Of all the things that Lilli had pictured herself doing, the few times that she was able to paint a picture of her a future, becoming a traveler was not the one she had foreseen. It had been so easy when she had been small. The little girl had imagined a future among the daisies and the lupines, among the lacey white flowers and the bluebonnets. She thought that she would be there forever, always with Elena and always with her family. It is perhaps the same thoughts that most children had but Lilli hadn't wanted more than what she was given in those splendid days that were spent on the banks of the trickling and winding riverbeds. The chestnut filly was prone to looking above to the heavens, to turning her thoughts skywards to the birds, the geese and the other creatures that graced the sky. There was always a longing there, wonderment at the beauty and grace the way their wings would spread and stretch, would propel and carry them heavenward.
But as much as she dreamed of flying and thought of the magic there must be above, Lilli had been happy in Murmuring Rivers. She had been loved and cherished and there was nothing more that she could have asked for.
But somehow the little girl who had wanted nothing more than to be among her family, to spend her days with those she loves has found herself without them. The future that she had once imagined has been forgotten and left behind in the marshes of her river bend, left among the flowers and the magic of childhood. Beqanna had been nothing more than a bedtime story once, a place that her ancestors had once called home in a distant past. And yet here Lilli stood, Aletta's young daughter born without her mother's wanderlust, in places unknown and trying to figure out where exactly she might fit in this land of wild magic and its wide array of creatures. When she thinks about it, how big this place is and how many dwell in this place, it overwhelms her. How is she supposed to find her way in a place such as this?
As her blue eyes warm to Neverwhere, as they become more familiar and comfortable with each other, there is a part of Lilli that thinks she will be okay. Souls like Neverwhere give her an assurance that things will work out in the end. The chestnut is grateful for the startling the sound and even if it wasn't Neverwhere who spooked the trees, Lilli finds the divine grace in the moment, the lending hand that has lead her to the company of the silver dappled mare. Even if Neverwhere can't see the appreciation on Lilli's youthful face, it comes off her in waves of warm gratitude. She spies the movement of Neverwhere's ear, moving back and forth to signal her point. Her sight may be impaired but her language is direct and Lilli can't help but think that it must be another useful tool that the silver mare has.
Lilli, while oblivious to some things, isn't deaf to the sounds in the woods. A single ear trains itself on the wood and stays there, waiting for the footfalls to either pause or carry on. Neverwhere, obliviously the more experienced of the pair, angles herself in a ready position to the sound. Lilli casts a weary glance to the wood where the light has started to dim as the day comes to a close. There is some time yet before night blankets Beqanna a cloak of starlight but the warning has not gone unnoticed. The dread that Lilli feels lingers in the pit of her stomach. She buries it in exchange for Neverwhere's question though the crimson girl wishes she had a better answer. "I'm afraid I fall short in the plague-making category," she half-smiles. "And from what I've heard of the last plague, I'm not sure that the current residents would appreciate us making another one." The shadows stretch and reach, growing longer with each passing moment. A reminder that haunts Lilli.
She swallows, slightly afraid to ask. But the thought of another long, empty night is unbearable. "Neverwhere," she tries, "Have you been staying out in these woods? At night, I mean,"the girl asks.
@[neverwhere]
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind