"I thought this would be easier" he complained in a low voice and kicked a small stone over the edge of the cliff. Watching it fall into the crashing waves far below, the gold-backed stallion felt the little dragon stir on his back, her reply little more than a drowsy thought between dreams before she went back to sleep. Muttering under breath Lace turned and kept to his meandering along the rand, somehow enjoying the precarious balance between dense forest and open space, knowing all too well how much it would hurt to fall down the wrong way. Seeing the familiar view of watery horizon had stirred memories he'd rather forget, images of himself cackling madly as he threw himself off the ledge and crashed into the frothing sea, bones breaking and tearing through muscle and skin from the impact... He shuddered and looked away, tried to keep his focus on something, anything but the jagged rocks at the base of the white cliff. The emptiness seemed to call for him, pulled and tugged at his spirit as if daring him to jump, to see if he would survive the fall one more time...
He hadn't intended to stay in the Edge, yet somehow it wasn't as easy to leave as he had made himself believe. Seeing the faces of people he loved and cared for was wonderful and heartbreaking all at once, and saying that he wasn't coming back for good was probably the hardest thing he'd had to do. Lace hadn't been able to refuse a short stay, yet as the sun began to set he found himself withdrawing from the company of others, instead walking to stare out across the ocean and the darkening sky where stars kindled one by one; faint lights that could never truly rival the brilliance of the sun.
What were they going to do? A part of him wanted nothing more than to stay here, become one of the masses and simply follow the new leaders of the Qian. It would be easy, simple, an effortless life without duties or obligations other than to his lieges, a life spent doing nothing at all if he wasn't forced to act. But another side of him kept complaining that it would be too easy, a shirking of responsibilities. Nothing more than another flight, and hadn't he sworn to never run away again? The truth was, Lace didn't know what he was supposed to do anymore. Once he had known his place in the world and been content with it, but ever since a thoughtless act had gotten him kicked out of a herd he simply couldn't bring himself to trust his own actions anymore. Hence he had begun to wander, roving from land to land, between friends and positions and gods until he hardly knew who he was, let alone what his duties really were. How was he supposed to find himself again?
It all seemed so frustratingly pointless. The stallion heaved a deep sigh and kicked another rock off its perch, watching in grim satisfaction as it tumbled through the air and disappeared without trace in the dark waters below.
@[Faeanne]
♦ Permission granted to use magic and violence on Lace and Fajira
♦ Only tag in new threads, spars and if it's urgent
The Store | The Warden
Outcast |
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.3hh :: 2 Years :: Birdsong |
TierRen |
Faeanne I was up later than I supposed I should have been, but for some reason I had been unable to fall asleep under the watchful gaze of Papa Ruske and Momma Eva. It wasn't that I felt uncomfortable or even that I was wide awake, I just couldn't sleep with all that was running through my innocent mind. I kept replaying the scream that had torn from my tiny lungs the day that my birth mother had decided I was no longer worth the time it would take for her to raise me. So she had drug me away from the Edge, away from the safety of the herd that had allowed her to live among them and birth two bastard children, and then deposited me in the Threshold with creatures who knew her but had no relation to myself. It was a horrifying experience, one that I hoped would be erased from my memory as I grew older along with the picture of Aurelia's ivory and gold bodice. Soon she would just be another face in the crowds if all went as I hoped. One day I would be able to thrive, thinking that I had always been wanted, always been adored by the ones I called momma and papa. An easy smile tugged at the corners of my gold dusted kissers as I looked over one feathery shoulder at the two who had claimed me as their own to raise and cherish. But for tonight, I was going to wander aimlessly throughout the lands of the Edge, safe within the embrace of the cracked glass wall that was soon to be down. As my thin, clumsy limbs carried me forwards I would occasionally flip out my wings and crash them against my sides just so I could feel the light flames licking against each individual feather as the heat began to fester between my slender sides and the underpart of my star speckled wings. I wandered over towards the cliff that marked another boundary of the lands, my innocent mind not thinking of the horrors that could come along with the cliff side. Instead, I saw it as the perfect location to enjoy the stars that I had grown so enthralled with watching. Something about the sheer amount of them, the beauty, they way they lit up the world was exhilarating and just exciting. As I drew closer to the cliff I noticed a grey figure illuminated by the moon light standing closer to the edge than I normally would, his forelimb extending occasionally to knock something over the side of the rocks. "Do you think that hurts the rocks?" My soft girlish voice made it's way carefully to the stallion, full of wonder over whether or not the rocks would feel pain as we did. White pupiled eyes grew wide as I stepped a little closer to the grey stallion with the strange white dragon roosting on his back, I stayed far enough away that he wouldn't have such ease at using me as his next skipping stone. "Talking" Tag;; @[Lace] Words;; 512 Notes;; <3 |
Deceased atk: 5 | def: 9 | dam: 5.5 |
Stallion :: Equine :: 15.3 hh :: 14 HP: 65 | Buff: NOVICE |
Fajira :: Plain White Dragon :: Fire Breath Chan |
He turned to look at the babe as she spoke, giving no indication that her sudden appearance had startled him. Perhaps it was because being in the depths of the World's Edge made him feel safe and protected, or because he'd been so deep in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed, but it wasn't until she stood there, dark-pelted and breathless with curiosity that he became aware of her presence.
