the Rift


[P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou?

Akeli Posts: 13
Outcast
Filly :: Hybrid :: 16hh :: 2 Seasons (Ages in Birdsong)
Gremlin :: Common Genet :: None Noella
#1
akeli

As Birdsong brings life, Orangemoon must cleanse. It is the way it has always been, since before Helovia, before the gods, before everything. For one thing to come to be, another shall pass. And forever, this shall continue.

This is what brings us here to this moment. 

________________________________________


”Come along, little one.” 

Side by side the pair move along, traveling steadily through the forest. A mother and her child on a pilgrimage to something better. Though the mother would never quite explain what ‘better’ was, the tiny filly followed diligently, though her small legs made traveling slow. But the mother was always patient, allowing their pace to be set by the girl. 

“Mama,” the child begins, “where are we going? How much more do we have to walk?”

The mother, a grey and white painted unicorn with a small set of antlers crowning her skull, smiles sweetly as she looks down upon her always curious daughter. “Well my little sparrow, we are simply looking for somewhere new to go. Home is wherever you are, sweetheart, but I would like to find somewhere perfect for you to grow big and strong.” The mother then leans down and plants a kiss with gentle lips between two small tines that sprout upon the girl’s head. The girl giggles, the noise happy and bubbling, leading her to reach her nose towards the mare’s and blow a small raspberry against the velvet of her mother’s nose. The mother laughs, and on they continue.

________________________________________


“Mama, get up!” The voice is small and pained, presented in stark contrast to the last time we heard the child speak. She presses her head against her mother’s heaving side, trying to physically force the woman upright. The mother lays upon three folded legs, with one forelimb stretched out before her, bent at a terrible angle. Below her stomach there is a pool of blood, seeping into the loose dirt, and occasionally the mare shifts in an attempt to avoid exposing the gaping gash that leaves her abdomen open. 

The pair has come to rest beneath a great oak tree, in a cavern beneath it’s intricate root system. This space had been created after years of erosion, covered by the earth supported by the roots. The mare had stepped upon weakened earth, and the ground had given way, swallowing her whole, and as she tumbled violently downward, shifting sharpened stones had reached to greet her. The child had been several lengths away, thankfully far enough to be spared by the fall. Despite her mother’s pleas, the filly had stumbled clumsily down the newly formed embankment, beating tiny wings in an attempt to balance herself. 

Now the mother smiles gently, trying to hide the pain that could be easily painted upon her features. It is easy for her to know what is coming, but how does she explain this to her child? Her beautiful daughter, her little sparrow. For the mother can hardly fear death, when instead she fears what will happen to her daughter with no one to guide the way. 

“Come,” she is able to whisper, the warmth of her voice drawing the girl forward like a moth to the flame. The filly lays beside her, burying her face into the black waves of her mane. “Let us rest here for a moment,” she says, turning her head, arching her neck, attempting to wrap her daughter in an embrace. They lay like this for a while, letting the moment last as long as possible. This will be the last good memory the child has of her mother, and the dying mare attempts to make it worthwhile. Eventually breaking the silence, the woman speaks quietly. “You know that I love you, little one. I will love you forever. Even when I am not by your side, I will always love you.” She finally pulls her head away, and the filly looks up at her with golden eyes. The mother knows these eyes, as she has seen them in her own reflection. She memorizes the silver dapples in her child’s coat, marred only by perfectly placed splashes of white, and of the soft down that still covers portions of her differently colored wings, and the small prongs that will certainly grown into antlers that are even grander than her own. She traces each perfect detail of her child’s face, though she needn’t bother. A bond between mother and child has no competition, and she could never possiblly forget a single detail about the foal who lays beside her. She just hopes the child will not forget about her.

The filly didn’t say anything, looking up at her mother. Why did it sound like a goodbye? The child couldn’t possibly understand what was going on, but she did know that there was something wrong. 

“Darling, do you know those flowers I love?”

The girl shrugs. “You love all of the flowers I bring you, mama. You are never able to pick your favorite.” 

The mother gives a soft laugh and a smile, nodding. “Yes, you are right. Well, why don’t you go find me the prettiest flowers you can find? Bring me a whole bouquet. It will brighten this room until I am well enough to leave it.” The child, at first, seems hesitant to leave her mother’s side, but eventually she rises, shaking the dust off of her small form. The girl leans forward, rubbing her cheek against her mother’s. The mother repeats the motion, shutting her eyes tightly, holding back tears. Her heart aches. “I will see you again, darling, don’t you worry. Now go, before it gets dark.” Finally the two pull apart, and the filly makes her way towards the embankment. She turns her head one last time. 

“I love you, mama.”

“And I love you too.”

