[PRP] A Touch of Ice (Delmare and Rime)

[Tweekend]

 

[Tweekend]

Wintertime was like a nightmare for Delmare and unfortunately the horror would occur every single day until Spring arrived. The water that naturally clung to her coat and mane would freeze into icicles and it was most uncomfortable and heavy. She knew that there was no way of avoiding the ice. And for some reason, the idea of ice bothered Delmare greatly. How was it that water could become so confined and restricted? From what she knew, water was the strongest and most durable element there was. So why was the ice trying to destroy such fluidity and strength? She just couldn't understand it at all!

To make matters worse, her anchor was frozen completely as well, so to drag it along meant that it was even heavier than before. Rather than preparing for the Winter season like most soquili did, Delmare just sort of let the whole ordeal happen, and hope that a new season would arrive eventually. If that meant that she die by Winter's hand then fine. Even if the season was very frigid and cruel, Delmare was tough enough to handle anything. And, she hadn't of frozen over yet!

A warm breath left her nose as she snorted lightly. She watched as the bank in front of her had little movement or waves, and that disturbed her greatly. Hopefully the water would get it's energy again. It wasn't like nature to just sulk around or give up! She noticed all of the icicles that lingered in patches ontop of the water, but was still glad to see that the water was somehow breaking free and moving in it's own way. If ice was water... then where was the harm done? "It will all melt eventually." she then said, with a reassuring tone. That's what happened last Winter... right?!

So, was ice an ally? Or a foe? She honestly couldn't figure it out. But damn, she was cold!  

[Grey Dragon]

While the wintertime was a burden and a curse to some, there were others who relished the chill air. Rime was one such character. The glittering stallion could only enjoy the air when it was ready to bring frost or snow to the land, and spent most of his year migrating one way or another to remain within his element. If it was too warm he grew quite uncomfortable, but if he was too cold, his mane would lose it's good condition.

Rime had only just begun his migration northward when his path took him along the beach, skirting the edge of the water itself to avoid the unpleasant sensation it gave his hooves if he lingered for too long. He trotted along the frozen sand at the edge of the waves instead. Despite the chill temperatures, his breath did not appear on the air when he exhaled.

The icy traveler slowed to a walk, catching a glimpse of something unusual on the beach in front of him. What at first looked like a little bit of ocean risen up finally made sense in his eyes as a rather ocean-coloured mare instead. Rime inwardly marveled at the deception, and with an amused smile he wandered over to her with the desire to get a better, more close up look.  

[Tweekend]

Delmare hadn't noticed the stallion at first. He was silent in his movements, and whether he knew it or not, he probably blended in to the atmosphere as much as she did! Plus, her eyes were preoccupied and were staring forward. She wanted to understand nature more, and understand why the ice was dominating her. Apparently Delmare had a sister who had the element of ice, but she was uninterested to meet her. She only had close relationships with a few of her sisters, since a number of them had probably forgotten about her dull existence.

Yes, that was another thing. Her life was quite a burden. She was forced to be chained to the ocean's front, and she was never able to roam freely like other soquili. For as long as she could remember, she had been at this ocean front. It was probably one of the reasons why her mind was unworked and unintelligent. She wasn't getting nearly as much stimulation as most soquili. And alas, that left her extra burdened and confused in such a strange strange world.

When she heard what sounded like a crunch, she swung her head backwards to see the stallion approaching. The brightness of the sky reflected off his coat and caused a natural shimmer in her eye. At first the reflection was too strong for her to watch, but her eyes adjusted quickly. The stallion was as strange as she was, and she was of course interested. Rather then doing what a normal creature would do, she only stared uncomfortably, and waited for the stallion to say something.  

[Grey Dragon]

Instead of taking the lead and initiating a conversation while the mare waited, Rime seemed to have completely forgotten that conversation needed to be started between the pair of them. He seemed lost in reflection, looking at her, the ripple of the water, and the ice along the shore all with the same mild smile that said he was perfectly content to linger in whatever thoughts were crossing his mind.

Finally his eyes met hers, and his smile grew slightly. "Good day," he said by way of greeting, stopping short of the water's edge. He might have only just realized she had noticed his approach. "It has been a long time since I've seen one who could become such a part of their surroundings," the icy stallion mused, perhaps having forgotten he was waiting for a reply to his greetings, perhaps just lost again in thought. It was hard to tell with Rime sometimes.  

[Tweekend]

The stallion may not have meant it, but he took the thoughts right out of Delmare's head! So... did that mean he was a mind-reader, and that she should be worried?! She quivered her lip lightly and was sort of afraid to think of anything else so openly. What if he'd be able to read her mind again? Well, she wouldn't know until she tried. So, with a fake confidence, she decided to go ahead and answer his spoken words. With his next responses, she'd be able to figure out if it was merely a coincidence, or if the stallion was mystical like that!

"Hello." her voice shifted a bit since she needed to get used to volumes and talking again. "And same goes for me... You seem to mesh into this Winter season very well." He sort of reminded her of the snow. But from his shiny complexion and his tidied mane, she started to realize that he reminded her of something else. "More Ice?!" she finally beckoned, without even considering the fact that she'd probably surprise him. "Are you the one controlling all of this ice?" she finally asked, with eyes that were full of concern and confusion.

She hadn't had this much energy in ages, so she decided to just go with it and get some answers. If he knew about ice, then maybe he could explain what the heck it did to her precious water.  

[Grey Dragon]

Rime's smile grew into a grin, which, in his silence, might be mistaken for an agreement. But he was actually musing over the ridiculousness of the accusation. Wouldn't it be lovely if he could control the ice, he could remain in the fertile southlands all year round instead of migrating along with the border of the winter season. Any other stallion might have actually laughed, but Rime was too distracted by his thoughts to so much as chuckle. The mare seemed so serious and he thought it better to give her a serious answer in return anyway.

"It is not my doing, sadly enough. The winter makes ice on it's own and I merely follow it's leading edge." He pawed at the beach sand, making a clack against it's long-frozen surface. "Soon the seasons will grow warm again, and the ice will disappear from here." He sounded almost regretful, longing to stay in a home that would not suit him in a mere month's time.  

[Tweekend]

Her teal eyes watched as light sadness seemed to roll on to his face. Perhaps his destiny was not so different from hers. Here she was, always restrained to the same beach. Whereas, the stallion was always moving and searching for a familiar season of comfort and survival. They were both restricted in their lives, and made sacrifices so that they could each survive. Delmare honestly thought she was the only one who had to live in such a way. Now she felt sort of silly for always judging others so fast.

"Now I sort of wish it was your doing." she chuckled lightly while lowering her eyes to his hooves. "That way, you could adjust areas as you wanted." There were two things that Delmare loved about the Winter season, and she would most definitely miss them when Spring arrived. She adored the silence that came with each day, and she also loved the way the landscape glowed and looked. But, she also loved when the water returned, and when rain and storms would smother her and the waves. Nature was basically amazing like that.

"The mountains still contain ice and snow even in the summertime, I think." she then added, as if trying to be helpful. Though, she figured he probably knew something like that anyways. "I've heard the mountains are lovely. I wish I could see them one day." But alas, when it wasn't foggy or cloudy, she could only admire them from a distance through her quiet eyes.  

[Grey Dragon]

Rime looked thoughtful, more because this strange mare would wish something so simple for him as to be able to stay in one place for more than a season. She spoke as if she understood his plight, and it was not beyond him to notice the anchor tied to her leg and form a suspicion as to it's significance. But he was a stallion of vague design and motivation, he could have been looking at her anchor or at the way the waves flowed around it with equal interest.

When he glanced back to her eyes it was less clouded by his inner thoughts. They were both prisoners, weren't they? One held captive by location, the scenery only changing with the weather and seasons, and one trapped in time, destined to be on the move without ever leaving the grasp of winter. Perhaps he was only making assumptions regarding the mare's peculiar situation, standing in frigid water in the wintertime. Still, he smiled.

"I would be loathe to trap myself up in the mountains, there I suspect I would not have the benefit of grasses long frozen under the snow." His smile grew wider, it was almost uncanny for someone who seemed so lost in thought to fix someone with such a gaze and such a smile. "Does water not flow downwards to the ocean?"  

[Tweekend]

Ah, she hadn't considered the grasses. She felt sort of silly, but then again, she was very unknowledgeable on many topics. She only tilted her head after his second statement and looked downwards at the musky sand that lay at her hooves. Mm, water could be wherever it wanted in truth. Controlling it's flow was always difficult and even nature couldn't hold on to the liquidy goodness.

"When it rains I suppose water would flow that way. Or, when the tides become high it also flows back towards the ocean." That was her favorite moment. She loved watching the water take over the land mass with full force. "So..." the word came out of her mouth uncomfortably, and she shifted her weight while staring back towards the stallion's eyes. "I'm Delmare. What happens to be your name?"

She only asked because she assumed the stallion would be joining her as company for a bit. And, from what she learned in the past, asking names was important. She would have liked to remember the stallion by a name and a face. He was already so different from the aggressive one's she'd run in to last season. So, it'd be a pity if she'd forget the experience entirely! "What happens to bring you towards the ocean today?"  

