She is trying - and struggling - to keep a countenance that shows this news that Leilan shares doesn't topple her world. She is trying to hide that there is a veritable mountain that has crumbled in her chest and it has turned into a rockslide. It buries her heart beneath a cavern of emotions - loss, anguish, loneliness. That too bright heart of hers dims against the weight of the knowledge he has given her. It buries itself beneath the rubble of a life that once was and Lilliana takes, bears, this knowledge in silence.
For an agonizing moment, she thinks it might be easier to let it remain among the devastation that settles. It might be easier to just let everything break.
It is the memory of the way venom could curve in a small. It is the realization that something, someone, so beautiful could wear a face of holiness and intend to bring chaos and destruction down on them for the delight of moments like this one. The evils and antagonists of her bloodline are not here; but they would have loved this moment, this she knows. They would have loved the way her blue eyes hovered at the edge of heartbreak, the suffering, that promises to be only a heartbeat away, that would come if only she would let it.
Lilliana draws herself in. There is nothing to wrap her mortal skin in - there are no scales or wings or armor to protect herself with. It is only a chestnut coat with flecked with gold, a reminder of where she came from, of what she once belonged too. It would be so easy to remain underneath the burden of that loss. It would be so easy to let that break and define her like so many other things have.
But Elaina, as she has always been to Lilliana, serves as a catalyst.
In a moment of darkness, she serves as a beacon and when the chestnut mare finally sees Leilan again, when the world comes together again, there is a gleam that wasn't there before.
Don't be this.
He shakes his head at her thank you and the younger mare studies him. Her head tilts slightly to one side and Lilliana wonders if there was a reason that Leilan smelled of so many different places. Wanderlust has never been a language she has known - she finds herself bound to the Taiga for several reasons and so she wonders against the heaviness of her mind if there is a reason that he is taking himself to the North. There is a firm set of determination that dances across her crimson features as she stares up to the stallion, "Truly, thank you. I would have kept looking for her if..," if she hadn't known. She would have never stopped.
For that and the knowledge that Elaina is safe, the determined line of her brow shifts and Lilli's face softens in gratitude for this knowledge.
The smile that does touch the edges of her dark mouth might be a modest one in comparison to what it normally is but the meaning remains: thankful. He gives her a toothy smile in reply and makes a comment about the trees that Lilliana assumes isn't about those ancient Redwoods at all. There might be a joke she could banter in reply but the memory of teasing about plagues and wars echoes against her crimson-tipped ears. Lilli isn't usually one for prophecies or revelations but a place that has survived Carnage, fires and floods doesn't seem to be the setting to test fates - especially given the current perilous position that Taiga finds itself in between Nerine and Loess.
There is an angle to her head as she tilts it a little more, the expression on her face becoming intent as if she is trying to determine something about this stranger on the northern border. There are certainly questions she could ask - and that he could ask her - but perhaps Lilliana recognizes something of herself in him, an understanding of the humor that they both seem to use and the way they do. "How's your vision?" she inquires with a playful tone, "Blink too long and these trees will get away from you."
@[Leilan]
For an agonizing moment, she thinks it might be easier to let it remain among the devastation that settles. It might be easier to just let everything break.
It is the memory of the way venom could curve in a small. It is the realization that something, someone, so beautiful could wear a face of holiness and intend to bring chaos and destruction down on them for the delight of moments like this one. The evils and antagonists of her bloodline are not here; but they would have loved this moment, this she knows. They would have loved the way her blue eyes hovered at the edge of heartbreak, the suffering, that promises to be only a heartbeat away, that would come if only she would let it.
Lilliana draws herself in. There is nothing to wrap her mortal skin in - there are no scales or wings or armor to protect herself with. It is only a chestnut coat with flecked with gold, a reminder of where she came from, of what she once belonged too. It would be so easy to remain underneath the burden of that loss. It would be so easy to let that break and define her like so many other things have.
But Elaina, as she has always been to Lilliana, serves as a catalyst.
In a moment of darkness, she serves as a beacon and when the chestnut mare finally sees Leilan again, when the world comes together again, there is a gleam that wasn't there before.
Don't be this.
He shakes his head at her thank you and the younger mare studies him. Her head tilts slightly to one side and Lilliana wonders if there was a reason that Leilan smelled of so many different places. Wanderlust has never been a language she has known - she finds herself bound to the Taiga for several reasons and so she wonders against the heaviness of her mind if there is a reason that he is taking himself to the North. There is a firm set of determination that dances across her crimson features as she stares up to the stallion, "Truly, thank you. I would have kept looking for her if..," if she hadn't known. She would have never stopped.
For that and the knowledge that Elaina is safe, the determined line of her brow shifts and Lilli's face softens in gratitude for this knowledge.
The smile that does touch the edges of her dark mouth might be a modest one in comparison to what it normally is but the meaning remains: thankful. He gives her a toothy smile in reply and makes a comment about the trees that Lilliana assumes isn't about those ancient Redwoods at all. There might be a joke she could banter in reply but the memory of teasing about plagues and wars echoes against her crimson-tipped ears. Lilli isn't usually one for prophecies or revelations but a place that has survived Carnage, fires and floods doesn't seem to be the setting to test fates - especially given the current perilous position that Taiga finds itself in between Nerine and Loess.
There is an angle to her head as she tilts it a little more, the expression on her face becoming intent as if she is trying to determine something about this stranger on the northern border. There are certainly questions she could ask - and that he could ask her - but perhaps Lilliana recognizes something of herself in him, an understanding of the humor that they both seem to use and the way they do. "How's your vision?" she inquires with a playful tone, "Blink too long and these trees will get away from you."
@[Leilan]
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind