[private] Sins of judgement born in frost; Star Pony

[Briella]

you said you'd wait forever, but I blinked and the world was gone

 Time is a quantified measurement of the sun rising and falling… of the progression of life; but the cruelty is simply that time only exists to those who care for it and those who seek to thwart it. Inescapable and violent, but in it’s own subtle way, and an enemy that none have conquered: not even the immortal.

Briella, however, finds that she has escaped it once more- run free of the clutches and of the claws… side-stepped the perilous teeth all to run where time cannot go. In between the shadows of stars, and in the angles where darkness congregates the heaviest… she dances and drifts, the void’s ever reaching fingers coalescing around her and grasping as she sprang between the planes of reality.

It’s a layered thing, the Abyss, a reflection of the world painted black and dressed in starlight… and it breathes just as the material plane breathes: thus is why she is born again from the Abyss, a breath. With echoing whispers and a curtain of black pulled aside, Briella steps forward and free- walks suddenly amidst the wild grasses and moonlight.

Dark blue, almost black, and painted by a frosted varnish of pale blue and silver, she moves in a way that displays the stone hooves and gemstone eyes gleaning between icy strands of her tangled, curly mane that draped along the iberian neck and baroque face. Like some frosted winter sapphire plucked from a rock, she gleamed and shone in the light and her steps become all too heavy as she moved suddenly and sloppily.

To her credit, she paced quickly and learned faster as grace joined her every step and she felt the muscles returning to their strength. Tall and well built she peered about, recalling names and faces… a thousand memories, and with her lips parted it was not to partake of the sweeter grasses or babbling waters nearby but to sigh and breathe as the night air swirled around her.

Flicking an ear she looked around, studied and stood as she took it in: as she felt time bent away from her and agelessness settling in her forgotten bones. 

BRIELLA

@[Star] I'M SORRY IT'S BAD.

[lilliana]

"And Valerio blew a gale so strong that Cazador had no choice," her cousin embellishes. "He flared his great wings and he started to soar." Elaina waits, a smirk already playing on her golden features. "He took to the skies. He flew and flew. But his wings were no match for Valerio's wind." The twins, though they pretend to be old to believe in such fantastical tales, watch their aunt with rapt attention. Kildare widens his green eyes and takes a step closer, urging Elaina on. "And?" he asks, prompting her to continue the story.

Elaina blows a stream of air from her nostrils, mimicking the great ability that the Legacy clan was known for. There is an expectant silence and all three colts are silenced - a rarity with this crowd. Low comes the intoning voice of her beloved cousin, "Valerio summoned so fierce a gale that it is said Cazador was never seen again. That he was blown clear into the clouds where he waits for the wind to settle and to seek his revenge." Her amber gaze flicks heavenward, studying the few cumulus clouds in the blue sky above them. All three boys look up, searching for the bloodthirsty beast.

"You'll give them nightmares," comes the teasing reply of Lilliana. But there is admiration in the tone and affection in her blue eyes as she walks towards her nephews and the one she considers a sister. How like Elaina to take something awful, the horrors of war and weave it into a story where the youngest among them might marvel at it. Valerio had come back tired - haggard. An echo of the man from the stories of her own foalhood until he left them again. And here was Elaina lighting a torch, igniting a flame in the future Legacies as they ventured forward.

Foolhardy, most likely. But you won't find it in Lilliana to find fault with hope. Better that Valerio's grandsons believe his absence is due to fighting the evils of the world, that he remains in an immortal realm where he keeps the darkness from spreading to them all than the reality of what really happened. Better the illusion than the emptiness of waking from a dream.

Lilli had rolled her eyes, had teased Elaina when the boys had gone. But despite the uncertainty that the presence of her palomino cousin brought, despite the fact that they had wanted Lilliana to play the role of jailer, the two of them had fallen into a stride together that came as easy as galloping across the highlands. Lilliana had told Malachi that no, she wouldn't insist that Elaina stay in Culloden. And the chestnut mare had decided that if it was asked of her, she would help her escape. They could both leave.

If they could go together, then what else could they possibly need?

She is quiet in her memories, introverted in her thoughts as she wanders. Lilliana goes through a million memories that have made up a lifetime, analyzing each one, agonizing over the words and imprinting each memory more intensely on her heart. Perhaps it is the winter season - she hates the frigid bite and its emptiness - perhaps its Frostbane's promise, a debt that he promised would be collected and the longer she goes without a sign, without some kind of assurance that Elaina is safe, the more her mind goes to worry.

And there are so many other things she worries about, the troubles of her mind take her so many places than this physical forest she roams. 

