"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
12-23-2020, 12:41 AM (This post was last modified: 12-23-2020, 12:43 AM by Borderline.)
despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came
Things were falling into place. Yanhua was being a great father to Memorie, and things seemed less tense between us every day. I had made friends in Amarine and Lilliana. And Memorie was enjoying her life in Taiga with siblings and various other family members. I felt like I had made a second home for a second time in Taiga, but this time, it felt more real. It wasn’t tied to just one relationship that was fragile and tentative at best. Just as my child had found her family here among the redwoods, so too had I.
Not only that, but I felt more connected to the forest now than I had in the past. Memorie and I had spent a good deal of our time at the burn scar, which was now unrecognizable as the barren and dead wasteland I had first come to know. New life had sprouted everywhere, guided by our helping hands. Trees were now beginning to take off in spectacular fashion. With each new tree that Memorie and I breathed life into, we became more and more a part of the redwood forest.
I stand there now, among the budding trees and sprouting ferns, contentedly contemplating these new connections. Memorie was off wandering the forest on her own. With each day, she was growing more and more independent. It was bittersweet, but I knew it would happen. She was just such a vibrant soul that it was hard to keep her contained to my own whims. She wanted to explore and discover and make her own mark on the world–even though I had told her she was already making a mark in our work with the trees.
I close my eyes and breathe a deep sigh. Then several trees behind me groan and shift. Their limbs stretch out, while the tops reach higher.
The gift came easier and easier every day. It helped to have a lot of practice. Still, Memorie was better at it than I was. She seemed to have a gift for life, and not just with her flora revival. No matter what life throws at her, she always seems to rise above it. I am constantly telling her that she is an old soul, meant for something more–whether that is helping to heal Taiga or something even greater, we have yet to see, but I believe in her more than I have ever believed in anything before.
I look behind me, quite proud of the new pine needles that had sprouted. Then I shift my weight and start forward in a slow walk, traveling down a freshly beaten path through the new growth. There are sections of the forest that are slower to grow, places that held the more painful scars burnt deep into the earth. I travel through them, stopping occasionally to breathe new life into different areas.
There was no rhyme or reason to how Memorie and I had gone about regrowing the forest. We simply listened to the forest, which had ways of telling us.
I am roused from my silent reveries when a snap from behind startles me. I snap my head up and back around to look. “Hello?” I wait, my blue eyes scanning back and forth for anything amiss.
Taiga has been attracting visitors and residents; the forest is alive in ways that the other northern lands are not. The climate on Icicle Isle was too much for many a recruit and most don’t find it suitable for reproduction which leaves the children here in Taiga - and Nerine had faded into the past just like the Amazons occupying had. Poppy had shocked everyone awake, but is a shock or two enough to bring life - I’ll have to wait and see.
This is the excuse I have for visiting Taiga more often than the other lands. That and my own children. My large dragon wings carry me over the icy sea easily, and the patch of growing land between the southernmost land in the North and the rest of the area is the easiest landing spot for me.
I’ve noticed the growth, of course - more and more bushes, small trees growing large in a way that can only be magical, even though it is gradual. I still haven’t met the person responsible, but I hope to encounter them over time.
There is a loud snap when one of my wings hits a newly made branch upon landing, and I mutter indistinctively under my breath. As my hoofs touch the ground I let the large, silvery white appendages fold and disappear, knowing they are a nuisance more than anything else in a forest - even a Taigan forest, which is relatively more humid and cold and thus sparser than a regular one. Normally, anyway.
I’m not alone in the area today, and my eyes snap up to the sound of someone calling out a question. My dragon vision finds them easily, more due to the infrared patterns that come with it than with the hawk-eye clearness that they bring, since the forest isn’t made for wide views. I lumber forward with a greeting. ”Hello. I don’t think we’ve met before.” I admit, tilting my head slightly and then nodding to her once. ”I’m Leilan of Icicle Isle.” I explain. Perhaps she knows the name, perhaps not. At least I hope the blue-maned mare would stay for a chat. Honestly, I haven’t met enough of the Taigans here - I know my nephew is around somewhere in the shadows and possibly even my brother and his wife, and that Lilliana and Yanhua, having somewhat similar personalities, are very capable of greeting all nee visitors. Nevertheless this mare feels to me like she’s been here a while, and I feel it’s overdue that I meet her.
there’s an ocean in between your heart and me
@[Borderline] I hate writing starters, but had Borderline on my list for a while <3
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
I don’t have to wait long, but in the few seconds that span between my question and his answer, I relax a little. I was startled at first, but when I had a moment, as short as it might have been, to think about it, I realized that the redwoods are home to so many peaceful creatures, equine or other. There is us. There is a herd of elk. I had encountered them many times before, and they were always welcoming and quick to share their space for grazing. Some even seemed entertained by Memorie’s antics. Sometimes there were deer, though they are more flighty than the elk. It could have been any number of not so scary things. Still, I remain alert until I know it’s completely safe.
So when another horse ambles into view, my tension eases, and I give him a soft smile. My first impression of him is that he is tall–not quite as tall as Yanhua, but still larger in size than the Taigan stallion, because he is thick. Where a normal horse’s legs are real slender, his are stocky. His shoulders are broad, along with the rest of his body. I had never before seen a horse such as him, so it piqued my interest.
He is quick to answer, greeting me kindly. Then he offers his name. Leilan. I had heard of him. He is the leader of Icicle Isle, whose territories includes Taiga. He was also the stallion with whom Yanhua battled with in the first round of the Alliance. I didn’t know much about his and Yanhua’s relationship, but I know enough to know it’s tense between them. Even so, Yan’s tension is not mine, so I give him a bright smile. “Hi, Leilan. I am Borderline.
Perhaps he has heard of me, too? It would seem that the drama over Yanhua’s baby mamas was popular in the gossip circle these days. If he hadn’t heard of that, he could have also heard about Memorie’s and my efforts to regrow the forest. Or he could just know every name of those that live in his territories. There were many reasons he could have heard of me.
I realize that my thoughts are drifting, so I bring them back to the conversation. “I have actually heard your name a few times. It’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name.” I smile warmly. “So, what brings you around to Taiga?”
The mare before me is young still, I can see that - but already hurt once or twice, I reckon from the hidden gleam in her eyes. It’s not that I actively search for things like that, but it happens to be that like calls to like, and that I am a master in pretending everything is alright is nothing new to me, myself. Still, she doesn't come off as actively mourning whatever it is, so it is only when she mentions her name that I carefully nod. My daughter was the one to tell me about the issue, in fact, but I know it’s not a king’s place to meddle in the personal affairs of his subject’s - not even when they concern one of our champions.
”Likewise. So you’re the one rebuilding? It’s impressive what you’ve done so far,” I tell her with a small smile. It would be impolite to immediately inquire if she has ambitions beyond the Taigan forest itself, but perhaps in time she’ll want a new challenge. She then inquires about my reason to be here, and I grin a little more than laughing or smiling about it. ”I suppose one of the perks of being a leader is you get time to check out the lands from time to time.” I tilt my head a little, then add, ”but really, Taiga is more bustling than the Isle or Nerine these days, and there’s some kids of mine I like to keep an eye on when they’re not looking.” I hope that settles any doubts she might have - in fact I frequent the red woods more than she probably knows, that is, every other night. Usually though, in the dark it’s easy for me to hide myself, and I am not spotted because I don’t really want to. Checking the border must sometimes be done in daylight though, just for people’s sake pf feeling watched over and by extension, safer.
”On that topic though, what made you stay?” It’s perhaps a question that could be heard with double meaning, knowing what had transpired (to be honest if she’d asked me directly I’d be able to tell her a thing or two about love, I think) but hopefully she could just go for the innocent question of why she chose to live in Taiga itself. It’s her choice, I think, to avoid the topic or dive into it. Either works for me.
there’s an ocean in between your heart and me
@[Borderline]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
01-12-2021, 12:52 PM (This post was last modified: 01-12-2021, 12:53 PM by Borderline.)
despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came
I can see the recognition in Leilan’s eyes before he says anything, and the careful nod tells me that he’s heard of the situation between Yanhua and myself. It’s not something I really care to be known for, but it is what it is. C’est la vie. So I do my best to hide the discomfort at this and keep my attention focused on him.
He also knows about the “rebuilding” as he calls it. I smile at this. “Yes, I’ve been teaching Memorie, my daughter, how to do it, too. She shares my gift of flora revival. She’s actually better at it than I am, so you’d have to give accolades to her more than me.” I chuckle softly at this. In truth, I’d been here longer and spent more time here than she did, so it’s technically not true, but she had done quite a bit herself. If not for her, though, we definitely wouldn’t have come as far as we had. Many of the trees were now twice as tall as I stand, some were even taller still. Granted, they still had a long way to go before they reached the towering heights of the rest of the redwoods, but still, the land was beginning to look as it should. “Thank you for your kind words,” I remember to add on.
His reasons for being here seem sound. I can definitely appreciate his desire to check in on his children (I certainly felt similar about Memorie, and I’m sure I’ll be checking in with her for the rest of our lives). I believe I’d heard that Roselin and Oren, Lilliana’s twins, were his. I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting either of them yet, but Lilliana had mentioned Roselin to me. She was the one that had the garden, of which I had forgotten to mention to Memorie, because I know she’d be interested. Granted, the child always seemed to have her ears tipped to any conversation around her, despite what antics she might be getting up to, so there’s a good chance she already knew about her and her garden.
I smile warmly. “Ah, yes, the duties of a leader and a father,” I chuckle.
Then he asks me why I decided to say. Now there was a question I would take pleasure in answering. “Well, in truth, Lilliana is what made me stay.” She was actually the one who had brought me here to begin with. In those early days, Yanhua had kept me to the lands, but when I’d found out about Amarine, well, I’d done the childish thing and disappeared for a time. When I returned, Taiga didn’t feel like home, exactly, but then I’d met Lilliana on the beach in the wee hours of the morning. Reminiscing on this brings a wistful smile to my face. “She made Taiga feel like home more than anything ever has in my life. I felt welcomed and appreciated. Now I stay because it is a part of me.” At this, I glance up at the new growth around me. I had done this (along with Memorie), and that made it feel like this land belonged to me as much as I belonged to it.
I'm good at seeing but ignoring little signals, and so my practised self doesn't respond in the slightest to Borderline's line of a mouth when some recognition no doubt lingers in my eyes. Thankfully the young mother sparkles a little more when she talks about her daughter, and in that I suppose I've accidentally picked the right topic. Grinning just a little as she tells about Memorie, knowing exactly where her pride comes from, I can't help but already feel like perhaps it's the girl then whom I should ask to occasionally look beyond Taiga's borders with her gift. Though it's likely as not that she'll want to explore more than just the northern lands, maybe it makes for a start that both girl and mother could agree on. "I'd sure like to meet her," I nod when Borderline has finished her speech, "Perhaps when she's old enough she can roam a bit further through Nerine, or she may visit the Isle if she so pleases." The restoration of the cold island has gone slow, and it won't be the same as it once was; it never will be, but perhaps a touch of magic could make it more liveable. Nevertheless, one thing at a time - a growing girl should not be turned into some work force however much a place needs it.
Mentioning that I have some kids running around seems to work in my favour in the same way, but the answer to my question surprises me a little. Not that I wouldn't go through lengths for Lilli as well, just that she doesn't mention the father of her child nor the child herself. There might be some feelings lingering then, or maybe Lilli is just that good. I smile a little thinking of that. "She does that," I have to admit. And I don't know why or how, either. Maybe she's just good as friendships; I know I'm not, so I can't exactly measure it. "It's funny that you mention it though; homes have a tendency of being what we make of it, but somewhere along the way the feeling gets entirely turned around." Now, I'm tied to the icy island in the north as much as it was the only habitat for me to fit into. An odder sort of relationship than most I've ever had in my life.
Straia's point be damned, the land is still alive - just not in the way she wants it to be, I suppose. I muse over that for a moment, falling silent, then giving up; might as well tell Borderline. "I've been asked once what made us different from other lands, what we stand for, she called it. But the more people I ask about why they live in a certain place, the more I think it's the wrong question to ask in the first place." I tilt my head, catching the life between the branches in my eyesight and hearing - birds flying criss-cross through the branches and leaves, squirrels trying to dig for nuts, a woodpecker some ways away. "It's not what the land stands for, it's what we make of it, I guess." I shrug a little, but think she might understand - especially with her floral gifts and all.
Brushing my tail over my hocks to wash away a tiny itch, I follow up. "Though, I suppose Yan is right and we could be more active about it."
there’s an ocean in between your heart and me
@[Borderline]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
If @[Leilan] asked me to go to Nerine and the Isle to use my gift, I’d have been more than happy to myself. Granted, Memorie would, as well, but perhaps we both could have undertaken such an endeavor together. After all, we would both need excuses to come together once she’s left my side completely to find her own path in life–which was coming way too soon for my liking. Sooner, rather than later, she would be heading off on her own and would only return for brief visits. The thought always makes me sad to think of, so thankfully, my mind is occupied by Leilan’s visit…for now.
At his suggestion that Memorie could visit Nerine and the Isle, though, I give a soft laugh. “She’s such a wanderer that I doubt she needs to be older to have an excuse to meander in that direction.” I smile wistfully. “But speaking of Nerine and the Isle, I would also like to visit. I fear that I’ve become such a homebody that I’ve only left Taiga twice since I’ve come here. Perhaps if I visit sometime, you could show me around?” I give him a playful wink.
His next statement makes me think for a moment. I’m not quite sure I understand what he means by “the feeling gets entirely turned around.” For me, Taiga had always been a home, not just because of the family I had created here or because I was party to her healing process, but also because the giant redwoods brought with them a kind of safety that I hadn’t felt in any other place, like those trees were standing guard over me (and my family). “Sorry, but I’m not sure I understand what you mean,” I say, feeling slightly embarrassed to have to say so.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily the wrong question to ask. I think we choose lands for a lot of reasons. Some of those reasons are the horses that live there alongside of us. For example, I live here because I have fallen in love, not just with Yanhua, but with the family that I’ve been welcomed into. But I also choose to stay, because the redwoods provide a kind of sanctuary that I’ve never felt before in any other place. There are little nooks here and there that provide protection from the elements. There are wonders that awe and inspire me. I never would have been able to build what you see here if I didn’t have this connection to the land, and I would never have this connection with the land without the connection to my family.”
Yes, there are certainly others who could be more active about it, but I wouldn’t say that about myself, because here I was, wandering my way through this small portion of the redwood forest, rebuilding what had been destroyed.
I'm a little surprised, but I smile anyway at the mare's offer. In fact, I'd be more than happy to show her around. "Of course. Best know your way around those places - they're technically your home, too." I grin a bit, making a shrugging motion with my shoulder. "You can make yourself at home anywhere you want." I bet for her it may sound a little odd as she's now used to the trees, but if she can see the northern lands as part of a whole, maybe it's not as weird as it looks.
Just like me, I guess.
When she doesn't respond much at first to my statement of things turning around, I shake my head. "Just that our homes shape us as much as we shape it." I've been completely in tandem with the Isle for as long as it's existed, now; Borderline may feel safe because of the canopy while that same canopy would in part not even exist without it. But perhaps I'm too old for her, to be having this conversation. I snort a little, amused with myself. You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain - figuratively, I think I'm exactly what I always hated when I was so much younger.
Her words seem to show me exactly that she thinks the same, but on a different scope perhaps. I tilt my head with a little spark in it when I realize this. "Everyone's way of connecting is different. Yours - and mine as well - has been family, and a love for a certain element." Ah, my family. An interesting show on it's own. It'll never be what it was, we will never be, just because we're older and have different ways. Letting go was never my strong suit, but now I manage. By not thinking about it, I guess.
Melancholy never helped anyone move forward however. I shake my head at myself, include my crest and neck for good measure so as to realign my mane. There's something else I need to know about the people here. "Borderline, I was wondering - if there's a wish for this forest that you could see come true, what would it be?"
The future - in my case it's much more interesting than the past.
there’s an ocean in between your heart and me
@[Borderline] whoops this is almost a month, sorry!!! we can add monsters if you want but we can continue it as pre-eclipse as well, whichever you prefer
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
I had never really thought about the fact that Nerine and Icicle Isle were technically a part of my home, as well. Lilliana had mentioned it when we first met, though I had been so young and eager to find a family that I had decided to follow her here, to Taiga. Since then, the redwoods had become a home that brought with it a comfort unlike anything I could have imagined. Sure, there was still the issue of Yanhua that occupied my thoughts almost exclusively, now, but since I had returned, Amarine and Lilliana had made me feel like I belonged. It also helped to have the connection to the flora that grew within the northern reaches of the territory, thanks to Memorie and myself. I give him a soft and warm smile in response.
