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 Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:19 am
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:19 am
The moon was low in the sky as it worked it’s way high into the heavens. Bright stars blinked and danced about in the few thin clouds that stuck about from the early evening shower. The light from the celestial objects reflected off the water droplets making the ground shimmer like the sky. A few fires still burned, sheltered from the rain. It was this sight that the sky blue mare found herself staring at as she came over the last hill.
Her heart swelled with a million emotions all at once. To see those familiar homes once again brought her close to tears. It had been nearly a year since she had left this place. Nearly a year it seemed like such a short time now that she thought of it but it had perhaps been the most difficult time of her life. Months of searching had proven entirely fruitless and while she regretted it, they had not been uneventful. Her crystal eyes drifted to stare down at the slowly healing wound on her shoulder. No. They had been a bit too eventful for her liking perhaps.
A fire of hatred burned behind her eyes as she thought back to that forest, back to the mare and back to the battle. She winced as the memory brought a searing pain into all the wounds on her body. She would remember that day for an eternity she imagined; it was not like her to forget things after all.
It had been her memory that had brought her back down this road after so much time after all. So much time. A frown fell on her face as she gazed longingly out at a single teepee. It was her home but it had been so long, would they even remember her? Would they want her around? What is her mother and brother had been happy during this time? She couldn’t just barge in and ruin it for them. She couldn’t.
With one last long look she turned her head away. She would leave now before things got complicated. There would be other places she could stay, she was sure of it.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 10:54 am
It was beautiful out tonight. Everything shimmered from the light of the moon; it almost looked like the night sky had swallowed the planet. The two toned stallion laughed at the little picture that his mind showed him of a very hungry sky. The sound was slightly muffled, however, due to the basket of fruit he held between his teeth.
Ever sense Dark had taken off to go who knew where with his daughter it had become Ayden’s responsibility to keep the food and water supplies full. The two-legger couldn’t do it; she had no sight and shouldn’t have to. His mother looked after Scarlet almost all the time and well, Scarlet was helpless really. The work did not bother him really but it did cut into his searching time quite a bit. Before he had this duty he was able to search for an entire week before he had to return home. Now he only had three days at a time. That limited the distance he could travel greatly and something told him his sister had gone off to the furthest place she could. Nowhere he could get in a day and a half.
Perhaps he could ask his mother to take Scarlet with her and go collect food every so often to give him more time to look. That would mean telling her what he was doing though. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. His mother had been looking after Scarlet to distract herself from other things. He couldn’t bring himself to remind her of sad things, it was just too cruel.
He sighed and focused his attention in front of him. All he should be worrying about now was getting the food home and perhaps the horse in front of him. He did his best to smile at the stranger past the basket. They didn’t seem to be looking at him, rather into the village. His first thought was that this was a skinwalker planning to attack but even in the dim lighting he could see that there was no pelt.
The figure turned slightly and Ayden’s golden eyes widened. He began to tremble and the basket slipped from his mouth and landed on the ground with a thud spilling the apples. He knew that face, those eyes, he knew this mare. His eyes began to fill with tears as he took a step closer to her and struggled to find his voice. “A-amoena...is...is that you?” He asked quietly knowing the answer already. It had to be her. He would not mistake that face ever.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:12 am
She jumped slightly as something landed behind her. She did not turn to look at what it was immediately. Instead she braced herself mentally. That sound had not been nearly large enough to be one of those damned demon horses. Perhaps it was just some small animal. Something bumped against her ankle and her small animal theory seemed to make sense.
She bowed her head to see what was touching her, fully intending to shoo it away. What she saw, however, was nothing animal. It was an apple. That sound was not made by a single apple. She prepared herself quickly to go on the attack when a voice reached her ears. A voice that said her name.
Very slowly she lifted her head and turned to look behind her. She had told her name to a small number of creatures and for this one to know her could mean to things. The first being that she knew them, the second being that word had spread throughout the kalona and this was one preparing to finish her off. The figure did not seem to fit either category.
He had neither the wings nor the horns of a demon and she did not recognize him. There was, however, something eerily familiar about those eyes and those spots. After a moment of trying to place his face she gave up. “All right, I’ll bite.” She said casually. “How do you know my name?”
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:30 am
His heart swelled happily as she responded to the name. So it was her after all. It was his sister! She had come home to them at long last. The tears in his beautiful eyes began to spill down his cheeks. He could hardly believe this was happening. After such a long time she had come back to them he waited for her to say his name or call him ‘little bro’ like she always did. He waited and waited as she stared at him. It must have been quite a shock for her too. He had gotten quite big after she had left, he could understand. He had also snuck up on her, which he hadn’t meant to but he was sure she was planning some way to get back at him like all the other times he had scared her.
