[ PRP ] Bittersweet Memories [ Kazan & Sadiki ]

[Huroggmeten]

Sadiki watched him go, then turned back to the endless sea.

She could not deny her belly that which it needed. Powerless against the demands of her stomach, weak against the lure of the luscious apples that waited just out of reach, she gave in to her desires and ate the succulent apples the colt had so generously offered.

... and so she lived another day.

 

[Apotropaics]

He came back the next day, and the day after that. He collected the cloth from the day before and filled it once more with apples, carrots, little bits of grass- anything he could find that he thought his savior would like.

She ate. She lived another day. And another. And another.

The little tidbits of conversation he managed to squeeze out of her fascinated him. He was enthralled by the wraith-like mare, so much so that he began to spend more and more time with her on that beach.

And then his family moved.

They left the small cave hidden behind the circlet of gnarled oak trees, following their mother to a new home somewhere far away. He began to come back less and less, unable to escape for the amount of time necessary to travel to that familiar beach.

And then one day, he didn't come back at all.

 

[Huroggmeten]

She survived.

She ate grass, carrots, apples... anything within reach. She never strayed too far from that beach, always returning to the surf once her belly was satisfied. She knew that they would never go to that beach. If she left, she might encounter them... and she couldn't handle that.

And so she lingered in the surf that crashed about her, watching the seasons pass with little interest, lost in thought. Lost in time.

 

[Apotropaics]

And then one day, when he was grown, he saw a forlorn figure who triggered a memory. And he made his way back to that familiar beach.

The stallion made his way down the winding path, stepping carefully so as to avoid trampling the wildflowers that lined the beaten avenue. Long strides propelled him down the path, causing the contents of the cloth bundle that he held between his teeth to wobble to and fro. Brimstone eyes stared out from beneath azure bangs, seeking out the despondent form of that familiar and oh so distant figure.

"Miss... Miss, I don't think I can come back anymore." The colt peered out at his silent obsession, fighting back the tears. "... I... promise me, promise me you'll still eat, okay? I'll come back some day. I promise! I won't... I won't ever forget you." His face twisted up as he fought to remain calm, fought to keep himself from galloping towards her and begging her to say something... anything... anything to make him stay.

Anything at all.

Kazan snorted, flipping his bangs back with an ascetic abrupt gesture.

He had been such a foolish colt. To become so obsessed with a lone figure who lived as one dead, lingering on, watching the world pass by without so much as a flicker of recognition in her apathetic lavender eyes... barely speaking, barely even registering his presence.

... and yet when he spotted that stagnant apparition dwelling in the waves, supple tresses blown back by an ardent sea breeze, his pace quickened. His heart lightened. He sped up, powerful muscles surging forwards to propel him towards her with all due haste.

Did she even remember his name?  

[Huroggmeten]

If only...

She lingers on, a wraith of her former self, mind wrapped in shadow and uncertainty. She feels neither wind nor rain, finds no joy in the cool summer's breeze or the dazzling beam of sunlight shining upon her dejected form. She cares for nothing, is moved by nothing save her body's occasional demands.

"Miss... Miss, I don't think I can come back anymore." Don't. You should run, be free. Play with those your own age; linger not by my side. "... I... promise me, promise me you'll still eat, okay?" I will. "I'll come back some day." You need not. Feel no guilt in leaving me here; I saved you, as I saved him... Leave me now. As he did. As they all do. "I promise!" Make no promises you cannot keep. "I won't... I won't ever forget you." Nor I you... little one.

Be free.

And so did she slip ever further into the deepest recesses of her mind, stripped of the one connection she had to the outside world. Stallions, mares, other colts and fillies, wandered by her on occasion. They peered at her with curious eyes, speaking in sibilant whispers, calling her 'wraith' and 'ghost.' Some would try to communicate with her, wading out into the surf and nudging her side or circling her persistently. Soon, they would grow bored of their game. Soon, they would leave. They left. They all left... only she remained.

If only...  

[Apotropaics]

He prowled across the beach with all due haste, coming to a halt just beyond the surf line. He quirked a brow, peered down... force of habit. He could now wade into the ocean without fear of being swept away by a rogue current.

Placing his bundle gently on the shore, he waded into the surf.

He blanched and paled as the water forced its way out of his lungs, bile mixing with the sea-water that burst forth from his mouth like a gyre. He gagged and coughed, turning his head to the side in order to avoid drowning in the ceaseless spew.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it stopped.

Kazan stifled the memory with a stern surge of willpower, focusing instead on the mare before him.

She hardly seemed to have aged. Those succulent tresses, waves of opalescent lavender silk, floated gently in the breeze. Her ashen coat was, as always, coated with a thin layer of salt.

And yet... and yet... had she changed, or had his perception of her?

Had the luxurious, sensuous, sybaritic curves of her body, diminished by her long trials and yet somehow still more tantalizing, always been there? Had she always been so... breath-taking...? Oh, he had always known she was beautiful, try as wind and rain might to steal her glorious allure, but as a colt... as a colt, he had thought of it as merely an attribute to her heroism. That larger-than-life persona he had dreamed up as he gazed for hours and hours, waiting for a time when a negligible light would flicker in those cool lavender eyes as a flash of recognition yanked her out of her dreamy state. But now... now...

A fond smile tugged at the corners of his lips as his eyes traced her familiar form.

"Right where I left you."

... Now she seemed something more.  

[Huroggmeten]

Sadiki's ears flickered. Dimly, she recognized the other's presence.

Just another stallion, come to gawk at her eccentric behavior. Just another face in the estuary of obscure time, to be blurred together with all the others, nameless, timeless as the sea.

She withdrew.

 

[Apotropaics]

Kazan came up beside her, then circled around to stand before her, directly in her line of sight. He ignored the waves breaking against his sturdy rump, peering into those distant lavender eyes.

"Miss!" he mimicked his own one-time squeaky voice, altering that smooth, chocolaty stallion's purr to squeak like that of a timid colt. "HEY- are you ignoring me?" He paused, waited.... "Are you deaf? HEY-" He paused, waiting for that flicker of recognition.

With a deep chuckle, he shook his head, staring sadly at the shore.

Fool. Leaving the life he had begun to build for himself behind, galloping away from the would-be friends and the possible lovers, on a whim... a memory of a mare caught in a frame of time.

"The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned." The mare smiled then, and hers was the most mournful beauty that he had ever seen.

"HEY- Miss! I've brought you some apple!" He paused. "You like apples, don't you?" He paused. "Everybody does!"

Fool. Quoting like a parrot at a mare who does not even know your name, a nuisance, a persistent itch that will not fade away. Leave her in peace... Leave her to her dreams. What right have you to intrude?

In a moment of defiance, he flicked his tail and sent a spray of salty droplets soaring through the sky. The haze of dew sparkled in the morning sun, a miniature rainbow, its prismatic light brilliant in comparison with the cool blue sky, shining in a ripple of time.

He didn't even notice.

"HEY?!" His voice cracked on the last syllable, so strange was this child's voice emitting from his stallion's throat.  

[Huroggmeten]

Just another...

Her world was shattered and rebuilt in a matter of seconds... for the second time in her life.

"I promise!"

Her head rose, slowly. She blinked, and her lashes, caked with a salty residue, stung her eyes. Astonished, she peered at the colt before her...

No. Not colt.

Majestic patterns strewn across a coat of cobalt blue, stretched across sinewy muscles that bulged with salient prominence, brimstone eyes that shone with determination.

Stallion.

Her mind reeled. He had come back. Little one... the one whose need had pulled her out of her semi-conscious state of lingering despair, a moment of clarity followed all too quickly by the normal emotional turmoil.

He had come back.

"I'm..." Her voice was cracked, dry as it had been on that fateful day. It wobbled, strained from long disuse. She tried again. "... I'm not hungry."

Her stomach growled, as if on cue.  

[Apotropaics]

His smiled, satisfied.

"Okay, Miss! Sorry for bothering you." He quoted once more, turning and heading towards the shore. In his absence, the waves broke tirelessly against her chest once more.

With a flip of his nose, the cloth opened. Four perfect apples lay within. Their skin was a ripe crimson red, unblemished, unsoiled, the crowning jewels of the tree he had plucked them from only minutes before. He took one carefully in his mouth, his lips pulled back to avoid soiling his impeccable offering.

He waded back out to her, his sturdy form blocking the ceaseless waves once more, sheltering her from the perpetual tide.

