The metal-and-cream woman with her tangled hair may be more wilderness than cultivated garden but she still recognises surprise when she sees it. The bay mare almost jumps out of her skin, and Ana tilts her head, otherwise standing as solidly still as possible. She had not intended to startle the other, but it had been a long time since she had attempted to interact with the horses of Beqanna and all thoughts of politeness and etiquette are buried beneath years of hunting, foraging and isolation.
She is trying though. Her keen green eyes are focused intently on Kolera, something that could possibly be interpreted as a stare if not for the smile softening the corners of her mouth. It feels unnatural on her face, but then, anything other than blood and wind feels unnatural on her face these days.
Kolera inquires as to whether they have met before, and Ana shakes her head, for ‘no’.
“My apologies for confusing you. I have been keeping to myself mostly the past years, I forget you do not know who I am yet, or what I can do.”
Her father, one evening, had taken her to the the very edge of the Taiga, where the trees grow less thickly and taper off into sand… They had stood and looked out across the ocean, all caught with moonlight and twinkling like the stars. He had, very gravely, told her of the dangers of the world and she listened, but in the typical way of children paid no real mind to it. He had told her to be careful, to trust few, to stay closed-up and protected. It seemed like an entire lifetime ago now, back when she had a pack and a family to run and hunt with. They were all gone now, and there were none (or few) to mourn their loss. That’s what is what comes with being closed up and isolated - when the bad times come, and come they will, there is no-one to stand beside you. The thought of that night makes her feel light and melancholy, suddenly very empty. She does not like that feeling very much. She focuses on the conversation at hand. She does not want to waste precious time on the past.
Kolera answers that she does it simply because she can, and Ana nods in approval. There need be no other reason for it, for anything. Because I can, because I want to, because I want to feel things while I am alive. It’s too easy to get caught up in the heavy becauses, the flowery explanations, the dark backstories.
Kolera inquires as to whether she intends to make the Taiga her home, and she can’t help but laugh a little.
“There is scant prey here. Barely enough grass for two horses. Staying here for any period of time would mean starvation. Perhaps in the future, though.” she pauses, softening her words with another smile. “I came because I was...curious, I guess. I was born here, I grew up here. It was a beautiful place, once.”
And now it’s a wasteland, a literal graveyard of everyone she had known and loved.
"But it will be beautiful again, I can see it."
She is trying though. Her keen green eyes are focused intently on Kolera, something that could possibly be interpreted as a stare if not for the smile softening the corners of her mouth. It feels unnatural on her face, but then, anything other than blood and wind feels unnatural on her face these days.
Kolera inquires as to whether they have met before, and Ana shakes her head, for ‘no’.
“My apologies for confusing you. I have been keeping to myself mostly the past years, I forget you do not know who I am yet, or what I can do.”
Her father, one evening, had taken her to the the very edge of the Taiga, where the trees grow less thickly and taper off into sand… They had stood and looked out across the ocean, all caught with moonlight and twinkling like the stars. He had, very gravely, told her of the dangers of the world and she listened, but in the typical way of children paid no real mind to it. He had told her to be careful, to trust few, to stay closed-up and protected. It seemed like an entire lifetime ago now, back when she had a pack and a family to run and hunt with. They were all gone now, and there were none (or few) to mourn their loss. That’s what is what comes with being closed up and isolated - when the bad times come, and come they will, there is no-one to stand beside you. The thought of that night makes her feel light and melancholy, suddenly very empty. She does not like that feeling very much. She focuses on the conversation at hand. She does not want to waste precious time on the past.
Kolera answers that she does it simply because she can, and Ana nods in approval. There need be no other reason for it, for anything. Because I can, because I want to, because I want to feel things while I am alive. It’s too easy to get caught up in the heavy becauses, the flowery explanations, the dark backstories.
Kolera inquires as to whether she intends to make the Taiga her home, and she can’t help but laugh a little.
“There is scant prey here. Barely enough grass for two horses. Staying here for any period of time would mean starvation. Perhaps in the future, though.” she pauses, softening her words with another smile. “I came because I was...curious, I guess. I was born here, I grew up here. It was a beautiful place, once.”
And now it’s a wasteland, a literal graveyard of everyone she had known and loved.
"But it will be beautiful again, I can see it."