the Rift


[OPEN] Carnivore

Uriel Posts: 12
Outcast
Colt :: Hybrid :: 16.1 HH :: 1 Year (Frostfall)
Linds
#1

Uriel
If I let you in, you'd just want out
If I tell you the truth, you'd vie for a lie
If I spilt my guts, it would make a mess we can't clean up
If you follow me, you will only get lost

He had taken up refuge in the World’s Edge and suffered through a tense, if unwelcoming, homecoming. Now that the seasons had begun to change, the young prince was eager to shed his ties to the sea and seek warmer climates. Though he’d never visited the Heart Caves before, Uriel was curious to find whether or not the fires below the earth burned as hotly as rumored. However, his ventures were slow-going and troubled at best—Helovia was much more expansive than he’d imagined or remembered. Everything he knew was far beyond its borders and further removed from his mind’s eye. Uriel was through chasing his father about, begging for him to stay, to remain close to heart where love and abandonment were most keenly felt. The young prince had never wanted to admit to his weaknesses however, or had ever really been presented a chance to do so (not that it would have mattered). He was strong because he wanted to be and he was far-reaching toward his dreams, because he wanted it so.

That was what made him so vastly different from both mother and father. That was what made him so callous in the face of emotions and their toils. 

Age had also finally allowed Uriel a reprieve from the lingering limp he’d suffered from as a child, and though it still threw his gait, he was quickly becoming as graceful as his sister. She’d always been more beautiful and knowledgeable than he, even if she was a bit conservative by comparison. He longed for her on most days and the unsettled ache of her disappearance was dismantling. Uriel was nothing more than an island among the waves, an individual set forth against the masses. That solidarity had certainly caused him troubles no doubt, what with Tembovu and Alysanne finding reasons to dislike him upon his arrival in the Edge. Yet, he vowed to make it up to them in time… He was still learning and still growing to accept the fate destiny had kindly given him. Even his mother would have to forgive him in time… After all, he stood just as scorned by Thor as she.

The cold winter sun fell lightly across his feathered shoulders and accented the liver bay coloring of his coat. Uriel was a creature unfamiliar with the norms in Helovia, but he’d always known that his appearance was unusual- his father was to blame for such woes. The illness that had ripped through the first few days of his infancy had caused more heartache than it had happiness, and it had kept him close to the brink of death for a time only to place him outside of most social circles thereafter. He’d become accustomed to the curious stares and the wandering eyes of those confused but his lack of hair and abundance of feathering, but most were more obviously struck by his dual-colored gaze. It didn’t matter to him however… How could anyone know of their differences when they did not feel that different at all?

The mouth of the caves loomed large before him as Uriel approached the tunnels that would lead him into the fiery pits below. He didn’t know what he’d find or that the intricate caverns were far vaster than he could ever imagine. Instead, he stood staring down into their depths before finally reconciling himself to enter…

Table code by Time

@Ru -- Finally got this up!

Ru Posts: 130
World's Edge Captain atk: 7.0 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4.0
Mare :: Pegasus :: 16.1h :: 3 [Tallsun] HP: 60.5 | Buff: Novice
Mar
#2




The separation from family was slowly infecting her veins from the periphery. The nights were becoming restless with rich memories of her mother. The kind words of the ‘old one’, and the teasing (harsh and nasty) tones of a warrior she had once knew, plagued her with whispers of another life. But to say she had been truly happy then would be an understatement.

Her people’s ways worked through her nonetheless, rooted in her deep desire to traverse the unknown lands of Helovia. Accustomed to migration, to a life always on the go – never stopping for too long, always ahead or behind the storm.

The little ruffian was tired, however grateful for the sun. She flew from the Dragon’s Throat, elevating herself to catch the gusts, to simply sail along the wind’s crests. Hanging above the restless ocean below, coasting along the edges of dune and sand to map and memorize. The mere idea that she was welcomed to stay, to –stay – on the island and be a part of some permanent congregation, something far larger than herself was a luxurious offer. Perhaps even a godsend? Imparting hope into the recess of that heart, adding to the fire that battled and warred against life’s doubts.

