02-16-2020, 02:16 PM
For as long as the sunfire woman could remember, she has always loved the sunrise. She has never really been able to explain, where this desire to watch the very first light of day illuminate the eastern horizon in a soft halo of gold came from, and frankly, she doesn't really try to understand it. Not anymore, anyway. Some would look at her skin, how the brilliant hues of citrine and dark amber were reminiscent of the setting summer sun, and simply assume that it was an affinity for the burning star that gave life to all things upon the earth. And, perhaps, this might be true to some degree. But, there were many things that she admired, like how dew could sparkle like small diamonds scattered across a field of wildflowers as the first light of dawn would embrace the world below or even how those same blossoms would open their petals in salutations to the sun and its warm touch after having endured a chilly spring night. There was wonderment to be found in many things, one needed only to look. So little compared to fleeting moments where she has watched a fledgling take flight for the very first time, unsure of those feathered appendages and yet knowing that the sky had been made just them to swim in much like the silver-scaled trout knew the streams and rivers were theirs to live in. She simply reveled in the everyday wonders so many took for granted.
So, to simply assume that she loved the sun for the appearance she had been given by the gods was small-minded. Could she not love the rising and setting of the great star for more than a reason so vain and shallow? Was it too much to believe that the sunfire femme saw the beginning of a new day as another chance to discover something she hasn't in the realms she's wandered through, or find peace in the last rays of sunset and allow herself to wonder what awaited her tomorrow? In the end, the answer to any of these questions did not matter. Whether those who walked this mortal world with her believed she was in love with the sun for any single reason or another was neither here nor there, really. She'd learned quite some time ago that her speculators would judge her for how they saw her, drawing their own thoughts and opinions, but that was far from meaning any of these... observations and reservations were true to her nature. Even her own herd, who had cast her aside simply for being different in her appearance, hadn't been able to understand her. And, when she had been a young filly, it had hurt to see the way that others looked at her. She'd grown up with a mother determined to hide her from the rest of the herd, no father, and no friends. Life had been hard for her in the beginning, testing her spirit from the very beginning.
But, she has only allowed for her trials and tribulations to make her into the strong-hearted mare that she was now. She'd since left behind those who only saw her for the strange colors of her skin and glimmering ruby gaze nowhere to be found within her homelands and set out to chase the sun. She wonders where it set each evening, if perhaps her desire to follow it might mean anything - or nothing - at all. And so, that is what she has done for the days, weeks, and months that have passed. As she stands there at the edge of this strange new world, watching the sun's light silhouette distant and jagged peaks to the east from her place upon a small ridge, Shezira can feel the thrumming within her chest quicken like it so often did at sunrise. She knew not the name of this realm she has found, and she knows none of the faces scattered across the vast grasslands that stretch out before her. Nares quiver, drinking in the scents tinging the crisp morning air, pupil-less ruby eyes glittering with excitement in the early morning light. She does not know what awaits her here nor how long she may linger. Days? Weeks? Would this be just another world she passes through as another nameless face? Or, was this feeling within her chest perhaps hope that she may have found a world that would see her for more than what she appeared? She cannot say for certain, but she is dying to find out.
Suddenly, she is still upon her ridge no longer, slender amber limbs striking out against the soft soil beneath her, carrying the wandering femme down the small incline at a brisk trot, lean muscle rippling beneath her bright skin as she moves across open land and into a strand of trees, following the distant and soft trickling voice of a creek. She does not mind her graceful steps, if anything enjoying the soft crunching of fallen leaves beneath her obsidians as she moves through the trees, simply eager to explore this unfamiliar terrain. However, when she can finally see morning light gleaming against water ahead, the sound of another nearby catches her attention. Shezira pauses in her strides, twin harks swivel atop her head to find the direction of the sounds, the small chain of white attached to her ear and crest clinking lightly with this small movement. When she believes she knows where they are coming from, she abandons her previous venture and moves towards the soft thudding of hooves against earth, quick in their rhythm and her curiosity only grows. She draws nearer, her own steps soft though they still do not avoid the leaves and twigs under-foot, and as she does, the sound ceases. Has she startled the maker of these dancing steps? Or have they perhaps moved away? Maybe she had been imagining them altogether, she does not know - not yet.
Reaching the edge of a small clearing, she can now see a chestnut figure at the heart of it, long and flowing mane windswept as the stranger lingers there. It almost seems as though she were waiting for something to happen... Although, the more likely possibility was that this unknown femme had heard the sunfire woman's approach. Shezira steps easily from the trees, a warm and friendly smile upon her lips."Please don't stop enjoying yourself on my account", she says to the stranger, her cropped amber tresses stirring in the playful breeze that blows."Apologies for startling you if I had. I was simply exploring this place", she adds in lilted and kind tones as she comes to stand a respectful distance from the chestnut maiden, dipping her head politely as was the common custom in most realms she has visited."I am Shezira, but you can call me Shezi if you'd like", the sunfire woman offers, the friendly smile still lingering upon her features. She wonders if this mare was a native here, or perhaps almost as new and unsure of this world as she was. Perhaps she knows the name of this realm, of those who do call this home. Patiently, the woman painted of the sun waits, curious to see if the other would be willing to help her understand where they were or not.
here's to the rest of us, to all the ones who never felt they were good enough
image by empluvie