the Rift


[PRIVATE] In the light of day

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#1
My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes


It was undoubtedly nice, being home. Despite the damp heat beneath the dense canopy and despite the rumors that kept flying around the herd after the apparently rather dramatic change in leadership it felt good to be surrounded by familiar faces. Her father was absent as usual, but to Erthë this was nothing new. It had been ages since she last saw his face, and though she worried about him and kept re-drafting her  speech for when he deigned to return it was a subdued anger, tempered by the realization that she wasn't an ounce better. They had probably walked past each other on the way to and from the Edge, out of sync yet so similar in habit that it was laughable. Try as she might, she was her parents' child in body and spirit.

Just look at her now. Already putting distance between herself and the herd land, already letting her wings carry her off to someplace else, instead of where she was supposed to be. It was ironic, but this time she thought her reason for leaving was justified. The smoke rising from the north-east had bothered her for days ever since she got back. Thoughts of Murtagh and his family kept popping into her mind, more and more frequently until Erthë couldn't justify inaction to herself anymore. She headed off, soaring high above the parched, drought-marked landscape towards the black pillars that marked the location of distant fires. Each time she caught the scent of smoke and ash Erthë felt a jolt of anxiety in her stomach, and each time she picked up the pace a bit more, pushing herself harder and harder in order to reach the Hidden Falls before it was too late.

As the mountains fell away beneath her and the distant land-bridge between the giant lake and the northern sea came into view however, a figure on the ground caught her attention. Even from this distance she was able to recognize the familiar silhouette of Tembovu - big, strong, handsome and a steady cliff in her turbulent life, one of the few constants she had to return to, aside from the forest and the Lady - and the sight of him out here surprised her. How long had it been since she last saw him outside their forested home? Intrigue made the small mare angle her wings and begin a swift descent, the warm summer air whistling around her ears as she swooped down towards the ground. Faster and faster she went, and at the last second Erthë unfurled her wings and angled out, gliding deftly towards the approaching stallion with a wide smile on her face.

"Hello there, majesty!" she called as she flew past him, playfully extending soft wingtips to tickle his sides. "So far from home, what lured you out of the woods?"

Making a sharp turn behind her high-ranked friend Erthë turned and came back around to land gracefully on the opposite side, small and pale and shimmering in the dazzling light of day.


Erthë
And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you
image | coding


@Tembovu permission to pp his presence

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~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#2
Tembovu the Elephant King
Thick legs of ebony and ivory carry the man away from the Aurora Basin, decidedly slower than his mad race to his children and Rexanna. Though the unease for Rexanna and the twins’ safety had settled, a new apprehension replaced it: how would he be present in the twin’s lives? How would he be their father, not just their sire? His ears tilted back, trying to wrestle the painful hope that Rexanna would bring herself and their children to the Edge when he returned for the festivities she spoke of. She had never returned with him before; and the single time she had attempted to come to the Edge, Orithia had run her off—his foals in her womb.

What would he do with the rose-blushed mare? She was fiercely loyal, as much as she was fiercely his. A sigh pushed out his nostrils as he plodded southward, legs crossing over the vast expanse of permafrost and tundra. The dry, high meadows were awash with dry grasses; it reminded him of the Dorobian plains. Except these were cold, even in the day’s ‘heat.’ How differently life would have taken him if he had followed Rexanna to the Basin that fateful day he had crossed the Threshold…

But his introspective thoughts were shattered by a rapidly plummeting white, winged form. It dove from the sky; faster and faster; a pearlescent streak amid the blue-hot heavens. His strides drew shorter, brows raising first in surprise and then in concern—was this thing (a pegasus?) destined to crash into the earth?

But, at the last moment, the figure drew up, floating around him with surprising grace. “Erthe?” His thick, black-splashed skin twitched at the whisper-soft tickles of her satin, white feathers against his side. When had her wings become so long; so graceful? When had the awkwardness of yearling-dom begun to leave her legs and flanks? It still clung there slightly, but Erthe was definitely closer to mare than filly, now. Cobalt eyes sharpened, rising out of his self-imposed gloom, to truly see the little filly (despite his realizations, she would forever be his little, brazen filly).

