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. |
[OPEN] So you missed the intro? No worries, so did I.
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04-12-2013, 09:21 PM
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. stock credit: elaineselenstock.deviantart.com | hellofascination1991.deviantart.com | burtn.deviantart.com
04-15-2013, 11:20 PM
04-20-2013, 06:05 PM
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. stock credit: elaineselenstock.deviantart.com | hellofascination1991.deviantart.com | burtn.deviantart.com
05-25-2013, 04:08 PM
05-25-2013, 07:13 PM
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. stock credit: elaineselenstock.deviantart.com | hellofascination1991.deviantart.com | burtn.deviantart.com
05-25-2013, 11:10 PM
06-04-2013, 07:08 PM
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
06-11-2013, 02:37 PM
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