"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
I know that it is nothing but common ground for the other equines of Beqanna to walk on, but it still scares me. How open it is, how everyone seems to be moving so fast through it - they have places to be and lives to live, but they still are able to stop and stare at me as if I am a miraculous creation of the gods...as if I am a freak.
I cannot say I disagree with them - the scars muddling my once handsome features make me seem unapproachable and foul...sometimes I feel that way, too. Especially when children whisper to their parents "what happened to him, mommy? Is something wrong with him, daddy?" or when I hear the snickers of yearlings to young to understand how much of a turn life can take.
But today I find myself walking through the field to reach the dense thickets of trees I have grown to love...it is easy to cast myself out of society's hateful glances in the forest. It makes life slightly more bearable.
I wish I didn't have to hide...I wish I could be seen as normal for once (but is anyone truly normal?). Many days I find myself desperately longing for interactions with the others around me, for a purpose or a plan of some kind to bring me from this horrific life I have been living. I desire for the soft caress of another, for someone to love me for my heart and not for my outer appearances.
But sometimes we do not always get what we ask for...sometimes life has other plans...
Scissorhands
ooc: I know, I know it is a sucky start. I hate starter posts xD Decided to go first person for him. Show my sweet boy some love, he's up for anything!
10-28-2017, 12:41 PM (This post was last modified: 10-28-2017, 02:00 PM by Solace.)
Solace
The young mare had left Tephra for the first time in her life that morning, spurred on by nothing other than the deepest of love for her brother. Her mother had left them and she hadn't taken that to heart, Tangerine was a drifter and she had accepted it from an early age, but she could not bare the loss of her twin. So, with a quiet goodbye to Smoak and her father, she had left at dawn.
Before her The Field stretches for miles, open and vast, dotted with horses the all the colors of wildflowers. She picks up an easy lope, nodding in greeting when she catches someone's eye, but she doesn't have time to stop and chat. The gold and cream mare is headed to Hyaline, the place she had herd countless stories about but never seen. It was a daunting task for her, to leave the only world she had ever known and set out to a place she only suspected her brother would be at. But now that she is flowing across the open grassland with a crisp autumn breeze she finds that her fear of leaving her tropical home had been misplaced - so far.
On the horizon, there is a dark smudge separating the golden grasses from the brilliantly blue sky and it can only be The Forests she had heard of. She had been warned to speak quietly and move quickly through this dark wood. Solace decides to pause to graze and ready before navigating through the dark woodland and ahead she spots a dark figure headed in the same direction. She slows to a trot - just quick enough to overtake him, but not so quick as to startle him - and gives a low and friendly nicker.
She notices the angry scars across his face, but she is not shocked or disgusted by them - many in her homeland were covered in scars - and as she looks to find his gaze her blue eyes are only colored with friendly curiosity.
"Hello," she speaks softly and smiles easily, "looks like we are going in the same direction."
Maybe the fabled Forest would be less gloomy with a companion.
I am only able to realize I am caught in my own mind, when I hear the soft whisper of someone behind me. Involuntarily, I jump, and turn around to see who has approached me.
She is young, and smells strongly of flames and sulfur - a Tephran, I presume. I tilt my head quizzically to stare at her. She is the color of the sun with a splash of white, her eyes as blue as the ocean. Her mane a strange array of white and black, with the same shades of blue streaking it. She does not seem at all alarmed at the deep, twisted scarring of my face, and for a moment (just a moment...) I forget that they are even there.
"...looks like we're headed in the same direction." I look off into the forest, then back to the visitor. I nod my head softly.
"...that it does..." My voice is a deep, booming baritone. So much so that I almost surprise myself...had it really been that long since I'd heard my own voice? It seems so foreign as it reverberates back into my satellites, and part of me wonders if it even is me speaking.
I realize I have not spoken my name (but has she spoken hers?). I feel flustered for a moment, my heart racing anxiously, then take in a long breath like my father had once taught me. "I'm Scissorhands."
Scissorhands
ooc: Lmao I totally understand. No worries xD @[Solace]
They way he startles so easily from her gentle approach, the anxiety she can see twisting inside of him through his mannerisms, he reminds her of a bird. But she had always held a fondness for birds and delicate things. And despite his robust baritone and her inexperience in the world, she understands that he is in someway - delicate.
"Scissorhands"
She repeats thoughtfully before offering her own name. "I'm Solace, and I'm heading to Hyaline. Have you ever heard of it?"
It occurs to her that this stallion could be a wanderer like her mother was, and like her brother aspired to be - maybe he had meet Svedka in passing and had a clue to where he could be now. The grey doesn't carry the scent of one distinct kingdom like many of the diplomats she had been introduced to, yet she hesitates to pressure him with too many questions. Instead, she reaches down with her muzzle to pull a clump of grass from the earth, allowing him time to answer and sating her hunger at the same time.