His head followed her as she landed alongside him, with surprising grace that he had not yet learned to expect from his small friend. “You’ve taken well to flying, it seems,” a shadow of a lopsided grin crossed over his face as his warm compliment fell between them. He was happy to see her flying rather than hobbling. It seemed more… freeing.

Though his grin faded as her question sank in, his navy eyes glancing away from the dazzling white of her coat. In the presence of her cheerful playfulness, he was tempted to brush aside her question with a noncommittal answer. But the Elephant was too tired, too emotionally raw, from his race to the Basin and subsequent meeting of Rexanna and their children, to form an half-truths in answer to her question.

So, instead, the Elephant quietly replied, “I went to visit my children, in the Basin.” And then, amid his exhaustion, the King fell both still and silent, eyes on the dry earth and struggling plants.
image

@Erthë!

Please tag Tembovu.

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#3
My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes


The filly grinned happily at the surprised look on the King's face as she landed. Tucking the wide wings securely to her sides she struggled a bit to keep pace with his long strides, her hobbling gait somewhat painful to behold yet efficient enough; it was amazing how quickly one adapted to disabilities, the body learned so fast how it ought to behave to create the least amount of discomfort.

"I still mess up the landings more often than not" she laughed in reply. "It's a wonderful feeling though, flying. I have no idea how I got by before I learned to use these", she indicated the feathered appendages, "and I sure hope I'll never have to find out."

Looking up at her big friend Erthë expected to see him return her smile with the old  familiar warmth radiating from those blue eyes of his. Instead, the look on his face and the tired, almost old tone of the voice made her own grin fade. Concern bubbled up amidst the surprise she felt upon hearing his answer - children? He had more, and why were they in the Basin of all places - and without pausing to consider whether it was welcome or wanted, she reached out to press a cold nose against Tembovu's broad shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Erthë asked softly, trying but failing to keep the worry from reaching her voice. "Did something happen - were your kids alright?"

It was unsettling to see the man so downcast. Normally she knew this stallion to smile and keep his head high even when things weighed on his mind, thought of him as someone able to shrug off the things that couldn't be dealt with immediately. To see him with eyes downcast and so obviously tired shook the foundations of her whole world - somewhat dramatically phrased perhaps, but that's how it felt - and the girl struggled with herself to keep her head cool. If she wanted to help him she would have to stay calm, be supportive, adapt the same quiet air of competence that Alune possessed - the kind that loosened the bond on tongues and set others at ease without even trying.

It didn't even occur to her that there might not be anything for her to help him with. Tembovu was one of the founding forces in her life, one of the big rocks upon which she based her whole existence. He had to be there, strong and happy and confident, because who else could she rely upon to keep the world spinning? Thus, she had to fix whatever it was that caused this unusual cloud in her otherwise clear sky.  

There was just no way that this did not concern her.

Erthë
And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you
image | coding


@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#4
Tembovu the Elephant King
The King, noting her hobbling gait that struggled to keep her shorter and crooked legs abreast with him, gradually slowed his sweeping columns of legs; while Erthe was a graceful daredevil in the skies, the earth still rendered her burdened by her old injuries. A few lines creased around the King’s dark, navy eyes as the nagging feeling of failing the filly (unable to find a healer to fix her delicate limbs after the Rift God battle) wormed through his chest and mind.

But it didn’t seem to hinder her spirits in the slightest, an easy laugh answering his observations. She spoke of the sky; of the feeling of flying, a sensation that the Elephant was forever curious about. Though he knew his massive body was not one that would ever feel the heaven’s embrace. No, his embrace was that of land, battle, and those he loved. Ones that were so far away, in the cold north—

His thoughts were broken into by the frigid, but delicately velvet touch of Erthe’s slender muzzle against his shoulder. His skin instinctively shivered once against the cold, though his thick hide quickly settled and he leaned slightly into the filly’s instinctive, compassionate gesture. Though it did not entirely surprise the King, he found some small measure of proud revelation that this was the sort of mare Erthe was growing into. The worried concern of her voice, though it did not relief the exhausted sorrow of the King, did place some sort of light beneath the weight he carried.

“My children are fine, Erthe,” his deep voice rumbled, gait slowing even more, “But they, and their mother, are remaining in the Basin— away from me.” His answer was not direct, but the melancholy in his voice implied that this was what was wrong: the distance.

