Apollo the Merciful Posts: 251
| Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5 |
| Stallion :: Unicorn :: 15.3 :: 11 HP: 63.5 | Buff: NOVICE |
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Zola :: Black Cat :: None
Sparrow |
It had been a long time since Apollo's wanderings had stolen him away from the Grey, but this time, it seemed that it couldn't be helped. While he was surrounded by family in the Foothills and content with his title and occupation as Earth Medic, something still felt... Missing. His time spent away from Phaedra had eased the pain in his chest, but that didn't mean he loved her any less. A part of him always would, the Paint realized, but it got easier over time. After all, wasn't time the best healer when it came to things like this?
Step after step Apollo wandered farther from the safety of the Foothills, his soft, honeyed orbs taking in the sights and smells of the trees around him. While it hadn't been terribly long since he had last stepped foot in these thick, archaic trees, it had been long enough for the stallion to almost feel like a stranger in these very woods. The Deep Forest was the same that he remembered; dark mountainous shapes surrounded by dancing, twisting shadows, yet it was so very different. No longer did the familiar scents of his Grey-familly members thrive there, and the crimson and orange hues of the trees changed the appearance of the dark green tint he remembered... But this was very much the same forest that he had lived in since arriving in Helovia last Frostfall.
"I'm back," he murmured to no one in particular, looking at each tree as if they were his friends, for they were. They knew his most intimate of thoughts, for it was they who he had spilled his troubles upon during his sleepless nights. Nature, Apollo had come to realize since making Helovia his home, was his friend. While a dangerous and somewhat unpredictable thing, nature is what respected him the most, and in turn, he respected it. "I've missed you all."
With each step that Apollo took, the worry and stress from his life began to slide away from his mind and body like water. With each step that passed, confidence filled Apollo's frame until he was walking with his head held high, joy filling his normally melancholic eyes. The blue beads that were woven into his mane clicked together with each knee-high step he took, a trait that wasn't natural for his breed but necessary to those who once lived in these woods. After all, it could be the death of an equine to trip on the roots of this forest and break their leg.
Through the trees he went, set at a leisurely pace, his head poised high, nostrils flaring as he intook the familiar smells of the forest, a smile upturning his lips. It was a good day, the stallion came to realize. A good day to venture from his home and reminisce on how far he had come since his first day in Helovia. What a coward he had been back then... Afraid to even sleep in these woods that he now considered his friends! My, how things changed...
Pausing at a stream that trickled through the maze of trees, Apollo paused in his steps, lowering his head in an elegant way to take a deep drink of the water at his toes. It was cool and crips, surely flowing downwards from the mountains above the Foothills... Lips finally pulled away after a refreshing drink. taking a moment to admire his surroundings. It was a good day indeed.
For better or for worse, Apollo would embrace this life he had been granted. The life that he had been given by not only the Grey, but the Gods as well.
[ooc: This post is... Meh. Not my best. :3 For Ali-bear! <3]
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On rare occasions mother would tell me stories about her home in Isilme. She spoke of tall trees that sheltered her from the sun and made it hard for anyone to come in and take over her home. She also told me about a close friend of her's, Roanne, that she had lost touch with when she and father had to evacuate their home. Mother has always been one to tell the truth when asked, so I know about the souls of the dead that came back and attacked. I know about all the ones that died trying to save others and the ones that died trying to escape. Knowing that I can't go back to see where my parents are from just forces me to use my imagination.
I imagine that her home looked something like this. The trees here are massive and despite the dark shadows they cast they make me feel safe yet at the same time a sense of sadness weighs heavily on my heart. It's probably because this place makes me think of my mother and how much I miss her, but I know she and father and my youngest sister are better off away from Helovia. They are safer, more secure, happier. I just wish they could be safe and secure and happy here with me. I wish they hadn't left me to care for Aswane on my own and search for my twin who abandoned our young sister while I was gone.
I'm too young to have this much responsibility. To have this much guilt weighing on my heart. Too young to be consumed by so much sadness and have to hide it behind a half-hearted smile.
My ears prick at the sound of a voice and curiosity drives me onward where I find a black and white stallion talking to the trees, I assume. "Hello." I say to him before pausing. My dark hide is dappled by the light that manages to shine through the trees, so I know he can easily spot me. I'm not one to stick to the shadows, anyway. "Who are you talking to?"
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Apollo the Merciful Posts: 251
| Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5 |
| Stallion :: Unicorn :: 15.3 :: 11 HP: 63.5 | Buff: NOVICE |
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Zola :: Black Cat :: None
Sparrow |
The crackling of leaves alerted Apollo to the arrival of another, and with a soulful glance to the trees he had been speaking to, the stallion lifted his head to search for the newcomer. Gentle and soft eyes searched the tree-line in the small clearing in which he stood, until he spotted the sunlight-dappled form that lingered in the trees. Apollo appraised the newcomer, nostrils flaring slightly as he intook her scent.
A mare, yes... She, like him, held a dark coat of nearly midnight charcoal, but their similarties almost stopped there. A jeweled crown rested upon her forehead, framed rather prettily by locks of the finest ivory, and her sudden appearance caused the Earth Medic to tilt his head. Who was she? As he appraised her, Apollo's eyes roamed over her frame, but not in a lecherous manner. No, he was simply curious, for there were few in Helovia who he had actually met.
'Hello,' she says to him, her words smooth like velvet, 'Who are you talking to?'
Lifting his gaze, soulful honey clashed with crisp emerald, and it was only after Apollo realized that he was staring did he open his mouth to respond. An awkward, somewhat sheepish smile crossed his lips, and he shook his head somewhat uncomfortably.
"I, um..." Oh, where to begin? Should he tell this dark mistress that he had been speaking to the spirits that he believed lived inside of trees? Would she think him crazy? Regardless, if there was one thing that Apollo learned since coming to Helovia was that one should be true to themselves. Inhaling, he hesitated once more before admitting to just what he had been doing. "I was talking with the trees. They, um... They comfort me."
Yep, Apollo mused. He sounded pretty crazy. Deciding to go on and attempt to change the subject, Apollo tilted his head the other way, forelock swaying slightly in the motion. Front hooves shuffled almost uncomfortably, for he really wasn't sure how to present himself in front of this pretty mare. Should he be gentlemanly and kind, like he was to those injured or Lady Ophelia and Lady Ktulu? No matter how often he tried to act like a gentleman, there would always be an awkward boyishness underneath. Right now, it was apparent.
"I used to live in this forest, and when I was lonely, I would talk to the trees... I'm sorry; I bet that sounds foolish, huh?" He chuckled, although it lacked genuine mirth. "Um... My name's Apollo. What's yours?"
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 aylin</style>
at night when the stars light up my sky I sit by myself talking to the moon</style>
Maybe I shouldn't have interrupted him and just left him alone to talk to whoever or whatever it was he was talking to. I shift uncomfortably under his stare and that's when he finally realizes that he's staring and admits to talking to the trees. He probably thinks that I think he's crazy, but I don't. My mother had told me a few times about talking to the trees in the place she was born and raised. She told me of being blessed with a gift to bend them and move them at her will, a gift that she shared with the herd she led. I remember thinking about how amazing my mother had been.
"Do they speak back to you?" I hope he doesn't think that I'm being sarcastic when it is genuine curiosity that makes me ask the question. Or maybe he'll think I'm crazy. "I talk to the moon." I throw in for good measure. "But she never speaks to me." If he didn't think I was crazy before he probably does now, but what can I do? His opinion is exactly that.
My head lifts and I look around the forest when he says that he used to live in the forest. "It's not foolish at all. My mother used to live in a forest in a place she called Isilme." The name was foreign on my tongue and odd sounding. "The way she described it I think it looked something like this." My emerald gaze fell back to the black and white stallion. "She used to talk to the trees, too. She said someone called the Tome Guardian who lived in Isilme blessed her with an ability. When she spoke to the trees she could bend them and make them move. Are you from Isilme, Apollo?" I ask then realize I still had not given him my name. "I'm Aylin."
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Apollo the Merciful Posts: 251
| Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5 |
| Stallion :: Unicorn :: 15.3 :: 11 HP: 63.5 | Buff: NOVICE |
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Zola :: Black Cat :: None
Sparrow |
If anything, his fidgeting only increased in the silence that formed between them. One hoof would lift almost awkwardly a few centimeters off of the earth before gently being replaced, then the other would repeat the motion. What would she think? Would she think him crazy for his relationship with the trees? Concern and worry began to blossom in his breast, but before any of those worries could truly manifest themselves, she spoke.
'Do they speak back to you?' Wait... What? Ears snapped forward at genuine attention, honeyed orbs locking back on the dark female's form. Was she being serious? Briefly Apollo wondered if perhaps she was being sarcastic, or teasing him, but no... Her words were genuine, and that was only confirmed when she continued on. 'I talk to the moon, but she never speaks to me.' So, he wasn't the only one who spoke to those who couldn't answer... Granted, the Moon could, if the Goddess so wished, but...
Giving his head a brief tilt, Apollo's previously pensive lips turned upwards in a welcoming smile. "No," he admitted almost sadly, eyes shifting and head twisting to admire the thick, impressive trees that lay scattered around them. "They don't, but I can still feel them. You know? I know that they are listening, and even if they don't speak back, they let me know that they can hear me."
Isilme... Since arriving in Helovia, he had heard the name often. What was it? Obviously it was a place, but no, he had never been there. Sometimes he would wonder just what this mystery place was like, but it was obvious that he would never find out. Whatever land Isilme had been, it was now long gone. Or so he thought.
"It's nice to meet you, Aylin. I'm not from Isilme, thought. I've never even heard of it until I came to Helovia..." Strange how true that was. There were equines from all over Loorien, yet they all had ended up here... Was it the fate from a higher power? Or just coincidence? "Your mother..." The stallion began, daring a step towards Aylin with slight hesitance. "She sounds like an amazing individual, especially with such a magnificent gift." What would it be like, he wondered, to be able to bend trees at will? Could he even bring himself to do such a thing? Did it hurt the trees when one did that? Surely it must...
"I'm glad that I'm not the only one though, who is so close to nature, I mean." Here, he paused, a friendly sort of smile pulling at his lips. Aylin was a strange creature, quite unlike everyone back in the Foothills. She was soft spoken and genuine, and it was a refreshing change from those that he dealt with on a daily basis. Not that he was bothered by it, of course... It was simply a refreshing change to meet new individuals.
"If I can ask, Aylin... What brings you to the forest?"
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aylin</style>
at night when the stars light up my sky I sit by myself talking to the moon</style>
"Yes." I answer wistfully when he seems to ask if I understand what he means when he says that he can feel the trees. Its the same feeling I get whenever I speak to the moon. That she's listening but too busy to pay me much mind. I just keep talking to her regardless of her lack of appearance. Sometimes I suspect that I bother her, but I have no one else to speak with. My brother is missing, my sister is really too young to understand everything that troubles me, and my parents have left Helovia permanently to raise my other sister in an environment that was more welcoming. A majority of the guilt that troubles me, though, is the fact that I'm more upset that Tallis is no longer with me. I miss my mother's dragon fiercely and even though I wasn't bonded with him I still feel as if a part of myself is missing.
There is no surprise when Apollo says that he is not from the same land as my mother. There are actually very few that I've met that have been there or had been born there. The ones that know of Isilme often find it a touchy subject and so I avoid it a lot of the time. I tilt my ears forward again when Apollo steps toward me and mentions me mother. He has no idea how amazing my mother is, he really doesn't. I find myself trying to live up to her and I just flounder helplessly in her shadow. "She is." I finally say. "She's so gentle, but she can be so firm in her beliefs of what is right." It was a long time ago but I still remember when my mother protected me from a stallion she had known from Isilme. How angry he had been that I was a unicorn when she was not. How she sacrificed her friendship with him for love and for her family.
Tears suddenly sting my eyes and I blink fiercely to drive them away then focus, again, on Apollo and his question on what brought me here. "I'm not entirely sure." I answer half truthfully as I raise my head to look at the treetops. "The Edge has forest, but it's nothing like the forest my mother always talked about. I guess maybe I just wanted to see something that resembled it a little. It makes me feel a little closer to her, understand where she lived when she was my age." I think she would have been happy had she stayed in Helovia and chosen to reside in this forest. "She led a herd in Isilme that called a forest home." But that wasn't the only reason I came here. I wanted an escape. I wanted to get away from all the happy families that lived in the Edge when mine is broken and scattered across the globe.
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Apollo the Merciful Posts: 251
| Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5 |
| Stallion :: Unicorn :: 15.3 :: 11 HP: 63.5 | Buff: NOVICE |
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Zola :: Black Cat :: None
Sparrow |
Apollo listened with keen ears as Aylin spoke of her mother, this divine creature who also spoke to trees, and was capable of listening to what they told her... It was amazing. While he thought this woman to be quite the individual, it seemed as though Aylin thought the world of her. The ivory mane'd female's voice changed while speaking, Apollo noted, and it was that very revelation that caused the Earth Medic to realize that she must miss her mother terribly. What separated them, he wondered? There didn't seem to be a lingering sadness to hint that it had been death, so perhaps this revered mother was still alive... But, still.
Taking another step forward, muzzle outstretched slightly to breathe in this mare's scent, Apollo gave a brief nod of his head. He listened, like he often did, as she spoke. Gentle, honeyed eyes lingered upon Aylin's ebony frame, a sad look crossing his features. Something about her seemed bothered, almost melancholic... Was there any way he could help that? Was there something he could say to make it better, even a little bit? Despite the fact that they were still strangers and knew nearly nothing about one another, Apollo felt the need to help. Perhaps it was his job as a medic, after all... Helping others is what he lived for.
"The Edge, hm? I haven't been there, but I've heard things about it..." The Foothills had trees as well, but he could understand well when Aylin said that the trees of the Edge weren't like the ones here. No, there was something... Vast and all-knowing about the twisting, archaic trees in the Deep Forest, surrounded in mystery and gloom by their dancing shadows. Where one might fear their magnificence, as Apollo himself once did, there was no denying the beauty that was mastered here.
Aylin spoke passionately about things she loved, Apollo realized. She adored her mother, and in so, spoke of her with a great reverence... A subtle sadness filled Apollo's dark-clad breast, for he had no family to speak of with such fondness. Aside from the family he gained in form of the Grey, there was one... But Apollo's hope in once seeing Andreas again dimmed with each passing of the sun. His sister was long gone, more than likely. He could only hope that whatever fate had granted her, that she had found peace at last.
"Perhaps," Apollo began, lifting his own head to allow his brown eyes to linger upon the swaying branches of the trees above them, "We try so hard to follow in the reverent footsteps of those around us, that along the way, we forget who we are supposed to be. We forget what we can be. Forgive me if this is too forthcoming, Aylin, as we have only just met... But it sounds like you love and respect your mother considerably. While it's okay to honor someone, and wish to make them proud... Maybe the way to achieve that is to simply be yourself."
He faltered then, uncertain as to where the words came from. He wanted to help her... But would his words cause more pain and grief than he intended. Looking back to the ebony and ivory mare, Apollo took a step back, shaking his head back and forth slowly. "I'm sorry, maybe that was out of line... You just seem sad; I wish to help you."
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aylin</style>
at night when the stars light up my sky I sit by myself talking to the moon</style>
Apollo listened to every word I said and didn't seem to want to interrupt me, it was odd. When we were foals my brother would often interrupt me and not let me finish what I was saying. He was quick to ask me what I was doing when he would find me in the Heavenly Fields, but whenever I mentioned the Moon Goddess he was quick to cut me off and point out that she had never answered me before. Why would she ever answer me? I love my brother, don't get me wrong, but as I grow older sometimes I think that the love I have for him was strictly love because we were family. I guess I didn't particularly like him.
I want to, but he's not like mother and he's not like father. There is something about him that I don't like. Don't trust. It makes me feel all the more guilty that I left poor Aswane with him.
I extend my muzzle to bump gently against Apollo's when he extends his toward me, but then I retract mine and take a step back. My eyes lock on Apollo's face when he begins to speak and I do agree with what he says. I've tried so hard to be like my parents, to be understanding and accepting of everyone. Following in their footsteps is hard and I don't think that I can do it most of the time no matter how hard I try. I feel like I was forced to grow up too soon. I was barely a yearling when my sisters were born and my parents left with the sicker of my sisters. I was the one that was told to raise and protect Aswane and I did for a while, but I wanted my mother and father and I wanted to see how Mileena was doing.
I should have taken Aswane with me.
"While it's okay to honor someone, and wish to make them proud... Maybe the way to achieve that is to simply be yourself."
His words strike a chord within me and I feel tears sting my eyes again. I blink furiously to keep them at bay, but it's of no use. In an attempt to rid myself of them I lower my head and rub my eyes against my forelegs. "How can you be yourself when you have no idea who you are?" The question spills from my lips before I can stop it and the only thing I can do is lift my head and stare at Apollo. He probably thinks I'm a little nutty. Who doesn't know who they are? I've been guided and forced into a mold most of my life and now that's all gone. I'm left empty and alone and guilty.
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Apollo the Merciful Posts: 251
| Outcast atk: 5.0 | def: 8.5 | dam: 5.5 |
| Stallion :: Unicorn :: 15.3 :: 11 HP: 63.5 | Buff: NOVICE |
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Zola :: Black Cat :: None
Sparrow |
Apollo's deep, soulful eyes watched with heartfelt tension as Aylin listened to his words, soaking them up as a child would readily listen to stories that were spun by adults. Honey-brown orbs lingered upon her eyes, not missing the way that they watered and brimmed with tears at his advice, but he refused to comment on it unless he hurt her pride. Crown tipping askew as he tilted his head slightly to the right, Apollo took a step forward, head lowering and shoulders raising.
"How can you be yourself when you have no idea who you are?"
Ah, the question of the century. Who, indeed, were we? Apollo's lips turned slowly into a smile, albeit a sad one, but he did his best to remain reassuring. A medic and healer by heart, Apollo only wanted to help those in need, and right now, Aylin was one of them. When he spoke, his vocals were warm, like a mid-summer's rain.
"We can spend an eternity asking ourselves who we are, I think," he said honestly, eyes flicking from Aylin's pretty face to the swaying branches of the trees around them. They whispered upon the breeze, he realized, ears flicking forward in an attempt to catch their words. While none came to him, he could feel their caress on the wind, and that was enough. "Gods know that I have spent quite a few years searching myself... Unfortunately, I can't tell you the answer to that, Aylin. We just... Find ourselves."
Apollo didn't know how young Aylin was, but he was certain that he was at least a few years her senior. While he himself wasn't one who was experienced when it came to age, he knew that the younger someone was, the more troubled they became when faced with such a question. Honestly, the Earth Medic himself hadn't know just who or what he was, until he had arrived in Helovia. Helping others was his calling, and it was by the grace of the earth that he could do it.
Stretching his neck out, the overo's head lifted almost proudly. "If you want, Aylin... I can try and help you find out just who you are? I... I may not have known your mother, but by what you've told me, I think that she would be very proud of you if you tried to discover yourself." He smiled, boyishly, a lock of ebony hairs falling forward to cover his eyes. With a jerk of his head, he tossed them aside, chuckling softly. "Of course... That's if you want?"
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aylin</style>
at night when the stars light up my sky I sit by myself talking to the moon</style>
We just find ourselves? He certainly made it sound a lot easier than it was and Aylin restrained a snort at that. When she was a child she knew who she was. She was the little moonlit flicka, as Mirage had called her, who spent her days sleeping and her nights pining after the moon, wishing she was a star just so she could be up in the heavens with the moon. She was quiet and playful and .... happy.
It had all changed. She had changed. In her time away from Helovia she had seen hardship. She had seen suffering, felt the cruelty the world had to offer and when she'd returned home she'd come home to an abandoned sister and a brother who had so cruelly left her to fend for herself. Aswane, she felt, had forgiven her for her absence, but she had yet to forgive herself. Cyrus had been the one to leave but she felt in her heart that she was the one responsible for Aswane's hardship.
Was she really cruel? She must be if she could leave her sister and brother behind.
Belatedly, Aylin realized that she had drifted off into her own thoughts and that in doing so she'd allowed several tears to escape and burn tracks down her face. The young mare snorted then ducked her head down, extending a foreleg as she did so, to rub her face on her leg and rid herself of the tears. She had no right to cry for herself. Everything that was wrong she had brought on herself and was meant to suffer through.
"You are kind, Apollo." She said moments later. "But how can you help me when I find it so difficult to help myself?" The minute the question left her lips she wished she could take it back. She really should not be troubling a stranger with her own worries and trivial problems when he probably had his own to worry about. She sighed, visibly deflated and shook her head in a weary manner. "I'm sorry to bother you." She concluded and backed up several steps. "Enjoy the rest of your time here."
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