It was pearl cast at sea. Shimmering under the sun between the rolling clouds, and resting in the bed of blue waters. An opal of beauty, in a swirling mass of ill tidings. Banded feathers flung wide for weariness or floatation, it didn’t matter anymore. Her legs had long ago ceased to kick forward on cloven hooves, and now lay across her log with a heaviness of remembered morality. Even her dainty head, crowned in rings and sea blue eyes lay upon her little floating log with a resting heaviness. It should be the end. The pearl would dissolve and sink before the surface, consumed by the hatred and fear of the world.

But what a terrible and dull start to such a tale. Honestly, its like you don’t even know her at all. Curled ears twitch and lift, awaking the girl with all the sweetness of child. Though dark and dim world revolves around her the smile still comes through. Sea eyes look about her to see what the world held new today, sparking with the full expectancy to find something wondrous. After all this was an adventure! How long had she stood on those well washed sands wishing to see what lay over those waters, or even visit the sea god. Now look, here she was. A short giggle ripples through her in the excitement.

Of course she had left much on those shores too. Her brother, and beloved father were all still back there. She even thought of poor Virgil! That poor creature was probably off running about at finding her missing, again. Another snort of a laugh trembles out. She couldn’t possibly be sad though! Just look where she was. Out here among the waves, brave and strong, just like papa would want her to be! Though she had to admit, when the sea had grown dark and the world seemed very small, well she thought that the God might not find her humble travel enough. That even floating over was not reverence enough. But her brother always knew best, because look, here she was!

It took another hour for the current to change. It began to churn and shift. The girl’s face grew bright to feel the water rush around her floating wings and limbs. It carried her swiftly now, and before long a peak began to rise above the flat horizon. Land! Could that really be? So excited was the girl she nearly drowned trying to get there. Not that she really noticed. Her heart beat so fast and light in her chest, there was way she could sink. So at last the pearl rises from the sea to walk upon new ground.

Legs pull herself up from the depths, and immediately leap up. A shrill call echoes through the very being as the girl takes off onto the beach. She spins, water spraying everywhere, and wings flying out in a natural grace. Hooves kick up in bucks and leaps, shaking her braided hair and tasseled tail as she goes. How good it felt to feel the sand again, and to dash about. It wasn’t until her sides were heaving and body grew warm from the effort that she slows and pauses to look about her. And her voice rolls out like a sweet summer breeze. “What an beautiful place.” Sea eyes and curled ears face the forests and mountains taking in the strange sights and sounds. A wind rustled the leaves of the plams, sending her snorting and stomping with the newness. A carnival of colorful plant life lined the beach, amazing. With long sweeping steps she walks along the tree line, stopping and smiling at the curious new sights and smells. It was all so wonderful! So new. Oh it made her heart sing!

If only she could sing with others. Refined head turns back at last to the waves, and sea eyes lose their spark for a familiar comfort. How many ages had she stared at this picture of waves washing upon the sandy shore? A small thread in her heart pulses in remembrance. Caspian would have loved this place. She could see them now exploring the forest shouting out new discoveries. Of course, that was in the girl’s mind. In reality Caspian would have not have ever been here. But, sometimes the truth is best kept unsaid. The girl instead sighs and grows still. Curiously the air immediately about her grows still as well. Though it still wafted through the palms, around her it didn’t move, not even to blow about the loose strands from her braids.

She did miss them. Feathers against her sides sag for a moment, their still damp ends dripping out sad tears upon the sand. But you’ll find no tears in her eyes. The girl once more, letting it out as her mother had said. It wouldn’t do to sit and be sad. You needed to get going. That’s right! They were happy at home, and she would be happy too! This is what she always wanted, a real life adventure! A new world to find, and explore. A happy shrill call rings across the ocean before she spins in a whirlwind of sand and takes off in a light high canter, tossing about her grace and youth like the child at heart she was. 

OOC:: For @Virgil =] Please excuse the sloppy post consistency here, I'm still re-learning how to write 'light' and excuse the table nakedness.....>>

VIRGIL of saints and sinners,  & monsters and men. But Virgil was not running about at home. Not scurrying frantically among the cobblestone and spires that once housed the princess. Oh no. He had seen what young Caspian had done - watched with silent eyes and invisible movements as the young prince fastened together a boat. Virgil might be old, but he was not new to the ways of the young and their schemes. He knew the fate that had befallen Ava, how could he not? And he knew the love between brother and sister. It was no small leap of imagination to know that the boat was meant to carry Ava far, far away from what fate held for her. And so with those same silent movements, Virgil had created his own boat - and once Caspian's lingering gaze left the horizon upon which Ava disappeared, Virgil followed. He would follow the girl into the depths of hell if that meant keeping her safe. Little did he know that such a vow would soon be tested. It was difficult to try and navigate the waters to follow Ava's path - while the girl thoughtlessly drifted wherever the current might take her, Virgil used all of his limbs and willpower to guide himself after her. She had long reached the sandy shores before he was in eyesight - though as soon as her gaze turned out again to the sea, she would have seen him there - silhouetted against the oncoming storm. His stoic appearance was not ruffled by the surge of relief that flooded his veins at seeing her safe and sound. Whatever feelings he harbored secretly and silently for the princess never had - and never would - affect his sworn duty to her. "Ava." He called, a certain sternness in his voice once he was close enough to be sure that the wind wouldn't carry away his voice.

