[open] eyes wide shut - any

[Eadaz]

The demon-girl had lived a relatively secluded life to this point.  She’d spent the majority of her childhood trying to keep her sister – sweet, innocent Elain – safe from any harm. She hadn’t expected that undertaking to become such a full time job.  But Elain had been born with a wanderlust that Eadaz knew she would never be able to contain. She knew this both implicitly and visions that constantly flashed before her eyes were a constant reminder that even if she kept Elain in a cage her efforts would be futile.  So she’d taken a step back now that Elain was older and not as vulnerable as she once had been.  But the anxiety was still there.  Sometimes what she saw was simply visions of possibilities. But other times what she saw was a prophecy – more than once had she been paralyzed with all-consuming déjà vu as she watched a vision replay in real time before her eyes, slowly morphing into reality with little she could do to stop it. She still had little control about when they would come, but the fear of the unknown was not as terrifying now as it had been as a child.  Sometimes she saw only a few moments into the future. Sometimes she wasn’t sure how far into the future she saw. Was it years? Decades?  But control and deciphering the meaning was an ongoing, daily battle that she craved some freedom from.  Perhaps that’s what finally brought her out into the open and out of seclusion. She didn’t venture to the meadow. Instead, she stayed in the forest. The trees were a comfort to her and there were still plenty of others here. But it was Elain that was the sweet sister. The social sister. And Eadaz had no idea what she was even doing here.  She let out a huff and pressed her horned head against the wide trunk of a nearby tree. ”What am I doing,” she breathed, under her breath, letting her eyes slide shut and hoping that she’d see only darkness as she did so. e a d a z

[Moonlet]

She looked upward; always forever looking up to clouds or stars. It just so happened to be clouds this time. The kind that are big and white and not unlike puffballs that morph continuously into other shapes like dragons and unicorns. Or hippogriffs. Like some part of her knew instinctively that she belonged in loftier climes but remained earthbound through some cruel trick of magic and breeding. 

But as much as wind and sky called to her, so did the earth. More so the green growing things that came from the ground like plants and trees. She could imagine herself festooned in flowers, something practical but colorful to offset the drab nature of her skin and hair,  brown as a nut and black as a raven’s wing. Maybe creeper vines that twined the length of her legs and with fat purple or pale blooms.

Moonlet knew these were just flights of fancy, byproducts of an overactive imagination as she watched the clouds scud by. Her mood remained frivolous and unspoiled even by the pure fact that she was as ordinary as one could be. She resumed picking out shapes in those same clouds, watching animals take shape that she’d never seen. Elephants and lions, cows and antelopes, as her mind dulled down from the more imaginative creatures to baser ones like herself.

Eventually the clouds lost their luster and she swung towards the trees, intent upon no particular course - just away, just into the interlocking embrace of branch and leaf so she had no more clouds to chase with her eyes. Let the shadows roll on before, gamboling with shafts of light that came fluttering in. Even then, she could make magic of those inside her mind but it went blissfully still as she plodded along beneath the treetops. 

She’s not sure how far she’d gone, how deep into the forest she’d wandered before a noise made her pause. It sounded like a huff, so she must be close to someone else. Moonlet couldn’t be sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Company or keep on going? For some reason, the bay girl turned towards the small disgruntled sound and called out, “You okay?” 

It was short and precise, as she popped around a bend of tight knit trees and came upon a most curious sight. A horned creature rested its head against the trunk of a broad tree and seemed almost forlorn to Moonlet’s thinking. It made such a pitiful sight that it tugged at the strings of her heart and drove her forth in a boundless stride that was more like a great hop than anything else.

Moonlet let her nose drift close enough to land a light touch upon the spotted shoulder before claiming her own bubble of space scant inches apart from the unknown mare, and waited. She knew her action would earn a reaction, she just never knew what type of reaction it would be.

@[Eadaz]