He sighed softly, ears swiveling as he tried to listen the tundra around them—trying to turn his attention outwards, rather than in on his troubled thoughts. “What brings my little filly so far from the Edge? Is it for your studies with Alune?” His question, though abruptly changing the subject, was said with true curiosity edging his exhaustion.
image

@Erthë!

Please tag Tembovu.

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#5
My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes

Unfortunately, there are things in this world that even strong willed little girls can fix. Relationship troubles were one of them. She had imagined much when the King sighed, but for it to be love related was not one of them. The simple fact that Tembovu had kids was still a mystery to her, and to hear of yet another set in the Basin... It was inconceivable. Why were they in the Basin instead of the Edge, how come Elsa wasn't the mother of his second pair (surely that couldn't be, because then the offspring would add to the number of cavorting brats that wrought havoc upon the forest) and who even was so stupid that they didn't stick to their mate, forcing them to run back and forth between herds like that?

Erthë, who had been raised by two parents that moved more or less in the same direction at the same time, had no grasp on things like polygamy. In her mind a family was a group of people that lived in the same place, and those that didn't stick around weren't worthy of the name. Her own father, gone more often than he was present, teetered on the brink of betrayal in her mind, his absence like a loose tooth in her mouth; too rooted still to let go of, yet impossible to retrieve to its rightful place. Too much time had passed - at times she felt as though he too had died, as though she was another orphan drifting around the periphery of the home known as World's Edge.

She was quiet for a long time as she mulled this over, but though she didn't say anything Erthë moved herself closer to the mammoth, pressing her cold body towards his side in a mute display of solidarity. 'I know the feeling' it seemed to say, 'my dad's gone a lot too'. But without words, perhaps it was too difficult a message to convey. Many things got lost in translation between souls, additional meanings added where none had existed before.

"I was going to the Falls, to check on my friends after all those fires" Erthë said eventually, quiet and subdued in the face of her friends troubled demeanor, "but I think I'll go home instead. They're probably fine anyway..." But there's a friend here that needs me more.

She glanced up at Tembovu, tried to catch his eye and offered him a little smile. "What was it like in the Basin? I haven't been there since I was a kid, and it was always snowing then. Do they get flowers in the summer too?"


Erthë
And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you
image | coding


@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#6
Tembovu the Elephant King
The Elephant’s thoughts, as troubled as they were, became more prone to picking out misfortune’s irregularities. Thus, his navy gaze was drawn to her hobbling and limping, especially as she pressed her small, cold body against his large, hot one and he could feel her gimpy gait. His thick lips pressed together as he slowly halted, looking at the filly young woman. She was entirely grown now, no vestiges of foal hood left on her pearlescent, white body.

The King sighed slightly, looking down into her mismatched eyes. “I didn’t know you had friends in the Falls—though I should know you make friends wherever you go,” he grinned slightly at her, “And yes, smoke has risen over the Falls all Tallsun, but there is plenty of water, there.” The King’s comforting rumble slowed to a stop as she caught his eyes and offered him a small smile.

And then his own grin faded at her question of what the Basin was like—and if there were flowers. He blinked and looked away, lips pursing slightly, as he tried to recall anything about the Basin other than Rexanna, Kiada, and Kianzo. And then he shook his massive skull slightly, “I was distracted by other things, and did not notice flowers; or much else.” His answer was dull, and quiet.

So, again, he turned his attention outward, gaze sweeping to her crooked forelegs, before gently asking, “How do you fare with your legs?” HIs massive horn gestured towards them. There was no pity in his eyes, just sadness (left over from leaving the Basin alone) and heartfelt concern. He knew her wings must help, but a horse must walk at some point. (At least, an unwinged, Dorobian stallion would think so.)
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@Erthë!

Please tag Tembovu.

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#7
My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes


So much for cheering him up. The topic she chose for distraction was obviously a poorly chosen one, because no sooner was the man smiling again than her mention of the Basin doused it, like a bucket of water poured unceremoniously over a flickering flame. Erthë saw his falling expression and could have kicked herself, if her weak limbs would have permitted such an act of agility. Unfortunately it took all she had of speed and willpower just to keep up the pace, and it would be too humiliating to force the king to slow down even more for her sake than he already was. Oh yes, she was fully aware that he cut his stride shorter on her behalf; it was a sweet gesture and she truly appreciated it, not the least because of the growing pain in the broken cannon. Expecting to fly rather than hike across half the continent she had been only taken half her usual dose of painkillers... and it was coming back to haunt her now.

