.. the wind sings a song of destruction.
[For Kaisanti's Hakumei and Ronso's Duzi]
[For Kaisanti's Hakumei and Ronso's Duzi]
All day the skies above had been growing darker, as if Mother Nature herself sought to keep the birds and animals from wandering too far from their homes. The ominous bulk of dark, heavy clouds amassed over the horizon, turning midday to evening far more swiftly that was normal. The air was oppressive, heavy with the promise of the rains that were soon to drench the landscape. The ocean had many faces, and as the day passed it revealed one of its more frightening personalities. Breakers rose up tipped with white, only to crash down on the beach, sucking at the shifting sands as if seeking to devour the landscape itself, taking everything to a watery grave. The family of soquili that lived on the ocean's edge sought higher ground, led by the Water Stallion Mizu and his mate, they retreated into the forest above the beach, taking shelter amid the ancient and solid trunks.
All, that is, except one. Hakumei slipped away from her parents after a swift nuzzle to her mom, moving through the familiar trees until she found the path that led upwards. She wanted to see this wild explosion of fury, to feel nature beat against her coat. So, she found the path she wanted and followed it up out of the forest, hooves digging into the rock as the soil faded away. The path grew steeper, following the sudden rise of the landscape as the hills reared up into imposing cliffs, its sheer face eroded over the centuries by storms like the very one that was coming.
Up on the cliffs the wind picked up until it was screaming with the ferocity of a thousand demons. Flattening her ears against her head, whipping her mane so sharply that it stung her neck. Flattening herself against the rock beside her she crept along the wide pathway that had been carved into the rock face by the creatures that had proceeded her over the decades.
Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea? She mused to herself as the winds buffeted her slender body. With a sigh she started to turn to go back down and rejoin her family, but a sudden blast of ocean-scented wind tried to pluck her from the path she stood upon.
"Oh dear..." She whispered as she shrank back against the rocks. Where she was the path was wide, but she had crossed a narrower section to get this far and it was beginning to look like a bad idea to try and go back that way. Glancing along the path in the direction she had been headed, she spotted shallow caves. Maybe it would be best to find shelter up here, and wait for the storm to pass?
Another screaming wind roared at her, invisible fingers trying to pull her off the cliff. With a soft nicker of nervousness she decided that going back would have to wait. Turning back around she carefully walked along the path, seeking a cave large enough to escape out of the wind. The first few were shallow, barely dents in the cliff face, but a few minutes later she found what she had hoped for.. the mouth was smallish though wide enough for her to slip through easily, but the inside opened out into a fairly large clear space. The floor sloped upwards just slightly, and the light from the opening faded away before it reached the end, though she suspected that the cave curved deeper into the cliff.
Moving away from the opening she sighed softly, pleased to be out of the winds. "Kumei, you are really lacking in the brains department sometimes.." She muttered to herself, waiting for her heart to calm down now that she was safe. Still, as the panic faded, she found herself wanting to peek out, to see the ocean rise up in its wild fury, to feel the wind screaming past her. Yet she knew better than to tempt fate a second time and turned to explore the front section of the cave.
If she was going to be stuck here for a while, she might as well check it out..
