"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
The smokey chocolate of her coat barely hid the faint thinning in her sides. Pangea was a wasteland, and lacked adequate sources of nourishment. Most especially for her, as she tended to avoid the other residents as much as she could manage. She'd come here with Tioga, a woman far stronger than Rhae would ever be. Nobody dared to mess with Tioga. But she'd lost track of her champion sister, and was too uncomfortable to consider braving the unknown. She didn't want to try finding a new home, chance facing rejection.
This was home now.
She ghosted the borders mostly; the ones where others were least likely to find anything of interest to them. Which of course meant there was no grazing to attract them, no water to refresh them. Or her. Today she scuttled her way towards the northern border, where Pangea backed into another territory. They had grasses there. And a small river. She didn't like the idea that someone else might be near in search of their own food, but Rhae couldn't continue to go hungry and so she took her chances. This time.
She edged closer to the river bank, her head down and wide blue eyes constantly scanning around her and behind her. Pale hair hung over her face as though it could shield her from the world, but it never worked. It seemed no one was around. For now. She wasn't sure how long her freedom would last, and when or if Bruise would ever come for her. The waiting, the uncertainty..the unknown was the most terrifying part. If he showed, at least she would know where he was. As it was, she never knew his comings and goings, and if he'd ever choose to seek her out again. She had tried to stay hidden, but he had his ways.
Nervous panting pulsed her ribs, huffing anxiously at the bare ground. The water was so close, and at it's lip was a small patch of grass. It was a pathetic thing, damp and muddy and probably trampled; but it was nourishment. She only had to go to it. She surveyed the area again, a doe searching for the hunters. Hunger clawed at her belly, pushing her to make her move in haste. With an unbalanced trot -thanks to her defective spine- she reached that border between the two lands.
She clipped hurriedly at the blades, eager to get what she could and be away before anyone happened upon her. She'd meant to keep watch, but her hungry eyes repeatedly found their way to the opposite river bank. The bright, healthy grasses there.
Ajatar should have been guarded closely.
A loving mother would have kept the girl sheltered, kept her close. Watched her. She had potential as a weapon and was a danger to others and herself. Truly, honestly, someone should be watching her at all times. But her mother was Harmonia, and her mother was always missing, and her mother was an absent creature.
And Ajatar was strong enough to wander on her own.
So she climbs the riverbanks and explores the edges of the kingdom, bored at its lack of life. She'd never met another foal, never seen another child. All she knew were the great beasts her mother associated with - Pollock, Deimos, Rodrik. Nothing but lumbering giants with horns and wings and sardonic grins. Harmonia looked mild in comparison but was a tragically fatal mother to have. It just proved how looks can deceive.
Ajatar didn't appear entirely innocent. Smokey black gray was fine enough, but the scales that covered her legs and hind end like a fine sheet of metal were out of place. A few were broken off with a healed boil underneath, a side effect of her condition. She didn't let it bother her as she splashed through the bank, happy for a change of scenery.
Even happier, still, when she came upon the silent ghost of a mare. She lets out a whinny, a loud noise for such a small foal - not yet a yearling. Her tail switches and she smiled. "Hello there!"
A piercing little whinny startled her and she darted to the side in a panicked shuffle of hooves. "Hello there!" When her eyes landed on the threat she was taken aback that it was just a child. Immediately, she looked around for an adult; children were not often far from their mothers. But she didn't see any so she looked back to the dark little filly cautiously.
Painful memories came unbidden at the bright smile on her face. So much like Louisiane. Open and innocent, and so full of expression. Strangely, she wanted to huddle in close to her, pretend just for a moment that she wasn't a stranger, and they weren't in a dangerous place. Pretend the last year or so had never happened. They would be in the Meadow instead, with Chalmette hovering protectively not far away.
She blinked away the moisture in her eyes as, belatedly, she noticed the scales melded on the girl's legs, glinting like metal when they caught the sunlight. Not her Louisiane at all. Even more distracting were the occasional boils in place of a broken scale here and there.
Oh, she said dumbly. She looked sort of injured, Rhae supposed, but she also didn't seem to notice them. Maybe they were already healed or didn't pain her. Are you hurt? she asked anyway. I'm Rhae, by the way. And she painted her face with a feeble little smile.
Rhae realized that she probably shouldn't invite conversation. How long would it be before someone came for the child? Would it be one of the dark and dangerous, or would she get lucky and have a nice time with a sweet little girl? To have the chance to pretend she was elsewhere.. that would be a nice recess from her life, she thought.
Truthfully, she shouldn't still have childish wonder. Her mother was a foul, loathsome creature that abused her. It built character, she though, as most of her children were useless louts and she wanted them to do more. Grow. Be something. She thought abusing Ajatar would let out the feral beast that slunk just below the surface and threatened to break through and reign in Beqanna once and for all. This proved untrue, the girl was still wide eyed with wonder.
She is nothing but friendly to the mare - Rhae - because it doesn't occur to her that anyone would be rude to her. Frightened, perhaps - her grandfather was terrified of her. Her mother pretended not to be, but Ajatar wasn't hopeful. This mare seemed to be shy, perhaps, but she had no reason to be afraid of the scaled girl. She hadn't seen what she could do.
"I am Ajatar," she greets in her childish voice, crossing the brook to be on the same shore at the mare. She looks down at her legs then, the scales displaced by the healed boil. She didn't have magic, or immortality, but her boils were self inflicted and didn't seem to hurt as much as others. Her mothers healed much, much slower. Ajatar was not immune, but it wasn't nearly as foul.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. It happens when I get mad." She doesn't elaborate. Childish wonder or no, she's associated her ability to bring about...well, something...with fear. She didn't want her new friend to fear her. "Do you live here?" she asks brightly.
01-01-2017, 11:42 PM (This post was last modified: 01-01-2017, 11:43 PM by Rhae.)
Rhae
Ajatar.
Exotic, like the scaled girl.
A tentative smile grew on her dark face, and her blue eyes shined a little brighter. It was nice to be in the company of a child again. It had been so long. She found herself slipping away from where they were, a land of cruel characters, and instead she was simply alone with a vibrant little girl. Comfortable. Safe. There was almost a freedom in that plain way of thinking.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. It happens when I get mad. Do you live here?"
A small frown tightened her brows a little, and by the end of her speaking Rhae's face carefully blanked, her eyes glancing away. Here. Pangea. At first it was only a place to live, where her sort-of-sister Tioga had taken her. She'd been so safe with the large mare. Her nervousness had still been there, but for a time it had lapsed just the slightest bit. She had, for the most part, passed entirely unharmed and unnoticed. Until the meeting. Until Carnage stepped down. Until Tioga could not be found, and she stood in full view of all the menacing residents.
Yes, she replied quietly. Yes, she did live here. Why didn't she ever try to leave? It was something she tried not to think about. There was nowhere she could go that he couldn't follow. If he wished. But surprisingly, even more than that, this was her home. She didn't want to be out there, drowning in the unknowns of the world. Here was solid. Here was... here.
She wanted to change the subject, she didn't like thinking about her current situations, but she wasn't all that adept at conversation. Smoothly directing the topic to something more desirable was not something she thought she'd ever master. She looked back at Ajatar again, tried to peer a little closer at her affliction.
You can't touch anyone, then? Definitely not smooth. There was a better way to ask it, and she grimaced at her own fumbling ways. Drawing attention to such a thing had to be disconcerting to the girl, not being able to hold her own mother. If that were the case, anyway. Rhae couldn't deny the ache to hold her just for a moment, a touch that for once wouldn't come with the dark, underlying malicious intents that another had toward Rhae. But she wouldn't think about it.
For now, she was free.
