[PRP] What Stays and What Fades Away (Darkfire x Svadilfari)

[Kyjoto]

Svadilfari's echo huffed through the cave he had called home this week, it was still raining and he had little to no desire to leave the damp warmth.
His mottled coat gave him good cover in the late winter, the snow trying to blanket the rising spring flowers and trees. He hated the snow, but hated rain more, and when the weather turned cold again he finally decided it was time to leave his cave: sleet or not. Hunger and boredom always outweighed weather.

Svadilfari let his lime green eyes adjust, picking up on the movements of birds and squirrels hunting for food. As fond as he was of darkness, he was more keen to spend time in the light. His youth had snow-blinded him, years of foraging and fighting in the wintry mountains caused him to lose some of his eyesight. He saw the world in muted colors: browns, greys, slate greens and and blues. Colors weren't as bright, but when he found something vivid: he collected it. Golds, silvers, reds, purples; these were the colors he was excited to see, an almost childish notion, a secret he kept when he encountered others.
One he had killed for.

A red flash broke through the dismal greys and greens as he trekked through the swampy forest. He began to trot, racing for the fleeting color through the brush and brambles. In that moment, Svadilfari didn't know it would be another kalona, he just knew he had to see, have whatever it was. A color that bright and lively had to be his.


WC: 262  

[Moire Frost]

Darkfire hated the sleet. The snow and the rain were also terrible, but at least those knew what they were and stuck to it; sleet was so undecided. Torn. Split.

Like you, crazy freak! her kalona side spat in her ear, cracking like a high-pitched thunderclap. The voice cackled.

She had been trying to escape the kalona voice especially lately, trekking through unknown territory and through most of the Soquili lands to get away. But it always caught up with her; some days, she and her unicorn side would have a few peaceful hours without the shrill cruelty of her kalona side in her ear, or on the rarest and most special occasions, Darkfire would actually have her whole head to herself. But every night, the kalona voice crept back; a whisper at first, barely audible above the hiss of the rain against the canopy of leaves above, then booming back to its usual deafening roar.

You're too soft, too weak, the kalona voice continued as she found cover under three very large, well-placed leaves. Most of her body was sheltered from the sleet that stung at her skin, but the icy cold water continued seeping through her coat and chilling her to the bone.

You're a monster! the unicorn voice cried back. The voices continued shouting insults back and forth to each other, becoming nothing more than a jumbled, static fuzz in Darkfire's mind; she focused instead on the large purple shape approaching from the trees.

Kill it, teased the kalona voice. Have a little fun.

"Don't come any closer!" she snarled at the other Soquili, pinning her ears back as she spread her wings and bared her fangs in a warning.

Kyjoto

 

[Kyjoto]

He slowed to a halt, mere feet from the ruby mare before him.
Svadilfari was very confused as the angry voice erupted from the mare before him. She was a beckon of color, of light in the dismal grey landscape and the tone that greeted him seemed to only blend into the depths of the falling sleet.

His mind was galloping to access the situation, every part of him was buzzing. He could look at her forever, if only she didn't speak.

"I mean no harm." He tried not to growl with pleasure at the sight of her, but his words passed through his teeth and hissed. And when her wings opened up in an defensive manner, the little bit of sun reflected off the crystallized rain, refracting into flecks of glittering red. Svadilfari couldn't help but gasp, a small huff of delight.

Following the grey from her hooves, to the tips of her feathers, to the bones of her wings he admired the her every aspect. The red tips in her mane. Svadilfari had to have her. Some how, some way. But he knew like the apple that falls from the tree, if he killed her, she would wither and brown. And he could not have that.

Svadilfari dropped his head and turned it, offering his neck as he bowed. "I mean no harm", he repeated, clearing his throat. He tried to think of a combination of words that wouldn't scare her off. "I saw you, your red, and only wished to know what beast could be so vivid and bright." Even if she ran, he would follow. Forever.

WC: 262  

[Moire Frost]

Darkfire eyed the stallion who approached her warily, folding her great leathery wings to her sides and hiding her fangs, though the permanent snarl on her face remained.

What did he mean, he meant no harm? Did he believe the mare would believe him? She had no reason to trust him. In her life, in all of her experience, she had never felt the need to trust another creature, and it had worked out pretty well for her, in her opinion.

You have an admirer, teased Kalona, a seething hiss in her left ear that sent a chill up her spine. If Unicorn spoke again, Darkfire did not listen; the stallion was commenting on her coat, her biggest obstacle. Hunting was near impossible in normal conditions. She managed, but it would suit her just fine to be a mud brown. Looking like blood in the snow was never helpful.

She snarled again, though she relaxed her defensive position and crept further under the giant leaves, enveloping herself in her wings for extra protection. Unicorn was whispering something frantic in her right ear, and Kalona was screaming taunts in her left, cruel and sharp, that had made her mind go fuzzy for a moment.

She stared blankly ahead for a few seconds, wishing her mouth would just listen to her brain and work. But the cacophony in her head was never ending, and any attempt to block out Kalona was met with even worse insults, booming as loud as she could. Unicorn's whispering became even more frantic and pointed, but Darkfire could only pick out a few words as it felt as though the left side of her head was going to burst; "monster," "deserved," "alone."

She just wanted Kalona to stop yelling. She could handle Unicorn most of the time, though she could be just as bad if she tried. But Kalona would not stop. Darkfire just really needed her to stop, immediately, right then. Please just stop. Please.

"Stop yelling!" she burst out suddenly, wrapping her wings around her head and shutting her eyes tight. "Please, please, just stop yelling!" Her voice cracked in an effort to choke back hot, angry tears, and she let out a low, guttural growl that resonated deep in her chest.

When her growl died down, she waited and listened. Silence. Perfect silence, in her head. For just a moment, Darkfire felt bliss.

Then she remembered the stallion standing in front of her and quickly pulled her wings back to her sides, frightened of what he would do or think of her episode. She never realized what she was doing until after it happened, but she had also never allowed herself to have an episode with her voices in front of another Soquili before. She looked up to him, ears laid back in worry and head pounding, commanding every cell in her body to keep her standing, and snarled.

Kyjoto

Sorry not sorry for my 485-word novella?

 

[Kyjoto]

Svadilfari watched as her eyes flickered back and forth, it was like she was watching a bee buzz before her eyes. She must have been battling her trust. He couldn't comprehend anything else.

He knew that a strange, large stallion approaching could be seen as hostile, so he stepped back as she ducked back under the giant leaves.
If only he could touch her, feel her bright coat beneath his muzzle, smell her scent. He forcibly blinked, making the thoughts of perversion go into hiding. Her growling yell completely erased his mind. Strange, he thought, watching her tuck her wings back to her side. There was something not quite right, and this time, he was sure, it wasn't him.

Svadilfari's eyebrows danced, not sure of whether he was confused or startled still. He didn't fear her, but he still held back as he let his guard down. In a slow, even paced manner he let his wings droop to his side and tried his best to cover his fangs.

"Who is yelling?" He inquired, trying to keep his voice even-toned and soft. Svadilfari waited, watched. Never had he felt so drawn to be near something, someone, and not want to destroy it.

WC: 202

Moire Frost

wiffee

 

[Moire Frost]

Darkfire growled. She did not feel like answering this stallion's questions; she would enjoy him leaving much more. But he had not attacked her, or taken advantage of her episode. What did that mean?

And what would he do if she told him what had happened? Would he think she was crazy, absolutely insane, and dispatch of her himself, as she would have done to any other in her position? She did not dare let any positive thoughts creep into her head; he could not have good intentions, out here in the snow, in the cold, alone with her. No stallion could.

But then why had he refrained from killing her still?

Just tell him, whispered Unicorn in her ear, soft and gentle and almost welcoming after her episode. Kalona remained silent, banished from the light for the time being. Darkfire preferred it that way.

"I, er..." she started awkwardly, unsure of where to begin, or if she wanted to tell the stallion at all. She had never opened up to another creature of any kind, in any way, before. She had not intended on starting now, but she felt the words tumble out before she could stop them. "I have these, er... episodes, sometimes. I've got two voices in my head, besides my own, and they like to yell. A lot." She exhaled carefully, keeping her ears pinned back but relaxing her snarl.

"I guess you could say I'm crazy."

Every part of her body was screaming at her to run, to stop talking, to go back to the way things were and treat this strange stallion like dirt, maybe bite off a few chunks of flesh for good measure. But she did not. She was fighting back against the body and the mind that had held her prisoner for so long.

Kyjoto

8D REPLY QUICK BEFORE I LOSE MY MUSE