04-08-2021, 10:31 AM
That night in Tephra, when Wit had been born, Yanhua had been ready to give up. Despite having a newborn son to care for, he felt closer than he ever had before to just giving in and believing that Beqanna was lost forever. That they would never see the sun again, and everything - every horse would die. Maybe it was Wit that kept him clinging when all the other strings had been cut loose. Maybe it was the fact that Borderline was still breathing. He could argue that there was still the family he’d left behind, the north itself, but in his heart of hearts Yanhua felt the truth even if it was the most selfish of all.
He believed because Taiga still stood. He grasped for hope when he was ready to give in because through the utter hell of a nightmare they were all living in, up to this point Taiga had offered respite. And it wasn’t so much that Taiga was a place, really — more of a feeling. Something he thinks his mother and her predecessors are guilty of creating, unintentionally or not. To him, Taiga was… hope itself. And so as long as it stood, Yanhua could believe in the impossible.
Impossible things like the Eclipse ending and the sun returning, which it did. Things like Borderline waking up, and him being able to help her slowly home with Wit, which happened as well (in due time.) He even felt a shuddering realization that his echoes had returned when he’d stepped hoof across the border and breathed in the scent of withering pines, only to close his eyes and be greeted with the rush of so much emotional residue inside the boundaries of their home. It meant that others had survived.
But despite all of this, a day after returning home (yes, a full day of the cycling sun he’d almost forgotten about) Yanhua had left B to rest with Wit nearby and been interrupted mid-stride by Leilan crackling into appearance.
“What the -!” He had time to spit out as he balked, back-pedaling a few jumpy steps from the burst of energy that produced a hefty stallion like his King. Leilan, however, seemed unconcerned.
“Good to know.” Yan muttered, not really miffed but sorely glad he hadn’t collided with the transported horse. “Try to think of me less in the future, eh?” He joked away the shock, shaking his head with a smirk.
“I’m assuming by your… appearance,” Yanhua looked the Freyr over once, amazed to realize that he felt a perceptible difference surrounding the scaly roan stallion if he couldn’t see one, “that this is an urgent call? What’s the news?” the Taigan asked his leader, drawing himself up to full height. He curved his ears forward around the base of the two horns attached to his head, and furrowed the soft blue eyes that’d been determined a moment before. “A day home and already the trouble begins.” He thought worriedly.
YANHUA
@[Leilan]