the Rift


[OPEN] Dust and Bones

Rift Posts: 43
Hidden Account
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15.3 :: 5
Eris
#1

   
This is something
All or nothing
RIFT




He wondered if the breeze that blew so faintly off of the ocean waves could be carried from other lands, from other homes of his. The lanky stallion inhaled deep, hoping for some small reminder of the lives he left behind and of the lives he himself had lost. Was mother still out there, searching for the remains of his body all the while hoping that they would never be found? Was she still holding on to the hope against all odds that he was alive? That he would some day return to her and comfort her? Hoping that he would give her a reason to live happily again, her last breathing child?

Rift shook his head, no, Blackfire was more levelheaded than that; she was a queen and a general and a mother, she would take no pleasure or grief from believing in something against all odds. It had been three years since the country of his birth had fallen to the ashes of war, and though he knew that she had followed him to more than one land, she had only been following the memory of the child she had lost. 

He was not who he had been, the boy with the easy grin and the careful steps had been dissolved upon the tides of blood that stained the land. He had been lost and he would not be found again.  Hooves pressed crescents into the sands, half circles filled with nothing but their own emptiness. Was that how his mother felt? Empty?

Was that how he should feel at the thought of breaking her heart?


words: ### | tag: ANYONE and @Sikeax :* | notes: melodramaaa
All force toward Rift is permitted, barring permanent injury and death. 
All non-aggressive contact is permitted. 
Please tag Rift in all replies!
xoxo

Essetia Posts: 218
Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8 | dam: 6.0
Mare :: Equine :: 16.3HH :: 7 HP: 64.0 | Buff: NOVICE
Romul :: Arctic Wolf :: Confusion Linds
#2
The sea reminded me of the World’s Edge and the Edge reminded me of my father. Somehow the two went hand in hand and somehow I always found myself adrift, searching for answers in the waves wherever they might be.

It wasn’t the first time I’d wandered to the Endless Blue and certainly wouldn’t be my last. Romul had insisted we come this day and in some ways I was glad he had. Yet, even before the roar of the tide and the heady scent of the ocean’s brine curled my lips, I decided that I would visit without any pretenses and without any questions in need of answering. I wanted to enjoy the sea because it was something I loved and not something that so nurtured hate.

Ahead of me, I saw the waves rolling in, but not from own point of view. Instead, I allowed Romul to greet the expansive shore in a way that only a wolf could. The images were quick, always changing, and somehow an accurate portrayal of the beach. The pastel dunes were smooth and welcoming, as sculpted by time as they were, and I relished the impending feel of the sand beneath my hooves long before the actual sensation. Next, there came a picture of an errant gull that had yet to retreat to warmer coasts for the winter. It soared against the powerful winds that surfed into Helovia from beyond, before fading away along with Romul’s convulsive attention span.

”I’m almost there”, I informed telepathically as I finally made my way onto the sands. Though, I was expecting only the openness of the sea awaiting me and instead found that another creature, one unknown to me, gazing off into the distance as I’d done too many times before.

In a moment of hesitation, I debated retreating back the way we’d come, but my longing, that desire to simply be, would not allow me such luxuries. I wanted to breeze past him, if in fact I’d judged him correctly, but feared also the idea of being stopped. So, with as much patience as I could muster, I approached the winged male in hopes of simply alerting him to my presence before ultimately moving on.

You look perplexed.

It was certainly the best I could proffer without having to formally introduce myself, of which I intended to avoid. The beast was a head shorter than I, and with Romul gallivanting across the sands some yards away, I took a moment to study the creature that stood before me. He was cut from foreign cloth no doubt, what with his angular face and slender build, and perhaps also a resident of the Dragon’s Throat. The scent of sand and heat seemed to expel itself from his skin and, though I’d only been welcomed back a few short days ago, I imagined it had begun to mask my own feminine musk as well. However, it was not his scent alone that spiked my fascination, but his unseeing eye as red as the fire is hot. They were quite the opposite of my own, clouded stare, but brilliant nonetheless. I hoped that my blossoming opinion of him was not changed though, because I’d found that once could not judge a book by its cover (however cliché that might be).

