[PRP]Hometown Blues Alyssum;Chimalsi/Sitareh;Laurelin/Hallon

[Quicksilver the Archangel]

Alyssum looked at the cave in front of her, as she had been doing for some minutes now. She did not want to enter it. She did not want to journey beneath the earth and lose the feel of the sun and the breeze on her skin. Did she have to? Did she have to subject herself to that experience again, after everything that had happened? Did she owe Mephistopheles that much, due to her promise? The memory of the wooden stallion only furthered her hesitation.

After her last visit, the dappled mare had awoken alone in the twilight with curious beetles already wandering across her flanks, a few mosquitos hovering around her ears like whining buzzards. She had panicked, scrambling to her hooves and swatting the insects away even as she shook her head to be rid of high-pitched wailing in her ears. A chill that had nothing to do with the night air had run through her body, a chill that threatened to touch her now just for thinking about it. It had been like she was dead. For that amount of time after she fell over, she had been perfectly still. She had not kicked, had not snored, had not given a flick of a tail or a twitch of a nostril. Her uncontrollable sleep had overtaken her to the point that the creatures around her treated her like a corpse. Her waking up had been like coming to life again, but unlike the blooming of the trees in spring after winter bareness, a natural event that never failed to please her, she was aware of her missing time and vulnerability. The experience left her vexed and uncomfortable, emotions that were unusual for the cheery mare. Worst of all, she could not forget, the memory, which was as lingering and bitter as the aftertaste of the flower she had eaten in Mephistopheles's presence.

This place offered better memories, if bittersweet ones. Alyssum pawed the ground uncomfortably, remembering how uneasy she had been leading Laurelin into that cave, how the walls of rock had seemed to stifle the both of them as they sought to rescue Chimalsi from his glittering prison. Ultimately they had emerged successful, safe for all that they were emotionally drained. Alyssum had seperated from them then, concious of the connection between the other two Soquili and knowing that she had done all she could. She had not seen them since, not a single scale glittering golden in the light, not a strand of creamy mane to point her in the right direction. Now, with nowhere else to turn, she came back to the last place she had seen them, hoping for one hint, one clue, one sign to direct her. At this point her quest had become as much for herself as it had for the stranded stallion. She wanted, no, needed to see her friends again!

Laurelin... Chimalsi... where did you go? Why... why can't I find you?  

[Lady_Ourania]

Morning settled mantle-like across the little filly's shoulders as she strode through the less familiar avenues of the forest, ears flicking to and fro with an almost rhythmic timing. Her eyes followed a more erratic pacing in their search, seeking out the tiny dapples of light that broke through the canopy's shadows, counting them up in vain as they shivered in and out of being. The day was cool, but bright and welcoming, streaking her face with simple pleasure as new aromas wafted to her nostrils. Buds that were too shy to open in the chill still released a scent, wispy and sweet as dove feathers. The trees shook themselves awake little by little, laying a woodsy coating over her tongue while fine whiffs of pollen stretched golden and infinite through the air. Springtime had already begun poking new shoots of green up through last season's leafmeal, her toed hooves carefully moving over spritely white mushroom caps to see if she could avoid breaking them. Practice, she decided, because she'd seen insects that had walked across water once, their unnaturally long legs dimpling the surface as they skated away. Supposing she entertained enough weightless thoughts, maybe she could achieve a similar feat. If it could be done on water, it only made sense that it could also be accomplished on land.

But her focus was scattered, and tender blades of grass bent before it. There were too many sights and sounds demanding her attention, not the least of which was her brother walking just ahead, taking his turn to lead. He occasionally glanced over his flank to make sure she was still following, and she grinned at the excitement that put a bounce in his step. It was rare that they could both slip away from their parents without being shadowed, conducting their games in places where their rowdiness could not be remarked upon. For now, they were merely exploring the boundaries of their home, becoming acquainted with every rock, tree, and tiny mammal that would give them the least bit of notice. If Hallon had a question to pose, she was only too happy to ask around and provide an answer that would inform them both. It was different from talking to her parents, a freer dialogue that could be directed at anything and everything. And if she sometimes had to guess at the exact meaning of certain responses, it didn't bother her in the slightest.

