[open] the voices of the dead

[Iris]

stars, hide your fire;
let not light see my black and deep desires

Life. It is a beautiful and strange thing, particularly for a new child who can speak to the dead. Given her mother’s magic, Straia had simply known what the voices were. There wasn’t a period where her mother thought little Iris might be crazy. No, instead, without fuss, Straia had told the little black filly that she could hear the voices of those who had died. It is a wonderful gift, dear Iris. You have eyes and ears everywhere, her mother had said, the importance of which was still somewhat lost on the tiny child. Though she did grasp at the edges of it, that taste of something useful lingering on her tongue.

Mostly though, the voices were her friends. Not that she was without friends, for she has Rosebay, though Rosebay does not speak to the dead. Still, Iris can share their whispers, and together they can play within the tales spun by the dead. Or use their secrets to their advantage.

It is a beautiful, crisp day when Iris wakes, ready to explore more than just life with Rosebay and their mother. Though she wouldn’t mind if Rosebay wanted to explore with her, for they were always better together than apart. So she finds her sister and invites her along, but regardless of Rosebay’s choice, Iris makes her way to the place known as the playground. She could seek the common lands, but other children seem like a good target to practice on before she seeks the company of adults.

The day is warming slightly when she arrives at the playground, and it is quiet still, but Iris is always content to wait in the quiet. After all, it is never quiet for her, particularly since she hasn’t quite figured out how to shut the voices off yet. She can focus on one or another, can dim them, but they are always there, wiggling in the back of her mind. As she waits, nibbling on grass, she listens to what they have to tell her this morning, to their legends and their stories.

iris

@[laura] if you want to and @[Ciel] character

[Ereshkigal]

幻想

Ereshkigal

For most, the coming of dawn was like the promise of adventure, a day to do new things and meet new faces. For Ereshkigal though, dawn was akin to a trumpet of death, a light that shone only on the plain and uneventful world. It did not bring her joy, nor did it give her any hopes of new encounters. Dawn meant she had to wake up, she had to leave her dreams behind and suffer through reality, it meant she had to deal with other living beings who talked too much and had too much free thought; whereas she would rather stay in her dreams where everything went according to her own plans, and no one spoke to her unless she so desired.

Try as she may, Ereshkigal could not fall back asleep, even with the warmth of her mother's side, the sun still rose to spite her and she could no longer cover herself from its annoying presence. Steadily and swiftly, she collected herself and stood, she had already learned much grace from her mother, and was expected to carry herself elegantly, lest she sully the appearance of her mother and herself in one uncalculated step. Quietly and calmly, she made her way down to the playground, hoping for something exciting - though her expectations were low to say the least. The morning dew still clung to her small, delicate wings, creating the illusion that perhaps they were more whimsical than they actually were in their current state, having just been born a day or so prior to the quiet morning.

As she pushed her way through a few small bushes, she paused to observe the space before her; and, as she had expected, it was rather dull. In her dreams, the skies were made of wonderful purples and the ground itself of clouds and stars, or sometimes the sky was lit with fire as she stood atop a mountain of those who were weak in will. Here though, here in reality, things were so plain. The grass was just grass, the sky was the pale hue of morning, and the only thing that glimmered were the dew drops on the foliage and the scattered ponds in the distance. The others who played here also seemed plain, glancing only for a moment at a darker figure in the distance. The small filly let out a disappointed sigh, closing her eyes to relieve herself of the sight of the uncreative world around her which lacked the magic she so desired.

You're like therapy with no solution 催眠 You're a remedy that's useless チョウ

@[Iris]

[Iris]

stars, hide your fire;
let not light see my black and deep desires

Iris would hardly call the world plain, but then again, perhaps to others it was. She does not only hear their voices (though that is the vast majority of her trait, at least right now). No, she can see the world of the dead too, at least in glimmers. Perhaps with more time and training, she would learn to see it more fully. Or perhaps she would only ever be granted glimmers of their world. Either way, she did not mind, for she knew how much more their was than most anyone else understood.

The whispers swell slightly at the presence of another. Filly, one chirps like a watchful bird. Pretty draws another, perhaps something like envy in her voice. A greedy sound though, like the owner of that voice might rip those butterfly wings right from her back if given the chance. Haughty says another, sounding rather haughty herself, and this Iris somewhat ignores because in the end, the voices only gave opinions and not always facts. Perhaps the filly was haughty, but Iris does not particularly care.

”Practice, says Iris to the voices, certain the other filly is too far away to hear. She continues to nibble on the grass, doing an excellent job of looking busy, when really her focus is on the filly. It would be easier if the other were eating, but still, she can create poisons as well. It takes a bit more effort, but it is a thing she wants to develop slowly anyway. Just a twinge at first, the beginnings of a belly ache. The twinge grows as she works, still nibbling on the grass, moving slowly and making sure she looked thoroughly occupied on the grass. It is hard to be certain when to stop, exactly, but she does her best to end it at a rather unpleasant stomach ache. Not enough to do any true damage, but just enough to see what she could accomplish. 

iris

@[Ereshkigal]

[Ereshkigal]

幻想

Ereshkigal

Her mother had told her before that she could not always stay in her dreams, that eventually she would need to learn to take control of reality. The butterfly kissed filly found herself having trouble being interested at all, though. What point was there to dwelling in reality, when dreams felt so much nicer? Not only that, but in her dreams, her mother was not there. In her dreams, Chou could not scold her for laughter, or nag at her about paying attention. In her dreams, she could run away.