Only time would tell what kind of animal I’d prodded and I hoped, for his sake and my own, that he was not foe, but friend.
Credits!

@Rift

◄ Please tag Essetia in all replies!
◄ Force permitted, but no maiming or killing
◄ Pixel @ SongsOfInfinity

Rift Posts: 43
Hidden Account
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15.3 :: 5
Eris
#3

   
This is something
All or nothing
RIFT


No mother should have to bury their nation, let alone their children.

Rift's head hung low, threatening to plunge into the salty waves. It was true, he had broken his mother's heart. He had shattered the heart of the only creature that had loved and cared for him beyond all reason and all doubt. Blackfire had been a cruel woman, a ruthless matriarch, and a powerful general; she had been unparalleled in her station and had conquered gods and monsters alike.

For her children, though, she shed that rough skin and opened her soul. Her generosity and love knew no bounds, she had even stolen children of unfit mothers and kept them as her own, raised them just as she would any of her own blood. They had all risen to greatness or had been on paths to become legends, slashing down enemies and soaring upon the back of victory; and yet, their glory could not protect them from the destruction of the world.

His wings drooped, landing with a soft thump upon the sands just as a feminine voice broke through his melodramatic musings. Turning his attention toward the white marked mare, Rift studied her, his lungs filled with the scent of sand and warmth that was exclusive to the Dragon's Throat. Cocking his head a bit to the side, the sorrel stallion noted the slight apprehension with which she seemed to stand; had he encroached on an unknown stretch of private territory? His brow crinkled at the thought, perplexed at the idea of a possible outcast excreting the scent of the Throat.

"It seems to be an increasing state of existence for me." There was a wry friendliness to his tone, though Rift was not sure that it would entirely mask the honesty in his words, "You look weary."

words: ### | tag: @Essetia :* | notes: melodramaaa
All force toward Rift is permitted, barring permanent injury and death. 
All non-aggressive contact is permitted. 
Please tag Rift in all replies!
xoxo

Essetia Posts: 218
Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8 | dam: 6.0
Mare :: Equine :: 16.3HH :: 7 HP: 64.0 | Buff: NOVICE
Romul :: Arctic Wolf :: Confusion Linds
#4
It seemed as though everyone had battles to fight and no armor in which to fight them with. We were all just struggling to survive past torments, every one of us… Whether or not that made us strong or weak was a question that held no obvious answer.

In an elegant show of grace and involuntary beauty, the stallion let his wings unfold until they draped across the sands like a fiery blanket of red and orange. They glinted in the sun as the breeze drifted across the beach, and I stared at them a while content to lose myself to my musings. However, when I’d returned my pale gaze to the man himself, I nearly smiled. The soft skin between his brows had furled in confusion, or perhaps just curiosity, upon seeing me. I knew it was because I’d approached with so much apprehension and distrust, especially for another citizen of the Throat, that it made my presence questionably uncomfortable.

You look weary.

It was not an assumption, but an observation that was entirely true. I nodded in agreement and settled myself alongside him, a momentary truce, before finding the words I’d need to respond to his admissions. “It seems to be an increasing state of existence for everyone these days,” I stated matter-of-factly. It was strange that, without names and without expectations, two strangers could somehow discover truths that were so often overlooked. Perhaps it was simply the anonymity that allowed us such freedoms or just the promise of impending friendships that would later be forgotten. Wasn’t that how it had always worked for me?

With no other reason to hold my head high or to straighten my shoulders, I leaned back into my haunches and relaxed. My tail had been strung up by the wind and errant strands of blackened silk wavered just above the golden sands. I was weary, but not because I’d travelled or because I’d exhausted the bones and the flesh of which I called life. No.  It was because my very soul was tired of fighting all that opposed me. For once it was nice to befriend another unknowing of the past or how I’d come to be so… pathetic.

It’s strange… I’ve been here so many times before, but it looks different to me every time,” I pondered aloud to no in particular. Romul had not yet returned to my side and that was a matter that did not bother me, at least not now. Any awkward tension that had breathed life into my unsettled mind had dissipated as quickly as the tide. “What troubles you then?” I questioned after a healthy pause. Though I knew strangers didn’t often share their qualms, it was a natural reaction… a natural gesture of friendly caring that somehow seemed to steer even the most forlorn of conversations. Besides, I was not one for modesty so much as self-preservation. Whatever the man chose to offer was his own decision, I’d just allowed him an airway in which to vent.
Credits!

