she's a little explosion of hope

[Elaina]

I can remember a time when I was so afraid when even my shadow wouldn't follow me Elaina finds comfort in the sunset. She wasn't sure why. The golden girl has seen monsters, she has seen them with her own eyes of bright, fiery amber. One of them left a mark upon Elaina’s right shoulder. Frostbane had not looked like a monster, not until of course that sickly and wicked smile would run over his lips like slime. But his coat was as white as snow, a pointed ensemble atop his head, and eyes of hazel. But none of this would give away that he was indeed the sickest monster Elaina had ever met. He tried to kill her mother, succeeded in killing her father, and he tried to take her away from her family on multiple occasions, marking her with an icy snowflake to let everyone know who she truly belonged to. His mask concealed his true identity and perhaps had Elaina harbored no idea of who he actually was, maybe she would have believed him to be kind, but Elaina did know. It was Frostbane who taught the palomino sunflower girl to never trust the outside, because it may just be there to fool and deceive you. She couldn't trust anyone, not upon first appearance. Elaina has taken this lesson into her very heart and soul, but she knew the other side of it too. While he trust was not easily earned, she would never deny anyone the chance to do, even if, on the outside, they may look as wicked as Frostbane’s heart. She could never be so cruel as to simply cast someone aside without being able to look into their hearts first. She had to know who someone truly was. Elaina stubbornly refused to ever believe what outer appearances offered. She hears someone coming over towards her and Elaina shakes her head from her thoughts of Lilli and own sorrow to turn amber eyes to the approaching figure. For just a split second, a tiny moment, Elaina feels her wait shift backwards, even if she does not move her feet even an inch and those same amber eyes widen slightly in surprise and shock. This mare, she didn't look so well, how was she walking around so easily, it didn't even seem like she was in any pain. But Elaina quickly gains her composure and offers the stranger a friendly, warm smile. She may have inherited her father’s stubbornness and seething temper, but she had been sure to gain her mother’s warm confidence and welcoming nature. “Hello,” she offers in greeting. “I am terribly sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but are you okay?” She asks, tilting that pretty head just slightly. How could she possibly be okay? Did something do this to her? Could this same thing do that to Lilli? She needed to find her cousin. Now. “I’m Elaina by the way,” she says, offering her name in a form of friendliness towards the stranger. She gets a clear picture of Lilli in her mind’s eye before looking to the stranger once more. “She is chestnut, with pretty blue eyes and a kind smile. She loves flowers, so she may have been looking at some,” she says, and in the same breath she feels like she is failing Lilli, was that really a good enough explanation for the girl that was supposed to be her best friend? But how could she describe how their laughter would ring together whenever they would stand with each other side by side? Or explain how they could effortlessly communicate without the needs for words. Or how Lilli was so bright, friendly, beautiful and the light to which Elaina could always follow home? “Please, have you seen her?” elaina* benjamin and beylani's sunflower-girl