He stretched towards her, head tilted to one side, one brow arched in silent inquisition. He managed a smile around the apple lodged in his mouth. He offered that unequivocal fruit with selfless patience. He would wait there until she gave in to her hunger. She didn't even have to move.

All she had to do... was reach forwards, and take what he willingly offered.

... well?
 

[Huroggmeten]

Her stomach growled once more, insistently. Demanding sustenance.

She gazed at the stallion before her, his brow quirked, his head tilted, a perfect apple held tenderly in his strong white teeth.

... Why? A promise is a promise. After so long? Always.

Her stomach made a sound like a fierce tiger warning a skulking scavenger off of its kill.

She reached forwards, hesitantly, her neck stretching out as she sought to accept that which he so willingly offered. She paused, uncertain, staring into those twin orbs of polished brimstone. She faltered, demurred... made up her mind.

Angling her mouth carefully so as to avoid brushing her teeth against his own, she cleaved the flawless crimson fruit in half. She withdrew, taking with her half of that heart-shaped morsel.

Utter bliss met her taste buds as the succulent juice spilled across her tongue. She chewed, savoring every bite. Swallowed.

Gratitude shone in her lavender eyes, their light diminished only by the sadness that would not seem to fade away. Shy, hesitant, thanks it was... but thanks nonetheless.

"... Why did you come back? ..." She blurted the words before she could help herself, as though releasing the tide of communication after keeping it at bay for so long stripped her of all restraint. "... little one?"

Was that a remnant of her former charm? A joke, perhaps? Or did she even realize how she played?

 

[Apotropaics]

Why?

Because I made a promise.

Because I meant it.

Because I left you. Because I went with my family. Because we moved.

Because I didn't come back.

Because I forgot you. Because you faded from my memory, replaced by daily concerns, pushed to the back by trivial affairs.

Because I remembered.

Because I had to.

Because... Because when memory returned, when I remembered the way your silken mane was plastered against your shapely neck, when I saw a mare who reminded me so much of you... I had to come. I had to.

"... I don't know." His voice was deep, pure. Velvet-smooth, concentrated harmony, lyrical splendor. A soothing, pure melody...

Uncertain.

Because, in truth, he really didn't know. He just... he just did. Whether due to some force of nature beyond his control, or on a simple whim, what did it matter?

He was here now.  

[Huroggmeten]

And here would he remain.

Dawn. Dusk. All throughout the day. He left only to gather food; he remained forever at her side.

Sadiki's mind wandered, cut loose by this unforeseen turn of events.

He remains. Why?
Has he not family? Of course he does. He left you for them once before.
Will he do so again?

She stared blankly at the horizon line, refusing to feel remorse. What does it matter? You were alone before. You survived... barely.

But could she guard her heart from this strange stallion's tentative advances? Could she refuse his little gifts, those stunning tidbits of conversation? Would the layers of salt and bitter despair be enough to shield her from his charming smile?

Because... Because if she was just a passing phase for this stallion, too...

She knew in her heart of hearts that she would never recover from another heartbreak.  

[Apotropaics]

Kazan stirred, his eyes still clouded by the traces of dreams. He yawned, and got slowly to his feet, his joints stiff from a long night spent laying on the cool sand. He peered at the water's edge, and that familiar form met his inquiring gaze.

Right where I left you.

He moved forwards at a sedate pace, refusing to run.

She was always awake before him. She always went to sleep last. She remained forever the same, while he... while he seemed changed by her mere presence.

He couldn't answer her questions. He couldn't even answer his own. Oh, he knew why he yet remained. He could rattle off countless reasons. But as to why he had returned, as to how he could stand to be away from his family... that, he could not do.

He waded out towards her, his breath warm on her flank. "Good morning."  

[Huroggmeten]

She turned, a soft smile threatening to appear on her delicately boned features.

"Good morning."

The start of a new day.

It was his greetings that had begun to add meaning to the passage of time. Before, day had been night, night had been day, meaningless, interchangeable, mundane synonyms with no clear definition. Now, day began with "Good Morning." Night was "Sleep well." Meals were "Are you hungry?"- and the time in between was spent in companionable silence.

He was her silent guardian, her provider, her connection to this dreary world. He had made a space for himself in her daily routine, altering it slightly and yet meshing perfectly with her steadfast ways.

And yet sadness lingered in her lavender eyes.