For she would be strong and impervious to its insults, deflecting its slings and arrows. Rather absorb this new land, than waste away entirely to the what-ifs and have-nots, to fear and emptiness.

But rather than tackle the issues themselves, she continued to ignore them. So they festered at her veins, and now they were encroaching upon her heart. One cell – each memory and emotional tie thereafter – of the what-ifs and the have-nots of a mother who’d promised her protection, companionship. No longer.

A shiver ran through her as the next stream of wind pushed her higher up. Normally she wouldn’t give in so quickly, but the fatigue from the uneasy sleep brought her to the Heart. A crater with no name, no meaning nor story to satiate her mind. Nonetheless, it was quite warm. The mere idea of the heat prickled her senses, issuing another chill as she settled near the open pit. A lofty smile curled her lips, stretching out those wings and shaking off the wetness from her body. A delightful squeal rising above the air.

Right then… With a determined huff she milled around, catching the sight of a pretty stone or two. But feeling no need to collect them, she slowly made her way towards the mouth of the cave. It was both alluring and undeniably foreboding. For one who had an infinite love for the sky and the heavens, the caves below denied her of that assurance. Recalling the tense, anxious stir of her mind when she had first explored the caverns. But perhaps… She would test her will, and her courageous spirit? Wasn’t she more, than merely her feathers, or her wings?

With a brief growl, the bay dun filly pushed forward. The stakes were certainly higher this time around, there was no one ahead to sneak and follow. Just the blackness ahead, and the light glow of the quartz stone all around.

To her surprise she wasn’t quite alone. In fact, after catching the hind end of Uriel, she was shocked to discover the feathers lining his head and neck. He looked familiar, he looked like family. And as was customary for the wild youth, she began to pick up her pace with an excited trill into the air.

Do I know you? I must know you! As the self-proclaimed warrior (for she was her own hero, of course) closed the distance, an ache she had not quite experienced in her lifetime throbbed into her being. A homesickness that rolled into a hard ball, knotting her stomach and threatening to escape her throat.

Instead of distancing herself, she broke past any formal personal barrier, and tried to graze his shoulder in friendly reunion. Her closest wing to him lifting, as if to embrace a friend.

Clearly she was not thinking straight. Though the child had not seen any other feathers in this configuration within Helovia. And it was, indeed, a signature of her people. For now she would have tufts for hair, but they too would shed. And then she would have feathers like them – him.

Unable to contain herself, as bizarre and spontaneous as she was; the girl shyly laughed. Thinking, maybe he knew where they were?





@Uriel -- [ yush! 8P ]
Please Tag
Permision to use any violence/harm; nothing that would cause immediate death

Uriel Posts: 12
Outcast
Colt :: Hybrid :: 16.1 HH :: 1 Year (Frostfall)
Linds
#3

Uriel
If I let you in, you'd just want out
If I tell you the truth, you'd vie for a lie
If I spilt my guts, it would make a mess we can't clean up
If you follow me, you will only get lost

The quiet and intrinsic magic that possessed the Heart Caves was more enthralling than Uriel could have imagined. The darkness and the sullen wonder of the unknown betwixt the colt, so much so that his thoughts were only trained upon the path ahead, whereon the shadows stood tall and his doubts stood taller. He was uncertain what lurked in those uncertain depths and felt as though his skin had drawn tight across his face as he focused solely on the dimming light. Cleverly, the young prince began to draw on the strings of magic that fluttered from his core.  In truth, Uriel had not yet mastered the extent of his power, but as he urged it outward, he hoped that the spiraling of his wings would cast enough light to soothe his pounding heart. He wanted to feel as though he wasn’t utterly alone despite the sickening truths he kept hidden behind his teeth.

His mother… where was she now?

His father-he wouldn’t care if he never came back.


But Sariel… his soul burned for her.
 

As he again conjured her image, so vibrant and beautiful, the colt glanced down at the tattoo he shared with his sister. The muscle ached there and somehow Uriel was content to hurt for her loss. She’d disappeared with no promise to return and while Uriel was strong-willed, Sariel was the last piece of his heart… and she’d gone.

Yet, as he shook away his sadness and forced himself to task, Uriel couldn’t deny the growing sense of being followed. It was only moments later that clatter of hooves upon the stone caused him to turn and freeze. The warming effects of his magic ran cold and whatever progress he'd made was suddenly ripped from his hands, perished. Fear rippled through his veins and for the first time, Uriel was forced to make a decision on his own. He could run from that which frightened him or face it head-on, unlike his father. However, before he could decide one way or another, a figured emerged from the cavern’s entryway. The colt had never seen such a filly before and nearly stood aside to let her pass, but was taken aback when she pressed toward him, her shoulder grazing his own.

For a time Uriel was stunned and confused, but something deep and unbeknownst to him delighted in her touch. It reminded him of… family- like the one he never truly had. At times he blamed himself for his bad attitude and the suffocating rage instilled by his traitorous father. Why did he have to leave them? Why did he have to break them?

It was only when the girl giggled that Uriel was again at her attention. What did she want of him? Who did she think he was?  With a huff, Uriel leaned back and tilted his head away from the filly until he could fully (and rightfully) assess who she was. Like an awkward boy, he rummaged through the few citizens he knew in the Edge and couldn’t seem to recall seeing her there, but also knew that such a notion wouldn’t mean much considering he hadn’t done much socializing. Who are you? he nearly whispered.

Then, without realizing why, Uriel felt embarrassed for the first time in in life. The filly had certainly caught him off guard and suddenly the colt was feeling ashamed of it. Was that all his promises and ambitions had awarded him? Was he just a scared child unable to overcome his fears? After all, what was so frightening about those periwinkle blue eyes? What about her stunning light coat was so terrifying?  As Uriel pondered bemused, he sighed in relief, for there hadn’t been monsters lurking in the cave… just a girl.

Table code by Time

@Ru -- So sorry for the wait!

Ru Posts: 130
World's Edge Captain atk: 7.0 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4.0
Mare :: Pegasus :: 16.1h :: 3 [Tallsun] HP: 60.5 | Buff: Novice
Mar
#4




Something in the air stirs before she can reach the colt. There is the faintest movement of light from her vantage, a brief tingling in the air that Ru fails to fully realize. Thinking that her eyes have tricked her from the cave’s light, she owes the mild disturbance to the movement of the walls – and the bodies reflecting and tossing its wayward presence.

In the midst of brushing him and stepping back, she finds herself ‘pleased’ by his appearance. Giving way to a rich bronze coat, dappled by the caves in rusted, shimmering contrasts. A crown of white covering his face. Her eyes dance across the ridges of his neck, to the spines of his feathers, until a light one-sided frown develops. She rests her gaze on his nearest shoulder. And having found no wings to accompany him, a cool, pale thought interjects her joy.

Words without form trouble her lips. The bright smile sobers briefly as she thinks, simply; ‘What happened?’

The youth blinks a few more times, investigating his shoulder from where she stood – skimming as much of its surface as possible to rule out fowl play. But before she can extend her head and press her muzzle along the skin, he moves further from her. A harshness ushers forward from his nostrils, a huff, an irritation perhaps?

Oblivious to his previous stillness, to the shock and confusion; she snaps back into reality when his voice tumbles out into the air. A voice nearly present, as her eyes darted back upon the stranger. A rare burn warms her cheeks from her core, having forgotten any manners than to poke and pry as she wished - momentarily ashamed for having done so…

Ru did not have an answer though. As his query loomed above her head she merely stared at him. A gaze as unwavering as the summer sun, bright and unabashed by her misdemeanor. Snagged by those eyes; they were pretty, like shades of silver immersed underneath a pool of blue-sky.

