"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
If we don't make it alive, well it's a hell of a good day to die
It doesn't seem like much, but his desire to see her home is like a gift. A genuine smile sneaks it's way across her lips and she drops her head to nuzzle his shoulder carefully. Trying to keep her strength under control so she doesn't hurt him. She hasn't had many friends in her life, even when she was a little girl she only saw Nairne. But like everyone else in her life, excluding her mother, Nairne had gone and she had been alone. Now she had a family, the small herd that called the Falls home, but no friends. Contagion had not run from her or quaked in fear. He had no tried to control her or push around. It was amazing. She didn't know how much of it was because of his condition and how much was just who he was, but the simple freedom of not having to give up something of herself for companionship was refreshing. He calmed her demons and she didn't want him to go.
The silver mare led them slowly through the trees making pleasant conversation but not forcing it if silence was more comfortable. Tyrna found herself sneaking sidelong glances to see if he was still there, to see if he was still real, as they wound their way slowly through the trees. She hadn't shown the Falls to anyone since Triske, and even then it had been more of a matter of life and death. Now she was showing off for someone who would be able to appreciate it, or not. It was exciting and terrifying all at once. What if he didn't like it?
The trip is shorter then she would have liked but as the sun sets over the treeline she is grateful they arrived when the did. The sunset paints the waterfall with orange and gold, turning the water to fire. The trees take on a mystical quality and it looks like they stepped into a fairy-tale. None of the others are around, but that is to be expected at this point, and she starts to feel nervous as the cross through the trees into the rocky area near the pool. "Here, follow me." She whispers in his ear, and leads him towards the path towards the top of the Falls. "Watch your step, the ground is a little more slippery and dangerous." her voice is brusque and she feels like it should be obvious but a collection of skinned knees as a child has taught her caution and he is much more fragile.
She crests the top of the incline and wanders toward the edge of the cliffside, waiting so he can step up beside her. With the wind tousling her wild mane and Contagion at her side, Tyrna has never felt more at home and on edge in her life. She wanted him to like it here, like her, as if his opinion mattered. The silver mare wasn't one to care about what others thought of her, but he was different and she didn't know how to handle herself in this weird new territory. Give her an enemy and she was fine, but a friend was a much different battle. Turning her head she looks him over. He glows in the sun, just like the waterfall, and she feels pride in bringing him here. "So" she whispers softly, caressing his shoulder gently once more, " what do you think?"
And so, he follows.
He follows because there is nothing tying him here, because his few loyalties lay with his sister and she is gone now. He follows because he does not want it to end, this moment, where he can watch her and the way the sky curls about her and he can forget for a moment that he is glass and nothing else.
He follows her because he likes the way she moves, like she could cause earthquakes, like a storm caged. It is the way he dreams of moving, but will not admit because he is weak enough without admitting his paltry desires.
They come at sunset, and though he has no loyalty bred in his veins to one place or another there is a beauty in the way the reds and oranges paint the land, the way the waterfall acts as an orchestra, the colors melting across the earth to the sounds of water rushing across the rocks.
He follows her and is careful, but there is a moment when he slips and his heart jumps because he can imagine shattering here, falling to literal pieces. But he catches himself and continues on and tries not to let on to how fast his heart is racing.
They reach the top, and the view is breathtaking and unlike anything he’s seen. He’s always stayed on low ground, the sweep of the meadow (and once, the tarry sands of the beach, to say goodbye). It’s a little dizzying, the way the other horses have shrunk below them. His face is damp and for one bewildering moment he wonders if he is weeping, until he realizes it’s only the spray of the water carried up by the wind.
She touches him and his heart races for other reasons, because he is not used to being touched, because she could dent him with a solid throw of the head. But she does not.
He returns his, brushing his muzzle across her withers, and she feels solid and so much different than sister, like nothing could ever break her.
If we don't make it alive, well it's a hell of a good day to die
She draws comfort from the feeling of him at her side. She doesn't know what to do, but here in the sunset it doesn't matter. She tries to meet his gaze, wondering why he followed her here. He was a butterfly, she was a hurricane, her slightest slip-up could rip him apart. Still he had followed her, through a forest and up a cliff to the top of the world. She searches his gaze for the answers to the questions she will never voice.
Tyrna knows they are walking on a dangerous path but the adrenaline is intoxicating, and she feels like getting drunk. "You know, Contagion from nowhere, you could have a home if you wanted to" she almost chokes on her words stumbling like a fool, in a rush to empty her voice before she drowns. "You could stay here." She almost adds 'with me' but bites her tongue before she gives away more of herself than she was ready to. "The Falls would be able to keep you safe from injury and it stays pretty mild here year round so you don't have to worry about the weather." She starts rambling, a million reasons to try and convince him running around her head. She stops herself once more and just stares out at the sea of trees before them.
Whether he stays or doesn't she would find him again. So she waits for his answer and watches the sun sink.
He has always, always been untethered.
The closest thing to a home was his twin, her skin as translucent and thin as his, a mirror image. With her there had been some measure of safety, of home, because they were each other’s constants.
But one day he’d woken up and she’d been gone with no explanation. His first thought was that she’d died, that some predator had carried her off in the night. But there was no sign of struggle, no blood on the ground (and ah, she would have bled so easy).
She’d simply left, undone the knots, loosed the anchor.
He didn’t like the feeling, with no one to protect him and nothing to protect (he would have been a sorry sort of protection but he liked the idea nonetheless, that he could have somehow kept his sister safe).
But now there is this woman, dappled and strong and strange, standing with him up high, higher than he’s ever been, and she’s asking him to stay.
He doesn’t know what the connotations are behind that, if she’s asking because she wants him here or if she’s asking because the kingdoms are always hungry for new blood (though he has little to offer them, for he would never be a warrior and his negotiation skills are lacking, he’s no silver-tongued savant).
“I could stay,” he says, as much to himself as to her, “for a while. See how it is.”
contagion
be careful making wishes in the dark
(sooo since this kind of tidies itself up maybe next post could be a time jump? idk)