His heart crumbled as she spoke.
He couldn’t say anything. She had caught him so off guard. He laughed slightly thinking that this was her way of getting back it him. The look on her face was serious. There was no playful smirk no taunting look from her, nothing. She honestly didn’t remember who he was.
The tears had changed from joyous ones to sad ones. His head sunk and he stared at the ground. He knew he had changed but his coat still looked the same, how could she not know her own brother? He choked back his tears a little bit, he didn’t want to fall to pieces in front of his sister. She had always wanted him to be strong, like her, and this wasn’t something she would want to see.
“It...it’s me.” He said shakily doing his best to look her in the eye. “It’s Ayden...sis.” He smiled slightly but was unable to hold it for long.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 11:52 am
She raised an eyebrow as she watched the strange stallion in front of her fall apart. She could hear him sobbing even though she could not see his face or the tears. It was a bit confusing really. She had asked a simple question, what kind of person started crying after a question like that? She shook her head and rolled her eyes considering just leaving now. There was no point sticking around just to find out why a blubbering stallion knew her name.
Said blubbering stallion lifted his head once again and answered. It was now Amoena’s turn to turn into a wreck, at least internally.
She gasped and stared at him wide eyed for a long time. She watched as the face of the young little brother she had left behind superimposed itself over the stallion’s face. The same spots.
She understood why he was crying like that now. It was a shock seeing each other after being separate for so long. It must have been more of one with her not knowing him. She bowed her head so that her messy white braids hung in front of her eyes. Here she was free to look how she wanted and right now she looked terrified. She had had every intention of leaving to save them the trouble that she would likely bring with her and to save herself from them. She could not just run off now, however, not with Ayden standing right there.
“H...how’ve you been...Ayden?” She questioned softly not wanting to say what he likely wanted to know. That being her location over the past year.
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Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:59 am
He continued to choke on his tears as she just continued to stare at him. She really didn’t remember him? Not even his name had sparked anything, or so it seemed. His head drooped and he made to turn away to walk home. If she didn’t remember him nothing he said would matter really. She’d probably head back to the teepee that had once been their home only to find it had moved. It had to. They had needed more room to live. It was still in the village but closer to the edge where there was more room.
He froze when he heard his name. He lifted his head quickly and looked at her long and hard. An odd sort of squeak left his throat as he turned quickly and ran to her. He nuzzled her and lay his head on her back unable to stop himself from crying more over the whole situation. He imagined that he must look pathetic in his strong sister’s eyes. He found he didn’t really care at all.
“Amey...” He said softly and shakily. “I looked everywhere for you...everywhere...I thought...maybe...something had happened.” He lifted his head, took a step back and looked into his sister’s eyes. “I was so worried...we were so worried. Where were you?”
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:29 am
Amoena shifted uncomfortably at the contact. She wanted to put her head on his neck and cry out of joy with him. She couldn’t though. If asked she would blame it on her injuries even though that was not the case at all. Or was it? The thing that kept her from returning the affection was not the slowly healing wound on her shoulder, or the bruises or the scrapes but her pride. It had suffered the largest blow of all. She had been beaten, dragged along the ground and then had to seek help from another all in order to live. All of this led to her feeling the strong need to appear even tougher to the outside world.
Instead she took a step away from her brother as he took one as well. “Come on, kid, get a hold of yourself...” She said turning her gaze to the stars. It hurt her a little bit to treat him in such a way but it was for the best, wasn’t it. Her eyes darted back to him as he asked the question she didn’t really want to answer.
She bit down on her lip unsure how to answer. She wanted to tell him that she had been nowhere but got the feeling that would not go over well. Instead she took a deep breath and lowered her head. “It’s not something I will say twice.” She said hoping her brother would get the message.
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:30 am
Ayden blinked at her, tilting his head slightly, as she started behaving strangely. He had asked a simple question hadn’t he? He just wanted to know where she had been for the past months. She could just answer ‘the plains’ or ‘the forest’ or something like that. He wasn’t going to pry, much.
At her answer his eyes went wide with understanding. “Alright, I’ll go get mom then!” He said cheerfully assuming that she wanted to tell both of them at the same time. It was a normal Amoena thing. She didn’t want to have to repeat herself a bunch of times. He could totally understand that. Without another word he took off in a beeline for the large teepee several yards away from them, their home.
His heart was racing as was his mind. What could he do? What should he say? It was all such a shock his brain hadn’t quite caught up with him yet. It was still back with the basket of apples. At the entrance way he paused before slowly poking his head in. “Momma.” He said softly before stepping inside. “Momma...I brought someone home...”
