We are denizens of the darkness, brightness in the light. We have come to find the answers that evade even the greatest of scholars, and our march has been long and laborious. I know that there has been a change, as surely as Natraj does; I can sense it in the air. Time tastes of magic and the world's ending. Amaris told me of the God's departure; in her patient way she explained that they have gone to save us, yet I do not understand. All I know is the way the wind tastes, the scent of the barren earth, the wonder of the new moon, and Natraj.
I walk by his side, and he is invisible to all but me, a shadow stealing through the night, a silent voice on silent paws. His is the slender form of a graceful dancer, bending impeccable in the tumultuous world. He leads me through the weeping trees, reckless abandon guiding a burning soul to some unknown destination, some great future and a fickle past. A trail of footprints is left in our wake, the burns of out fire furrowed into the earth; we are shadow and flame, unhindered and uninhibited; nothing shall stop the descent of our names into annals of history. Mother says that the only way to mark the world is to learn it, and so we have ventured forth to learn what we can, that we might return to our maker and tell her our findings.
It is difficult to see everything, but I do my best. Despite the changes that have crashed our youth, the world is rich with aroma, sound, color, taste, and we stretch ourselves out to encompass them all, knowing we must experience the wealth that our birth has promised. The crunch of leaves in half-moon steps, the descent of a moth onto Natraj's nose, all these things are marked and stored into the annals of my mind. The experiences fill the empty pages that make the novel of my life. They will one day become my story, the foundation of my being and the tribute I offer in return for this gift of breath. This is why I hold them close, lock them away from all but Natraj; they are precious jewels that cannot be shared with just anyone, lest their worth be wasted away.
The forest darkens, moonlight and stars cast out by a blanket of faintly glimmering leaves. It is not a path we follow but a feeling, a gentle tug at something within our souls, something we both feel and need to uncover. Natraj walks ahead, large ears open for the breath of life, chill snow meaning nothing to the flesh of a shade. A rabbit bounds past, near the size of he; nimbly does he leap away, giving path to our furry friend. Every turn holds another path, another minefield of secrets waiting to be recalled, but my brother knows the way we must walk and I am content to follow in his wake. He knows our path better than I, knows the trail of invisible fire which we must take.
The taste of the world shifts, and we pause. Searching the wind, I close my eyes and extend my tongue, nostrils flaring in hot pursuit. Youth, life, promise, green, the flavor of the air is tinted with what I now know to be scales, and something broken in a sickly pallor. Follow? asks Natraj through his golden eyes, and does not wait for my answer; he knows it as surely as I do. In flawless tandem and fluid step we are moving again, orange and black and gold in one continuous blur. We are a streak of color on the pavement of the forest, a new memory etched into these ancient trees. What other brushes have left their mark- this is what we have come to learn.
Horses. Three. Bigger than us, and a voice strong amongst them. I know the voice, and it bears a name which sits just beneath the surface of my memories. My brother is slinking ahead of me now, invisible black in a visible world. Once around a tree and then he is lost, and for a moment I stand alone in the night and do not know where to turn. The moment passes; he summons me forward and I quietly comply, blazoned face leading a slight body in the uneasy dance. Two are strangers, the first two, and I hesitate at the edge of the gathering only so I might soak them in. A mare looks weak. Bunched skin runs down her face, a reflection of the mark Mother bears upon her chest. Damage. Pain. A memoir of history, another secret of the past. She is dark with a white face, she is strong like Flame and Shadow, she is something that sets my teeth on edge.
She is only the first. A colt looks strong. He is the source of the smell of youth, for somehow life blooms around his feet in a world which has been devoured by death. Wings, horns, not like Amaris and not like Mirage, he reminds me of another boy, a silver apparition in the night. They feel the same, too powerful and too wise, though this one brings life and that one sought death. His mane and tail are white, like mine. He is kind, I think. He is good.
Third. A name at last, a faint memory of Mother's friend. Lace; I am proud to have recalled it, for names do not come easily to me. I prefer to take in the things that make a creature, things permanent and defining like the web upon his brow or the dip of his shoulders, the weariness that subtly follows in his walk. The taste of magic is in him, too, a familiar thing if faint now, something darkly rejuvenating, black water in a cloudless night. Lace. I remember.
I think he is handsome, though I do not yet know what that means.
I do not speak. I never do. It is for Natraj to say hello and I to watch and wait. My shadow brother flows easily into their midst, tails high, ears alert; he heads for the colt with the big black wings and loses his feet in new grass, sniffing curiously at the unnatural life. I do not yet understand magic, only that it exists; the concept of this abnormality is beyond my sphere of awareness. I tilt my head and let my gaze wander, still seeking out the little details that make each of them who they are. Perhaps Lace will notice me, I think, and remember me as I remember him. Regardless I will have much to tell Mother when I return home. I can only hope she takes pride in my new knowledge of the Forest of Night.
ooc || so, this became a novel... apologies x3 It's late and my brain decided to keep making words that stopped making sense
.svg/2000px-Google_Chrome_icon_(2011).svg.png){kind=icon}
