01-27-2020, 10:23 PM
Something is missing.
Neverwhere would never have survived as long as she has if she were not naturally inclined to be aware of her surroundings. Even when she feigns boredom and inattention, even when she throws caution to the wind on a whim and answers grave questions with sarcasm and a dry smile - or, perhaps it is because of these things that she has developed this situational awareness. And perhaps it is the blindness, too, that has taught her not to always trust what her eyes see. She feels a hole in her small kingdom, though it takes some time to place it.
Perhaps it is the smell of sulfur. It reminds her, at first, of Castile, but it is not Castile, nor, she thinks, likely to resemble his immediate family. That does not rule it out, but doubt pulls at her mind. It is not, in any case, the scent of anyone she knows.
Perhaps it is the feathers, too many blowing in the wind to have molted naturally, too large to be a bird. One catches against her hoof and she drops her nose to it, catching its scent with a deep breath. This one she knows - not well, but enough to find a face in her mind. Brine. A third scent on the wind, hot as fire but not from dragon fire. Brinly? She thinks that is the mares name, barely a shape in her mind's eye. They have not met.
It occurs her that Nerine collects reclusive natures, and there is a gratification in that. She likes that they do not demand her time, that many are independent and capable. She likes it when they take care of themselves, but it would seem there is also an opportunity for mischief to sneak in when they are always hiding away. Have the mares gone together? Would they return? Did they leave of their own accord, or were they taken. Taken like Heartfire? The thought pins her ears to her poll and she lifts her lips from the earth, letting the feather dash away on the wind, whipping her head into the air to scan the land around her for clues.
There's precious little, it's been days.
Her thoughts roll again to Castile and Loess, they are the most likely culprits, but it would not be very strategic to take the missing mares, one a ghost and the other flinching from her own shadow. But if not them, then who? A long list, still. She picks up a fast trot, away from the caves that Brine had thought would keep her safe, heading instead towards the center of the kingdom where they do, occasionally, gather to feed and drink and share stories with one another when their seclusion grows to be too much. It is her best chance of finding the three she needs together in one place.
@[Eurwen], @[lilliana], and @[Brazen]. That she even calls to them should be enough for them to know that something is wrong. She finds them talking quietly and forces her way into the small group without asking or waiting for them to acknowledge her. She has learned from Heartfire's disappearance and will not wait to discuss this with those that should know.
"Have any of you seen Brine?" And Brinly, too, of course, but the burning mare is so unknown to Neverwhere that she hesitates to assume that her scent there among the feathers and the wafting brimstone is more than a coincidence. She looks from Lilli's puzzled face to Brazen, so hard to read beneath her armor, "I think something's happened."
"And," she says, pausing to turn to Eurwen, "I think it may be time to visit Tephra."
Neverwhere would never have survived as long as she has if she were not naturally inclined to be aware of her surroundings. Even when she feigns boredom and inattention, even when she throws caution to the wind on a whim and answers grave questions with sarcasm and a dry smile - or, perhaps it is because of these things that she has developed this situational awareness. And perhaps it is the blindness, too, that has taught her not to always trust what her eyes see. She feels a hole in her small kingdom, though it takes some time to place it.
Perhaps it is the smell of sulfur. It reminds her, at first, of Castile, but it is not Castile, nor, she thinks, likely to resemble his immediate family. That does not rule it out, but doubt pulls at her mind. It is not, in any case, the scent of anyone she knows.
Perhaps it is the feathers, too many blowing in the wind to have molted naturally, too large to be a bird. One catches against her hoof and she drops her nose to it, catching its scent with a deep breath. This one she knows - not well, but enough to find a face in her mind. Brine. A third scent on the wind, hot as fire but not from dragon fire. Brinly? She thinks that is the mares name, barely a shape in her mind's eye. They have not met.
It occurs her that Nerine collects reclusive natures, and there is a gratification in that. She likes that they do not demand her time, that many are independent and capable. She likes it when they take care of themselves, but it would seem there is also an opportunity for mischief to sneak in when they are always hiding away. Have the mares gone together? Would they return? Did they leave of their own accord, or were they taken. Taken like Heartfire? The thought pins her ears to her poll and she lifts her lips from the earth, letting the feather dash away on the wind, whipping her head into the air to scan the land around her for clues.
There's precious little, it's been days.
Her thoughts roll again to Castile and Loess, they are the most likely culprits, but it would not be very strategic to take the missing mares, one a ghost and the other flinching from her own shadow. But if not them, then who? A long list, still. She picks up a fast trot, away from the caves that Brine had thought would keep her safe, heading instead towards the center of the kingdom where they do, occasionally, gather to feed and drink and share stories with one another when their seclusion grows to be too much. It is her best chance of finding the three she needs together in one place.
@[Eurwen], @[lilliana], and @[Brazen]. That she even calls to them should be enough for them to know that something is wrong. She finds them talking quietly and forces her way into the small group without asking or waiting for them to acknowledge her. She has learned from Heartfire's disappearance and will not wait to discuss this with those that should know.
"Have any of you seen Brine?" And Brinly, too, of course, but the burning mare is so unknown to Neverwhere that she hesitates to assume that her scent there among the feathers and the wafting brimstone is more than a coincidence. She looks from Lilli's puzzled face to Brazen, so hard to read beneath her armor, "I think something's happened."
"And," she says, pausing to turn to Eurwen, "I think it may be time to visit Tephra."
Neverwhere
...