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:52 am
Her brain promptly stopped as Ayden offered up his own solution to a non-existent problem. Her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. All she was able to do was stare off after the stallion as he raced away. Go get mom? As his words echoed about in her mind other things between to catch up.
“A-Ayden!” She called after him before taking a shaky step forward then another. She cursed at herself silently for a moment. This was no time to be freezing up, she needed to stop him. She took off like a shot after him ignoring the screams of pain from her body. She was in no shape to be moving in such a way, her lack of speed was the proof of this. Still, she trailed after her brother calling after him. She couldn’t figure out where he was going really, their home was in the middle of the village not on the outskirts.
As he slowed to a stop she figured that this was her chance to keep him away from home. “Ayden don’t!” She cried slowing down herself. He didn’t seem like he was planning on moving anywhere. Good, he was listening to her now. She opened her mouth to talk him out of it but found the sound stuck when he poked his head inside. What was he doing?! That wasn’t his home, when did her brother become so rude?
She found herself gaping like a fish when he called for their mom. What was going on?
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Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 9:27 am
Lunathiel lay resting in her home beside the little butterfly mare that had been placed in her charge a year or so ago. She turned her head and looked at the sleeping mare with a frown. Scarlet Wing, as she was known, had found her way to them around the same time a member of their family went missing. She sighed and looked the other direction to their two-legger’s sleeping area. She was gone tonight as well it seemed, visiting with her two-legged friend likely. It warmed her soul to think that the little human was making friends but at the same time it left her with a rather hollow feeling.
For the last year she had taken to looking after everyone and anything that she happened upon. Everything...all to distract herself. Scarlet had become something like a daughter to her. A little butterfly doll to fill a gap. Her eyes wandered to the other side of the teepee a place for her son to rest at night and beside it there lay a yellow cloth. Her eyes began to water slightly so she turned her head away. If she didn’t look it was almost like it wasn’t there.
She lowered her head to rest it on the ground preparing to sleep. That seemed to be all she really did these days and Scarlet would sleep right along with her so it was almost like nothing was happening in the outside world at all.
The moment she shut her eyes it was apparent that something was, in fact, going on on the outside. She opened her eyes and lifted her head trying to make out what was going on. She could hear a female voice calling out a name that sounded distinctly like ‘Ayden’. As she figured that out her son’s spotty head poked into the teepee. She frowned at what she was told. He had brought someone home who didn’t really want to come it seemed. “And who would that be?” She asked getting to her feet. She walked the short distance and peered outside to catch a glimpse of this girl that Ayden dragged home.
Her eyes widened in disbelief at what she saw.
It was a ghost. It had to be. “A-ameona...” It was said in a whisper but echoed loudly.
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Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:01 am
The world fell silent around the blue mare as the voice she had thought she would never hear again reached her. Her breath caught in her throat along with her voice as her eyes rose to see the blue form of her mother. There were too many emotions coursing through her body to know how she truly felt. Sickness. Relief. Worry. Fear. Joy. Her eyes fell to the ground as she settled on one feeling, shame. What felt like an eternity ago she had left to find her father and not only had she never found him but she had also gotten badly beaten by a demon horse. She had once prided herself on her ability as a fighter but after that it seemed she was nothing more then a little mare with a lot of steam.
Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears. What should she say? She could not stay silent. She had been found already, there was now way to avoid this now. Keeping her face to the ground she forced a pitiful excuse for a smile on to her face. “Hi mom...it’s been...a long time...hasn’t it?” It was impossible to raise her head to look at the eyes of her mother. It was simply too difficult to face her.
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Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:04 am
The tension in the air was so thick that the spotted stallion was sure he could taste it. He had been expecting a lot of happy tears and maybe a celebration. This felt very awkward to him. It was as though no one knew what to say or do. It felt like they were all strangers and not a family at all. Bright golden eyes darted back and forth between the mares before drifting up to the sky. Spirits and faeries give him strength; this was going to be a long night he knew it.
“Momma,” He started, stepping between the two to break the tension a little bit. “Amey said she’d tell us where she’s been...” He peered over his shoulder to look at his battered sister. Something big had happened he just knew it and it probably wasn’t something that should be discussed outside. “Let’s...talk inside. Scarlet’s probably lonely in there anyway.” He forced out a tiny laugh before brushing past his mother to get inside the warmth of their home. He felt the empty gaze of Scarlet on him as he entered and imagined she had heard them outside.
“Hey Scarlet...” He said gently giving her a small smile. “Amey’s back and she’s gonna tell us a story so go ahead and sleep again...” Knowing she would listen he turned to watch the entrance as both his mother and sister entered. This was going to be a long night indeed.*~*~*~ End and Beginning
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