Worry forms a line of her crimson brow and it paints the expression on her face (though she does her best to hide it). Like the icy breathe of winter as it wraps around the empty branches, so do these thoughts wrap around a heavy heart. 

And so Lilliana does the best she can - she wraps herself in memories of Elaina, of Orani and Jacob, of Malachi and Kalina and their children, of Brielle and Jay and Aislynn. She remembers that she once belonged to something sacred and she uses that ground her, to keep her from completely drifting away. 

Even if her family is no longer with her, she carries them with her. She remembers and it propels each step forward in the moonlit woods. It would seem she is not alone. At first, it stills her. The pace of her heart picks up and her blue eyes search in a moment of madness in the silver shadows, hoping for a familiar face in this midnight hour. Lilli catches her breath and asks a question to the emptiness around her, something that she refuses to let swallow her: "Hello?"

@[Briella]

[Briella]

you said you'd wait forever, but I blinked and the world was gone

 The shadows of winter are a maddened thing, stretching and shrinking… ebbing like the tide due to unstable light: gray skies that are blanketed and starless and dusty winds that blur the vision as snow falls and litters the ground. Crunching hooves and grasses bent beneath, this was where her vision blurred and she saw movement but not the reason for it. The brilliant hemimorphite eyes shined and their translucent coloration was refracted as facets of light gleamed and glimmered; but this was no different than the frigid ice that had thinned and turned itself to strands of hair… curly and moving as if a natural mane and tail.

To an end though, she turned when the shadow spoke and… found that it was not a shadow: not Ether as she knew him, nor the other creature that had lingered near and around him. This was a woman. Briella found herself with widened eyes and her jaws slack as she swallowed and found the icy wind in her throat: a breath harder to take than ever before. Lilliana speaks and Briella stammers, unable to truly catch herself from blurting out:  “Oh, oh-- you’re not a shadow.”  she pauses, her ears flicking and the jewel-toned coat shifts as she wanders closer to the other mare.

Closer though, she does stop: peering at Lilliana and speaking gently through the odd night.  “Pardon, I am Briella… I- know this is terribly person but I’ve been trying to find answers to give to fairies in the Mountain. They sent me out to understand a greater depth of the world and of family and friends. Perhaps I could bother you for a moment to speak on this matter?”  she perked up, girlish and timid, hopeful though. 

BRIELLA

@[lilliana] I am so sorry my brain zero'd hard. :C

[lilliana]

Briella likens her to a shadow.
Perhaps it is fitting with the amount of time she has spent with them lately.

At first, it startles her.

Lilliana looks at Briella and even against the way the night pushes against them in shades of midnight, she can see the allure of the other mare. Those shadows that Lilli has wrapped herself in do nothing to take away her stunning beauty - if anything, it only enhances it. There is not one place that her gaze can rest because of the gem-stone mare. Lilliana takes her in with quiet fascination as her blue eyes dance before they come to rest on the widened eyes and the expression of... has she startled her? Concern paints itself across her crimson face and immediately, Lilliana regrets calling out.

At this time of night, she should have known better.

"I didn't mean to frighten you," Lilli says to the dark and the brilliant mare. And then a small smile, something she hopes will calm Briella as the mare comes closer. The chestnut stills and pricks her ears forward, hoping to encourage some confidence in her. "No I'm not," she says warmly as the small smile sparks into something playful. "And neither are you. I'm Lilliana."

There is a name to go with her fellow shadow and Lilli nods, thinking it is a rather pretty one. One that suits her midnight companion. A name so similar to her elder sister's that Lilliana can feel the ache wrap around her beating heart. She tilts her head slightly to the side and wonders if somebody calls this girl Bri too. For a moment, her heart remembers and feels heavy with it - the way that love and anguish can coincide within a heartbeat.

And so Lilliana listens as Briella tells her that the Fey demand answers - had she gone seeking or do they impose, she wonders? - and there is a reflection of momentary apprehension as she mentions the Mountain. A greater depth on the meaning of friends and family, she asks. "You're not bothering me at all," Lilli says quietly and it's the truth. There are very few horses and even fewer things that bother her  - perhaps they should. What else is she going to invite at this dark hour?

She is fortunate that for all the dangers - the things that lurk in her mind - it is the mare she has found.

The smile on her face feels weary, weighted down by Briella's question. There is depth there, so much of it - bonds that have been created through sacrifice and love and loss and laughter. It is all there and it wavers in that smile that Lilliana so bravely wears.

"What would you like to know?"

Lilliana

remember how the stars stole the night away