11-01-2016, 11:26 PM
It had felt different once, different at first, when the world unbecame and the ragged seams holding all things together finally buckled and burst and tore apart. It felt like the end of something, of everything, it felt awful and final- lonely. There was too much change to fathom, too much new and not enough same. But somehow the dust settled and everyone seemed to find their place, found it and carved it out of this reborn world. Territories were established- not quite herds, not quite kingdoms, something that fell in the in-between. They were places for friends and families to come together and feel safe again, places were old alliances found new strength. It made it easier to look for what had been lost, who, all the faces that had watched her from the dark of her dreams for many uncertain months. She knew where they were now, all of them.
For awhile she thought she would pick one of the territories for herself, a new home since her mountains and snow were long lost. Tephra would have been a natural choice, the territory given to her parents, her family, her people. It was, arguably, the closest thing she had to home, even the sharp, dark stone of the volcano peeking through the lower clouds rang with a familiarity in her heart that left her weak-kneed and homesick. But it was home, even if it pretended to be, and after the longing faded all she could feel in her chest was dissonance. So she stayed away, for now at least. There were other places too, more than she had expected to pop up, but Tobiah made it easy to want to stay in the quiet places, melted against dark and shadow among the trees that edged the meadow. He seemed most content in these quiet places, and she felt most content when she stood at his shoulder with his shadow draped across her dark skin.
Home felt like this, she was certain.
She slips quietly from the trees, abandoning their shade and protection for the openness of the meadow, for the blanket of new snow that settled like a feathery glaze over everything. The last time she had seen snow here, she had also found company in the form of a rather disgruntled buckskin stallion. Even now, she can remember how he had prickled at her touch, can remember the agitation in his voice as he answered her prying questions. There is a smile on her lips as she remembers him, and it doesn’t fade when she pauses to turn her dark eyes out and across a white and blue landscape. Winter feels like home, and the snow soothes that familiar ache in her belly when she at last continues on, closing her eyes and lifting her face to a warming morning sun.
When she opens her eyes again, feeling the coolness that only a shadow passing across skin can cast, it is to the face that had appeared in her thoughts only moments before. “Oh!” She says, surprised, as she draws to a halt again. She is about to reach out and stroke the gold of his dappled neck again, but she remembers how poorly he had taken to it before and chooses to refrain. Instead, she steps out of his shadow and into the sun again, settling close beside him with that smile softening the edges of her dark and bright mouth. “I was just thinking about you.” She confesses after a moment, peering up at him sideways from beneath the wild tangles of an unruly forelock. Then, in a voice that is a soft as the smile etched against her mouth, she asks, “Do you like this world any better, now?”
For awhile she thought she would pick one of the territories for herself, a new home since her mountains and snow were long lost. Tephra would have been a natural choice, the territory given to her parents, her family, her people. It was, arguably, the closest thing she had to home, even the sharp, dark stone of the volcano peeking through the lower clouds rang with a familiarity in her heart that left her weak-kneed and homesick. But it was home, even if it pretended to be, and after the longing faded all she could feel in her chest was dissonance. So she stayed away, for now at least. There were other places too, more than she had expected to pop up, but Tobiah made it easy to want to stay in the quiet places, melted against dark and shadow among the trees that edged the meadow. He seemed most content in these quiet places, and she felt most content when she stood at his shoulder with his shadow draped across her dark skin.
Home felt like this, she was certain.
She slips quietly from the trees, abandoning their shade and protection for the openness of the meadow, for the blanket of new snow that settled like a feathery glaze over everything. The last time she had seen snow here, she had also found company in the form of a rather disgruntled buckskin stallion. Even now, she can remember how he had prickled at her touch, can remember the agitation in his voice as he answered her prying questions. There is a smile on her lips as she remembers him, and it doesn’t fade when she pauses to turn her dark eyes out and across a white and blue landscape. Winter feels like home, and the snow soothes that familiar ache in her belly when she at last continues on, closing her eyes and lifting her face to a warming morning sun.
When she opens her eyes again, feeling the coolness that only a shadow passing across skin can cast, it is to the face that had appeared in her thoughts only moments before. “Oh!” She says, surprised, as she draws to a halt again. She is about to reach out and stroke the gold of his dappled neck again, but she remembers how poorly he had taken to it before and chooses to refrain. Instead, she steps out of his shadow and into the sun again, settling close beside him with that smile softening the edges of her dark and bright mouth. “I was just thinking about you.” She confesses after a moment, peering up at him sideways from beneath the wild tangles of an unruly forelock. Then, in a voice that is a soft as the smile etched against her mouth, she asks, “Do you like this world any better, now?”
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