08-19-2020, 09:49 AM
Florian draws himself upright, pleased to be called brave. He is brave, he thinks. He can be brave now, without the risk of becoming a gourd and breaking apart under hard hooves and heavy bodies - or eaten of all the awful possibilities. His chest puffs out slightly, and his grin grows brighter, only to dull a bit when Aodhan remarks on his father.
"My father is very brave too." he answers, a hint of sharpness creeping into his boyish voice. Is Aodhan suggesting that he isn't? The colt isn't sure and his brow wrinkles slightly, head cocking to one side, as he rolls the thought through his mind like a pebble. Does the uncontrollable shifting make Malkin who he is? Did it make Florian who he was? It forced them to face the world a certain way, tentatively, suspiciously. It made them misanthropic. Florian without the curse is better than Florian with it, nervous and hiding away among the autumnal leaves of Sylva.
No, Aodhan is wrong.
"You don't--" Aodhan doesn't understand - how could he? - but Florian doesn't have an opportunity to explain, the stallion is already discussing his own time questing on the Mountain. It didn't stay there, he weaves a story of sickness and a cure made of seashells, and for all the indignation that flared in his breast, Florian is still a boy drawn to adventure - now that he can be - and his ears flick forward again, claret eyes shining bright when he leans over to see the marking hidden beneath Aodhan's spots.
The shape is mesmerizing to a boy that has only known the soft curves of the forest.
"Island Resort." The words don't feel dangerous on his tongue when he tries them out and he looks back quizzically, first at the Mountain and then to the baroque stallion, "Dangerous?"
Nobody had told him the Mountain could be dangerous. Nobody had told him quests could be dangerous. He had been respectful of course because that's only proper, but suddenly the clouds that hide the Mountain's sharp peak seem full of hidden hazards where before he had only seen the shimmer of the bright sun glinting off them. He wouldn't have gone if someone had told him it was dangerous and resolves not to tell his father, either.
Malkin is very brave, but there's no reason to burden him unnecessarily. The trip up would take so much longer if the stallion had to make it as a rabbit.
"How did seashells from Island Resort cure the sickness? Do they cure other things?"
Maybe they could avoid the Mountain altogether. Aodhan healed the land with seashells, perhaps Florian can heal his father, too.
"My father is very brave too." he answers, a hint of sharpness creeping into his boyish voice. Is Aodhan suggesting that he isn't? The colt isn't sure and his brow wrinkles slightly, head cocking to one side, as he rolls the thought through his mind like a pebble. Does the uncontrollable shifting make Malkin who he is? Did it make Florian who he was? It forced them to face the world a certain way, tentatively, suspiciously. It made them misanthropic. Florian without the curse is better than Florian with it, nervous and hiding away among the autumnal leaves of Sylva.
No, Aodhan is wrong.
"You don't--" Aodhan doesn't understand - how could he? - but Florian doesn't have an opportunity to explain, the stallion is already discussing his own time questing on the Mountain. It didn't stay there, he weaves a story of sickness and a cure made of seashells, and for all the indignation that flared in his breast, Florian is still a boy drawn to adventure - now that he can be - and his ears flick forward again, claret eyes shining bright when he leans over to see the marking hidden beneath Aodhan's spots.
The shape is mesmerizing to a boy that has only known the soft curves of the forest.
"Island Resort." The words don't feel dangerous on his tongue when he tries them out and he looks back quizzically, first at the Mountain and then to the baroque stallion, "Dangerous?"
Nobody had told him the Mountain could be dangerous. Nobody had told him quests could be dangerous. He had been respectful of course because that's only proper, but suddenly the clouds that hide the Mountain's sharp peak seem full of hidden hazards where before he had only seen the shimmer of the bright sun glinting off them. He wouldn't have gone if someone had told him it was dangerous and resolves not to tell his father, either.
Malkin is very brave, but there's no reason to burden him unnecessarily. The trip up would take so much longer if the stallion had to make it as a rabbit.
"How did seashells from Island Resort cure the sickness? Do they cure other things?"
Maybe they could avoid the Mountain altogether. Aodhan healed the land with seashells, perhaps Florian can heal his father, too.
Oh. My. Gourd.
Image by Tekke-Draws
@[Aodhan]