[open] And breathe.

[lilliana]

She is starting to find solace in her nights again. It is something that she attributes to her new friend, Kagerus and to the knowledge that Elaina is safe within neighboring Hyaline. There are, however, some nights that are too deep and too long. It’s inky embrace envelops more than Taiga’s redwoods and like a fog, her thoughts come rolling in. Usually they are just the foolish whims that come to most at the end of a day: something left unfinished, perhaps something that was better left unsaid.

But sometimes those thoughts turn and lead her down the condemning path that takes her to Broch.

Lilli tries not to let him into her thoughts. She tries to keep him where he belongs: a closed chapter in her short past. But when has the Warlander stallion ever been content to hang in the shadows? He breaks through the barrier of her memories and his coat is vibrant as ever, the envy of any flame. It shines and glistens copper fire in the light of her mind. In these quiet moments, she can recall him with such vivid clarity: the muscled slope of his shoulders, the width of his chest, the strength of his haunch. Lilli can summon him with only a thought. But even as she braves the remembering, the memories eventually burn and crash. 

They leave her only with the taste of ash and loss. 

The crimson mare has to shed herself of the ancient forest today. She wants to leave her memories behind her. The River is always a welcome companion and it so often leads her many places, further than she should probably go but Lilli has figured she has much to learn about Beqanna and its realms. Why not experience it for herself? It’s on one of these trips that she passes by the Meadow which has begun the process of change: summer’s vibrant green to autumn’s blazing hues. The leaves above her have started to turn, a reminder that the change of the season was coming.

Another season of life to brace herself for. 

There are a few horses out today and Lilli pauses for a moment, an ear flicking casually to the side as she observes them. The young mare decides to move on and return to Taiga when the motion of downy wings  flapping almost impatiently catches her eye. They belong to a golden filly and something in Lilli softens at the sight of her. Her gaze moves from the child to her mother, a lovely roan mare who doesn’t seem to be as eager as her young daughter to be here. 

The mare is tense. Lilli can see it by the way she holds herself and it makes the chestnut remember her first time in this very place. She remembers how wide and open it felt, how it made her feel so much smaller and so alone in a mass of equines that she didn’t know. It had been an overwhelming, almost suffocating emotion. So the young mare alters her path and starts to move towards mother and daughter when another mare approaches. The crimson girl hangs back a moment, not wanting to overrun the pair with attention. 

When the winged grullo mare offers a greeting, Lilliana decides to take a similar approach. She stays a respectful distance away, trying to give Brine space if she wanted it and the chestnut mare nods her greeting to Jager. An amused smile lights up her features as her blue eyes come to rest on the child again: ”You have lovely wings.” The smile broadens and her playful gaze glances from Brine to Jager, letting them both in on a secret. ”It seems such a shame to be stuck on the ground when there are such marvelous things above.”

LILLIANA

i left home on account of snow
(buried all the things i know)

@[Brine] @[Jager]