It was peculiar for the mare to walk this path once more. Peculiar, for it seemed only a handful of days ago that she had walked the path away from them, towards the shades that would ravage her body, enslave her brothers, consume her sister.. Though she was aware of the passing of time that had occurred (how could she ever forget the pain, the suffering, the misery that she had swam through all those months within the other-dimension her Goddess had crafted for her?), it was still eerie to be on the path to something that should be familiar to her - and yet, wasn't. Over a full year had passed since her hooves had connected with this ground, and a year was certainly enough time to inflict changes upon a land. Though some similarities to the realm she once knew remained, like the older, more stoic trees, the well-worn path beneath her hooves, the scent of the salty sea mingling with pine trees on her nose, there were some fundamental differences too. Of the scents of those who passed this way now, she recognised very few. That she recognised any at all were a small comfort. The mare's desire for knowledge pushed her on.

She just had to know how her old home was faring. Who ruled in her stead? What changes did the shades make upon the land?

Did they miss her? Remember her?

Of course they did, her bonded, the ever-present Akaith chided softly in her mind. They loved you, as you love them, the dragon persisted, and the mare's step stiffened against the thoughts. No, the mare sent back, harsher than she initially meant to, I feel nothing. It was an impossible remark, and yet she had to hold onto it. Only her love for her daughters fuelled her, those who shared her blood, she could afford no other affection into her life - not even for those whom she would admit she once-loved. What good had it given her? Your daughters, Akaith reminded her with some smug amusement, were born of love. A sigh left the mare's lips. Yes, and my love for them will never die; my love for Vikram has disintegrated. Stubborn, foolish perhaps, but she even as she spoke the words to her bonded, she knew their truth. The mare was vacant of her emotions now, reborn into this world in the way she was always meant to be - emotionless, stony, indifferent to the world. That was the only way she could live, survive. Too long had she forgotten the teachings of her mother, the lessons bestowed upon her to guard herself against the world. Emotions made you weak, and she would be weak no longer.

Golden pools happened upon the wrecked glassy border of her home, and dismay flickered through her heart for a beat before it was quelled abruptly. She would not feel for what had happened to this land, she couldn't - and yet, she knew within herself, somewhere, she felt a sadness, a shame for ever leaving it, for doing what she had thought was right at the time and venturing into the torrent of shades and terror that had been consuming the land. Her figure paused at the would-be entrance to the land, her eyes watching the mists as they floated to and fro between the trees ahead of her, the foggy tendrils that once embraced her in their folds.

Would they ever do so again?

A gentle song, an old queen's lament, hummed from her chest, rising as her lips opened and the harmony penetrated the lands before her. Akaith remained silent this time, resting upon her bonded's back, quietly watching the world go by, silent even in the bond that united them, hiding the hope and desire to return home within her golden breast. Moonlight illuminated them, for the Sun would never touch their hides again - the mare did not even know the true time of day or whether the night about them was entirely false. They waited, they hoped, though their hope was hidden behind the stony, stoic façade that made them appear as nothing more than a statue, a monument to a tale of times long past.




ooc :: I know Mirage is Outcast and technically cannot create private threads, but if this thread could be restricted to @[Resplendence], @[Kaj], @[Kahlua], @[Thor] for now, I would greatly appreciate it. If you desperately want to join, please PM me - I'll be making more Open threads in the near future anyway C: