the Rift


Sail across the Sun, make it to the milkyway[Open]

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#1
Sparrow
February 29th, 2012 at 8:33pm

Powerful wings beat steadily, pulling the creature higher into the
sky. The thing stood out against the blue, his light honey body
extenuated with darker points, there was no camouflage in the blue,
blue sky. He continued to rise, wings spreading and working like magic
against the blue. Sparrow's heart was full of joy, rising into the sky
effortlessly he felt perfectly at home. This is where he was free of
everything. He didn't have to worry about grazing another horse and
being overcome with their memories. He couldn't always predict what
memories he would see, recent or buried deep, joyful or painful, and
so Sparrow tried hard not to touch others unless he had to. Here, in
the sky, he was free from his curse. Here he didn't speak, and didn't
have to worry about his stutter.

Flying, Sparrow was home.

Banking to the left Sparrow made a large, agile circle. Carefully he
lowered altitudes, making sweeping circles towards the earth's
surface. He needed water and a bit of rest if he wanted to keep flight
for the rest of the day. Fixing his hooves on the sand, Sparrow flexed
his wings. He extended them skyward, ruffling the tan colored feathers
in the sun light. Bringing them back into his sides he relaxed them
against his rib cage, shaking out his body. The sea air filled his
lungs and relaxed him a bit. The beach seemed desolate, no one
venturing out to the coast. Relief filled him and he pressed forward,
a slow walk to take in the serene beauty of the water.



Onni
February 29th, 2012 at 9:20pm

Seeing Jaydan and meeting Azzuen had lightened Onni’s heart, a little
bit. However, winter and the destructing and loss of her lifelong home
left a bitter taste in her mouth that was hard to get rid of. Staring
at the perfect continuation of blue rolling toward her made it easier
to bare. There was something warm, despite the chill of the cool air,
within the ocean, a continuous cycle of push and pull. Inevitable,
unstoppable. There was nothing that could end the promise of the next
wave lapping gently across the sand. That was enough to soothe her,
blue eyes watching the water, listening to the sound of the waves,
hoping life would pass steadily.

Hooves could be heard approaching in the sand, but the pale faced mare
didn’t turn to look. Her blue eyes just watched the ebbing and flowing
of the water, her attention still rapt, as if the beats couldn’t
permeate to her thoughts. That nattering replay of running from the
shades, legs growing tired even as she was nearing the edge. The way
her lungs felt heavy, like they would fall through her chest onto the
ground below. The way her throat stung with each breath, but there was
no stopping. Just like the waves, her legs had to keep moving. The
only thing driving her was the need to escape.

What drove the ocean?

Her musings suddenly snapped out of focus as the sound of hooves grew
too close. Her face turning to look at the like dun body of a
stallion, clad with wings. Naturally, a smile tugs at the corners of
her lips, but it does not get reflected in her eyes. Only Anumati had
survived, out of everyone in the Cliffs. I am a failure, she thinks as
she looks at this other Pegasus. All of those faces she had left to
die flashing behind her eyes, falling on the bearded, friendly face
she knew the best. What does it mean, to be loved?

“Hello,” she says, her voice hollowly cheerful. “I am Onni of-…” she
paused, almost saying the Islands, before realizing there was no
longer such a home. “Of the wind.”



Sparrow
March 2nd, 2012 at 11:02am

Sparrow had not anticipated meeting anyone on the beach today, but he
wasn't dissapointed when another winged creature came into view. His
gentle eyes searched her, hoping no threatening sign would jump out at
him. If it did, now would be the only time for him to flee. Deeming
her safe, Sparrow lifted his hooves into a tranquil trot along the
crisp sand. Reaching her Sparrow lowered his head and chest in a
sweeping, gracefull greeting. "h-hello, I am-m Sparrow." He listened
to her greeting. Onni. Such a beautiful name, but she psoke it with
such sorrow. Feeling her hesitation Sparrow furrowed his brows in
confusion. Anumati, another mare he had recently met, seemd also to be
shrouded in sorrow. Sadness swept over the stallion, feeling entirely
upset for the mare. Whatever had happened, it was truly terrible.
Sparrow looked out to the ocean. He felt a loss for words. He wanted
to comfort the mare, and his instincts told him to reach out and graze
her shoulder with his muzzle. Selfishly, however, he refused to do so,
keeping memories off of him was his best defense. He blinked, watching
the foamy hands of the sea reach up and threaten to pull them in. "I
am s-sorry for w-whatever troub-b-bles y-you, Miss O-onni."



Onni
March 3rd, 2012 at 12:32pm

His eyes were light, warm, and filled with a strange sort of wariness
that Onni could not quite understand. She was not a large mare, nor
was her face threatening in any manner. Soon enough, though, this
stranger deemed her safe to approach, something she was glad for.
Though she was particularly burdened by her own thoughts, the girl
still maintained her love of company. That was a trait she had earned
through a long life of living on her own - the need for others.
Loneliness was crippling, and it had cost her dearly at times. For, in
the absence of teachers, she had gained awkward flight. In the absence
of friends, she had learned little social skills. So, there were times
when her bubbly personality was overflowing with effort to please
those before her.

Onni wanted to be liked. She hoped, through the dim light of her
downtrodden mind, that this stallion would come to be her friend.

The nervousness of this stallion reminded her of Windhover, the oddly
self-conscious draft who she had met on the rim of the volcano so many
months ago. This one was also pale in color, though he had dark points
and a different shape that easily differentiated him from her former
friend. He had gone missing from the Islands not long after Voltaic,
before the shades had invaded every inch of Isilme. Still, Onni hoped
that quirky stallion was safe somewhere, not bloody and broken in the
ground.

Sparrow. A smile, though a bit half-hearted, crests her lips in
response to his introduction. The words are spoken with what seems
difficulty - a stutter. It was unusual to hear such a thing from an
adult speaker, but the tobiano mare found it charming. He turned his
face to look out at the blue ocean, and Onni did so as well. The
cerulean surface is met with matching eyes and, coincidentally, a
matching mood. The stuttering sound of Sparrow’s voice makes the mare
turn her pale face from the water to look back at her company, finding
his sentence and endearing sort of thing.

Worry. He was worried about her. If any from the Islands had survived,
would they too be worried? Would he be worried? Onni shook her head,
trying to clear the smiling face from her mind. Is that what it means
to be loved?

“You are kind, Sparrow,” she says, her voice a light song, a bit more
cheerful in the company of another. “It is not your fault, though, so
you should not have to apologize.” A smile, this time more genuine,
appears on her face. Company had always been a quick fix for the
mare’s sorrow. “Where do you suppose we go when we die, Sparrow? My
mother always said Pegasus turned into wind, but I don't think that is
true.”



Sparrow
March 5th, 2012 at 10:39am

The pale dun looked again out into the ocean. The icy blue waters
looked peaceful here, running foamy fingers along the shore line, but
he knew that out there, no determining how far, that it was
treacherous. Waves larger than the stallion himself were crashing
down, churning blue and green together somewhere. The thought of the
ocean’s differences reminded him of horses and how they appeared, the
outside to the inside, somewhere deep. It seemed that horses, no
matter their age or intelligence, were very good at keeping themselves
together on the outside. They would always appear tranquil, held
together by the strength of an undying will to impress others—but, no
one ever knew the churning inside of them. Well, of course some knew,
like Sparrow. So aware at other being’s true feelings and intentions,
so connected to the other life that wasn’t his own because of this
bitter-sweet ability of hyper sensitivity. Here and now, Onni seemed
so peaceful on the outside, looking out into the ocean for all it’s
might, but inside she was a black lake, enveloped in a sadness that
one can only feel when everything they embody is taken from them, like
the loss of the only home they knew. Sparrow let his head drop some,
an overlooked sigh escaping his brown lips.


His ears, satellites picking up the smallest of sounds, focused on
Onni. Eyes, expressive in nature but now clouded in thought, looked
out to the water. Her question caught him off guard, though the way
she spoke it was so natural. That is what she must have been focusing
on during his approach, when she was casting her gaze over the sea.
Sparrow blinked, never before being asked such a personal question.
Intimacy laced the words; it wasn’t something horses generally talked
about on first meetings. It was a question from the heart, buried deep
as a fear. Sparrow could say he was afraid of death, and the statement
would be completely true. To say he had never thought of it before,
well, that was something entirely different. Sparrow thought about his
death before on multiple occasions, the pain he would feel and the
damnation he might face…he had never thought of death being something
positive, that he would go somewhere good.


The sky seemed like a good place, Sparrow loved the sky. It was
beautiful and untamed, and it was where he would go if he could choose
where to live his afterlife. On the other hand, maybe there wasn’t an
afterlife. Maybe they became clouds, spiraling and holding
precipitation and sunlight, keeping it or letting it fall to the world
below. Sparrow could be a cloud. ”t-that is somet-thing new to me
M-miss Onn-ni. I have n0never thought-t of where I would go a-after
d-d-deat-t-th.” He struggled with the word death, as if it clung to
his vocal cords. He turned to Onni, lifting his head to match her eyes
directly, so beautiful, blue pools etched deep into her bald face. ”I
t-think your m-mother was very w-w-wise. We’re m-made-e from the s-sky
and it would b-be joyous-s to ret-turn to it.” He hoped the mare could
understand him, his stutter fluctuating so much in his speech.



Onni
March 8th, 2012 at 12:02pm

It was only after the words had been released into the air that Onni
thought her question might be strange. Was this not the sort of
conversation you had with trusted ones? Maybe she was startling the
stallion beside her, which would draw him away and leave her lonely
once more. Still, he did not really move from his position, light
colored pelt still shining in the light that reflected from the sands
and waves. His eyes were locked onto the rolling of the waves from the
deep, busy with the movement of thought.

