* COMPLETE; for irrydae + sinding

A living fire spreads across the distant mountains, hissing with a ferocity as the night envelops it, swallowing the dying embers with its insatiable hunger. It is beautiful, and it holds your attention, the flickering light reminiscent within your searching eyes. Even higher the moon already hangs, the pallid light nothing compared to the spectacle playing in front of you. Stars, too, begin peaking from their hidden places amongst the carnage, humming the familiar song of dusk. It is almost sad as the last of the sun disappears, almost painful to the eye to watch as it lets out its death rattle, succumbing to the sudden stillness, emptiness. You fall into it well, and all to easily, thin shoulders shifting beneath pale skin and a sigh falling between lined lips. You had had a plan, somewhere, before you saw and were taken with the immensity that spread itself before you now. You had had a plan, before you felt your confidence wane within the face of the unknown, felt the vulnerability of being utterly, and completely, lost. You had had a plan, some time, before everything fell beneath you, before you lost what was never yours to begin with, before you knew only of the demise that love brought with it; before you could truly see.

'And look where that's gotten you.'

You murmur, eyes rolling in their sockets in frustration, a backwards glance given in the thought of turning around. And it's almost tragic suddenly, the thought of having nothing to go back for, save for a man who left you and a boy ( who was supposed to love you, if only you could love him ) who wanted nothing to do with you anymore, and you didn't know why. It is crushing to remember, and your frail yet guarded heart almost bleeds for a moment, for the love that was lost.

* COMPLETE; you're fine ♥

'Hello.' You watch, silent and still, as she encroaches like a weed, invasive and perverse and quicker than the night, your face betraying nothing of the thoughts that would have consumed you only moments ago; and the tiniest doubt shelters itself, confines itself, within the shadow of your heart. You watch her and the thin, beautiful lines of her face as they shift with every passing second, the stars and colors as they follow suit impassively. It feels like an eternity, but you finally find your courage, the confidence that had flickered and burnt out, and you raise your eyes to meet hers, which are focused solely on your own. Those stardust eyes, hiding depths to which you never thought, in your own selfish way, could ever belong to anyone else except for you. Eyelashes flutter, and a transient smile plays effortlessly on your lips, breathing a laugh that is nothing more than a quick exhale. It is in an instant that your signature smile turns sheepish, and if you could you would be blushing. 'I seem to be lost.'

Your eyes move elsewhere, to the towering trees and looming mountains in the shadow of the moon; to the expansive wilderness that had thrown you off track in the first place, and the path that the stardust girl had taken to find you. 'I've never seen anything like this.' And it's only half true that you hadn't; you recall the gentle, wind-swept hills that smelled sweet in the summer, the air tinged with the ocean-tides that were ever present. You remember the water and the sand, the limestone caverns carved from waves that you were always so fond of. 'What is this place? I can't seem to remember how I got here.' Wistfully you look to her again, midnight locks cascading down around your face. 'And, fox ... who are you?'

* COMPLETE; ewewew. this should be the end of the thread. if confusing: she basically saw an old acquaintance and booked it, choosing to leave with xanthos to the edge. ( translations: kući, moj dom: home, my home; utočište: refuge, sanctuary )

'I think we all were lost as we stepped into this place.' You click your tongue, skepticism clouding your mind almost before she is even finished with the sentence. You could scold her, point out the ignorance in her false wisdom, but you hold your tongue, a coolness creeping into the depths of your eyes. As she unfolds her wings you nearly flinch, watching passively as the dust spreads across the dark ground with a guarded enthusiasm, ears swiveling as she speaks her name, only to be interrupted by a man, clothed in silk and satin. You simply watch, as you had when she came to you, offering nothing but the acknowledgement of his presence, though you shake your head as he speaks. Why come? You do not wish for them to know of the things that you wander from, and so you murmur, to yourself more than anyone: 'Kući, moj dom; everything and nothing.' Of the way you love(d) him, so much so that you did not wish to ever see his face again, hear his name, feel his touch, the burning. Turning again to the girl as she repeats a name, you examine the sudden shift of wings as he claims refuge, utočište, causing an ill feeling to again churn in your belly. It is merely a shadow at first, a stray gust of wind that catches you off-guard, snaps your attention away from the pair. It is simply a silhouette, and you inhale sharply as you feel your heart plummet within your chest, a strangling pressure arising as you forget to breathe. Panic-stricken, you lunge away, swiveling on avian-boned legs which move swiftly beneath you without question. 'Xanthos, show me.' You do not wait for an answer, nor does your retreat slow.