[private] all the colours you would bring

[Catryn]

The change had been happening slowly, and with the world plunged into near-darkness Catryn wasn’t even sure when it began. She’d spooked something awful when she caught the glimmer of light in the corner of her eye while walking one day and had to lie down somewhere for a long time before her heart stopped feeling like it would burst right out of her chest. One day, if the sun returns, she’ll be thankful she gained her sight while the world was in darkness - thankful for the ease of the transition that it allowed her. Right now, though, she’s just trading a world of utter blackness for a world of almost shadows. It’s a confusing thing to happen and certainly not one that Catryn had ever expected. She’d grown accustomed to navigating the world relying on her other senses and she did not know what had changed. Why was this happening to her? She’d noticed the absence of her wings when the sun above ceased to shine but once looking around stopped being so frightening, Catryn looked back and found her pink and black sides were bare. She knows the names of the colours on her coat and in the world (though she cannot see them well at the moment) from Sixteen’s descriptions. Her black eyes blink and Catryn slowly moves through the meadow, with more care than she had when she was blind. Now, she can see the shadows move. Can see the figures that correspond with the sound of hoofbeats she’s heard all her life. It is tempting to close her eyes and shut out this strange new world but - much like those first few attempts at flying - she tries to be brave. Without Targaryen here to fill the silence, she whispers soft words of encouragement under her breath as she takes a tour around the meadow and sees everything for the first time.

@[Targaryen] surprise! <3

[Targaryen]

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Even after several days of normalcy (though it feels more strange than normal now), Targaryen still finds that the sunlight burns against his eyes. He had rejoiced in life returning to Beqanna; already, the plant life in Taiga has seemed to perk up, and even Jedar has seemed happier since the sun returned. Yet the tobiano cannot deny that he spent so much time in the darkness that the light aches. The heat feels sweltering after so much time in the cold. Flying above the treeline feels more like traveling over a desert.

He has always preferred the comforts of a forest. How many days had he spent in the depths of a forest, curled beneath the shadows of a mighty oak to watch his mother’s dormant form? Targaryen has associated the trees with family since childhood, noticing how Noori’s legs turned to trunks in the soil and watching the vines slowly twine across her torso. Now that day has returned, the woodlands seem an even greater comfort.

Yet even with the heat, Targaryen cannot help but think of the pink-and-black girl he had met before the world went dark. There are times Catryn will appear in his dreams, glowing with her wings made of sunshine, and he will watch her pinwheel through the sky. When he wakes one morning with her smile lingering behind his eyes, Targaryen decides to find her.

The tobiano’s first stop is the Meadow. It is where they had met and where he had taught her the beginnings of flight. Targaryen wonders if she has practiced in the darkness, unaware of how debilitated the rest of their world became. Did Catryn even know that the world was dark around her? His chest is filled with questions for the pretty, sunlit girl, and Targaryen’s eyes scan the Meadow with fervent excitement.

credit to fangs of bearbones.


@[Catryn]

[Catryn]

At first, Catryn had been given her eyesight and her wings had been lost. It had not felt like much of a lost because she had needed to learn how to adjust. She had learned quickly that the darkness was not how the world normally is and it had felt like a blessing. A way to ease her into the new world she had discovered. And then the sun had returned. It had been frightening at first - Catryn had actually hidden in the forest for the first few days - but then it became wonderful. Her eyes had burned and it was completely overwhelming and she enjoyed every minute of it. Her favourite hobby was just standing or lying (when she got so overwhelmed she couldn’t even stand) and just watching. It didn’t matter if no one wandered by, there was just so much happening. The sway of the grass in the sunlight that she had only felt. The movement of clouds across the sky. The flint of light on the surface of water or leaves. The stars. She’s finally stopped crying whenever she catches something new, at least. Or, so she thinks. Today is another day spent observing, a blissful smile on her face. There’s a new halo above her head, faint in the light of day, and her sunlight wings have returned though she’s been so busy just looking at everything that she hasn’t practiced flying again even though she should. As if summoned by those thoughts, a familiar scent comes to her. She closes her eyes to focus on it, and when she opens them again she begins to walk, following it as best as she can but the scents of different horses cross each other. After a while, there’s a white-patched pegasus ahead - she’s coming up behind him and she thinks… is that him?  She pauses, hesitates, tilting her head - but decides there’s nothing for it. If it’s not him, no harm, right? She’ll know as soon as he speaks if it's the same kind voice she thinks of often. “Targaryen?”

@[Targaryen]

[Targaryen]

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It has been over a year since they have last seen each other. Over that time, Targaryen had transformed from a mature colt to a young stallion. His gangliness is replaced with a strong, straight build. The sunlight holds itself to the colored feathers of his wings, giving them a shimmery appearance as he wanders the Meadow. And when his eyes land on Catryn, he admits to himself that time has aged her well.

“Catryn!” Targaryen’s cinnamon eyes want to trace the soft curves of her brindled body, but he forces them to stay on her face. And he’s surprised to find that her eyes seem aware of the world around them. Catryn sees him. The tobiano steps closer to the young mare, dipping his head in a charming greeting that causes his multicolored forelock to dance across his smooth face.

A brilliant smile dazzles his face at the sight of his friend. He is thankful the brindle had made it through the eclipse, though he had no doubts she wouldn’t have. Catryn had an advantage over the rest of Beqanna; she was already living in a world of complete darkness. Targaryen had found her so brave when they first met, and Catryn had only been fearless while they practiced flying that day. The stallion is certain she can see among the newfound sunlight — her eyes catch twin birds landing on a tree nearby — but he hesitates to mention it.

She had told him off the first time, after all. So instead, Targaryen takes another step forward and pushes his nose through the air in the direction of Catryn’s sunlight wings. He’s always wanted to touch them, to feel if they are warm or silky or electric, but he resists the urge by saying, “Had any time to practice?”

credit to fangs of bearbones.


@[Catryn]

[Catryn]

Delight easily replaces the uncertainty when he turns and greets her - her smile shining just as brightly as the wings at her side. She missed out before, she thinks, not seeing the warmth of his eyes - but it matches his voice so perfectly that it doesn’t surprise her. A small laugh escapes her at his question and she turns to look at those wings, enjoying the ability to do so. To be able to see for herself what others are referring to. “Not much, they disappeared when the sun did so I couldn't fly that whole time.” Catryn doesn’t want to look at her wings - she wants to look at him. To see the smile that she had heard in his voice when he taught her how to fly. She barely wants to blink as she gets this first chance to take her friend in. “And then… I’ve been a little distracted since its return.” Her black eyes trace his face, the patterns of his coat, the way the feathers of his wings shimmer, and her nose crinkles with her smile. “I should’ve known you’d be handsome.” The compliment comes out easily and right in this moment, she doesn’t think to be embarrassed about it. It is the truth, after all, and one of her new joys is speaking these truths she’s discovering with her sight. Her eyes dance a little as she moves on, curious about how he’s been since they parted. From what she's understood, everyone had a chance to live in the world she had been in for the first three years of her life. “How did you find it, living in the dark?”

@[Targaryen]

[Targaryen]

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Targaryen finds himself equal parts disappointed and thrilled that she hadn’t managed to practice in their time apart. He thinks it would be fun to fly with her now, to show her Beqanna from a bird’s-eye view and watch her eyes take in the patchwork of colors that he loves to see from above. By the same token, he’s secretly pleased, only because it means he can help her practice more. He imagines running his nose along the sunlight feathers, making her brindled shoulders flex as she raises them higher, and watching the shadows under their bodies shift as she pushes the wings down to mimic flight.

He’s about to say something to the effect of, “I guess I’ll have to find some time in my busy schedule to help you out,” when she mentions being distracted since the sun returned. It’s a good time to mention the loss of her blindness, but Targaryen finds that he’s speechless as her dark eyes seem to absorb him. She’s captured him, effectively paralyzing him wherever her eyes trace his body.

The only thing Targaryen’s certain he can move is his gaze. If she’s taking the time to study him, then perhaps it wouldn’t be quite so wrong to follow the path of her curves. He can’t deny that Catryn is beautiful; the soft pink of her brindling draws attention to the bend of her back and the smooth plane of her flanks. A galaxy rests across her chest, something Targaryen hadn’t noticed the first time they met. The stars on her skin seem obvious now, especially after so much time in the dark.

There’s an entire universe in the details of her body — the sun aglow at her sides, the stars twisting across her chest, meteors showering down her sides, and the darkness of space in her eyes.

His brown eyes find her dark ones when she compliments him, and he feels his paralysis release. Targaryen’s lips curl into a smile as he says, “Thank you. You’re not too bad-looking yourself.” He’s never been the type for long-winded explanations, and he has no idea how he could put his observation of her into words. Targaryen thinks he could probably spend all day studying her (or at least thinking about it), but he knows that isn’t the best option right now, that it might be a mixture of testosterone and her beauty talking.

So he’s grateful when she moves on, asking him about the eclipse. “I got lost.” Targaryen can’t help but chuckle at himself; the situation had been scary then, and it’s still embarrassing, but at least he can laugh at it now. “I went for a walk one day, and then I couldn’t find my way home.” The darkness had confused him, and shadow monsters had steered him wrong, and then suddenly the trees looked nothing like Taiga’s redwoods. In fact, they looked nothing like any trees he was familiar with.

He takes this moment to commend her, to finally say what he’d been thinking ever since they met. “I don’t know how you did it. I was terrified, but you’ve always been so brave.”

credit to fangs of bearbones.


@[Catryn]

[Catryn]

Catryn is distracted enough by her own survey of him that she doesn’t notice how his eyes trail over her body. She assumes she looks much the same as last time - just a little older, a little taller - and can’t imagine that there is much new to take in, but she is fascinated by everything about him. She brightens at his compliment, looking down at her legs for a moment, catching just the edge of the swirling nebula that is housed on her chest. “Yeah? You think?” She poses a little, lifting her head again and her smile feels permanent. Catryn doesn’t think too much of it, but she’s glad Targaryen doesn’t think she’s ugly. She’s not too bad. Concern flickers through her expression, causing her bright smile to falter slightly. She hates the idea of him being lost in the darkness, even if it is something that he chuckles about now. Catyrn knew what it was like to feel afraid of your surroundings, but she had just been in a position where she had to keep pushing through no matter what. If she got lost, she needed to either sit there forever or try to find her way back home somehow. And after a while, she had gotten pretty good at finding her way. Her grin softens when he calls her brave, eyes not moving from his. “I don’t know if it was brave, I didn’t really have a choice.” This feels a little ungrateful to say, though, even though she does not mean for it to be - so she follows it up with a warm “But thank you. I like the idea of you thinking I’m brave.” Another grin and she can feel this one spread through her entire body, warmth that has nothing to do with the sun in the sky or the light of her wings that mimics it. “I’m glad you came out the other side of it okay, even though you got lost for a bit. It’s too bad you didn’t find me, I would’ve been able to give you some tips. That would’ve been a good way to start repaying you for teaching me how to fly.”

@[Targaryen]

[Targaryen]

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Catryn’s smile is contagious, and the tobiano finds it spreading quickly onto his mouth. She had been bold the first time he met her, but this time she is confident. She seems secure in herself as if she’s reached a deeper understanding of who she is now that she can see. Targaryen thinks he’s had a similar experience when he’d been lost during the darkness and then found his way home when the sun returned, but stupidly losing his way in the dark feels like nothing compared to what she’s experienced.

He thinks she’s right, in saying that she didn’t have a choice, but he also believes that she had chosen the best way to live in that situation. Targaryen would’ve been much more upset about his blindness than she had been. Catryn seemed to still have a spirit to live amidst her blindness, and this is perhaps where her bravery lies. He isn’t exactly sure how to put these thoughts into words, so instead, he lets his smile grow wider and steps forward to nudge her shoulder playfully. “Well, that’s the first of many compliments so, get used to it, sister.”

He laughs when she mentions repayment, cinnamon eyes warm. “You don’t need to repay me, Catryn. Besides, we still have work to do, since you haven’t flown since then.” Targaryen shakes his head, a sarcastic sign of disappointment. Her smiles and warmth buoy him up, making him feel bolder than he’s ever felt. Although he clicks his tongue with humorous shame, his eyes glow with amusement. “Interested in seeing the world from a higher place, now that you have wings and eyes?”

credit to fangs of bearbones.


@Catryn

[Catryn]

A soft laugh escapes her when he steps forward to nudge her and tells her that is going to be the first of many compliments. Her black eyes seem brighter than they should, give their colour, and she cannot help but take advantage of the nearness to nudge him right back. She had liked him on their first meeting, but she enjoys the warmth that spreads through her now and at the idea of future compliments that delight her the same way as she feels when he calls her brave. Words, though - they escape her for now. Fortunately she doesn’t have to fumble for words, she can simply watch the way his eyes warm and how it matches the feeling inside her. She had already been smiling, had never even stopped for a moment, but his question turns her entire body luminescent with joy and those sunlight wings unfurl excitedly before curling back at her sides.  “Very interested! Especially with you up there with me, Targaryen.” Again those boldly spoken truths, not even hesitating to share them. When she does hesitate, it is only to look around the landscape. She’s no idea if they are near to where they had first met, with the river and the trees. “Last time we jumped off of a hill to get going, should we find one again?” Because even though he had been joking with his disappointment, she was terribly out of practice and it may just be like learning all over again.

@Targaryen