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11-21-2013, 03:35 PM
"Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there."
Once Gabriel had been a creature of ice, of frost and snow and steaming breath, and he'd never lost his preferences for cooler temperatures because of it. Summer dulled him, bleached the rich chestnut to something lighter, made shallow hills and valleys of his ribs. For days his mouth had tasted of dust, but he was too weary to head north again. It seemed the consequences of his wandering had finally caught up to him.
The prior evening, humid and dog-hot like the inside of a mouth, had driven him here, to rest among the willows, cool and slender even in the last gasp of summer. He'd spent the evening watching lightning flicker away to the south, but it was too far to hear the soft grumble that followed. Even in the darkness the humidity lingered, and the whole world seemed to wait for rain.
With the dawn they were rewarded, a shower in from the sea; Gabriel thought he could taste salt on the air, and the constant, soothing percussion of it made him think of the ocean. As he drowsed beneath the boughs of a particularly ancient tree, only a few drops of rain finding him, he dreamed of it; it was more sensation than anything, more sound and feel than sight, and when he woke it was with a head full of thoughts from years prior, a place now destroyed, a girl who could be alive or dead. He hoped her alive.
Groggy and thirsty, Gabriel shook himself and stepped from his sleeping-place, the wet leaves leaving dark streaks along his sides as he passed. It felt good, a cool caress, and he thought again of the mare. It seemed a lifetime ago; a place only accessible in dreams, now.
The drizzle was slowing, but there was still a morning-haze over the pool, the sound of water on water keeping him subdued. If it hadn't been for the dream, the rain, the reprieve from the bone-dry, dog-tired summer, he would have noticed the stallion before. Instead, he only noticed him when he was too near to leave without an acknowledgement; even so he stepped back, gathering himself, long-bred instincts readying him even as he thought himself a fool for being caught off guard. He blinked against the rain, droplets caught in red hair and eyelashes.
“This rain makes me think there are gods after all,” he said by way of greeting; his voice belied his caution, though it was evident in the way he stood. He hadn't yet run across a stranger with ill-intent, but it was a world of firsts until it was your last.
The dragon hadn't yet surfaced; a blessing, for Gabriel, because there would be a first indeed.
@[Lace]
@[Torleik]
The prior evening, humid and dog-hot like the inside of a mouth, had driven him here, to rest among the willows, cool and slender even in the last gasp of summer. He'd spent the evening watching lightning flicker away to the south, but it was too far to hear the soft grumble that followed. Even in the darkness the humidity lingered, and the whole world seemed to wait for rain.
With the dawn they were rewarded, a shower in from the sea; Gabriel thought he could taste salt on the air, and the constant, soothing percussion of it made him think of the ocean. As he drowsed beneath the boughs of a particularly ancient tree, only a few drops of rain finding him, he dreamed of it; it was more sensation than anything, more sound and feel than sight, and when he woke it was with a head full of thoughts from years prior, a place now destroyed, a girl who could be alive or dead. He hoped her alive.
Groggy and thirsty, Gabriel shook himself and stepped from his sleeping-place, the wet leaves leaving dark streaks along his sides as he passed. It felt good, a cool caress, and he thought again of the mare. It seemed a lifetime ago; a place only accessible in dreams, now.
The drizzle was slowing, but there was still a morning-haze over the pool, the sound of water on water keeping him subdued. If it hadn't been for the dream, the rain, the reprieve from the bone-dry, dog-tired summer, he would have noticed the stallion before. Instead, he only noticed him when he was too near to leave without an acknowledgement; even so he stepped back, gathering himself, long-bred instincts readying him even as he thought himself a fool for being caught off guard. He blinked against the rain, droplets caught in red hair and eyelashes.
“This rain makes me think there are gods after all,” he said by way of greeting; his voice belied his caution, though it was evident in the way he stood. He hadn't yet run across a stranger with ill-intent, but it was a world of firsts until it was your last.
The dragon hadn't yet surfaced; a blessing, for Gabriel, because there would be a first indeed.
@[Lace]
@[Torleik]
gabriel