Whether because the added pain that caused her limp to grow heavier or due to some supernatural ability to pick up on her thoughts, Temobvu mirrored her thoughts and asked, very gently and thoughtfully (as usual) about her condition. The girl couldn't help it; she tensed at the subject, and as she noticed her own stiff shoulders she withdrew ever so slightly and let her gaze wander out across the landscape. It was a shame that she barely saw the stunning view of the mountains and the distant plains to the east; normally she would have relished every second of it.

"Oh, there has been no change, really. I don't know if I told you that the Amaranthine finally found time to take me to the shrines? She pleaded with her Lord, the Sun God, but he wouldn't do anything. I suppose it's beyond even the gods to heal certain things... I'm just going to have to learn to live with the limp."

She threw him a quick glance, proud that she was able to smile even after such bleak and boring words. It wasn't even that she had come to terms with her disability; Erthë just refused to dwell on it or think overly much at how hindered she had become. With meticulous care she banished every passing inkling of self-pity or envy she might feel on seeing the able bodies of others, no matter how brief they may be. Jealousy and foolishness was unbecoming, and the inability to accept facts was not needed in one who had the sight set on the Seer's seat...

"Don't worry about it, please?" she added, upon noticing the sad expression her surrogate father was wearing. "I manage to get about anyway, and I have my ways to cope with the pain... I'm quite alright really."

Shrugging she tried to leave it at that. No one usually bothered about how she got herself to all the corners of the continent and back home again, and she expected no further interest on Tembovu's part now that she had told him she was fine. Thinking the matter was dealt with, she began searching for something else to talk about, something that wouldn't bring a cloud of sadness over those deep blue eyes...

Surely there must be some way of making the man laugh, she just had to find out what it was.

Erthë
And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you
image | coding


@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#8
Tembovu the Elephant King
His black-rimmed ears tilted forward as they rested in a standstill, listening to her answer. His head cocked subtly, the Sun God had denied the pleas to heal a filly’s legs? Black skin around his eyes creased slightly in consternation—the time he had battled alongside the Sun God on the Flats, he had seemed like a god that the Elephant could support. Just, bright, warrior-esque… Yet here he was, King beneath the Moon.

But, still, it perplexed the stallion that any god would deny a filly healing of her limbs. His mind turned fully to the Moon Goddess, and how she had shown a sweetness to the little, bright-eyes Erthe at the meeting. And how the young filly had been enraptured by the lavender Goddess. And so he asked her, “Have you asked the Moon?”

But he let the issue drop, not pursuing her healing any further, at the proud smile that she threw his way. It was, in fact, impressive that Erthe could retain her good spirits and buoyant attitude despite her nearly crippling injuries. She was right to be pleased with her accomplishment. And so he returned her smile, though his was still sad and didn’t entirely reach his navy eyes.

Though he shook his head slightly at her request for him to not ’worry about it.’ A rueful, lopsided grin spread full across his muzzle as he answered, “I care about you as my own children, Erthe. I will forever worry.” He was about to let the matter rest, but something she had said roused his curiosity, “You have your ’ways’?” His gaze probed her two-toned eyes questioningly. Though he wasn’t certain that the young mare wanted to talk about this, he was no part ungrateful for having something other than his children and mate in the Basin to think about.
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@Erthe

Please tag Tembovu.

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#9
My thoughts are the cold kind,
I've got storm clouds brewing behind my eyes

"Have you asked the Moon?"

Erthë blinked. What? OH right, he was still talking about her legs! Seems the former Dorobian wasn't quite as ready to leave the subject in its grave as she. That question though, it rattled her in a very deep and profound way. It was quite simple, plainly stated, very clear cut and in audible voice but it still took a while for the true brilliance of the very idea to sink in. And when it did, her eyes slowly widened, until she stopped dead on the spot and just stared up at Tembovu.

"Well... no. I mean, I presumed that... well if one of them wouldn't, then..." She quieted, voice trailing off and it was clearly visible how the complex (sometimes overly so) machinery of her mind began to work.

Indeed, she had presumed. But had she not both seen with her own eyes and learned from experience that each god was its own creature, all with their own separate personalities? The Sun was as noble and hot-tempered, as proud and haughty as his Sister was fickle and sweet, seductive and motherly and utterly ruthless. Was it not foolish to the point of idiocy to dare assume that just because one god, with whom she had never truly interacted, refused a request by proxy, all others would do so as well, regardless of her relation to them or how she phrased such a request? Why in all the starry heavens had she not thought of this before?

"Tembu... you might be a genius" she said. The unseeing, faraway gaze slowly turned to regard the bulky lord with something very close to awe. "I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier..."

And the conversation could well have ended there, because Erthë was ready to take this new train of thought the full circle, and it might take her all the rest of the way back home to work through the ins and outs of her own folly, work through matters of guilt and propriety and process the mounting doubt that the Goddess would favor her with such a blessing, blood-stained sinner as she were. But this time it was Tembovu who had moved on, and it took her a while to realize that the man was asking about something she has said.

"What? Oh, sorry, I was... I know a herb that numbs the pain. That bright red one, with the big petals? You see it everywhere on meadows and river-beds in late summer, it bleeds milky liquid if you break the stem..."

Distracted as she was, Erthë didn't reflect over whether it was wise of her to describe the plant so closely to her friend. It was a fairly well known herb after all, infamous for its narcotic properties and addictive nature... normally she wouldn't have given him half the information, but right now there were other things on her mind.

Would the Lady really listen to such a selfish, deeply personal request? Was it at all interesting to the divine creature whether a lowly mortal was walking well or not..? Oh, but even this the smallest glimmer of hope was like a battering ram against hastily assembled castle gates, and without being able to suppress herself Erthë found herself picturing all the things she would be able to do, if her legs only worked like the should.

No forces on this earth would be able to stop her!




Erthë
And my heart will be blacker than your eyes
when I'm through with you
image | coding


@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#10
Tembovu the Elephant King
Navy eyes stared into her two-toned eyes that widened in amazement in response to his question. Amusement flickered through his own gaze, conquering (for a moment) the melancholy that lingered there. He remained silent as she verbally worked out her reasoning for not yet asking the Moon to heal her legs, his dark brows raising as she lumped all the gods together.

He had not been in Helovia for as long as Erthe had been alive, and his little experience with the gods (limited to the Rift battles, truthfully) told him how different the divine siblings were. A warm, half-chuckle rumbled from deep in his chest as she proclaimed him to be a ‘genius’. “If only I was, little Erthe,” he slipped and called her as if she were still a young filly, “Then I would be returning to the Edge with my family.” His voice dipped quietly, sadness returning.

He shook his heavy skull slightly, focusing on her answer to his question about her ‘ways’. And his dark brows rose as she began to describe the plant she used to numb her pain. But the plant she spoke of was powerful, numbing the mind as well as the body—so much so that it was one of the few things that impressed on the King’s mind from Tilney’s many teachings.

So, carefully, he asked the pearlescent filly, “How often, and how much, do you use this herb?” His head cocked, studying her as they stood on the frozen Steppe, brisk winds intermittently whipping around their mismatched bodies: one large, hulking elephant filled with fire and one small, dainty snowflake with ice for skin. Concern began to rear it head in his mind, while some semblances of anger stirred in his chest. How had Erthe known to use this herb? And did she know how to appropriately use it?

There were some old Dorobian warriors in his tribe on the plains—one in particular, his dam’s sire, had been mauled by a pack of hyenas while he was protecting a foal that had wandered outside the tribe’s boundaries. Their bone-crushing jaws had crunched all but one his limbs in varying degrees of severity. That warrior had begun eating iboga, a Plains plant with similar properties to the one Erthe was using, and eventually his mother had found him, dead while surrounded by a trove of it.

So his eyes carefully watched her as he waited for an answer.
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@Erthë!

Please tag Tembovu.

