the Rift


[OPEN] So you missed the intro? No worries, so did I.

Sielu Posts: 47
Outcast
Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 5 years :: Orangemoon
Angel
#1

My body had grown stronger, more able with each new dawn. The air chilled at night, frosting our home with flakes of snow. I stood upon the ice with confidence born from having fallen thrice upon it, the ground was covered in a winter annual that didn’t easily die from orangemoon’s plummeting temperatures. This place was becoming easier to maneuver, I stumbled alot less and fell rarely. My limbs could manage rocks and bramble, sleet and snow. Ice had been a recent discovery that firstly sent my body sprawling with limbs stretched in all four different directions.

Falling flat on your stomach hurt something terrible, it knocked the air out of my lungs leaving behind a burning sensation that was altogether unpleasant. I had rolled/scrambled to my feet and stood up only to fall again. My third attempt had been much less graceful but also more beneficial in staying upright. The slippery frost and ice didn’t seem to get along with tiny immature hooves. I stepped carefully, knowing that this had been my own doing when my exploration had lead my away from mother who was currently on the other side of our thicket. Or so I guessed. She was close, I could feel her mind nearby. Or so I guessed.

One step at a time, until I was on ground that didn’t slip my feet out from under belly. Eventually the soil grew softer and more accepting of baby shoes. Just another afternoon in this complicated world where I spent my days trying to figure out the smallest things. Like walking straight.
credits

Valka Posts: 32
Aurora Basin Mare
Mare :: Unicorn :: 17.1 :: 3
tay
#2
Thin clumps of ice, like scabs, cracked and fissured under the assault of Valka’s hooves. She scented Frostfall in the air and wondered how the snow fell here – for days? In roaming clouds that blinded, trapped, and sucked the life from those who wandered foolishly? What a gorgeous notion! Valka thought of weather creeping predatory over the sparse pines, howling in the peaks. Snow had christened her birth; it called to her, though she walked green paths and found comfort in the dark embrace of trees.

Today, of course, she forced herself into the open. If she wished to truly become one of this herd, she must adapt to its way of life – forest child or no. Slowly, then, she wandered through the wide expanses of the frozen land and watched the sky and watched the bleak, unchanging landscape. Carefully she metered her steps into long, precise strokes and held her head high on a curved neck. While no one watched her, she must practice – becoming what she was born to be. She must be cold and deadly as the land here. She must be wise and feral as the Frostheart and his daughter were.

She meant to be these things, but a noise caught her attention and Valka’s ears twitched. The brooding look fell from her face and the young mare’s eyes snapped toward the sound, toward a filly who looked more dream than reality.

Slowly, Valka’s head fell to one side. The jagged point of her horn cast an odd shadow across the mare’s mismatched face, and beneath it her ears flicked back and forth. ”Girl.” Surprise rang in her voice, bleeding from it the tang of haughtiness. Valka blinked, righted herself, and took a tentative step forward. ”How beautiful you are.” Something like warmth crept into her voice and her eyes; she stepped forward again, neck lowered to the child’s height. Purple! she thought. And blue – young yet, but hanging like a silken fringe on violet borders. How lovely a unicorn foal! Valka’s head bobbed. ”You live here also? Where is your mother?” She gazed around expectantly, nostrils flared for the warmth of unfamiliar flesh. In her eyes flashed something quiet, wary. Mothers were not to be trifled with.

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Sielu Posts: 47
Outcast
Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 5 years :: Orangemoon
Angel
#3

It would seem that like all children. My attention upon surrounds was destined to be dull at best, I started unintentionally when the soft plops of another set of hooves caught me unaware. Plum head turned toward the sound to meet a set of mismatched eyes that were pleasantly new to me and appeared to mirror my instant growth of curiosity. Nerves had already soothed by the time this new adult started to approach. Not a sliver of fear bore across my features, indeed it was quite the opposite. Innocent to the core, I smiled a contagious grin when the ebony mare drew near; (it was yet to be learned that not everyone would be so easily befriended.) Her dark coloring reminded me of momma, this trait somehow gave extra confidence that there was nothing to be concerned about.

”Girl.”

I blink, her tone worries little lines across my facade and my smile falters. For a moment I expect that this lady was going to scowl me for trailing away from mother. Adults had a tendency to scowl. ”How beautiful you are.” It takes a moment for the adoring meaning to take hold, she has just complimented me. Once I realize the intent my beam quickly returns, the stranger certainly wasn’t angry. Momma had called me beautiful before. My memory slipped back to when I had found a broken eggshell, it was pale white and scattered across the frosty ground. I had repeated the word with mixed results. It had appeared beautiful to me.

”You live here also? Where is your mother?”

