Welcome to Gaia! ::

My name: Coriole
My faction: Citizen
Small IC description of character: Always willing to help those in need, Coriole is loyal to the life he's always known. Unlikely to be swayed into the shadows but willing to fight against them.
Oracle Scribe: http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=24685985

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4: Death

"I'm not afraid to die," he bragged to his mother. The storm had blown in overnight and it was truly fearsome. Sturdy, ancient trees had been wrenched from the ground, and more than one of the older stallions had taken bruises already just from being away from the safety of their homes. In one instance a stallion had been killed, caught off guard by a falling branch. At least, those who knew such things said, his death had been quick.

It should have deterred Coriole. He, though, was far too eager to prove himself. To show the entire village, but mostly his father, what he was worth.

"I know you aren't afraid," his dam said evenly, a little light of calm humor in her eyes as she studied him. "I am afraid -for- you, though. You don't want to leave me behind, do you?"

Coriole thought a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "No. Of course not."

"Very good," the mare cooed. "Then stay right here with me."

And he did.

HATRED

She remembers, one time...

It was a tiny village. No more than thirty residents in all. A tiny place, huddled near the forests that rarely seen any traffic. They'd been much smaller, once, she later found out. A sickness had taken them....

Strangers weren't welcome. She'd offered stories in exchange for a place to stay, and reluctantly they'd agreed.

When she offered to dreamspeak for them, however.... one of the older stallions had risen up with such a fire in his eyes. Fable had felt fear then. She couldn't understand.

"Out!" he had shouted at her, his voice terrible and wracked with anger. "Get out of here with black tongue -- Nightmare Touched!" The accusation had quelled her, and she stammered, eyes wide, still young, and unsure with so many suspicious eyes turned on her. "Get OUT!"

The others grew restless, then, and forced her to leave. It was past midnight. They didn't care. They believed her some sort of monster.

Later, she found out the sickness had been caused by something dark.... some madness, or ailment, that they blamed on the Nightmares for infecting their marble fruit. Distrust and grief had sewn in them a hatred for anything strange -- whether real or imagined. Such hatred.... her heart had been so heavy for them when she'd left.

Paradigm wandered toward the Tidepools, her curiosity too strong to ignore. She had heard
marvelous things about this place, but she couldn't imagine that it would be true. How could it?
There just was no plausible way that water could tell the future, or reveal past memories! But this
whole place was different and Paradigm had seen and heard magical things. Perhaps it was possible
after all.

As she approached, she hesitated. There was no telling what she would see and the thought made
her both afraid and curious. Her curiosity once again won out. She stepped closer to the pools and
peered into their depths.

She was a young foal exploring the world around her by herself for the first time. There was no
one else around her and she bounded through tall grass and laughed gaily. No one to tell her to be
quiet, no one to give her a task, there was just sun and fresh air and nature all around her. She was
truly happy.

But the happiness would not last for too long. As she explored the edge of a cluster of trees a small
baby bird dropped from one of the branches and cheeped at her. Paradigm blinked at the creature,
watching as it flapped its tiny wings uselessly, trying to fly. "Aww, are you hurt?" It cheeped
at her in response and frantically tried to fly. Paradigm stepped closer and the bird rolled over itself
in fright. "Don't worry! I won't hurt you..."

She laid beside the bird for some time, hoping its mother would come to get it. The bird cheeped
and tweeted at her for some time before ruffling its feathers and settling down to sleep. Paradigm
was delighted to have a little baby bird friend. "I'm going to call you Peeps," she whispered to
it.

The afternoon wore on and Paradigm left the bird for a moment to get some water. The sun was hot
on her dark coat and she had been very active that morning. As she drank from a nearby stream, a
dark shape flew over and she stopped to look up. An Eagle was in the area. She thought nothing of
it at first until she remembered Peeps was out in the open. Panicked, Paradigm wheeled around and
raced back to Peeps. She saw the Eagle swoop down out of the sky just in front of her and Paradigm
put all her effort into running, trying to get there before the Eagle did. But it was too late. The Eagle
had snatched Peeps from the ground, leaving nothing but a bit of dark red on a soft downy feather...

Paradigm leaped back with tears in her eyes, sniffling at the memory. That had been her first brush
with death. It was a memory she did not like to relive. "Stupid water," she grumbled, angry
that the memory she was given was such a sad one.

Paradigm decided one last look in the pools that day wouldn't hurt. So far the experience had been a
bit melancholy, but she was determined to end the day on a good note at least. So she approached one
last time and steeled herself for the last memory.

A young Paradigm frolicked about on new legs, stumbling here and there. She was a gangly little thing
and her balance was still not quite on point. But she was curious and playful and everything was new!
And in some cases shiny. Like the wings of the dragonflies that zoomed here and there. She watched
them, awed by their grace and their colors. The little foal laughed and chased them around, obviously
delighted at their presence. For the most part they ignored her. When she finally got tired of the
dragonflies, she tucked herself into a lush area of grass and lay her head down for a nap. Her eyes
drifted closed only to flutter back open as the sun lulled her to sleep. Just before she finally fell
asleep a butterfly fluttered over and landed on her muzzle, its wings opening and closing slowly. Its
feet tickled her nose and she snorted, sending the butterfly flying away on the breeze as Paradigm
fell into a blissful sleep...

The memory was short, but the newness of the world had intrigued her and delighted her. Paradigm
could remember the moment the butterfly had settled on her nose quite clearly. She smiled to
herself, chuckling at such an old memory resurfacing. Perhaps she could be that happy again someday...

Death

The tide pool had left her content and feeling a sense of happiness. Talya wondered why some refused to come down here to face their memories. More so when it brought up those that were rather pleasant? Deciding she would in fact look into another pool, she moved carefully till she found one that called to her the loudest. Moving to it's side, she peered down into it's calm waters, knowing that it too would show another memory. Happiness again, perhaps?

It was a handful of years past the first memory, the colt now no longer gangly but starting to fill out into a rather beautiful mare. Her mother had long passed and when she did, Talya had grown very close to her father. Tonight, the night seemed to wrap around the duo in a heavy fog, eerily quiet and void of life outside the duo. Her father was dying...and had been for some time. Something had made him very ill and over the past several months she had watched the stallion slowly wither away from a prideful and mighty example to nothing but a husk. His bones protruded through his cobalt flesh and had one just met him they would perhaps thought he was death itself.

Talya laid at his side, resting her head upon his shoulder with utmost care as she kept her eyes upon him. She could hear everything; the labored sound of his breathing, the way his heart struggled so much for the next beat. She didn't want to speak the words out loud that filled her mind; how she wished he would stop fighting so. True, she didn't want to loose him, she loved him. However, she couldn't bare to watch him suffer any longer. They both knew he only held on to try and make their time last that much more.

"Please....please stop..." She whispered, the words finally coming out of her lips as she closed her eyes and fought back the tears that threatened to come from them. No amount of fighting ceased their assault, and soon she couldn't contain the sobs that wracked her body. "Please....it's killing me seeing you suffer so. I know you try so hard because you worry about me...but I'll be fine! Be with mom! She needs you now..." The stallion listened, a slight smile coming to his lips before he tried to slowly lift his head so that he could nuzzle his face into her own. There was no words; there never needed to be. She knew he loved her as much as she him.

She spent hours by his side, the light of the morning sun slowly starting to come upon them. Talya still laid by her father's side, her head resting upon his shoulder. She listened, as she had for the past hour and heard everything. The stillness of his lungs, and the quietness of his unbeating heart.

KINDNESS

Today is a new day for Fable, and once more she finds herself at the edge of the Tidepools. It's a good place for reflection, after all, and today she feels.... thoughtful. As she settles down, she looks across the pools in front of her, and remembers.

There was once an old mare close to the end of her years who took her in one night when it was storming badly. She hadn't even seen the small cave in the darkness and snow... yet the old mare was there to guide her safely inside and share her store of berries and dried fruits. Who knows what might have happened to her that night, otherwise.

GREY
another repeat!

Fable stares out across the great expanse of ocean and swirling mists, trying to penetrate them with her gaze. Now and then a breeze will whip them up and force them to part for a brief moment or two, but it doesn't last. She wonders what really lies beyond.... if it's as dangerous as the old stories say they are or not.

One time, when she was little, she and her father were traveling in the mountains and a mist came down -- heavy and thick. Fear had gripped her heart but her father had only smiled. "It's only water, my love, nothing more."

It didn't feel like only water, somehow, but maybe that was just the way it obscured things and made each new step through it a mystery. They could hardly see more than a few feet in front of them but her father was confident. He'd been this way before many times, so surely he knew of what he spoke of. Fable had never been before, though, and so she put on a brave face and tried not to show her unease despite his words.

The mountains were so beautiful, though.... haunting and desolate and full of life all at once. It was enough to break a ramma's heart. Perhaps hers was broken, a little, for she'd always loved the mountains after that.... always felt some longing for them, eventually, when she'd been wandering for a time. They were like her in some ways, too, perhaps. Distant and watchful and full of old stories and secrets.

Her father told her the fog was the spirit of the mountain. Surely, it was just as impenetrable.

Now that Paradigm had seen a bit of her past again, she was eager to see more. The memory had not
been a bad one and she was happy to try peering into the Tidepools now. Perhaps she would continue
to get good memories!

It was dark and a very young Paradigm was huddled alone under a tree. The branches and leaves offered very little by way of cover as lightning flashed over head, immediately followed by the rumbling boom of thunder. Paradigm nearly left her skin, trembling in fear as the storm raged around her. Icy rain pelted her mercilessly, making her shiver from the cold. She was absolutely miserable and the
thunder crashing over head had her absolutely terrified.

Paradigm reeled back from the memory with terror in her eyes, but she calmed down when she
realized the memory was over. Well, so much for happy warm memories...