[Grey Dragon]

Rime held her gaze, not uncomfortable in the least with the prolonged eye contact. "Rivers too, would flow down from the mountains." He responded with that same peculiar smile. Inwardly his thoughts had moved on to wonder about the tides, he had never been in one place along the coast to notice these tides and realize that they would withdraw themselves. It explained frozen pools in rocks far from the edge of the ocean, in a time when there would otherwise only be snow. It thrilled him to have something new to wonder about.

"Rime," he said, suddenly breaking free from his near-trance. "My name is Rime. It is a pleasure to talk with one such as yourself." He glanced upwards, watching the scant clouds drifting in the same direction they had been earlier in the day. The clouds were another interesting thing, he had often puzzled over how they could float and yet still contain rain and snow, and other things that fell towards the ground. "There is a warm front moving in, I will be able to dodge the worst of it if I stick to the coastline."

Then it was as if the clouds had lost his attention, and he tilted his head with a glint of sunlight. "Do you live here always?"  

[Tweekend]

Ah, Rime. That was an interesting name. She nodded slowly to show that she understood and broke a slight smile herself. She was feeling oddly comfortable, and that was nice. She hadn't felt this comfy since the last time her sisters had visited her. She never thought she admit to comfort with a stallion around, since her past experiences had been dreadful. But, Rime seemed to have a similar mindset as she. He had his own hardships in life but he never stopped to notice the nice details that existed around him.

"I agree, it really is a pleasure." she looked upward at his mention of the weather and wondered how warm it would be. "If it's a warm front you say, then maybe the ocean will provide some entertainment for the both of us. What brews in the skies tends to do strange thing to the water. It can be incredibly cool to watch though." Especially in the summertime. The storms would bring all sorts of craziness with the waves and tides.

"And yes." she added, with a hint of sadness to her voice. "I've been at this beach as long as I could remember. It might sound strange, but I've been tied here like a prisoner. My anchor keeps me here. At first I went crazy and couldn't handle what was going on. Now I am pretty used to it at least... but I can't recall why I am here. Sometimes I wish I had some sort of reason, like atoning for a sort of sin, or dealing with a burden that only I could do.." she paused then, and blinked rather abruptly. "Oh crap, I seem to have ranted.." Eek, that was embarrassing!

"What about you, Rime? Since I seemed to share too much about myself, how about you give me a detail as well?" Her eyes were hopeful, and she hoped to distract herself out of the spotlight for a bit!  

[Grey Dragon]

Rime listened closely to what the mare had to say, regarding her with an oddly focused expression. Somehow he was a master of that contradictory gaze, that suggested he was paying full attention but at the same time his mind was entirely elsewhere. "If you cannot recall your reason, perhaps it's only your reason to create." He briefly glanced away, and then continued as though whatever caught his eye had been forgotten. "It is your life to live. If you need reason and are in the absence of one..."

This time he appeared to forget he was in the middle of speaking, with that expression it would be hard to tell if the trailing off had been intentional. "My detail..." He mused, an almost eerily empty smile on his face. "I have never seen the strange things you speak of, where I go water moves with the breeze, moves downwards, or fails to move at all. I was once young and taken with fever. I was once older and thought to overstep the seasons, and understand that which grows in my absence. I felt the rain and longed for the cold, so that it would freeze the sickness inert in my bones."

Rime may have been an interesting stallion, but he was a horrible storyteller. He seemed satisfied with his explanation, as though the odd phrases illustrated his life as clearly as it had been experienced, and promptly turned his attention to a dry leaf rattling along the ground as the wind pulled at it. Perhaps clarity was the problem, perhaps that abbreviated riddle was the way he remembered his life.  

[Tweekend]

It was her reason to create? She was baffled really. How was that even possible? Was it her fault that she was stranded? As the stallion watched her, she took a moment to try and remember her past. What the hell did she do when she was growing up with her sisters? She tried hard to rethink and recall any memories or thoughts she could find. After a moment or so of silence she looked back towards Rime and realized one thing. She had no recollection at all, of anything. Damn.

Luckily her inner-battle was over when Rime spoke of himself. As she listened she realized how complicated his words were. What exactly was he speaking about? In her ears it didn't really matter, since there was something very soothing about his voice. She may not have understood his description or detail, but she did enjoy the fact that he was sharing as well. "It sounds like your life is somewhat complicated as well." she lowered her eyes suddenly and wondered if that was the right way to put it.

When she noticed him lower his own eyes at the leaf she brought hers forward and chuckled lightly. "It seems we've both experienced quite a lot with little recollection." Or, maybe he had more than she did? "Either way, you are a very interesting stallion, Rime. I haven't chatted like this in ages." And in truth, she didn't care what they chatted about. She just enjoyed their voices fluttering alongside the waves that were thrashing. Was this what being relaxed felt like? Hm.. she rather liked it.