Our homes shape us as much as we shape it. I chew on those words for a moment, thinking of how Taiga has changed me. For the better. I want to say that I haven’t changed Taiga, however, but when I stop to look around, I know that’s not true. Everything around us had been a charred and broken mess shortly before I arrived and even after I had returned here after running away. In a way, I have changed Taiga more than the other residents who called the redwoods home. I smile softly at the thought. “Yes,” I say wistfully, “I guess you are right.”
Before I had arrived in Beqanna, I had no love for much of anything. I loved water, that was true, but it was more of a passing fancy than a deep appreciation. The redwoods had given me what I couldn’t have imagined possible before: passion. In the short time I had been here, I had found myself in a way that I never knew I was even missing. Before, I had meandered through life trying to fit in, often where I didn’t belong. It was like trying to shove a puzzle piece into a completely different puzzle altogether. And even then, if the piece fit, the image was all wrong. I hadn’t known who I was or what I desired, except that I wanted to fit in somewhere. Despite all that had happened, however, my piece fit here beneath the giants, as smoothly and seamlessly as I could have ever imagined.
I find myself lost in these thoughts for a moment, and his question draws me back in. It is the kind of question that leaves me searching for an answer. “Oh…” I breathe, tilting my head slightly to the side with an expression of deep thought on my face. “Well, I never really thought about it,” I admit. For a moment, I stand there trying to think of something I would wish for the forest, though this proves harder than I would have thought. I’ve never been good at being put on the spot with questions like this. Not just that, but the forest had always provided everything I could have ever imagined I would want. So to have a wish for this forest almost seems strange. “I guess I would just wish that everything could always be the same, that this forest could live on far into the future, building a legacy and a weaving together the threads of our stories until the sun dies and the moon refuses to rise.” Little did I know that the sun would die sooner rather than later, but that’s neither here nor there.
I feel some sort of shame, or perhaps disappointment in myself, for not having talked extensively with Borderline before. She is one promising mare, I can tell - I see why Yan likes her, see what Lilliana sees. I don’t know how much of that is in her daughter, but already I can draw a parallel with the younger mares, the girls that I know from the past; my own offspring, Lilli’s, Izora. I wonder where the latter hangs out, but as long as our chestnut friend is around to look after the equally red woods, I am not worried about the current leadership. Nor the potential advisors that I’ve found in Taiga so far.
Borderline could be more than a plant-healer, I think, but perhaps she first needs to raise her own family for a bit. So while she takes the time to consider my remark and I see her glance around, I simply appreciate the fact that she mulls it over before responding. I think that says a lot about a person. She is a diplomat at the core, I believe. Quite a match for Yan’s sometimes-brash behaviour.
My question about the future is met with a little surprise, and maybe I just revel a bit smugly in that fact, like the rogue I still am (mostly the expression is hidden away of course, and while I know my eyes betray me, I think she’s more occupied with her thoughts). ”Continuance might work. I’m always afraid it gets boring over time, but a strong center is just as needed. A home base to grow forth from, if you will.” I tilt my head thinking about it - I’ve always wandered the world, but with a pull back to my family so I was never truly lost. It’s like that, I suppose. ”Though if you don’t mind me saying so - I think we also have to change, to stay the same. If we don’t, we fall behind with the rest of the world.” When did I become such a philosopher though? Sometime when I took up a mantle of responsibility, I suppose. ”But maybe I just think that because I’m such an old man.” My eyes twinkle a little, humorously telling her this. I know I must be around five or six times her age by now, even though it only looks like... twice her age - hmm, both old ages I guess - I would have thought so in her place anyway. Lately I haven’t kept track of the passing of time as much, though. Perhaps it helps that Lilli doesn’t age any more either, and thus she doesn’t mirror back to me the forward flow of time. Only my children are an indication, but they stop growing at a certain point as well. And I don’t think I need any more - Oren and Roselin have already been a blessing that I didn’t deserve.
there’s an ocean in between your heart and me
@[Borderline]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
| 