And so, in her mind, she ran. Eyes still shut, she let her mind wander off, daydreaming of a world made of endless skies, flying with wings larger than she had in reality. She dreamt of swirling through the clouds, their soft pillows dragging behind her as she whisked away through the wind. Here, it felt safe, it felt free. Here, she knew that no one could reach her.

It was all just a daydream, though, and in reality, she was still very vulnerable. A small ache began to grow within her stomach, and slowly the physical discomfort brought her mind back down to reality with her body, snapping her out of her little fantasy. Ereshkigal groaned as the pain grew a bit, shifting on her legs before laying down, hoping to ease the discomfort with a moment of rest. She dare not run to her mother, for she feared that she would recieve scolding words for getting sickly so early, and waking her mother from her rest. Chou was not the kindest of mares, she made sure that Ereshkigal stayed alive and warm, but that was it. The only thing her mother cared about teaching her is how to manipulate, how to get what she wanted. She knew she would recieve no kindness over a small belly ache, so she lay there on the damp morning grass, shifting and cringing as the pain whirled in her small stomach.

You're like therapy with no solution 催眠 You're a remedy that's useless チョウ

@[Iris]

[Iris]

stars, hide your fire;
let not light see my black and deep desires

Iris watches, still pretending to eat the grass, but she can see the way the other filly shifts. Her lips quirk into a tiny smile around the grass she’s currently nibbling on, and soon enough the other filly is laying in the grass seeming rather...uncomfortable. Perfect. It would be nothing to keep going, nothing to keep the poison building until the girl was sick or dead. There was no point in that, though. It was harder to control in small doses, harder to make sure she could get it exactly right, but today she had succeeded.

Time to play.

Iris picks her head up, ears forward, putting a look of concern on her face. She makes her way over to the other filly at a trot, as if she cares very much to help this girl. ”Are you okay? I saw you lay down and it seemed like maybe something was wrong?” Her voice is tinged with concern, and oh, she feels like a very good little actress right now. ”Is there something I can help you with?”

iris

@[Ereshkigal]

[Ereshkigal]

幻想

Ereshkigal

Ereshkigal's head hung low, the grass tickling her lips while her eyes remained tightly shut in discomfort. The ache in her stomach did not fade, no matter how still she tried to be. Pale ears pricked towards the sound of small hoofbeats coming towards her, and a groan of annoyance escaped her as she silently prayed it was not the figure she'd seen earlier. A call came towards her, and as she looked towards the source of the sound, she was quickly disappointed as her eyes settled on the being approaching her. 

Ereshkigal's blue eyes held no kindness within them as she glared at the other, her lips pulling into a scowl. 

"It's only a stomach ache, I'm fine." Her reply was short and blunt, though her mother had always told her to speak sweetly no matter the situation, she cared not for practicing her manipulative, sugar coating voice. A twinge of pain quickly replaced her angry features, twisting in pain as a pathetic whimper escaped her lips. Her thoughts were racing, wondering how she could get rid of this feeling, or at least think of an excuse to tell her mother to justify disturbing her so early. A small part of her longed for her mother's affection, wishing her mother would speak softly to her in earnest. She knew though that truthfully, that honey-coated voice was laced with arsenic intentions. She could plead her mother for honesty, and the truth would spear her small spirit anyways, so she did not try. 

Shaking herself of her thoughts, she glared towards the other filly once again, her frustration growing at the other's presence. 

"Perhaps it's your existence that sickens me." Her own voice was filled with venom, clearly annoyed as she attempted to stand and leave, only to buckle back down to the ground as the discomfort in her stomach took hold again.

You're like therapy with no solution 催眠 You're a remedy that's useless チョウ

@[Iris]

[Iris]

stars, hide your fire;
let not light see my black and deep desires

The response she gets is not what she was hoping for. How sad. It does make her like the girl a bit more though, almost enough to stop the poison anyway. She might have too, might have bothered to make a proper friend instead of a pet except that the girl keeps talking. Iris lets the look of concern slip from her features, lifting her head slightly higher. ”Then you know very little of what should and should not sicken you,” she says, her voice cool, almost calculating.

To be fair, the statement the other filly made was accurate. Exactly accurate. But Iris is pretty sure that’s not actually what the filly meant, instead intended it for an insult that doesn’t offend Iris. At least not personally. She’s more annoyed her trick won’t work, that this filly probably won’t make for a decent accomplice either, and clearly Iris is wasting her time. Annoyed, she twists the poison a bit, just in case it didn’t already hurt enough.

”Suit yourself,” she says, turning her attention with the plan to leave if the other filly doesn’t say something worth staying for. ”You are lucky this is the playground. Nothing particularly scary will come eat you while you lay there useless and too stubborn to accept help.”

iris

/center>

@[Ereshkigal]