the thought of the moon; siba

[Spear + Spark]

An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.

She is, at times, still nervous around him. Can he blame her? One moment, he is scratching his back on the birch and the next, she’s scratching his back for him. It is companionable but odd, because it is not his sister or his mother, or that one from long ago. At least, it seemed like long ago to him…

 

He made no further attempt to apologize or explain his strange behavior; might even have attributed it to hormones and instinct, or some combination thereof. Spear could not explain it if he tried, he was not usually like this but he seesawed between one extreme to the next and could not fathom why. He managed to rein himself in before she bumped his nose back and gave him a smile.

 

She moved closer to him and he gave her his undivided attention save for one ear that kept listening to the noise about them. He was a stallion in the company of a mare in a season that demands they act on instinct not sense, and he resists, acting on sense instead and knows, that dangers still lurk. She said her life was not interesting but she had seen as much of their world as he had, perhaps even more and remaining with her mother said a lot about her character that he found rather admirable.

 

“I doubt Tephra would turn you away. In fact, I’m almost sure we wouldn’t.” He flashes her a grin, having thrown in that ‘we’ to allude to the fact that he was from Tephra and there was no doubt in his mind that they’d never allow her dam and her to stay there. His father seemed not the sort to turn any away, and he’d never seen them turn someone from the island and her isolation. “That was rather informative,” he mentions, grinning back at her as he notices that she has taken a decidedly cheeky turn herself.

 

“Not much to tell either; I have a twin sister and my father helped found Tephra and is now it’s King again. I’ve seen some of Beqanna, but nowhere near as much as you have I’m sure.” He tilts his head to the side, a queer expression on his face as he looks at Siba than beyond her to the meadow darkening at the edges. “I’ve seen more of a place far from here, where the grass stretched from horizon to horizon. It was just grass and sky, and some horses but you could go days without seeing another like yourself. I got the sense that it was very nomadic but very lonely and I only came back because I missed my sister. We were separated at that point in time,” he mutters, his face darkening for a moment.

 

“But now I’m back, and I’m about as interesting as that tree limb over there.” he laughed to lighten the mood.

spear

[Siba]

"I don't think Tephra would either, but it would be difficult for my mother to live there if my dad wouldn't talk to her. All I want is for her to find a safe place to rest; she's been out here a while and I have a feeling she misses being around those she could call her friends."

Spear proceeded to tell Siba a little about himself, but like her, he didn't offer much. It was a cool fact to hear that he had a twin sister, whereas on her mother's side, Siba was an only foal. She was pretty sure she had some half-siblings on her father's side, considering he had still been in love with a blue roan mare named Kimber on the night that Siba had been conceived. Of course, he had paid attention to Nitika to help her care for Siba when the now-grown mare was still a foal, but Nitika could tell he still loved another. And Siba started picking up on that when she was young herself.

Wait, did she hear that second point right? This stallion's father had helped found the Tephra kingdom? That could only mean...

His father was the powerful one known as Offspring. Siba had never met him, given he'd resided in the Tundra while the filly and her family lived in the Chamber. But she'd definitely heard a lot of stories about him. Spear also told the mare about the time he left for some time before returning due to homesickness and the urge to see his sister again.

Then, he made a joke which had Siba laughing. The mare chuckled and shook her head, her blue eye brightening in joy as she looked at the stallion, "Well, from what you told me, you're a lot more interesting than that branch," she joked.

The matter turned slightly more serious as she asked, "But, do you really think the Tephra would take us in? Disregarding the fact that my sire lives there and everything and it could be a little awkward of course."