yael

Warm brown eyes light up with a bit of a sparkle as Lyanna’s voice reaches her ears. The black and teal mare truly seems like a fellow kindred spirit - reminding her very much of some ladies she used to know, way back in her early days in B’kanna. How odd that the Queen here has the same name as a former one - but then, it is a lovely name. Good G-d, it’s been forever since she thought about them… the ghost of a smile lingers on her face as she greets her friend (friend? Yes, friend, she says firmly to herself) with a similar tap to the neck. “Leeanna,” she murmurs quietly, so as not to disrupt the rest of the assembled. “Better, I t’ink. I can sleep now.” She forces her smile wider as if the wider her cheeks, the more true her words are. But her heart isn’t in the reassurance, and she finds she eventually looks away. “Xow are you?”

The episode on the edge of the Cliffs is not mentioned. No point. And besides, it’s time to start! It seems everyone who is going to come is here, so as Arah begins, Yael shifts her weight and settles herself into a more comfortable position. The horned woman’s daughter is adorable, that much is certain. The many-times-over mother chuckles at the girls antics, remembering her latest, Eliora, and how curious she was as well.

The Earth God? Hooookay. Hold up. That’s an important bit of information no one had ever mentioned to this particular foreigner. Everything Arah says next and the ensuing conversation is promptly tuned out.

Well. Yael isn’t freak It fits the pattern (kinda). One, omnipotent, if stern and occasionally benevolent god. Then one fairly absent Spirit with lesser guardian spirits. Now back to at least one God, if they have to indicate that he is the god of something in particular. Her thoughts wander until movement draws her back in, and the rest of the crowd begins to disperse. Unwilling to let go of an opportunity to learn, Yael looks over at Lyanna and beckons with her head towards the storyteller.

“Ecscoose me!” the golden woman calls out to Arah, taking a few steps forward. She is very clearly hesitant to interrupt family time, but there is a request she is simply dying to make. Another couple of steps brings her closer, and only a little hesitation, the words tumble freely and quickly from her mouth. “Ah, shalom, I ahm Yael. I do not vant to eenterupt you or take you from your familee but… you seem to know very much about ze lore of Xeloveea, and I vas vondering - you see, I know nozing, not even xow I came to be xere, and - and -” Yael realizes just how she must seem to the antlered family and chuckles in embarrassment. “Vould you tell me some more about t’is land?”  

i am a leaf on the wind

She smiles at Yael’s reply. “That’s a start. It gets easier, but I haven’t yet figured out if it’s ever easy.” she says, keeping her voice soft as Yael does, keeping their conversation private and not disturbing the others that have assembled for story time. Exactly what “it” is would also be a matter of debate. Living here? Yes, that’s part of it. Leaving home? Also part of it. Losing everything? Definitely.

Life in general might be the best definition of ‘it’ were she being perfectly honest. She came from a good life, all things considered. Somewhat ignored by her parents, but loved and cared for all the same. It was a life no one could complain about. But she never would have called it easy. “I’m doing alright,” she says truthfully. She has friends (Yael having joined the small group of friends she’d found in this new life of hers), she had a purpose, she had shelter and food and all the things she needed. She just missed all the things she once had, and she wasn’t sure she would ever stop missing them.

Thankfully Arah starts, drawing Lyanna’s attention away from her thoughts and to the matters at hand. She listens to the story and the questions that follow, adding nothing herself, but interested. As the story ends, Lyanna catches Yael’s nod toward the Storyteller and is happy to follow. There’s much Lyanna still doesn’t know, and what she does know is only surface level.

So Lyanna follows, listening for now as Yael introduces herself to Arah and states her request in a polite and practiced sort of way. Lyanna simply nods her head at Arah and smiles, indicating that she would love to listen. But for now, she doesn’t have anything to add, and is merely a pair of curious ears.

watch how i soar.

lyanna