Deep in the furthest and darkest recesses of her whirling mind Africa knew this could end in heartbreak- for many more reasons than she wished to consider. Theirs had been a forbidden friendship right from the start, their families at war; her heart bitter with confusion and emotional turmoil. Although it had never truly been uttered, she knew the grounds he called home; his coat was not like those she dwelt with in the desert, nor like any who came from grass or forest. Maybe, if the word Basin never slipped across either tongue, she possibly had believed so long ago, treason could not have been committed; a plea of ignorance, no matter how farfetched.

Right now, as her kindly gaze embraced him, Africa began to tremble both for the spark which reignited in her heart, and for the bank of wrongdoings she had collected against the better judgement of her home; the ever expanding list of horrible secrets that weighed so heavily across her young, brazen shoulders. “He, is my friend...” She scolded herself in private, shaking away literally, the ambush of self-condemnation as it began to bubble through her thoughts; like the flimsy, half-built relationship was a fair excuse to betray the ones she loved, again. “Voodoo was trapped in that pit. The Throat is a refuge for the lost and the lonely. He too can belong...” She furthered her plight a little more aggressively- desperately, the sound of her voice echoing brutally through the silence in her ears. Africa blinked apprehensively, trying to conceal the flaring argument from the paused and waiting stallion before her.

A curt laugh fell from his rattling nostrils then, and the young grey’s eyes leapt upwards to find his gaze wandering across her naked shoulder- undoubtedly, she thought with a soft sigh, absorbing the shining pink scar. As he asked about it, Africa took a wary breath and a confronted rawness gathered through the beige gloss of her torn stare. “The Basin...” She revealed quickly, with such a hushed tone that should a breeze have swept through at that exact time, the words might have never made their mark. The one-winged Oracle had not spoken of the torture and torment of her captivity there at all, to anyone; she had not the faith in herself to reveal such a tale of terror, nor the confidence to believe that her infidelity would be forgiven. She did not reveal how, or why the wing had been lost- or the reason for her being in that territory to begin with. The revelation was all she could stomach this time, and the hollowness which had overwhelmed her expression lifted into a half-hearted smile; pain choked by willpower.

Right after he spoke next (suggesting to part from the stench of the Threshold), Africa’s voice again slipped as a tender breath towards her long lost friend- she had indulged his curiosity, if that’s what had compelled him to ask about her recent disablement, and now it was her turn. “Why did you leave?” She asked, her eyes narrowing as the invasion passed briefly through her mind. She hoped that all ties had been broken; that honesty might blossom into his shifting expression and that if she were to gift to him her trust right now, that he would nurture it and not let it burn. So many mistakes she had made and now, as the fragments of her shattered life began to mend back into something wonderful, a curve ball like this was thrown headlong towards her. She held her breath in waiting, silently begging for the right words to fall upon her quivering, reaching ears.

Voodoo’s nose had inched forward, crossed the line which had been etched between them so suddenly, and Africa’s eyes closed shyly in response. Flared nostrils soaked willingly the scent of his closeness, and her heart began to pound with nervous tension- the stallion’s lips touched her hot, sleek hide, just beneath the wavering of her ear. It was a feeling she had not before met; never had she let another come so intimately close, and though she was terrified of the choking emotion that engulfed her body; not prepared or quite willing for the surge of affection that leaked from that nuzzle, the grey was so glad to have found the grulla Unicorn again.


“thinking” | “speaking”
Tagged: @[Voodoo]