[O] We Carry On - 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] We Carry On (/showthread.php?tid=24412) |
We Carry On - Aleta - 07-02-2016
Flying was perhaps the best part about being a pegasus. High above the world of Helovia, all of life's petty problems started to seem so small. With the wind whipping through her mane and the sun shining brightly upon her back, Aleta could almost imagine that she was the only living creature in the entire world. To the south lay the ocean, blue and wide and endless; to the north lay hills and trees, an innumerable expanse of forests and plains. Somewhere far away, the girl knew that mountains towered over the land, so tall that they dwarfed everything that walked upon the earth. Normally, flying cleared Aleta's mind and eased her burdens. Today, however, the lightning bolt along her neck flickered unhappily and a frown creased her delicate features. Today, even flying as far and as fast as she could did not allow her to escape her worries. The mild-mannered lightning girl had never really been angry before, but today... today she was furious. Aleta had finally given up on her mother returning to the Hidden Falls, where she belonged. The girl had known for some time that hers was not a normal family - her parents were not romantically involved, though she knew they cared deeply for one another - but she had always assumed that they would both be there for her. That she would always be enough to hold them together, that Sohalia would at least have the decency to stick around long enough for her daughter to grow up. Yet, as soon as Aleta had been weaned, it seemed, Sohalia was gone more and more, until she finally stopped coming home at all. Sure, she came to visit every now and then - to do her duty and check on her daughter. But otherwise she was absent, painfully silent on her whereabouts, avoiding Aleta's burning questions like the plague. And the girl had so many questions. Where did she go? What was she doing? Why didn't she want to be with her family? And so Aleta had left the Hidden Falls (albeit temporarily), flitting this way and that in an attempt to find some trace of the Transcended. Anything that would direct her, anything that would show her where to find the mare. "Talk." @Cera RE: We Carry On - Cera - 07-14-2016 @Aleta RE: We Carry On - Aleta - 07-14-2016
The Riptide Isles were, in fact, dangerous, but Aleta had arrived well-prepared. When she had first begun to wander across Helovia, her father had extracted a promise from her that she would return to him in one piece. Each time she felt herself beginning to tire, she touched down with a fond smile, for what in the world would her father ever do without her? And so she had traversed the skies to the Riptide Isles with care, landing upon a grassy field well away from the shoreline, suspicious of the sea and all that lay within. The little lightning girl had grown so used to being alone in her adventuring that the voice that interrupted her thoughts came as a surprise. When she caught sight of its owner, she appraised him with a hesitant smile (her father had warned her not to talk to strangers). As he joined her, the young stallion held his head low and offered a friendly face to accompany his kindly words. He was golden and white, leanly built and tall. Aleta cocked a head to the side, storing his name for future use: Cera. A red panda (an odd-looking little creature that quickly charmed a smile from the girl) sat atop the stallion, chittering a greeting. "It's lovely to meet you both," Aleta offered demurely, lowering her gaze as she bobbed her head in greeting. "My name is Aleta." The lightning marking along the right side of her neck flickered cheerfully. The girl found herself wondering where Cera's companion had come from. Why were some blessed with a bond to their soul mate while others were not? "I'm not lost!" she exclaimed with a giggle, allowing a brief surge of thankfulness to appear on her delicate Andalusian features. It was kind of Cera to stop to help her, though she was in little need. Her father always knew where she intended to roam, and she very rarely strayed off the path. If she were ever in trouble, Kaj would appear to rescue her. Of that, the lightning girl had no doubt. "But it's ever so nice of you to worry." She paused. "Actually... I'm... well, I'm looking for my mother." Suddenly, she found the whole story pouring out, allowing herself to speak her injured thoughts aloud for the first time. She told the stranger of her mother's increasingly common absence, how the mare seemed to have abandoned her daughter and the stallion who had sired her. She told him of her confusion, of her anger, of her hurt. Once she had started, she could not stop, and so it was that Cera knew more of her than she had allowed anyone else. Perhaps it was the paternal aura that he gave off; perhaps it was the genuine concern in his eyes. In any case, she finished with a final harrumph to attempt to mask the pain in her mismatched gaze. "So, you see," Aleta finished, "I want to find her and..." She trailed off. And what? Drag her back home? Beg her for an explanation? "I just want to see her." "Talk." @ Cera - she didn't mention either of them by name, just as "Mother" and "Daddy" or some variant of that. :3 RE: We Carry On - Cera - 07-18-2016 @Aleta RE: We Carry On - Aleta - 08-06-2016
Despite appearances, Aleta had no desire to be an adventurer - or, at least, she didn't want to wander like this. Her current quest felt hopeless, as though she would be forever pressing onward, searching endlessly for her mother - her hopes rising as she crested each hill because surely, surely she would see Sohalia just there, only to have her wishes crushed as the expanse before her was yet again empty, as it always was. She was tired of returning home day after day with nothing to show for her excursions except loneliness. Though she cheered herself with the reminder that she always had Kaj, it hurt to know that her mother had willfully abandoned her, that she was an afterthought, a mistake. For that was the only explanation she could conjure that would have driven the Transcended from her side. She never imagined the true size of her family, never knew that she had more siblings than she would be able to count. She looked so very forlorn, standing there alone in the Riptide Isles, though she was trying so very hard to act the proper princess before the stranger she had come across. Cera praised her manners, and she smiled shyly, remembering how she had striven to perfect diplomacy after her father had explained its importance. Besides, manners were something that would never go out of style. It was kind of him to notice, however, and his words had just the effect he had intended - Aleta was all the more likely to continue her current behavior given the positivity of his reaction. Though part of her wanted very badly to stem the words flowing so eagerly from her mouth, she found revealing her pain and fear to be amazingly cathartic. And Cera was such a brilliant listener, regarding her with a brow creased with true concern and feeling. As the minutes ticked by, the little lightning girl found herself growing more and more relaxed in his presence, as though he were an older brother that she simply hadn't seen in quite some time. As the stallion gave her his condolences, she might have (had she been any other filly) felt the urge to move closer, to cuddle beneath one of his great wings and let him comfort her through the tears that threatened to spill from her pretty, bicolored eyes. As it were, she merely sniffed softly and looked away, shifting uncomfortably. Even if she were that forward (which she was not), and even if she were not so physically oversensitive (which she was), she would never be able to act that way towards someone who was basically a complete stranger. But as the stallion promised to assist her in her quest to find her missing mother, the girl brightened considerably, her ears perking up and her eyes lighting for the first time. "You - you will?" she asked him, hope brimming in her voice. "Oh, thank you so very much! I would appreciate any help you can give." There was a hint of relief in the girl, a brief sense of confidence appearing because surely, with the help of such a kind and knowledgeable stallion, she could not continue to fail. "Oh, yes, my mother is Sohalia the Transcended," she revealed. "She's sort of small and grey and has these pretty white wings, and she has a wakiya companion named Astraeus." A pause. "I know she isn't in the Hidden Falls, because that's where I live with my father, Kaj the Aurelight. But... I haven't been able to look in any of the other herds, and I can only travel so far in a day, so..." She trailed off helplessly, hopelessly. "Have you seen her anywhere?" "Talk." @Cera |