Any other time he might have grown irritated - really, he was growing lax if a child could manage to sneak up on him - but Lace didn't feel like throwing a tantrum tonight. Not more than he already was at least, silently and very privately. Instead he tilted the black-masked head in quiet contemplation and experimentally knocked another rock over the edge, as if to see if it would protest against the rough treatment.
"If it does, the rock does a very good job at not showing it" he said with the usual soft, deep hum. "Maybe it has accepted the pain as something inevitable... Life is full of it, after all." He looked back down at the filly, curiously taking in the feature of the little life as he tried to figure out who her parents might be. She didn't resemble anyone he knew - but then again, had he really known any of the horses he'd called family?
"What do you think would be worse, falling or landing?" he asked in return, quite eager to take his mind off his own gloomy thoughts. Engaging in philosophy with a child might do the trick - they never ceased to amaze him with their agile minds and untainted view of the world. Just the fact that this nightly moth stopped to consider the eventual emotions of a rock.... Absolutely fascinating.
@[Faeanne]
♦ Permission granted to use magic and violence on Lace and Fajira
♦ Only tag in new threads, spars and if it's urgent
The Store | The Warden
Outcast |
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.3hh :: 2 Years :: Birdsong |
TierRen |
Faeanne It was almost as if the black faced grey had known that I would make an appearance sometime that night while the moon's gentle rays illuminated his already pale body, when he turned to face me as my young, girlish lyrics were forced into the warm Tallsun air there wasn't a single ounce of shock painted across his mask. For a brief moment, discomfort boiled in my veins as I wondered if the stallion had seen me long before I saw him, but I dismissed the paranoid thoughts as quickly as I could when logic settled in and I decided that the stallion had heard the beat of my infantile hooves against the soil that turned rocky the closer to the edge of the cliff you got. I watched silently as the stallion turned away from me for a moment, his limb striking out once again to send another stone to it's peril at the hands of the sheer drop of the cliff side. I cringed at the sound of the stone smacking against the rocks that were securely connected to the surface of the Earth, at least they were secure for now. My skull bobbed up and down twice in a nod as I agreed with the stallion, if the stones were hurting they were not protesting much at all at being thrown over the edge of the cliff. But then, it would be quite the sight to see a pebble grabbing onto the stallion in vain efforts to not become airborne. The stallion spoke much truth in his statement, life was full of pain. Chuck full of pain in fact, so much pain that I, as merely a weanling had felt more pain than some would ever feel in their whole lifetimes. I quickly swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in my throat, there was no way I was going to let my emotions get the better of me right now, not in front of the moon lit stranger. "Maybe the rock has just learned that protesting does no good.." My lyrics ended on a shaky note as I took a hesitant step closer to the edge of the cliff, of course if something horrible were to happen I had my wonderful star speckled wings to bring me back to safety. But then, what if today were a day they decided not to work properly? "Talking" Tag;; @[Lace] Words;; 726 Notes;; <3 |
Deceased atk: 5 | def: 9 | dam: 5.5 |
Stallion :: Equine :: 15.3 hh :: 14 HP: 65 | Buff: NOVICE |
Fajira :: Plain White Dragon :: Fire Breath Chan |
"I think it depends on whether you're afraid of dying or not" the tall grullo chuckled, amused and quite taken aback by the the very adult logic behind her reply. He took a few steps away from the rand of the cliff, a small gesture of politeness upon seeing how uneasy his stone chucking was making the girl, and continued to walk along the rocky ledge as moonlight shone down upon them.
Was it common for barely weaned fillies to be able to follow along the thought trails adults had paved? Lace wouldn't know, the only children he spent time with had been Mirage's daughters, Israfel and later Tandavi - not that he'd payed them much attention, but at least he had spoken to them and learned their names. He wondered where they were now, how they were faring - Amaris he had seen just recently and Tavi was alright, he knew that.. but the others?
"I think I believe the fall to be worse than the impact" he eventually continued, pushing the concerned thoughts aside for now - worrying about them wouldn't make anyone feel better. "Once you're knocked off the edge the landing becomes inevitable. All that remains is to wait, because whatever you do, however much you flail and struggle you will only ever get closer to the ground. Dying is easy and what lies beyond is a mystery; fear and powerlessness are the only constants." He smiled at the sooty girl to take the edge off the grim words.