10-28-2017, 06:27 PM (This post was last modified: 10-29-2017, 09:22 AM by Fernweh.)
Fernweh
The four year old bay mare made her way through the field. She was here just to look for some herbs and maybe some company. She wasn't sure if there was anyone here in the field. She however didn't mind it as she was always wandering from place to place. She was free and actually quiet liked it though if someone offered her a home she would take it. She spotted two others in the distance and made her way to the. She called out to them before asking if they mind that she joined them. Once she was a few feet away from them she said "Hello. My name is Fernweh but please call me Fern."
in a gentle way you can shake the world
OOC: Hope you don't mind Fern joining the conversation.
I find my breath (barely), and listen to the mare state her name.
Solace. I think to myself, smiling. The name is soft and warm, it feels good in my mind, and I suddenly find it slipping from my lips. She asks calmly if I have ever heard of Hyaline, and I nod my head. I have passed through the mountains on my journeys several times, but never quite stayed long enough to interact with anyone (I never do).
I open my mouth to say something, but am interrupted by yet another mare. Well, god was this day becoming more and more peculiar. I am hardly ever approached by once horse, let alone two. The purple pointed mare introduces herself as Fernweh but insists she be called Fern. I acknowledge her with a gentle nod.
"I'm Scissorhands," I greet with a tender grin. I then turn my head back to Solace, answering her question. "Yes, I have been to Hyaline. It's...beautiful."
11-01-2017, 02:40 PM (This post was last modified: 11-01-2017, 02:41 PM by Solace.)
Solace
Solace had always loved her name, she often thought it was the largest favor her mother had ever done her. So as the stranger softly tastes those two syllables with careful reflection, she feels the glow of satisfacetion in her breast. She finds herself leaning a little closer as his mouth opens to speak again.
He is suddenly distracted, causing the young mare glances over her pale shoulder to see a friendly bay approaching with a greeting. She turns her petite frame to amiably include both of her new acquaintances.
"Hello Fern, that's a pretty name. I'm Solace."
She hadn't come to the field to recruit, she could hardly be considered a resident of Hyaline, but she was glad to have the prospect of a companion for her journey through the forest. She had never traveled to Hyaline alone, but it was an entire mountain range... she figured it would be hard to miss.
"That's what I've heard, Scissorhands - but I have never been there. Maybe we could go along together for as long as you are headed this way." Her bright blue eyes then turn back to Fern. "And how about you, Fern? Is there someplace you are going?"
The four year old bay mare smiled at the mare and stallion before her. She noticed that the stallion had scars all over him. She said "It's a pleasure meeting you Scissorhands and Solace. You have a pretty name Solace. I actually don't have a home. I am more of a wanderer." She took in the mares appearance. Fernweh had been a part of one herd until the reckoning had happened.
Her soft invitation strikes me, and I immediately swallow the lump forming in my throat. Although, it wasn't a recruitment (afterall, she was going there for the first time herself), I still felt uncertain. I've never had a home - my father and I kept to ourselves after my mother died; he kept me in the shadows of the forest, trying desperately to protect me from the world outside. He wanted to save me from heartbreak, from the dangers of the world.
There's only so much one can protect you from.
I think back to the scars on my face, the scars that had permanently disfigured me, and I exhale briefly. My eyes cast downward, as I ponder this. It couldn't hurt to travel to Hyaline, see the mountains once more. I would be accompanied by at least one, if not two, other horses, and much of the journey was through forests anyways.
I meet Solace's gaze once again, her azure orbs enchanting. Her personality seems as warm as her name, and I tell myself there is nothing to be afraid of - she just wants to be my friend.
I beam. "I would be happy to accompany you." I murmur. I turn my head to Fernweh. "Would you like to come along, Fern?"
11-03-2017, 03:27 PM (This post was last modified: 11-03-2017, 03:27 PM by Solace.)
Solace
Her suggestion renders a change in him, and at first Solace fears she has frightened him off. But he doesn't turn to go or immediately mutter some refusal - he stands and thinks over her words. Maybe it is her lack of experience, but his indecision causes her to like (or trust?) him more than she would have a charming stallion who smirked and said all the right things.
When the grey's dark hazel gaze finally lifts to meet hers she smiles, allowing herself to read into his beaming features more than his cautious words. "I'm glad." She says simply to Scissorhands with a smile which says more than her words.
When her fresh pale face turns back to Fern her spirits are much higher than when she entered The Field. "Yes! Come along with us, and we shall be three traveling companions and nothing more - to make the journey a litter more interesting for each. Then when we reach Hyaline you can make up your minds where your wandering hearts will adventure to next." The lightheartedness she speaks with could easily conceal the many hours of sleeplessness adventurers and their wandering hearts had given her. Too many nights this last summer and autumn she had spent alone - without her mother or twin to warm her. She knew a wanderers restlessness all too well, even if she had never felt the urges herself.