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#11

He just couldn't keep away from the subject, could he? The man reminded her of a colt with his first loose milk-tooth, constantly prodding it with his tongue to see if it still hurt. Gazing absently at the stallion Erthë thought she could see several ways to solve his problem, but for once the girl kept quiet about them. This was Tembovu - he was a very intelligent man, a capable as a leader and one of the kindest people she'd ever had the pleasure to call friend. If she could think of those options then he likely already had, which meant that he wouldn't act upon them no matter what she said.

A flicker of anger sparked within herself as she thought of the mare that brought her Tembu into such a state. What kind of selfish bitch placed themselves before their mate? If she loved him enough to let him bed her, surely she ought to want to be together too. Wasn't that what the whole thing was about? Love, stay together, from a family, make a herd... bring others into the bond and eventually the foals would also find love, and stay together, build new families and so the herd would grow and evolve and...

She sighed. Why did it have to be so complicated? Why did blue eyes have to become dulled with sadness and worry? Why, oh why couldn't Tembovu just... give up and move on to someone who deserved him better, someone who wouldn't let him down?

"Oh, not much..." she said, gaze trailing off again as she tucked the wings closer to her sides. "Only when I really need to..."

It was dawning on her that she may have said too much. His questions were becoming a bit too specific, and the girl knew instinctively that it wouldn't be good if he was brought in on the whole picture. It really wasn't a problem, not one she couldn't handle at least... and besides, if she were to go to the Moon soon to ask for aid, then there wouldn't be a need for the poppies at all! She would be able to run and skip and jump and dance to her hearts content, no longer tied down by pain or crooked joints, unrestrained by the sympathy and pity of others...

She would be free.

Smiling at the wonderful prospect the girl started forward again, as always biting back the desire to wince whenever she put weight on the shattered bone. The mask she donned was well-rehearsed, so much so that it had become second nature, put on without a second thought to whether it was wise, or prudent... or cruel to those who cared about her.



Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking
image credit to Neaqmir on deviantart.com


@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#12
Tembovu the Elephant King
Tembovu’s navy gaze, already sharply trained on the the pearlescent filly, caught the tight tuck of her wings into her sides as she answered his question. Or, perhaps, avoided answering him by giving vague non-answers. And, he noted the loss of her gaze as she spoke—causing his own eyes to crease.

Then off she started to walk, dismissing this conversation before it even began. “Erthe,” his rumble was low, deep, and (for the first time with the filly young mare) commanding. His own ivory hooves remained rooted, his voice calling her back to him—he was not as readily moved off the subject as she was.

“How often do you take it, Erthe?” He repeated his question again, trying to take the edge out of his voice and softening it to a request. But it was not a request—for his mind was replaying the stricken look in his mother’s grey eyes. Kajifu, the ‘stern grey’, had lost the strength in her eyes that day. He had been but a colt, but perhaps that made him all the more perceptive of his dam’s eyes. They had been the harbingers of reward or punishment, so he had learned to read them well.

Concern laced through his demanding features—revealing the truth beneath his insistence. He did not wish to find the young mare’s body still, lifeless, and matching the death-cold skin she already bore. Nor did he wish to be told of anyone finding her drowned in the milky white sap that promised more euphoria than the body could take—and so it expired in the highs.

So he waited, silent and still, for her answer.
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@Erthë!

Please tag Tembovu.

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#13

"Erthë."

The tone of his voice brought her to an abrupt halt, shocked by the way he said her name. She had heard it before of course, when he spoke to the herd and when he issued orders, and just recently when they dealt with the Bramble. But never, never had the king commanded her before, and the girl had no idea how to respond. The initial reaction was to shrug it off as a joke. What, was he playing games with her? What did he mean by ordering her around like that, who did he think he was? As close as they were - and how close was that, really? - he was not actually her parent and no words of obligation or supplication had ever been exchanged.

But then there was that fact that she was a member of the herd. His herd, as he was the King. And shouldn't the monarch have the right to know about the health of his subjects?

She wasn't ranked though.

Did it matter? They were friends, right? Almost family.

No they were family!

So she should tell him.

But...

"I..."

The words caught in her throat, lodged on the back of the tongue. As immovable as any mountain. Erthë opened her mouth but no sound came out, and the turmoil of emotion in her chest smarted almost as bad as her leg. There was a tremble to her knees, so faint it wasn't visible but she could feel it, the tremble and the slight throb behind her eyes. They were signs she knew well, a warning that he effects of the drug was wearing off. She really ought to hurry home, ought to seek out the secret spot in her clearing and...

But Tembovu was standing behind her, and his eyes on her was like needles piercing her skin. Sharp and heavy, she imagined a crease of anger on his brow and a backward tilt to the ears that must shurely be there. And if she told him? Would it not deepen into shock, into horror and then... contempt. Because it was a cowardly way to handle the pain, wasn't it? Instead of sucking it up and taking the throw her actions had dealt her, she was relying on herbs and acting as though she had something to be proud of. Like she wasn't guilty, as though it wasn't really her fault she was damaged and alone, and...

No!

No.

She didn't want to see that kind of expression on his face. Not his face, already so burdened by his own troubles and the weight of the crown. Erthë wouldn't place her own stone on that load, what point was there in weighing down others with her problems?

"I said it's fine" she replied, but there was a note of impatience within the soft voice now, one she regretted as soon as it slid from her lips. She drew breath to apologize, to add something else, to explain... but there was really nothing else she could say, so without looking at Tembovu, without glancing back she started forward again.

Hoping he would give up. Wishing he would catch up, change the topic, turn this voyage into a pleasant time.

Anything.

Big girls cry when their hearts are breaking
image credit to Neaqmir on deviantart.com


@Tembovu

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#14
Tembovu the Elephant King
Her small body jerked to a halt in response to his commanding call—and silence stretched for a short (but also infinitely long) moment. His black-rimmed ears strained forward, navy eyes creased as he watched her, waiting for an answer to his question— “I…”

But there was nothing to chase that “I…” There was no explanation, no whispered words—just a choked off voice and more silence. She was too far away from him to see the turmoil crease her dainty face, or cloud her bi-colored eyes. But the way her usually pert voice suddenly became silent rose alarm in the King. The silence was heavy, filled with an explanation that she did not want to give and he did not want to hear… but an explanation that needed to be heard, lest its poison continue to bleed and stain more facets of Erthe’s life.

And then, she ended the weighty silence with a simple “I said it's fine.” But there was a tone in her voice, a tone that she had never used with the Elephant King before—just as he had never commanded her before. It was a day of firsts for the pseudo-father and pseudo-daughter. A long and hard sigh pushed out his nostrils, disappointment flashing through his eyes (again, for the first time) at the snowy hybrid mare.

“Is it?” Though his question was simple, the deep roll was dark, hard, and sad. His jaw clenched slightly as his chest tightened—his son had died too young to have been able to lie to him. So enduring the lies of one’s child was not, yet, an experience the King had—until now.

His thick lips pursed tightly, his body still not moving despite Erthe starting forward again. In the face of her terse dismissal of his questions, he had nothing more to say to the woman he saw as a daughter. His ears tilted back, navy eyes watching her retreating pearlescent body. Part of him simmered with anger—why did she not answer him? Part of him despaired—how was he to be a father if one daughter lied to him and his other children did not even live with him?

Waves of gloom enveloped his tight chest as he stood still, waiting to see if he was a good enough father Erthe would turn and come back to him.
image

@Erthë this was a strange Tembo post... and kind of out of character for him :/

Please tag Tembovu.

Erthë Posts: 440
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5
Filly :: Hybrid :: 14,2 hh :: 3 years HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Chan
#15
Erthë
You're so cold but you feel alive

There was an awful silence, and it seemed to stretch out horribly with every step she took. She didn't get far before she realized that Tembovu hadn't moved; without thinking it through the young mare glanced back across the growing distance and was shocked to see the expression on the mans face.

Placing one hoof before the other became harder after that. Despite willing herself to continue Erthë knew she was slowing down, the conflicting emotions a near physical force that seemed to double the weight of her dainty feet. Guilt, irritation,  fear, regret - how could one pebble of a question evolve into such a devastating snowball of worry? It just kept growing too, every second of silence adding to the building tension until she just wanted to scream.

An eon (minutes, seconds) later his voice breached the void, making the girl flinch in surprise and relief and guilt. He doubted her. Of course he did. In what world was her behavior normal? As familiar as Tembovu was to her, no doubt she was to him as well. Though she tried to hide it, tried to fake it, they had known each other for so long that putting on masks and pretending didn't really work anymore.