She hummed behind her lips, her curiosity gaining heat. Shifting her eyes away from his porcelain face, to the glowing caverns surrounding them; she shakes her head in response. The youth’s tail wiggles in contemplation; she attempts to change the subject with a gravelly grunt. Lifting her left wing she points with the radiale joint to his head, sweeps the limb down and settles it at his shoulders from where she stood. A sound punctures into the air – a misplaced note, as she tried her best to emphasize her observations

“Ah!”

Drawing her wing back she spreads them. Giving a few small flaps before tucking them back by her side. A coo finally emits from Ru – because she preferred the refined tone of its song, compared to the coarse, unhinged yelp prior. Now and then, she liked to convey the sense that she was smarter than what she could 'sound' out. Yet there was always a chance, a possibility that her newfound companion would think otherwise.

She braced herself for that possibility, forcing a smile as she tilted her head. The youth’s muscles, tensed slightly by the mere thought of rejection.




@Uriel  [it's all right! :3 ]
Please Tag
Permision to use any violence/harm; nothing that would cause immediate death

Uriel Posts: 12
Outcast
Colt :: Hybrid :: 16.1 HH :: 1 Year (Frostfall)
Linds
#5

Uriel
If I let you in, you'd just want out
If I tell you the truth, you'd vie for a lie
If I spilt my guts, it would make a mess we can't clean up
If you follow me, you will only get lost

Nervous tension stemmed from his shoulders down into his toes as the colt rocked away from the filly and all her conundrums. She was fearless (flawless) and unapologetic, a curious combination of complexities that upended the young prince despite his best façade. Somehow he couldn’t fight his mortification and his disquiet as she blinked at him from behind those dark lashes and beryl colored eyes. Should he glance around the cave a bit more, he might find such beauty in the minerals and the rocks that stood erect nearby, but Uriel was too proud or too stupid to act as if such childish whims affected him. Instead, he shuffled his feathers, preening and puffing in lieu of the girl’s attentions, still unaware of her fascination for the sparse plumage along his slender shoulder blades. For he was but a male after all, and one that thrived only on affection and admiration. But he was caught, ensnared, by her irritation thereafter. Her breath bellowed forth in response to his oblivion, an expression he assumed to be exasperation toward his ignorant disposition, and suddenly the colt felt guilty for misunderstanding the girl’s intentions.

When he turned again to face her, a warm, rare blush coloring the skin of his cheeks, he founds the filly in a similar state. Had he been mistaken once again? He waited for her response to his questioning, but the words never came, instead leaving the faint traces of his own voice to falter against the stifling silence of the caves. What is wrong with her, he prodded internally, expectantly.  With nothing more than her face to study, her expressions as they shifted from one thing to the next, Uriel found himself at a loss.

He shuffled uncomfortably before her, his hooves creating a soft din in the darkness and the utter mystery of the cavern, before he paused to listen to her warbling song. It was just as primitive and frustrating as the filly herself, because it provided him no answer as to what exactly she wanted from him. He clucked dubiously as he began to trace the curves and dips in her face. Somehow he imagined he would find her purpose there since words were clearly an elusive creature in her company.

However, her gestures were alight and expressive, telling in their impatience and their restlessness. She grunted once, her hindquarters nearly wagging to and fro like the pendulum of a clock. Like the time, she waited for his understanding before moving onward and upward, never quite settling to help him along, but merely forcing him into the moment. But suddenly, as if she had grown tired of waiting for him to wrap himself around her lack of words, she swung the wing closest to him up toward his face, catching him immediately off guard. Uriel grunted, surprised, before watching the appendage trail down toward his own wingless blade, his breath hitching at the sight.

