A L C I N D E R
i go to seek a great perhaps
Alcinder, quite suddenly awash in happiness at this woman who stands before him ─ one tangible link to the mother he desperately misses ─ offers Ilma a wide smile and a polite bow. "Mama told me about you. She said you knew I was going to be a boy, and that I could always tru─" always trust you, he means to say, but her eyes flick to something over his shoulders and Alcinder turns his small head to peer at the space behind him, only to find the terrifying alien pair who, perhaps, give him nightmares more frequently than the horn-eyed stallion.
He thinks of the clicking noise that they emit and a shiver bolts up his spine; he throws his head immediately forward again to gaze at Ilma, hoping that the aliens will stand their ground and not move any closer if he pretends they aren't there. His ears flick at the hiss produced behind him, causing his heart to race and his feathered wings to cling protectively to his sides.
He tries not to picture their odd faces and whetted teeth, but fails.
Another voice behind him makes Alcinder jump; he pivots so that he stands closer to the ivory Ilma, his gangly legs wobbling with nerves, and his silvered eyes fall on the venomous-looking star-speckled stallion as his words flow sour and angry in the direction of his Mama's friend.
Alcinder, fearful of his situation but angry over the red-horned stallion's tone, lays his ears back against the fluff of his navy mane.
Quite suddenly, he feels warmth spread through the center of his chest. It settles inside of him comfortingly and, though he does not know it comes from Ilma and her magic, he sidles appreciatively next to her. He revels in this new comfort, new lack of fear, for as long as he can ─ and then the claw-footed stallion is suddenly diving from the sky, a fallen dragon from Alcinder's night terrors.
His ears return to his head, hiding against the soft curve of his crest, and Alcinder peels his lips back to show small, blunted teeth when the horn-eyed stallion circles he and Ilma, and then lowers his eyeless head to his own level. The adults who have gathered speak of things he does not understand ─ nomads and Hyaline and fathers and brothers ─ but when the claw-footed stallion calls himself Alcinder's father, he nearly yelps in harsh disagreement.
Ilma responds more swiftly than the blue-and-white colt is able to, effectively defending Alcinder's actions and ─ perhaps ─ defusing a situation that could have gone much differently had he voiced his own refusal. But then again they are joined by another; this one swirls into their midst, blanketed by shadows, and judging by the way she commands attention from her monsters and Ilma alike, Alcinder assumes she is the Queen of this land.
And maybe she can help him.
"I'd like to go home now, please," he says to the shadowmare in a voice that sounds much more confident than he has felt since the night the claw-footed stallion herded him away from Loess.
@[Ilma], @[Ripley and Nostromo]
@[draco], @[ghaul], @[Anaxarete]
""
He thinks of the clicking noise that they emit and a shiver bolts up his spine; he throws his head immediately forward again to gaze at Ilma, hoping that the aliens will stand their ground and not move any closer if he pretends they aren't there. His ears flick at the hiss produced behind him, causing his heart to race and his feathered wings to cling protectively to his sides.
He tries not to picture their odd faces and whetted teeth, but fails.
Another voice behind him makes Alcinder jump; he pivots so that he stands closer to the ivory Ilma, his gangly legs wobbling with nerves, and his silvered eyes fall on the venomous-looking star-speckled stallion as his words flow sour and angry in the direction of his Mama's friend.
Alcinder, fearful of his situation but angry over the red-horned stallion's tone, lays his ears back against the fluff of his navy mane.
Quite suddenly, he feels warmth spread through the center of his chest. It settles inside of him comfortingly and, though he does not know it comes from Ilma and her magic, he sidles appreciatively next to her. He revels in this new comfort, new lack of fear, for as long as he can ─ and then the claw-footed stallion is suddenly diving from the sky, a fallen dragon from Alcinder's night terrors.
His ears return to his head, hiding against the soft curve of his crest, and Alcinder peels his lips back to show small, blunted teeth when the horn-eyed stallion circles he and Ilma, and then lowers his eyeless head to his own level. The adults who have gathered speak of things he does not understand ─ nomads and Hyaline and fathers and brothers ─ but when the claw-footed stallion calls himself Alcinder's father, he nearly yelps in harsh disagreement.
Ilma responds more swiftly than the blue-and-white colt is able to, effectively defending Alcinder's actions and ─ perhaps ─ defusing a situation that could have gone much differently had he voiced his own refusal. But then again they are joined by another; this one swirls into their midst, blanketed by shadows, and judging by the way she commands attention from her monsters and Ilma alike, Alcinder assumes she is the Queen of this land.
And maybe she can help him.
"I'd like to go home now, please," he says to the shadowmare in a voice that sounds much more confident than he has felt since the night the claw-footed stallion herded him away from Loess.
@[draco], @[ghaul], @[Anaxarete]
""
neamrel
i have slipped the surly bonds of earth
and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings
and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings