[O] let's be alone together; cypress - Printable Version +- HELOVIA || The Way to the Sun (http://helovia.com) +-- Forum: Out of Character (http://helovia.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1) +--- Forum: Archives (http://helovia.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=11) +--- Thread: [O] let's be alone together; cypress (/showthread.php?tid=10695) |
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let's be alone together; cypress - Gabriel - 11-04-2013 "Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there." It was curiosity that brought him there, curiosity and a rare kind of boredom. It had been a few days since he'd wandered into the blistering world – Helovia, he reminded himself again, the feel of it still unfamiliar – and other than the stallions who had stopped him in the Threshold, he'd seen nobody, spoken with no one else. Forests he'd seen, foothills he'd climbed, beaches drew him in frequently – but the feel of this marsh was something new. It reminded him of Phlegethon, and the feeling made him colder than the weather would warrant; but there was something else, a mystery to the place that his homeland had lacked. The chestnut's nose and instincts told him to beware, but solitude had brought a strange recklessness into him, and he continued forward, near enough to the mirror-still water's edge. There was the buzz of insects, the low-throated croak of bullfrogs, but no wind stirred the trees, and Gabriel figured himself alone again. Until there came a splash. His head lifted, ears swiveling first in suprise and then concern, and through the haze of heat and marsh he made out a dark figure, slender and no larger than a doe. Until he could make out features and the horn on her head he thought it was a deer; once he saw it to be a horse he continued forward. She looked safe enough, for the moment, and he felt his heartbeat slow from it's momentary gallop. “You're young to be here, aren't you?” he asked, and moved nearer, hooves pulling through the mud, pausing just a moment before bumping his muzzle against her shoulder. It was to reassure the both of them – but Gabriel doubtlessly needed it more than she did. If Sundog and Quill were here, if he hadn't left them behind – well, they'd be the same age as this filly. And he wouldn't want them anywhere near this place.
gabriel
RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Cypress - 11-04-2013
RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Gabriel - 11-04-2013 "Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there." Gabriel was a little taken aback when she greeted him so politely. He hadn't expected a young horse prone to wandering to be as well-spoken as the yearling filly, and it was impossible not to meet her smile with one of his own. The marsh was growing less silent around them once more; the croaks and hums of wildlife that had paused when the chestnut had erupted into action had begun again, indicators that all was...well, as well as it would be, here. She still wasn't completely visible; there were the green eyes, the slender thrust of horn, an impression of light spots visible across her dark body. It lent her the same air of mystery that surrounded the whole marsh; if he had been more superstitious, he might have thought her a changeling – a filly who only acted sweet, who would lure him to a death in the marsh if she could. But the equine didn't believe in such things. It had been a long time since he wondered what went bump in the night. He doesn't miss the note of pride and self-resilience that she responds with; it makes the smile linger, because he knows Sundog would have said the same thing. “That you have, Cypress,” he said, a note of playful admiration in his voice. Then he stepped back from her, allowing her space, and spoke again in his regular tone. “I apologize for my concern. You get older, you get prone to worry.” There's a brief silence, and Gabriel feels momentarily awkward – despite his two daughters, he was never quite comfortable talking to the very young. Perhaps it reminded him just how young the twins were, though they'd never seemed it; more likely, he'd just never experienced much of a childhood himself. He couldn't relate to the joyful optimism they felt. “Where are you headed?” The red stallion kept his tone casual, not wanting to give her the impression he thought her helpless. In his youth (and now, clearly) he could be found doing the same thing – it's just he hadn't had children of his own, then. Priorities began to change as a parent, even one as distant as he'd been. “I'm Gabriel, by the way. New to all this place.” He offered her a wry smile, noting how vibrant her green eyes were, even in the mist and the sickly yellow-grey light.
gabriel
RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Cypress - 11-06-2013
RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Gabriel - 11-06-2013 "Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there." He wanted to chuckle at her dismissing his apology, because it was so proper and kind and unlikely in this dim, heavy place, but he did not. Gabriel got the sense the filly-mare would not take well to being laughed at, even if it was not at all cruelly. Instead he only nodded, and listened to her describe the Endless Blue – a provoking and fitting name to what could be nothing other than an ocean. Her earnest way of describing it made him wistful. “It sounds lovely,” he said, and he meant it. Gabriel missed the sea – the crash and roar of it, the whisper and shush of the waves running up along the shore at midnight and receding again, like children trying to see how close they can get to something without waking it. He missed the taste of salt in the air and on the sea-grass, he missed the gulls' constant crying, missed the whipping, fierce wind. More than anything, he missed the way it changed, moment by moment, the colors of blue shifting in a blink, the sky above just as variable, the new worlds that appeared when the tide rose and fell. And for all that, it was perpetual, continuous, timeless, forever the same. He hadn't known there was a sea here. “Do you know the way there?” The mist twisted around them both, concealing the path through the marsh – but it had lost it's appeal for Gabriel today. He didn't doubt that he would be back; there were secrets here, dark secrets he felt drawn to. It was something that happened to him when he was alone, the shifting interests to heavier things. But he was no longer alone, after all, and he looked down at Cypress, wondering why she was here, why she was alone and how long she had been that way. He did not ask these things, though; she'd made clear her intent to be independent, and that was something the chestnut stallion understood very well. gabriel RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Cypress - 11-07-2013
RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Gabriel - 11-07-2013 "Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there." “It is,” he answered her, after she recited the way to the sea. “Thank you.” He'd already told her he was new here; his lack of knowledge of the geography of the place was understandable, though he planned to correct it soon. Hopefully he could learn Helovia without stumbling into places less welcoming than this. He'd heard only a hint of the warfare, bigotry and hatred that darkened some of the herd-lands – he was still ignorant to the division between the species. Hopefully he wouldn't wander anywhere that would kill him. He shook his head at her question, not at all wistful – it had been years since he'd had any sort of family (with the exception of his children), and months since he'd seen anyone he was related to. Gabriel was used to it; not since leaving his mother had he thought of family as anything but pain, a tie that bound you to bad things. He'd cut those ties. “I don't,” he said, and thought of the twins. “Not a blood family, anyway. Somewhere here are twin stallions that I am...quite close to.” It was a near enough description of his relationship to them, anyway. Most things with Kostya and Sasha were complex; a death-bog wasn't a place he wanted to stand and talk about them. “I prefer to travel alone most of the time, though,” he added, a little unnecessarily, as traveling alone was clearly what he was doing now. He cast a glance about them, an ear flicking at the low-throated cry of some marsh-bird. Curiosity and unease still mixed within him, neither particularly winning out. “I'd thought to explore this place,” he admitted to her, “but I may save it for another day. It's not terribly welcoming, is it?” He was talking more than he generally did, and he wondered -- was it for her benefit, just another example of the father-instincts taking over, or was it for his own? [ooc] no problem! I tend to ramble, myself. gabriel RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Cypress - 11-08-2013
RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Gabriel - 11-20-2013 "Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there." He was unused to this sort of conversation; usually it was he who was close-lipped, preferring to keep his own counsel, as others spoke to him. Here, though, it seemed reversed, and he wondered why that was. Certainly she had reason to be shy with him; he was a much older stranger who had all but bounded over to her in a foreboding marsh. As for his own loose tongue, well – his daughters would be about her age, now. Gabriel couldn't help but feel protective. A funny thing, that; and for all the more he looked at her, the more guilt he felt. He'd left them, after all; he didn't even know whether they were still alive. Nor did he, in all moments, even wonder about them. He only continued his own life, followed his own feet and heart and head. And for all that he was still alone. She still hadn't spoken, and Gabriel shifted uncomfortable, wondering about the look in her eye. She seemed to study him, searching for something – whatever it was, she seemed to not be finding it, otherwise why would she keep her silence? After another moment he spoke again, the words soft and fading quick in the boggy air around them. “Well, Cypress...I hope you can forgive me for interrupting your day. It was a pleasure to meet you.” The red stallion hesitated for a moment, and then touched his muzzle gently to the filly's – a parting gesture. Then he turned, away from the marsh and the skeleton trees and the disquieting fog, and he began to walk. He hoped she wouldn't think him a silly old fool. @[Cypress] gabriel RE: let's be alone together; cypress - Cypress - 11-21-2013
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