03-03-2022, 04:44 PM
It was only natural that she should be immediately drawn to the places of her childhood. Upon returning home, Cheri had sought out the hollow trunk of an elder redwood first; the very place her father etched his marks into with budding horns. She’d thought the mossy cove would be the same as she remembered, too, but arriving at the exact location had been almost impossible due to years of unchecked overgrowth. Without the skillful maintenance of a magic-endowed gardener, the Eden of Cheri’s childhood was more thicket than the lush environment she recalled.
Why she sought these places was a mystery, at first.
What good would come of resurrecting those painful hours lost? What hope was there in finding some remnant, some proof that this place once housed laughter and warmth? It seemed a foolish endeavor for her to undertake, though the grounded pegasus was more determined than ever to walk the trails of her past.
She thought they would lead to her future.
Instead, they act as a prickly sort of shock.
Seeing them: the hollowed-out tree, the crystal flower meadow, the abandoned cavern hidden behind a veil of tightly-woven vines - it hurt at first. And then it didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it was more like opening a wound so that it could drain, and after lingering in each quiet, desolate spot Cheri would feel infinitely better.
It was outside of any power she could conceive to bring her family back, and so she resolved to keep their ghosts alive in a fashion most-befitting their due. The memories of her happiness would live on, so long as she was breathing or until she joined the lost spirits of her ancestors.
As luck would have it, during these wistful reveries she came across her uncle lingering in one of the more secluded areas of the great woods. Steadfast Nashua, her father’s twin brother and (no longer) King of the North; the most welcome sight Cheri could’ve ever hoped to imagine seeing.
“Uncle!” She couldn’t help but cry out at spying him, some distance away from where he stood. There was no question that she should run to greet him, then, and her pace quickened until Cheri was trotting with a familiar ease. “By the stars!”
Her voice was an octave too deep, close to breaking. There was a pitiful sort of sound to it, a hint of the fear Cheri refused to show anyone but him. With him she could express herself fully, and they were perfectly alone at the moment - else she would consider waiting to confide in Obscene later. Now there wasn’t an excuse to wait, or bottle her emotions away.
She rushed him unceremoniously with a toss of her head over his neck, her pale wings fluttering open to welcome a return embrace if he gave one, and closed her eyes as one does when they feel an urge to linger in a perfect dream. This was too good. He was here, really here, and Cheri couldn’t seem to shake the unsteady quiver in her voice as she told him,
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
@Nashua more, please D:
Why she sought these places was a mystery, at first.
What good would come of resurrecting those painful hours lost? What hope was there in finding some remnant, some proof that this place once housed laughter and warmth? It seemed a foolish endeavor for her to undertake, though the grounded pegasus was more determined than ever to walk the trails of her past.
She thought they would lead to her future.
Instead, they act as a prickly sort of shock.
Seeing them: the hollowed-out tree, the crystal flower meadow, the abandoned cavern hidden behind a veil of tightly-woven vines - it hurt at first. And then it didn’t hurt at all. In fact, it was more like opening a wound so that it could drain, and after lingering in each quiet, desolate spot Cheri would feel infinitely better.
It was outside of any power she could conceive to bring her family back, and so she resolved to keep their ghosts alive in a fashion most-befitting their due. The memories of her happiness would live on, so long as she was breathing or until she joined the lost spirits of her ancestors.
As luck would have it, during these wistful reveries she came across her uncle lingering in one of the more secluded areas of the great woods. Steadfast Nashua, her father’s twin brother and (no longer) King of the North; the most welcome sight Cheri could’ve ever hoped to imagine seeing.
“Uncle!” She couldn’t help but cry out at spying him, some distance away from where he stood. There was no question that she should run to greet him, then, and her pace quickened until Cheri was trotting with a familiar ease. “By the stars!”
Her voice was an octave too deep, close to breaking. There was a pitiful sort of sound to it, a hint of the fear Cheri refused to show anyone but him. With him she could express herself fully, and they were perfectly alone at the moment - else she would consider waiting to confide in Obscene later. Now there wasn’t an excuse to wait, or bottle her emotions away.
She rushed him unceremoniously with a toss of her head over his neck, her pale wings fluttering open to welcome a return embrace if he gave one, and closed her eyes as one does when they feel an urge to linger in a perfect dream. This was too good. He was here, really here, and Cheri couldn’t seem to shake the unsteady quiver in her voice as she told him,
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
@Nashua more, please D: