I watch her quietly, eyes roaming across the sweeping curve of her rib-cage, sweeping into the relaxed valley of her hips. I do not know why but looking at her now, sleeping peacefully, she seemed so fragile. It forced me to wonder (is that how others see me?). I cannot imagine anyone could look at me and see someone as breathy and... it was there, right on the tip of my tongue. A sort of feeling that tickled the edges of my mind the longer I gazed at the white yearling. Powder! Yes, that was it. I cannot imagine anyone seeing me as breathy and powdery as Erthë, she is beautiful. She is all long, gangly limbs and smooth skin, gifted with that precious white that made it difficult to see her as anything other than good. Perhaps that is why I remained, why I chose to stay standing there as the minutes ticked by into hours. Why for whatever reason, I gave this stranger the benefit of the doubt, and entrusted her with my well-being.

Mother would be so disappointed.

But mother was not here. Sialia was gone, lost (abandoned you), no doubt searching desperately for her errant daughter. That is what I am right? Errant, disobedient, I left the safe-zone, traveled wayward in fright and desperation. Possibly looking for her, or maybe I just needed to escape. There was no right or wrong answer, both of them sounded right in my head, resonated correctly in my heart. I wanted to leave that place, designated as my newest bolt-hole, utilized for the sole purpose of hiding me away from everyone else. Safe, that is what it was, safety was Sialia's prime directive where I was concerned. She taught me everything I needed to know, how to hunker down and make myself less visible, even with this blue horn of mine. She showed me how to use water to assuage the pain in my legs, make it easier to move off in the face of danger (yeah right). I can forage, make scraps out of bark and survive off of willow. I can make symbols in the dirt that only she would know, our own little language between mother and daughter. That was a good thing was it not? Such a developed relationship was smiled upon in society right? So where was she? My guides went unheeded, unseen. It was three days since my departure and here I was, surrounded by foreign trees, foreign ground, strange rocks and an unexpected friend. Friend, the word sounded bizarre and heavy on my mind, aching against the back of my throat.

Erthë was here, but I do not think she particularly meant to be. Maybe it was the way she quirked her legs when I appeared, in how her ears first dropped at being disrupted from her pondering. Mother's first rule was always to look, see what was happening around you, notice everything and make calculated decisions from that point on. I did not see Erthë, I stumbled upon her. Now she was bound to promises that even I did not want to keep, but promises were the golden rule of life, you did not make them to break them.

My gaze is taken from the white filly, forcefully tearing myself from the angst drawing up against my breast, making it hard to breathe. I needed air, something fresh and not so drenched in reality, I needed... Gods. I remember the bright, vivid light in her eyes as Erthë explained them to me, as though they were common knowledge and she was tutoring an infant. She was not wrong, I had never heard of the Gods until earlier, Sialia never mentioned them even once. Yet here was a yearling who claimed there were four of them, snuggled soundly within their rocks, waiting for the unsuspecting to come upon them for whatever reason. How was it that four, infinitely powerful beings wound up trapped within stone? Pale blue eyes wander slowly over every edge, drinking in the runes upon each surface, their differences, a language I could not decipher all the while feeling inherently at home. I want to speak, draw one of these Gods from their chamber, if only to see it in the flesh, see if it was real. I turn to face them, all four of them, hooves planted firmly in the dirt as I observe closely.

Erthë had been poring over the darker one, off to my right, drawn upon in a sharp and edgy black as though someone had scored the top with pure starlight. The longer I stare the colder I get, a hollow sensation that sways at the base of my gut, I swallow and move on. This one is pale, lighter than the rest and the writing flows, it reminds me of water, carving its way through soft stone. Vines grow up and around, climbing through the wiry saplings standing guard at its head, small blue flowers could be seen between thin leaves. The chill is replaced with something warm, like the spring sun only just coming over the horizon. The feeling hits me quite strong, although I am not sure how - I feel safe, much like I did when my mother was around. Reluctantly I bring my gaze to the next shrine and I stop, lids narrowing just so. This stone was dark, charred and ashy, stung by fire and left to suffer beneath years of weathering. It made my heart pound fiercely and I exhale deeply, "Sun..." -CAW!

A bird, one I do not recognize, bursts from the lower limbs of a tree. Shrieking a song of warning, foreboding and obnoxious, it grates against the soft shell of my ears. I jump in fright, startled, stumbling backward while all connection to the strange tombstones are lost. "Stupid bird!" I gasp, shaking my head in an effort to re-arrange my nerves. It was time to go, I needed to leave this place with its broken paths and simmering, colorful creeks of... I hated to say lava but that really is what it looked like. Flesh still shivering after my brief scare, I stride sadly over to my yet sleeping companion "Erthë, Erthë wake up, it's been forever we need to go. Maybe I'm too rude, harsh even as I reach down to nose at her flank nearest me. I press my front hooves to her back as gently as I can and lean, much like I do with Sialia when she has slept past her intended awakening. Or whenever I was bored. It takes her a moment but the filly, agile even with her own crooked legs, comes away from the leaf-mold and shakes the sleep away. Anyone could see that she was still tired, maybe she was suffering too, lost in a way like I was. There were no words needed for her to pick a direction and start walking, I merely followed, lips pulled into a taught line, nostrils fluttering in anxiety. I had no idea the adventure that awaited me, and all I had to do was leave.

Speech




@Erthe - oh my god I'm so sorry this is so long, I really tried not to pp her as much as possible like, words or anything. I don't think it would be terribly necessary, I know I hate being talked at when I first wake up lol. But I tried to make the leaving part simple, I hope that's what you meant by 'take it from here?' Ha ha... ha. I guess just tag me whenever you get the thread in the DT up. (I completely forgot to throw her pain in there and I'm not ashamed)