"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
"Well, here's Sylva." She announced their arrival simply, looking for her mother as they wandered their way farther in. She found her actually taking a weaving path, murmuring some sort of complaint to herself about old age. "Mother? I've got someone I'd like you to meet." She starts, nodding to Szeth to introduce himself.
@[Szeth] Not much but enough. Once you post, I'll bring Blazed in.
The trip to Sylva is not long, and soon enough they are walking through the thick trees of Sylva’s border. He pauses for a moment as they slip into the territory, taking the moment to appreciate the great beech and hickory trees towering over head.
A far cry from Paradise Beach indeed.
Mandalocks finally pauses to introduce the place, and Szeth smiles graciously at her. “It’s beautiful.” And it is, as different as it is from the home of his heart. She calls out to her mother, and despite the fact that he is convinced of Mandalocks’ parentage already, he feels his heart beat faster. Soon they will have the truth.
The old mare had to blink to make sure she recognized him. "Szeth?" She queries him, wondering how her daughter found him - how she managed to get him all the way to Sylvia. Her daughter spoke. "Is he my father?" She asks Blazed, her sweet daughter Mandalocks was asking if this man is her father..
How can the world keep turning, when things as maddening as this occur? "Yes, he is, Mandalocks. He is." She says, looking at Szeth rather than at her. Meeting his gaze for the second time. Noting that time had changed him as it had changed her. "If that's what you wanted to confirm, Szeth, that's your answer." She says to him, a small smile in her voice of pride at her daughter going out. At her daughter convincing him to come see.
@[Szeth]
And then suddenly there she is, the grullo mare that he’d spent an evening with so long ago. She’s aged since then (of course, so has he), but is still pretty, in her own way. He smiles widely at her, thinking of the day that they’d met … funny to think that day has brought them here, so many years later.
Mandalocks wastes no time and gets right to business. And, as he had expected, Blazed confirms it. He is indeed the young mare’s father. A feeling of pride blossoms in his chest as he turns to look at the girl. His child. His daughter. He’ll finally have the chance to know one of his children through to adulthood. “Well, that’s that then I suppose.” He briefly turns to look at Blazed again to nod his appreciation. “Thank you.” Then his gaze returns to Mandalocks. “Well, if you don’t mind me sticking around, I’d like to have the chance to get to know you better.”
"I'd be glad to know my own father." The younger mare replies as Blazed nods her head in approval. In acceptance. She feels her breath becoming heavier and a tug towards where she knows, in her, heart, the beach she will soon lie on resides.
"I must be going. Goodbye, Mandalocks, Szeth." She tells them, turning and walking away. Following her slowing instinct. She started to stumble, but kept pushing forward as she started working harder to breath. To think.
"Mother! No! Not now.." She collapses, crying. "Not when I just found the rest of my family.." Even though Mandalocks knew that she'd go soon, that the illness had weakened her too much to make it another winter. She looked up at her father, her only parent left.
12-28-2016, 12:54 AM (This post was last modified: 12-28-2016, 12:58 AM by Szeth.)
dark, you can't come soon enough for me
“I'd be glad to know my own father.” Szeth smiles earnestly, and notes Blazed’s nod of approval. "I'm glad to hear that." Finally, finally, he will get to know one of his children into adulthood. Finally, he will have something resembling a family.
Blazed turns away suddenly, telling them she must go. He would think nothing of such a comment normally - perhaps she means to simply give them time to get to know each other - except for Mandalocks’ sudden outcry of emotion. The girl collapses into tears, calling after her mother, telling her to stay …
Szeth looks down on her, his confusion plain on his dark face. Something far beyond his understanding is clearly going on. “Mandalocks, what’s happening?” He hesitantly reaches down to her, wanting to comfort her but not wanting to rush their new relationship too soon. “What’s going on?”
You don't need to tag him in each reply btw. Just when starting new threads makes the most sense.
"She's going to the Beach.." Was all Mandalocks could get out before she leaned against her father. Her ears were back in sorrow, knowing it was too late. She would go if she felt it was time; her intuition had guided her too well for too long for her life for her to betray it.
She laid down, head by Szeth's hooves, and continued to cry. Eventually, when her throat hurt and she was emotionally numb, she stopped. "She's.. Gone.." She whispered, standing clumsily.
“The Beach!” Szeth’s eyes widen in shock. “What?! Why?!” He admits that Blazed had seemed a little worse for wear, but this is extreme! “We need to go after her!” But Mandalocks suddenly leans against him and he freezes, torn between wanting to comfort his newfound daughter and wanting to go after her departing mother. “Surely it can’t be her time Mandalocks!” His heart clenches at the sight of the tears streaming down her face. “Surely this is premature!”
But the girl has clearly given up. The grullo mare slips to the ground, still crying. Szeth reaches out to her tentatively with his muzzle, wanting to comfort her, but not wanting to push their new relationship too far. But she stands, claiming that her mother is already gone. “I don’t understand. Is she injured? Is she ill?” He falls silent, still watching, still so unsure of how to proceed. This is all too much in such a short time. He wants to be there for her, but doesn’t know how. Not to mention he doesn’t understand Blazed’s unexpected decision.
She thinks. The mare had been speaking gibberish the past days. "She hasn't been well in the mind.. But she is too determined to stop unless you wound her so she cannot travel, but then the point would be moot.." Mandalocks says, looking up at the surprised, hurt.. And confused?
Then she remembers that they have barely met, and it occurs to her that Szeth would likely not know how far his limits are with his relationship with the mare as her father. She stays relatively still, except for moving her head so she could look up at the spotted stallion, eyes dim with exhaustion and gleaming with emotions.
Mandalocks speaks up, describing a strange illness of the mind that’s befallen her mother. He is confused, he’s never heard of the like, but he supposes Mandalocks would know more about it than himself. She’s been living here with Blazed after all. “Is there no hope then?”
It’s a bleak thing to ask, but Mandalocks herself seems to have given up already. Clearly her mother’s illness must be beyond hope. And at least she’s not falling into the trap of considering asking a tainted one to heal her.
She looks up at him, and his heart breaks for the poor girl. This is too much for her, too much for anyone to handle in such a short time. Meeting her father, losing her mother …
He glances down at the earth, then tentatively meets her eyes. “Mandalocks … I … I know we’ve just met. And I don’t want to overstep my bounds, but … is there anything I can do for you?”