Two simple questions, ones I can readily answer. Gently I press with outstretched fingers trying to grasp her mind; my body remains motionless. The lowering of brows to signal intense concentration is the only movement worth taking note. Gently as only a child can move, I attempt to touch the dark resesses of her mind with soft featherlight fingertips. An image filters from my mind and travels up the link hopefully into hers. The image is one of my mother standing in the place I last saw. A place that wasn’t far, from what I could guess it was behind a thicket close by. To finalize the meaning I gently whisper ‘Momma’ into her so that she might fully understand. After a moment the image vanishes altogether. This is where I usually withdraw, but I decide against it and instead I try to ask a question of my own by first showing this woman an image of herself and then quietly asking, ‘Who…are.. you?’ The words come broken and slow but they come clearly as if my lips had moved to speak.
credits

Valka Posts: 32
Aurora Basin Mare
Mare :: Unicorn :: 17.1 :: 3
tay
#4
The sweep of Valka’s mismatched eyes ceased when silence answered her queries. Slowly she returned her gaze to the child. One ear canted forward, while the other tipped slowly back. Mute? Stupid? Maybe such beauty didn’t come in equal measure with other necessary attributes. Valka’s eyes narrowed slightly. Pity, she thought, studying the ghostly ripples of the child’s mane and tail. She ought simply leave, she supposed. There was little here to entertain.

As Valka lifted her head, she first became aware of the nagging sensation in the back of her mind – something that began gently, lightly, like fingers of grass lapping her heels. It had gone on unnoticed, but as the child’s concentration deepened, so too did the feeling. Valka hesitated, crown lifted to its full height and lithe muscles bunched beneath the snow and darkness of her coat. Unbidden, an image entered Valka’s mind: a dark mare, fringed in crimson, standing idle amidst the snow. Somewhere near? She gazed across the pale landscape again, ears twitching. Momma followed after the image, like a label.

Valka glanced down at the child again, wonder replacing boredom, fear replacing curiosity. Some instinct in the mare screamed to attack but she dared not lunge on a child here, with the girl’s mother so nearby. Instead Valka stepped back, breath rattling hard in her lungs. More words formed without warning in Valka’s head: a question, who are you? as if the girl had spoken, and yet not a touch of sound reached Valka’s ears. She shook her head, ears pinned, and sidestepped as she stared down at the girl.

What are you? How are you doing this?” came the response – sharp. It was magic, Valka knew – it must be magic! She wanted it. She wanted to run from it. Her heart vibrated with conflicting need.

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Sielu Posts: 47
Outcast
Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 5 years :: Orangemoon
Angel
#5

I had reached out and would quickly find this to be a grave mistake; it was folly to believe that all creatures would take my form of communication as well as Momma and other foals did. But, how was I to know this fact of life? She is now staring at me, eyes hardening with…what? Anger? Fear? My gentle face crumbles into confusion as only a toddlers facade might. The strange woman retracts from me and my childlike fingers pull away entirely; they slide themselves back inside the sleeve that was the mind. Hindlegs are bunching nervously, and my head has swung up—eyes are wide, round with a mixture discontent. Soft ash daggers are starting to lift, one at a time to take a few steps in reverse.

This elder unicorn thrusts questions at me, as if I had done something horrible…wrong. Her sharp, unfriendly tone makes me want to naturally cry for Momma; and if I had voice—it was Momma that would have been bleated for. In the same note this sudden outburst makes me feel nagging regret for bothering to try and communicate at all. I didn’t understand her questions, ‘what are you?’ By now I had taken a few good paces back, my ears are flat against the swirling mess of smoke that was my mane. There is a discomfort, a tingling that makes my body feel hot and terrible. Its name would later come, I felt fear. There is also another discomfort, something hot is pricking the corners of my eyes.
What good would it do to speak again?
credits

Valka Posts: 32
Aurora Basin Mare
Mare :: Unicorn :: 17.1 :: 3
tay
#6
She erred.

Valka realized the error late; the strange filly was already pulling back, face crumpling, figure curling in on itself. A strange, raw terror added to the confusion and fear already humming in Valka’s blood – would the mother appear? Would she be punished? Her head swung up and wildly she gazed around, but no one came. Not yet, anyway.

Meanwhile, the child was retreating from her and the strange sensation of another presence brushing alongside her mind had vanished altogether. Somehow, this simple lack of intrusion went far in soothing Valka, and feeling as though she had the upper hand again she watched the child with curious eyes. ”Uhm –“ What did a mare say to calm that kind of fear? Was the girl afraid? Maybe she hadn’t meant to be frightening; maybe this power was new to her… Maybe she thought it normal? There were unicorns with wolf friends here in the Basin, after all… To be fair, Valka acted more out of a rising panic that she would be caught and reprimanded than any true sensation of regret, but she did her best to make her tone soothing when she finally put words together.

”Please don’t cry,” Valka commanded at last, tail flicking anxiously. ”I am… not angry. Simply… surprised.” She lowered her long face a bit and gazed at the foal. Be gentle, she thought, ears flicking back in a frown of intense concentration. ”Your magic is wondrous and it took me by surprise.” Why was this so difficult? Perhaps she ought to run away…

Instead she stood lamely staring at the pretty girl, wondering how to make amends with a child, hoping the mother didn’t suddenly appear and tear off her skin.

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Sielu Posts: 47
Outcast
Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 5 years :: Orangemoon
Angel
#7

Tingling; every slender purple hair was standing on end as if they had just been electrified. Could she see how these little legs trembled? A shaking that I couldn’t restrain, my conscious didn’t have time to even think about stopping the shakes—and for the first time the quivering wasn’t because of our chilling home. I stared up into those tri colored orbs of this startled mare. Had I been older, more mature and familiar with the ponderings of adults—I would have understood her rush of nerves, even comprehended the uncertainty she just felt. If I had been older.

We stood at a cross road, both of us looking ready to bolt. Or in my case, bolt/trip over the slippery ground. Adults were so much bigger, so much more intimidating. It was disarming to see one so shook up—. Silence drug on, and I never blinked. I couldn’t look away, what if she started yelling again? Slowly, the girl seemed to unthaw ever so slightly. “Please don’t cry.”
The voice was softer, but anxiously prying. I couldn’t help but wonder what she meant by crying, though this pondering lasted only a split second as a single hot tear streaked down my face; and I shamefully understood her meaning. My tiny head jerks up an inch in an outward display of watchful caution, totally unwittingly, when the dark adult lowered shapely neck toward me to have level conference.

I gathered that she wasn’t angry at me; some words are easier than others to understand, and this knowledge helped sooth my fur immensely. It was also understood that I had somehow taken her by surprise. Lips are still curved into a frown across a face that would better suit a smile. “Your magic.” Magic? What was…magic? Brows furrow, confusion mixed with enough curiosity is what drives my next attempt to talk, “What is…magic?” The question might come to her slowly, as if one hand reached out to caress the side of her cheek with a featherlight touch that barely brushed skin.
credits

Valka Posts: 32
Aurora Basin Mare
Mare :: Unicorn :: 17.1 :: 3
tay
#8
At last the child seemed to calm a bit – at least, the quivering and tears abated, and Valka felt a little less like bolting away. She was… interested, truly. But she had bungled the entire meeting, terrifying the girl she only wanted to know more about – and all because she herself had the nerves of a rabbit! Scared of a filly… Valka shook her head a bit, embarrassed and flighty still as her heart hammered in her narrow chest.

”What is… magic?” Again the mind-voice spoke into her thoughts, and Valka’s muscles tensed involuntarily at the weird invasion of her most private thoughts. What a strange ability… though, now that Valka thought about it, the girl seemed unable to hear Valka’s own thoughts – only to channel new ones forward. That was at least a little comforting. Valka nodded to herself, then.

”Magic is difficult to explain…” she began. ”It…allows one to do many things – things most of us can’t do. You speak into my mind, but I can’t do the same. That’s… very special, don’t you think?” She made an effort to lighten her tone a bit, as if praising the girl. Valka’s own younger self had adored praise; she had both expected and existed for the opportunity. Perhaps this young thing was the same way? Difficult to know, of course, with how strange the filly was: hair like smoke – or more accurately, hair that was smoke – and the weird mind-talking ability… Something occurred to Valka then, and one of the mare’s long ears twisted back. ”Can you not speak aloud?” she wondered.

stock credit: elaineselenstock.deviantart.com | hellofascination1991.deviantart.com | burtn.deviantart.com

Sielu Posts: 47
Outcast
Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 5 years :: Orangemoon
Angel
#9

“Magic is difficult to explain…” I can’t refrain from how my brows narrow together, as if I’m contemplating for deeper understanding. But what I was really thinking was, “Why did magic have to be difficult?”

“It…allows one to do many things- things most of us can’t do. You speak into my mind, but I can’t do the same. That’s…very special, don’t you think?” the woman explains her version of magic. Something special, unique? I frown and wonder if I was really so unique that others would find my talents to be frightening. Why couldn’t everyone speak without words? Softly I answer her first question with a statement, and a question of my own, “I don’t want to be special.” The confession is without tremor of fear or shame, it was simply a fact of life; children wanted to be like their mentors and idols. I didn’t want to speak with friends only to have them flee from my presence…”Why can’t you talk the way I do?” Momma had also been pressed with the same inquire, she had said something along the lines of, ‘you are different, special.’ Just as this one had said.

Up till now there hadn’t been a reason to dislike my differences; yet, with each foul meeting—would I grow insecure in my physical self? “Can you not speak aloud?” Aloud? No, I thought; that was one thing I could do. My lips would never part with a voice planted between them, “I….speak through the mind only.” Slowly the cracks that separate a muzzle part, they are empty of sound; even as I push air through the holes to demonstrate. It comes out as a foggy gasp, filling the air with vapor mist.
credits


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