Onni hoped, just slightly, that he would ignore her breach of
etiquette and continue on with normal conversation. However, that
murky thought of death was not one so easily wiped from your mind.
Even though she tried to forget the feeling of loss, it found a way to
creep into her senses, take over the mind, and rob you of the ability
to socialize normally. The tobiano had never been especially good at
socializing normally as it was, so in the wake of such a disaster, she
was much like a young foal speaking to someone other than their mother
for the first time.

However, Sparrow did not see perturbed by her question like you would
think. There was the inkling of surprise in his features, but he
remained rather calm, even as he took the time to ponder a way to
respond to her. The mare knew it was foolish, asking the living what
happened to the dead. Only the dead knew where we wander, but they
were not to become the living’s audience today. When he finally did
speak, the pale stallion was honest. Onni smiled, a little peek of an
emotion, in return. The mare had never thought where she would go.
Being dead, she supposed, it wouldn’t make much difference. However,
the friends she had lost back home, her heart ached to think they
would be little more than fertilizer for the grass.

The beauty of the soul, surely, finds a better place to rest.

His next sentence brings and even more radiant smile to my face. My
mother was not usually a store of wisdom, but she was very smart about
some things. She had more of the mastery of getting what she wanted,
without causing much disruption. Onni, the daughter of such a fierce
mare, had often failed to live up to that ability. While her mother
was like a violent gale, Onni was like a light breeze. Others let her
through life because she was pleasant, while Kri would have demanded
it. Still, she knew of the wind and the soul. Maybe her mother was
right. She certainly hoped so.

“It is nice to think that even our friends now gone can touch us so
gently,” she says, her voice distant, but pleasant. The wind had often
brought her comfort - perhaps that was the reason. “Thank you,
Sparrow,” her voice calm, but true. Thank you for answering the
question I could not.



Sparrow
April 6th, 2012 at 2:21pm

Her comment stopped him. Friends. Sparrow didn't have any friends to
fill the skies he flew, no friends dead or alive. He spent his whole
life trying to stay away from other horses except for meetings like
this, a rogue, so that he didn't accidentally touch someone. His
ability to see memories was both a blessing and a curse--but mostly a
curse. It held him down from making relationships so that he didn't
have the temptation to reach out and comfort a friend, or gently
nuzzle a lover and gain pain from it. He knew he had the potential to
see good memories, they just came less often. It seemed that pain,
hurt, and fear were the only things he got. In battle they were
useful, but how often did this stallion fight? Maybe once in his life.
He was no warrior, and his ability hindered him from doing almost
anything else.


He blinked when he realized he was just starring into Onni's eyes, and
took a step back. He let his head drop some with embarrassment,
shaking his nose ever so slightly. "S-sorry for staring M-miss
On-n-ni." He butchered her name, making him close his mouth tightly to
keep other words from escaping. Sighing he lifted his head again, eyes
focusing on her ears instead of her eyes. "Do y-you have m-man-ny
friends, O-onni?" He asked, turning his body to stand parallel to her.
His ears focused on her and he let his eyes fall back out onto the
waves. Sparrow was so lonely, and he needed friends. He wanted Onni to
be his friend; she was so open and seemingly kind, it would be foolish
not to welcome such a mare into his life. Hopefully she would welcome
him as well, and he would have someone in this land where he grew up
alone. He didn't want to ask her if she would be his friend, fearing a
negative response. He was like that a lot in life, keeping things to
himself in fear of something another might say or do.



Onni
April 16th, 2012 at 6:07pm

His eyes locked on to her with intensity for a few moments, an Onni
almost forgot to breathe. There was something sorrowful in the way his
eyes held hers, almost as if it pained him to think of friends. The
tobiano was truly sorry for ushering in any unwanted emotions to this
young stallion. He seemed to mean well, and had not been daunted by
her odd questions. The painted mare woefully thought that perhaps she
had frightened him away at last with her wistful words about friends
now passed. The tug of muscles at his face was weary, like looking
back on his past.

A place that usually contained painful memories.

After a quick ponder, the stallion blinked rapidly, looking a bit
bashfully at the mare who simply smiles at him in return. Onni had
never been very traditional about the way she spoke with others. In
fact, her social experience had been stunted early on in her life, so
now she had a strange way about making acquaintances. To her, others
were adopted as close friends quickly. Her heart was open to any who
wished entrance, which had led to many painful losses. However, this
was not without the equal enjoyment of the company of those like
Sparrow - kind creatures, full of smiles.

“It is alright, Sparrow,” she says, a smile breaking her lips again as
his stammering sentence comes to a close. The stutter was something
personal to him that Onni very much enjoyed. While she found his
language a bit hard to understand in certain strains, it was charming.
Personal. Unique. Memorable. The mare, herself, did not feel all that
memorable of an individual.

His question led her to drop her head, a flowing lock of blonde and
white hairs obscuring her blue eyes as she looked out to the waves. “I
had good friends,” Onni says, her voice a sad bell. “Now, I only have
a few.” Lifting her head up, the mare smiled acceptingly. “Most of
them are with the wind.” They were in a better place than they had
left. A tormented world filled with gruesome shades was no place for
her loved ones. The peaceful drift of the air suited them much better.


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