@Rift

◄ Please tag Essetia in all replies!
◄ Force permitted, but no maiming or killing
◄ Pixel @ SongsOfInfinity

Rift Posts: 43
Hidden Account
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15.3 :: 5
Eris
#5
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ayk0...t.css?dl=0">

   
This is something
All or nothing
RIFT


It was as if there was an invisible chain between the pair of strangers, binding them together in a solid and unbreakable sort of camaraderie. Rift watched the amusement spark in her eyes as she moved to stand beside him, her muscles relaxing and the apprehension that had rolled off of her vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. They stood like that for awhile, in a comfortable silence that proved to be a soothing balm to the scarlet stallion's frayed nerves. There was a familiarity between the pair, the anonymity providing a fragile intimacy that threatened to break in an instant should identities be exposed.

Twin souls standing as one in the embrace of the universe.

It was only after the two strangers had taken a few quiet breaths that the thickening silence was parted to reveal the mare's reply. Rift had yet to take his eyes from her, though his expression had long since softened into one of relaxed welcome; the mahogany woman was more friend to him now than many he had met in the weeks prior. Her words caused him to nod in agreement - it was true, the world seemed to have been testing the strength and faith of those upon it with surprising frequency as of late. There had even been a marked exhaustion, a pronounced apathy emanating from the few yearlings that he had met.

Would there ever be a moments rest here in the supposed haven that was Helovia?

Yet again the lullaby voice of his unnamed companion filled the brief silence that had flowed between them, her words soft and spoken to no one in particular. A gentle smile had begun to curl at the stallion's mouth in response to the care with which the two equines were guarding the tentative sanctuary that was blossoming between them. Had he known any better, Rift would have thought that the badger-faced woman and him had stood alongside one another in years past.

"I admit it is my first time here, the ocean is a cruel beauty and reminds me much of my mother..."

He trailed off a bit, eyes glazing over as Blackfire's lovely face filled his mind's eye. Had he truly done what was right? Had he really had no other choice than to leave her broken when she needed him most? If he could melt into the sandy earth, he would, but alas, he was solid and the gravitational pull of this damned sphere could only sink him so much. The sound of a question pulled the winged gent from his musings and it was all he could do to muster a grin as his ruby eyes met hers.

"What doesn't trouble me these days?" It was more of a statement than a question, but as the words poured forth, Rift felt almost relieved. "I have lost every family and every home I have stumbled across. I am starting to believe that I am cursed to ruin everything that I have the audacity to love." He was silent for a few moments thereafter.

"I am afraid to love anything or anyone ever again."

words: ### | tag: @Essetia :* | notes: :') sorry for the long wait
All force toward Rift is permitted, barring permanent injury and death. 
All non-aggressive contact is permitted. 
Please tag Rift in all replies!
xoxo

Essetia Posts: 218
Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8 | dam: 6.0
Mare :: Equine :: 16.3HH :: 7 HP: 64.0 | Buff: NOVICE
Romul :: Arctic Wolf :: Confusion Linds
#6
Quietly, we watched the waves rolling monotonously against the shore, always the same. Is that what we were? Were we simply running our course, over and over, until nothing else remained but the time between now and then? I’d been plagued by such thoughts before –numerous times in fact. Yet, they still did not get any easier… What was I if I could not leave behind something, some trace of my name, my life? Would my own memory be swept away into the ocean along with my father’s? The cycle of life was certainly a sickening notion that always fell too hard and consumed one too easily. Even as I stood alongside a stranger that surely had a name, a place he rested his head at night, and even companions that were meant to be dear to his heart… I could not find a single reason in which to care. We all ended the same anyways.