"But who knows. For all we know, rocks might not feel pain at all. Maybe they enjoy the fall instead, finally being able to fly. You should ask Father Earth sometime, if you ever come across him." A slight grin split the inky lips at the thought; Lace was quite sure that the Earth God would find it both amusing and interesting to be questioned about the emotional development of stone. No doubt he would answer too.
Swishing the tail at gnats and night flies as he went, the dragon-carrying equine moved away from the precarious drop once the path became littered with rocks and dense shrubs and turned to head back into the forest. The sound of his hooves became muffled as they sank deep into the moist earth and moss, moonlit mists swirling around the black-barred legs; he breathed in deeply, savoring the scent of fern and fungi, bark and leaf and quickly flowing water rushing down unseen creeks.
"How about the trees?" he queried and looked to see if the child had followed him into the nightly woods, eyes glittering like pale gold under half-closed lids. Long legs carried him silent as a ghost over the ground, weaving in and out between the trees with the tail a shimmering beacon for the filly to follow. "Do you think they feel? Or the water, the wind, the shadows beneath the roots? I bet no one told you that the moon is the eye of a lavender mare, beautiful as the night itself with locks drifting in the breeze... She looks over this land, and those who live within its borders. You too, little moth."
♦ Permission granted to use magic and violence on Lace and Fajira
♦ Only tag in new threads, spars and if it's urgent
The Store | The Warden
Unregistered |
:: :: :: |
A vial of hope and a vial of pain in the light they both look the same Perhaps the sensation of absence woke me. I cannot be certain; I hardly believe my heart could grow so sentimental as to drag my mind from sleep the moment the girl slipped off. Regardless I did stir, graceless as a child pulled from nightmare, my lungs sucking at the air as if I had forgotten how to breathe. Blinking, I stared at the lean silhouettes of unfamiliar trees. The remnants of some newly forgotten dream slithered off, retreating to the corners of my mind. It would return. They always did. Night clung to the World’s Edge like a shroud. It obscured the narrow press of the forest but not the distant crash of waves – bitter reminders that I dwelled now beyond my comfort. The young forest would never be home. The child, when I eventually discovered her missing, was still not my own. I hardly begrudged her that, but my ears tilted down as I scanned the darkness for her winged shape. Running off had become a bad habit of hers... If only the young managed to understand what dangers the world posed to them. With a grunt, I shook off the last vestiges of sleep and straightened up. Though my thoughts entertained momentarily the idea of simply forgetting, and returning again to sleep, an old guilt prickled at my mind – the long-decaying carcass of a different disaster. That particular wound lay buried too deep to reopen again, but it drove me forward. I owed the girl some measure of circumspection – for both our sakes. The incessant tossing of the ocean only increased. It foamed and snarled far below, as if writhing in jealousy. I sneered back at the noise, my tail twisting. Surely Faeanne wasn’t clumsy enough to go toppling over the cliff’s edge? She had wings, didn’t she? I thought about it, and wondered if perhaps she’d yet to figure out their use. Or perhaps she was simply too young? I had not examined them to any extent, pulled too far in other directions by convergent emotions. My heart had ever sworn to be my own undoing. Eventually, the sound of her young voice carried over the sea, anyway: light and fine, undamaged by distress. Who the hell saw fit to entertain foals in the middle of the night? My tail lashed again, and head up, I quickened my pace. Not out of concern – hardly – unless it was concern for my own right to sleep peacefully at night. “Faeanne!” I remembered too late I could use my voice to locate thinking individuals. Soon afterward, I stumbled nearly over the top of her, and stopping short, only refrained from landing on my own face by some grace of instinct pulling my haunches low and under me. My head snapped up, and annoyed, I stared at both the child and the stallion accompanying her. He, of course, received the brunt of my ill humor: a long, irritated look, silent as my lungs rattled to catch up with my body’s movement. They became, with age, ever more useless. “Faeanne,” I snapped again, when I could. I directed the firmest I look I possessed upon her. In the area of grim and angry, at least, I was a practiced expert. “What are you doing wandering about in the middle of the night?” The next glare I reserved for the stallion, contemptuous. “Who the hell are you?” |
[ Let me know if either of you want to be tagged <3 ]
Outcast |
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.3hh :: 2 Years :: Birdsong |
TierRen |
Faeanne My gold dusted limbs followed the dragon-carrying stallion as he moved away from the edge of the cliff and closer to the forested part of the Edge, listening as he spoke once more. "Talking" Tag;; @[Lace] Words;; 861 Notes;; Kae, I prefer to be tagged ;d <3 |
Deceased atk: 5 | def: 9 | dam: 5.5 |
Stallion :: Equine :: 15.3 hh :: 14 HP: 65 | Buff: NOVICE |
Fajira :: Plain White Dragon :: Fire Breath Chan |
LACE</style> before the sun sets GLORY </style>
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♦ Permission granted to use magic and violence on Lace and Fajira
♦ Only tag in new threads, spars and if it's urgent
The Store | The Warden