For a moment he was enraged, totally offended by her boldness and thoughtlessness, but he stifled whatever discontent he harbored in favor of reverting inward, to a place where he was certain he would always be accepted. The girl emitted a high pitched screech, or a yell that further eroded his whittling patience, and Uriel scoffed at the sound. He contemplated leaving her to her own devices, but again her soft warbling caused him to pause. Her face was too kind, too energetic and child-like, for him to act so rashly. So instead of abandoning her in the tunnels, he turned away while he searched for the words that would appease her. “They’ll never grow,” he stated dejectedly. They were sentiments he’d always kept inside, poisonous and foul, but they tasted even worse than he’d imagined. Yet, there was something freeing in their release… even if the feeling was only momentary.

Table code by Time

@Ru

Ru Posts: 130
World's Edge Captain atk: 7.0 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4.0
Mare :: Pegasus :: 16.1h :: 3 [Tallsun] HP: 60.5 | Buff: Novice
Mar
#6




Despite the lack of words ushered between them, there are the subtle shifts of emotions and thoughts dancing within. Ru is finding that she is not a very good interpreter of what may lie behind the young stallion’s cool expression, or the myriad of hints interlaced with the shuffling of his feathers, or the steady gaze he takes when she is trying her best to communicate. As if he is searching for something, unfound and not yet discovered, hovering above them like a tight cord pulled between one another. As she stood there, waiting for his response after the shove of her wing, she swore she could feel its tension reach its threshold – about to snap.

Adults lived in another world, or so the young one assumed. Their life was not played out with the freedom of the heart. There were things out there that tied one down, ideals and obligations perhaps, that made the yoke of life a burden with its sways of ups and downs. Though, through the eyes of a child – a budding youth, perhaps it did not seem so foreign now. At first it all seemed so simple, and Ru was content with the simplicities of life, because she was free to do as she wished. Without consequence, without remorse, there was no need to please or seek approval. She knew she had her mother’s love, and she would be forever rewarded by that grace. It seemed as though it would never end, its flow uninterrupted by a scold, a warning. But as mother’s love wilted in the harsh winter winds of Helovia, the security that came with that love ebbed farther and farther away.

She held her breath without realizing it, as his head swayed away. Her ears twitched back as her muscles coiled, and her limbs resisted the urge to tremble. And yet, she was eager to know, to seek the impossible chance that somehow he would lead her back to her family. Would any other child think otherwise? She had all but her memories, and the growing void that threatened to ensnare the joy from her spirit. A single ray, a drop of water – a crack in the stone, she would take any chance to return home. His answer was strange though; his voice was heavy, and hinting at the terrible feeling locked away inside his own body, to breech the silence in the tune of a single bell. Dulled from its chime, and softened against the walls.

Ru wasn’t entirely sure how she should respond, nonetheless what she thought of his answer. She had never considered what it would be like to not have the ability to fly. To reach the skies and kiss the stars, to be consumed by the wind, feeling the pull and grasp of the air streaming down her wings. She sucked in the air, resuming her breath with a small nod. Why had she asked in the first place…? She wasn’t entirely sure anymore. And it made her uncomfortable, and then she thought – it wasn’t all that bad, was it? They were alive, weren’t they? The flicka forced herself a few steps forwards, and offered a gentle nudge to his shoulder. She wasn’t sure if he would notice the effort or not, because she suddenly seemed to recall he might not like the physical contact. So the girl ducked her head and moved away. A nervous air following her movements, suddenly fearful that she might drive him away all together.

But then a simple idea grasped the simple girl’s mind. Keeping a distance between them, the light frown upon her features bloomed into a soft smile across her face. She nickered towards him, a soft hum briefly escaping her voice – an attempt to wrestle with his attention and bring his focus to her. She bobbed her head inwards, further into the cave, and tilted her head. She only allotted a few seconds before she started further in, only a few steps ahead before she stopped. Turning her face back upon him, and giving a soft, trilling roll.  




@Uriel
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