A light of life and dance the girl continued to kick up her heels in the sand. Oh look how it sprays back and made her frame literally bound upon its surface. Wings spread out as she goes, lifting and falling with her, but never do they flap. Strangely enough though the girl seemed tuned in to her limbs most graceful fashion, they never did lift in any direction of flight. Never did she even try. Most strange.

Perhaps the girl would have continued to dance across the sands, content just to frolic in the familiar golden sprays, and look at the forest beyond, had there not come a roll of thunder. Harks pull up and a face of wonder and awe join as she feels the deep echos roll inside her. Wings pull back and turn and she turns her exotic head towards the ocean again to see towers of clouds. They stretched up from low above the ocean all the way high until she their tops were pressing against the top of the sky. Dark shades of blue, gray, and black roll within each other and minute flashes light within.

Her whole attention was captured for a moment. Sea eyes rolling over the wondrous curves, seeing towers and cities, castles in the clouds. Seeing the bright flashes like a vibrant dance of beautiful as the lite the clouds from behind, and the thunder! Oh it sent electricity racing through her pulse and made her want to leap, to shout, and carry on. But before she could, a shout breaks through, and catches her attention with a familiar name. Hers.

Sea eyes look down and for a moment the figure is lost behind a wave leaving her tilt her head and think it only her imagination. But then a familiar dark head appears in the crystal waters, which were quickly being shadowed by the towers above. “VIRGIL!?” She shrieks it with a wide grin of excitement. Of course Virgil was here! Oh by what a delight. Now she had a playmate. With the coming rain they could play in the puddles and dances across the hardened sand. “You silly stallion get over here!” She practically giggled it at him, shouting above the waves. The light mare trots high and proud to the beach shore closest to him.

How exciting was this!? She had wished for a playmate and now she had one. Oh Virgil had always been ever one for games. While the others had politely turned her down Virgil was always more giving. Well most of the time, but she didn’t usually remember those. The girl practically dances in place, her hooves never staying in one spot long as the electric energy from another roll of thunder echoes through her. The breeze about her whether from the storm or keeping with her own motions seems to pick up, becoming more playful. “Come on! You’ve got to see this place its amazing!” Her sing song voice rolled over the waves. Amazing and wonderful. The sweet girl could see nothing of threat in it, and certainly did not see the concern Virgil had. All she knew was she was having an adventure and now, with a playmate, they would explore it together! Little thought was given to much else. Perhaps she could even talk him into a game of tag!

@Virgil

VIRGIL of saints and sinners,  & monsters and men. As much as he wanted to be cross with her - to be furious that she would place herself in such reckless danger - the guardian felt nothing but relief. The delight which seemed to shine brightly from her multi-hued coat dispersed and displaced any lingering feelings of annoyance or frustration. She was alright, and that was all that mattered. Her safety was all that would ever matter to him. Virgil bit his lip to keep from showing the amusement that he felt as she pranced in place. Even lost on a deserted island in the face of an oncoming storm, trouble had not touched her innocent mind. There was something about her light-hearted and beautifully naive view of the world that softened his warrior's heart. With her, the world seemed less bleak, and somehow full of more grace. Regardless of the countless times that he had saved her from dangers that she wasn't even aware of in her short life, Virgil would forever be in her debt. Because in her presence, she saved him. His life had never been an easy one, yet with her, the darkness bled away. "The storm that's coming-" He called out as his large hooves pushed through the surf, moving his monochromatic frame onto the sands. "-we'll need to find a place to take shelter. It looks particularly nasty."  Virgil's dark-tipped ears swiveled backwards as thunder rumbled ominously in the distance. He suppressed a shiver as an icy breeze raced over him, pulling his tangled and tattered gray locks around his muscular chest.

Ava As the wet and worn stallion pulled from the depths of the ocean the child was a whirl of thoughts. Her sea blue eyes saw the world so differently from the desolate threatening world Virgil saw. To her a practical castle of clouds, rolling in symphonies and lights was on the horizon. And this world was a mist of hidden treasures and awaiting sports. As the stallion pulled himself to shore, speaking and looking back at the clouds which continue to roll their low music the girl rushed forward. Her delicate head tucking under his and one wing reaching out most comfortably to brush against his side should he allow it. And she held it for a moment, lingering, as the unspoken and unacknowledged loneliness and worries reveal themselves to any eye knowing her. She did not even out the name of what she felt being so wrapped in it and letting it flow so freely. Like a child who though never showing a second of ill ease all day, clings tightly to their loved one when picked up from nursery. The only even hint of change in her is that the breeze which had flowed about her so carefree stilled for a moment. When she breaks the moment, pulling back, tucking her wings back in and leading him from the waves the girl is still a sight of pure joy. Her eyes, like reflections of the lightening beyond sparking with energy, and her lips never loosing their smile. “Oh Virgil, how can you say that?” She comes up on the beach and turns to face the coming storm. The winds which began to whip even threatened to invade the playful peaceful ones about her. “Just look at! Isn’t it stunning?” Her curled ears leaned forward as her head high took in the towers again, rolling, and blooming like a growing forest. A lightning strike hits closer, and the electricity and thunder roll into her. Her tail lashes about and her face, a bit calmer but still filled with wonder and youth turns back to the dear guard. “Fine. Last one to the trees is a rotten fish!” And with that she spun on her heels, wings opening slightly for balance and then surges off, in all the full earnest of winning. Laughter lifts above the growing winds, and thunder as she glances back checking to see he followed. Though now, more than ever, there was no doubt he would. "their speech goes here and this is the color

Image by Tamme!