But -and there was always a but- I wanted to care, to feel what roiled in the heart of another, to understand what pushed them to try, and to shove against the forces that opposed them. I turned my colorless gaze toward the copper-colored boy and I watched. It was forward, it was bold, but it was not unkind. I only wanted to see beneath the flesh and the bones that strung him so tight and yet left him so… broken. Even as he cracked a wry smile, I could not look away from the dying fire in his eyes, for there was a certain sadness there that seemingly couldn’t be shaken.

Romul, sensing my turmoil, shuttered internally, flooding our bond with warmth and light. Tiny ribbons of golden sun fluttered in slow circles around my mind and I smiled despite myself. They danced around and around creating trails of hazy yellow bands that blazed and shone before fading to black… However, all else was forgotten when the boy began to speak, his rich tones filling the voids left in my melancholy thoughts until I was so full, I felt close to bursting. He sang such blue songs, ones caused by stories similar to my own, and in my heart I felt sympathy for the first time in months. “Then perhaps we have more in common than you think…” I replied vaguely. As much as I wanted to tell him, to utter the words that would bring to life a million emotions, I could not.

I would not.

Fortunately, the boy was too rapt by his own devils to notice my failure to embellish my own horrors, and that distraction was a godsend to someone like me. I had no reason to drudge up suppressed memories and forgotten tales- there was no need to drag myself through the woes of my own demise.

"I am afraid to love anything or anyone ever again."

I hadn’t been expecting such truths- such raw and honest admissions. It nearly swept me off my feet until I was rolling into the tide hoping to be lost amongst the waves… How was I supposed to help him? How was I supposed to admit that we suffered the same agony, the same heart wrenching pain? Instead, I faltered. “Then don’t.

It hurt, oh how it hurt. Love was all that we had… all that we were. But I didn’t want to feel it, didn’t want to agonize under its embrace.

I wanted to remain numb.
Credits!

Rift
ooc| Well, that... got dark. x.x

◄ Please tag Essetia in all replies!
◄ Force permitted, but no maiming or killing
◄ Pixel @ SongsOfInfinity

smitty the swift Posts: 22
Administrator
Mare :: Other :: 1 :: 1
#7
unarchived per request

Rift Posts: 43
Hidden Account
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15.3 :: 5
Eris
#8
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ayk0...t.css?dl=0">

   
This is something
All or nothing
RIFT



Did it mean anything? That he was here, hooves planted firmly in the sand and standing before an endless expanse of blue mystery? Did each breath that whistled so carefully through his lungs and each pulse of his fragile heart have an explanation? What sort of impact could he even make on the vast timeline of the universe? He and everything he had ever known had no weight, had no purpose beneath the glare of countless stars. The entire earth could burn and shatter, fold in on itself over and over into oblivion, and it still wouldn't matter.

From dust to dust, it would all end in nothingness and it would all end in the dark.

He focused on the sand at his hooves, the tiny crystalline grains reflecting the sun on their multifaceted edges like infinitesimal diamonds. This was how he must seem to the rest of the world; a single grain of sand in the face of an entire ocean. How meaningless it all was. In a way, the lack of importance was comforting; how could the scarlet boy worry about anything when he knew of the endlessness in which he existed? How could he put the effort forth to feel anything when in the end, he was just a grain of sand?

The melodious sound of his newfound companion's voice flowed across the gap between them and Rift found himself searching absolution in her words, in her eyes, in the very breath that tied her spirit to her body.

He willed himself to step closer, to brush her side with his drooping wings, to feel the presence of another creature if only to solidify the notion that he was still here and that he was still real. They stood that way for a time, the pair of perfect strangers and the closest of hearts, he anchored to she. Warmth and comfort emanated from her mahogany form, coaxing the lanky stallion closer, promising asylum in the sanctuary of simple contact. He searched her eyes, inspected the depthless mocha-and-ivory sea that he found there before selfishly breaking the silence.

"How?"

"Where can I run where love, or it's memory, will not follow? We are haunted by the love we failed to protect."

words: ### | tag: @Essetia :* | notes: :O



hey bab sorry this took so long to get a reply, hope you're still game!!<33
All force toward Rift is permitted, barring permanent injury and death. 
All non-aggressive contact is permitted. 
Please tag Rift in all replies!
xoxo


Forum Jump:


RPGfix Equi-venture