The child smiles, then turns again, scrambling up towards the light. Behind her, the mare smiles, tears falling freely. “Goodbye, my little sparrow, my sweet perfect Akeli.” Then she is alone, and for a moment she takes in the streaking rays of sun that are able to break through the ceiling, and watches the particles of dust that float through the air like tiny sprites. Finally, when she is as ready as she will ever be, she lays her head down, allowing heavy lids to flutter, and then close. A single sigh escapes her. Silence falls.


________________________________________


Tiny hooves dance upon the decay, so small that they barely leave a trail upon the heavy bedding of fallen leaves freshly shed by the trees that fill this particular forest. Into an empty world the filly calls out, her voice a bell ringing in silence. “Mama!” she calls, ears quickly twisting and pivoting upon her skull, desperate to fill the hollows with the voice she has come to know better than even her own. Held beneath her white wing, which is clasped closely to her side, are several flowers, all she could find as Orangemoon had claimed the rest, as well as some brightly colored leaves, which she knew would stand like fire upon the earthen walls of the cavern. But she had wandered in great circles, losing her path, unable to find her way back. She moves forward with no purpose, unsure of which direction she should even be heading.

The dappled coat draped over her delicate frame shivers from the bite of the autumn chill, and her stomach has already begun to purr with discontent. It has only been hours, which is long enough for any child to begin to panic at the unexpected separation from a parent. She wanders, searching for her dam, and thankfully she has not yet found the waiting jaws of wolves ready for a quick meal. She cries out again, and again she is answered only by the soft echo of her own voice reverberating off of the landscape. 

Finally the filly comes to a stop, shifting nervously back and forth between each hoof. Small wings, not yet large enough to grant her lift from the ground, clap anxiously against her flanks as she considers what to do next. The flowers and leaves tumble free, but she cannot bother with them right now. Barely two seasons old, she is grown enough to forage, but certainly not enough to be alone. This forest is new to her, as if the entire world isn’t, but she and Mother had just arrived. She was so eager to find her mother flowers, that she didn’t even think to stay close by. She hadn’t considered that she would grow lost within the maze of this forest.

Well, little sparrow, lost you are.

So now she waits, and nestled between the fear pressing against her heart in her small ribcage is the tiniest blossom of guilt. It is her fault that she wandered too far away. But no one could possibly blame her for wandering, nosing around beneath the dying foliage looking for tender grass, peeking with sunlit eyes around every tree trunk looking for a flower to carry back with her. She knew that mama loved flowers, and she wanted nothing more than to make mama happy.

In the distance, the cry of a wolf triggers the filly’s instincts to keep moving. She drops her head, picking up what she could of flowers and the leaves, and begins to run, tripping frequently over her tired and gangly legs. She runs blindly, her wings flapping feebly at her sides. She continues to run until the ground drops away to a steep yet gradual decline, and she tumbles down a soft embankment, landing with a soft thud beside her mother’s sleeping form. 

“Oh mama!” She calls out, picking herself and her gift off of the floor, and bounds towards the only one who she has every loved. “Oh mama, I thought I would never find you again! Look what I brought you!” The words are barely audible as they escape between her clenched teeth. She drops the gift at her mother’s feet, nosing her mother’s neck to wake her. 

The sudden chill that meets her nose is enough to startle the child. Something is wrong, and terrible, and very not good. “Mama?” She murmurs, again brushing her nose against the arch of her mother’s neck. “Mama!” She cries out, this time panicked and terrified. She tries this several times, doing all she can think of to wake her mother from this sleep. She throws herself against her mother’s still form, beating upon her side with small hooves, even goes so far as to bite and tug at her mane. Still, her mother never stirs.

She struggles towards the open air, tears running down her face. “Help!” She screams, “Somebody, please help!” Again, silence. Her entire world has gone silent and dark. 

Slowly she retreats back into the cavern, laying beside the cold shell of her mother. She rests her head upon her mother’s flank, and she cries.

I’d give anything to hear you say it one more time,
That the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes.

image | coding

@Ktulu ~
[Image: _gift__akeli_pixel_by_abbie1234-d9po0qh_zps6qympgzb.png]
Please tag Akeli in all posts || Permission for magic and force at all times, except in cases of permanent injury or death.


Messages In This Thread
[P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? - by Akeli - 06-10-2017, 05:54 PM
RE: [P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? - by Ktulu - 06-10-2017, 06:05 PM
RE: [P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? - by Akeli - 06-10-2017, 06:14 PM
RE: [P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? - by Ktulu - 06-10-2017, 06:36 PM
RE: [P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? - by Akeli - 06-10-2017, 07:49 PM
RE: [P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? - by Ktulu - 06-25-2017, 12:58 AM
RE: [P] Oh Mother, Where Are Thou? - by Akeli - 06-29-2017, 08:11 PM

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