"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
She'd called ”Mom?,” but nothing had happened. Her next attempt, ”Reagan?,” had been clue for more events. Returning to Taiga had been the trigger for memories to resurface. Enfys hadn’t been the only one, and although the fate of her baby sister had been on her mind, the one who hadn’t stopped haunting her.
She knows, remembers, that she’d last seen her in the forest. It had also been there where she had found Enfys. No. Jinju shakes her dark head. She hadn’t found Enfys, her baby sister (who probably wasn’t her baby sister anymore) had been trusted in her care. Something tells her that she failed at that, but right now all Jinju can do is hope that Enfys was safe and happy, because her attention and focus is on someone else. Someone she remembers again, the someone that had stepped forward and looked after her when she had needed it the most.
”Mom?” Her voice is hesitant and soft, the sound unfamiliar coming from her lips and yet at the same time so very familiar. It causes a shiver to run down her back, but gives her courage too. ”MOM!” This time her voice is louder, but had it been loud enough?
Her search carries her through the forest, Taiga getting further and further behind her, and through the forest she nears the river. Jinju hears the rush of the water before she can see it, and call it either luck of fate, but once the black girl steps out from the treeline. Her breath stocks in her throat and when she speaks, her voice is barely more than a whisper. ”Mom?”
Flashes of the past fly by. For a moment Jinju doesn’t see the gray and emerald mare, but instead she sees a tall deer. It’s color swirling into all imaginary and all unknown ones. As she stands frozen the deer turns into a stag, antlers growing and disappearing soon after. And then, Reagan.
I want you to know that I'm all yours; you and me, we're the same force.
The river was a place for reflection for Reagan. So much has passed since her time here. Since her time in the forest. She remembers her children, both the ones she has birthed and the one ones she holds dear. The one that she chose - out all the rest, was her precious Jinju. The little black filly that had not known that she was a fire baby, just like the man who now holds her heart. She cannot help but look at Jinju in her mind's eye from time to time, looking in on her child, who now had a child of her own.
And though Reagan has moved on from Taiga, she has not forgotten herself. She has not forgotten her past loves.
And so, when Jinju calls out to her, She goes immediately. There is no need for pretense or drama. She She appears, having teleported away from Tephra. Her stomach is swollen slightly with the seed of another - Jinju's birth father, at that, (oh, the irony) - and she smiles at Jinju, approaching slowly, seeing the young mare coming into her own. Oh, the irony of phoenix immortality.
A sharp inhale of breath, other than that the young black mare stands frozen. Her ruby eyes are locked on the gray figure of a mare she once knew so well, but who now was a mess distorted memories. The greeting sends a shiver down her spine and although Jinju had searched Reagan out herself, she doesn’t know how to handle the situation now on hand. When she finally speaks, it is as if she’s out of breath. ”Mom.”
The next memory that resurfaces is, ironically, their first first meeting. A warm body offering comfort, kind words and a promise of safety and a place to stay, to belong. Jinju can feel the heat of the gray mare’s body, even though they are still apart. It’s a strange sensation, and once the feeling is gone, something is lacking right away.
Hesitant steps carry her closer towards the emerald magician. Nervously her ears flick around and once again Jinju feels like a child, unsure of herself and all the others in the world. So little and so lonely, confused with what is going on. Just like when Reagan had found her. Another few steps, and she finds herself in the mare’s space. So close, and at the same time so far away as she’s hesitant to make the contact.
She wants the comfort this mare had once offered her. For the last couple of years Reagan hadn’t been part of her life. She hadn’t been there at the time of her first memory, and now Jinju cannot help but to wonder why. What she does know, is that she wants to get to know the gray magician once again. No, not the magician, her mother. A soft snort takes some of the tension away and without more hesitance Jinju tentatively presses her muzzle against Reagan’s neck. ”Mom..” she breaths out softly, her lips curling up into a small smile. ”I used to call you aunt, didn’t I?”
