magnus’ arrival gives the chestnut too much time to think. His mind aches from the weight of his thoughts, just as his heart is weary from the effort of mending itself. Hestoni’s thoughts dance toward his wife for a brief moment, perhaps to wonder about her day or what the child looks like. Just as her rugged face is beginning to materialize in his mind’s eye, his heart gives a vicious twist that sends a pang throughout his chest.
The force of that pain drags his brown eyes up toward the sight of the volcano’s mouth and the plumes of ash that drift from it. There is something peacefully upsetting about Tephra, he decides, but he isn’t sure whether the source is its people or the scenery. The Jungle held that same dangerous beauty: lines of a gentle face etched with battle-scars and warrior-paint. The thought is familiar and comforting against his time of turmoil and chaos.
The sound of someone approaching tips Hestoni’s russet head down and toward the source. He watches the stranger easily, unwilling to cross the border unless he was welcomed. Although his parents were wild, lusty creatures full of darkened thoughts and selfish desires, the Jungle and its Daughters taught him much about politics and the ways of the Old. He takes comfort in those teachings now, certain that he can rely upon them in the absence of Scorch.
“Hello, Magnus.” Hestoni’s voice is deep and smooth, the echo of a low thunder’s rumble in the near distance. He pauses for a moment and uncertainty flashes across the red of his bold face. There are many things he might need help with, Hestoni supposes. Help with his marriage, help with his relationships with his children, help with finding his own path in life. All these thoughts press into his weary mind in a matter of milliseconds, but he says instead, “I’m looking for a worthy place to serve.” Despite the chaos he is enduring now, Hestoni does not hold evil in his heart and he will not work within a kingdom that is evil. His impression of Magnus does not suggest that Tephra is a place like that, and so he lingers on the border still. “My name is Hestoni.”
hestoni
@[magnus]