"Yes!" she said, instinct driving her to keep lying even though she knew in her heart it was pointless, foolish, cruel. The lie passed her lips with such ease that it shocked her (when had she learned to speak falsely?) and slowly, painstakingly, she ground to a halt. The load was so heavy now, the last stone teetering on top of the pile, her knees quivering beneath the burden.

"No..." A mere whisper was the hardest thing she had ever done. Blue-powdered shoulders were so tense that the feathers of her wings trembled, and each breath was a shallow gasp that barely filled the top of lungs constricted with fear.

Something sharp and painful was working its way through her, like fragments of glass in the blood scraping against the fragile veins. It wasn't tears like she had known them before, warm and sweet and freeing as they purged her of grief. There was nothing liberating about the salty drops that forced their way past eyelids she quickly squeezed tight, no beautiful sadness to warrant such a display. They were ugly, hopeless, as miserable as she felt, as unwarranted as her lies; she swallowed them down, swallowed and swallowed until the self-pity no longer ruled. Then she sucked in a deep breath and forced it out, off and away until no air remained in her lungs anymore.

It was a long sigh, and while it did release enough tension that she was able to let the head sink toward the ground Erthë felt no relaxation, no calm or composure afterwards. That one word, pressed forth through unwilling lips, hung like a guillotine above her head; a quivering note upon the air that refused to fade. She knew he probably hadn't heard it, the distance was too large, the crack in the mortar of mutual trust a deep ravine not easily crossed. Only she had heard it, only she knew of her defeat, only the wind on the steppe and the swaying grass and her heart that wasn't sure if it should bleed or harden, bend or break, give or take...

"I don't know" she said, and turned her head once more towards the blue-eyed man.


image | coding


@Tembovu - idk man.

~| Use of magic and violence is always permitted |~
~| Please only tag in opening posts |~

Tembovu the Elephant Posts: 805
World's Edge Captain atk: 7 | def: 9.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 18hh :: 10 HP: 77 | Buff: SWIFT
Mbwene :: African Elephant :: Ashen smitty
#16
Tembovu the Elephant King
“Yes!”

Her outburst was fast, almost reflexive—too quick to be a truth. The King’s black-rimmed ears, which had twitched forward to hear her response, pinned tighter against his neck. Navy eyes grew even darker, black skin creasing around them as he stared for a moment longer at the now-halted, slender white woman. Then his gaze moved past her, staring at the cold, ice-covered, level horizon that would take them both back to the Edge, to home. A home filled with empty promises and abundant grief.

And then the Elephant began to turn away, planning to take a circuitous route—he didn’t truly need the time alone with his thoughts. But he needed to be around the lies of another he deeply cared for even less—“No…” Her quiet whisper would have been lost, if not for a fortuitous and cold breeze that strung and flitted the quiet word along, straight into the stallion’s backward tilted ears.

His steps halted, shoulders frozen, as his ears swiveled towards her, followed by his head and questioning (partly relieved) gaze. He found her defeated, brave and youthful facade cracked as her head hung low to the permafrost earth. There was no relaxation in her laxity; rather, her strength was stolen, instead of relinquished, by whatever demons dared to prey on adolescence.

Thick lips, once tilted down, now pressed into a firm and straight line as he watched her. He did not triumph in her concession—but he was solaced by the truth that now peppered her words and body. Despite the uncertain anxiety and confusion, the Elephant found this candor vastly preferable to her hard, bright veneer that shone on her pearlescent features moment before.

His long limbs carried him towards his small daughter, great head dropping to be level with hers as he approached. Navy eyes sought hers as the snow crunched loudly beneath his hooves in the silence that stretched between them—but this silence was not strained with his disappointment and anger. No, instead, it was a quiet acceptance that permeated the chilly air.

“Alright, Erthë,” his low rumble sounded quietly, navy gaze not exactly warm, but trusting and… paternal, “I care about you as my own daughter, and I am here for you, when you do know.” His pale muzzle and dark lips reached out towards her cold, pink velvet muzzle—a gesture of comfort and security, before he slowly started (once again alongside her) back towards the Edge.
image

@Erthë

Since this thread is so old, we could wrap it up here and start a new, current thread? I'm sorry life ate me :[ <3

Please tag Tembovu.


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