chernobyl

i was not caught, i crossed the line
i live among you, well disguised

The three of them arrived months ago… Arrived to nothing. With a newborn at her hip and promises fresh off of her dry lips she strides into familiar territory to find it barren of others, demoted to a common place among civilians. Rumors flew, talk murmured and eventually they were told of the Falls demise. Had she been away that long? She wouldn’t have saved anyone from disbanding, honestly. She would have been no asset to either motivation whether it be stay together or break apart, she would have only watched quietly when the God descended. “Sorry, my love.” Is all she could say at the time, eyes big and softly tilted to Murdock. And sorry she was, but with thoughts of her child she asks her lover to stay here for a while. “We can stay here until he is old enough, stronger; no one will bother us here.” She said to him, snuggling against him on some warm moon-filled night, hoping he would stay with her.

__________________

Early, breezy Tallsun came and went and so came the flowering later season, hot and dry. The rains of a newborn Orangemoon have settled now and the family has been here for quite a while. Chernobyl’s reptilian baby is no longer tiny, skinny and timid. Dresden has gained a little muscle, fitting his wings and mile-long legs a bit better than before. He is bold now, almost aggressively curious and always watching others with a keen emerald eye.

“Have you seen your father today?” Chernobyl’s stone voice carves through the cicada’s songs and tickle of wind-swept leaves to find her sons’s sharp ears. “No.” The boy shakes his head, “Nor yesterday.” He talks like his mother and even at just a young age, he has the same granite notes woven through his voice. His markings are starting to show themselves very faintly across his withers and back and a glittery metallic sheen is beginning to roan out against his inky black coat like nebulas birthing stars and gaseous ribbons of bright color. His wings are getting more vibrant in his first year and the once mottled patterns are morphing into defined white, black or iridescent. To the mother he is still tiny, plain and vulnerable. She would have never guessed herself to be such a type, but each step of his has her fearing for his safety, or worse, that he will lose his way somehow.

Quietly the pair picks and grazes at the various grasses, seedpods and even some berries – Orangemoon is a bountiful time for nutritious things like berries and seeds. She’s taught Dresden things like where to find each type of berry and when to get them before the birds and squirrels. The Falls roar behind them from across the open hills and the morning mists roll through, thick at first but slowly dissipating. Chernobyl keeps a hopeful eye out for Murdock while she leads Dresden along her usual route.

How rare and beautiful it is to even exist,

Despite the fast approaching winter, some corners of Helovia, under the watchful eye of Orangemoon, still retained much to graze upon. The starlit girl was tired of chewing on dried “grass,” and even the last remaining berries were beginning to fall off their twigs and become too rotten for even the most desperate of birds. So she she happened upon the once-Hidden Falls, she was happy to gorge herself on what remained. She had never been to this place, even prior to her accident, so it was all new, and honestly probably one of the only times she would be able to just stroll in unannounced and unhindered. That was, assuming this sprawling paradise was to be reclaimed. She had never seen so many waterfalls in one place, and if (unknowingly to her) her heart didn’t already belong to the Basin, she would consider this a beautiful option for home.

’Home.’

The word was repeated back in her head harshly, with a firm inflection, reminding the girl that she should be doing something else entirely than moseying around Helovia looking for a good grazing spot. But, what was done was done, and so she dropped her head down and ate to her heart’s content.

Her head finally shot up, slowly finishing her last bite and swallowing, as stormy eyes scanned the misty backdrop. Ears spun and she tried to catch the words. Maybe this land belonged to someone else?

The conversation, at least, the few broken pieces she was able to understand, seemed harmless enough, so she thought better of leaving and slowly made her way forward, finding that, as the fog dissipated, it made traversing this area less dreamlike, sure, but a little safer. Not only did she not want to be surprised by someone sneaking through the fog, but she certainly didn’t want to startle anyone in the same respect.

They appeared like haunts first, black sillohuettes pressed into smoky white. But as they became clearer, it became obvious. The pair were nondescript enough, an adult unicorn mare and a pegasus child. Mother and son, perhaps?

“Good day!” she crooned, hoping to announce her presence before her incoming became an unpleasant surprise. “I hope you don’t mind me intruding. I heard your voices, and thought that perhaps this morning would be better spent with company.”

Unlike some of the others she had encountered, the unicorn mare stirred no memories or recognition within her breast. She could be wrong, but maybe this would be the first non-stressful or earth shattering conversation she was able to have in recent memory. Finally coming to stop at a respectful distance, she dipped her head in greeting, and then cast a warm smile towards the colt, before looking back to the mare. “I hope I haven’t interrupted anything, and certainly hope I have not intruded into your home.” She stood relaxed, yet remained tentative and cautious, as this meeting very well could go south, and the last thing she wanted to do was be a sitting duck.