A nearby noise made her draw short of taking another step, head canting to confirm that the cause was not a passing breeze. It was soft, a barely audible scraping sound that bid her closer, her young legs stretching longer to find this unknown thing without alerting it first. When a break in the brush let her peer through to the other side, she spied a pretty creature standing solemn before a vast gap in the world, earthy-dark with a white blaze streaming obstinately down her face. A playmate! Or at least someone she wouldn't have to translate for, which was a new kind of thrill after trying to discern the slow motives of river rocks. Even so, the mare's hoof left soft gouges in the soil, an expression the foal did not immediately recognize creasing the other's face. Maybe she was lost, and the mark was a way to identify where she'd been. Chimalsi had advised similar tactics if they were ever separated, and it only made sense that a lone Soquili was being missed by someone somewhere.

"Hello!" Sitareh called buoyantly, directing a look toward her brother to make sure he'd heard before sliding out into the open. She wiggled through the brush, velvet-backed leaves sticking to her mane and the bristly fur on her spine, tickling against her scales. It occurred to her halfway through the tight squeeze that momma would give her a scolding for being so rough, but sometimes she forgot, and the plant didn't really appear to mind. "D'you need some help?" She continued, tail lashing while her forelock tumbled over her horns and into her eyes. "You look sorta lost. Only a little, I mean, but a little means a lot sometimes."  

[Tsunake]

Sneaking away from one's parents brought an exuberance that only children could truly appreciate, and he'd raced along side his sister with a proud arch to his neck and an excited lash of his tail. Father had been teaching him how to protect the family--sort of. Hallon had thought of the idea all on his own, and had taken to critically observing his father's technique, determined to learn everything he could from the golden stallion until he could keep Sitareh safe when they wandered off together. With a snort, the colt tried to recall exactly how Chimalsi had held himself, slowing to a trot so he could peer down at his legs and slowly widen his stance. Head up, face stern--(unless he was looking at mama, then he had to make his eyes get all gooey somehow)--and as he proudly glanced to see if his sister was watching, he realized with a start that she was gone.

Where had she gone? "Sita?" Hallon called a little nervously, shouldering his way through the underbrush with a grunt. He didn't dare go back home without her--Mother was already going to n** them both for leaving, and he couldn't imagine what she'd do to him if he told her that he'd lost Sita! Just as his panic was beginning to rise, he caught a glimpse of her golden scales, the sun striking them so that she practically glowed.

With relief, Hallon trotted closer. It was only then that he realized his sister wasn't alone, and he tilted his head with wide-eyed curiosity at the older mare. "Hullo." He offered after a moment, instinctively pressing himself against Sitareh's side for comfort. "I'm Hallon, and this is Sita. What's your name?"

She wasn't like anyone in their family! All dark and soft looking, while they were golden and scaly and wooden. Was she sick, maybe? Blue eyes cast themselves uncertainly his sister's way, as though trying to gauge what she thought. Mother would certainly be able to help, if she was ill!  

[Quicksilver the Archangel]

Alyssum almost jumped when she heard first one voice and then another appear close by, and she turned to face the owners of said voices. One of the two young Soquili, the first one that spoke to her, was a burnished gold filly with peeks of wood pertruding hornlike from her face, striping her legs. The effect could have been creepy, but the natural way in which they grew, the contrast they provided made it clear that the little one had been blessed by the forest. The colt beside her, equal in age and adornation, Alyssum assumed had to be a brother. He was more subtly gold, more like a polished wood than lifeless metal, but he had a horn of wood as well. Yet, what caught her attention most was the tiny tree that sat atop his glistening scales, small but vibrant and obviously alive.

The wheels in Alyssum's head were dusty and didn't turn very quickly, even on the best of days. Today, however, when she was looking for two Soquili with such distinct features... she couldn't help but notice how the two before her seemed like a combination of her two friends that she hadn't seen in so long... was it possible? Could they... be somehow related to her two friends?

She whinnied gently towards the two younger Soquili, finally getting around to answering the questions that, in her strangely studious state, she hadn't been able to fully process until then, "I'm glad to meet you Sita, Hallon. I'm Alyssum. And I guess I'm sort of lost? I'm looking for a couple of friends of mine that I haven't seen in a long time... a stallion named Chimalsi and a forest blessed mare named Laurelin. I don't suppose... you might know them?"  

[Lady_Ourania]

Sita waited for the mare to give some indication of having heard her, standing patiently beneath her probing gaze. It wasn't the first time someone had responded to her advances with silence, nor was it uncommon for stares to be leveled at her horns, sliding down her body and often lingering on bark-covered knees and the three-toed state of her hooves. Given how much she enjoyed cataloguing what other Soquili looked like, it would have been silly to fault others for doing the same thing. She smiled easily at the stranger, pleased to find Hallon sidling up in the meantime, his soft question augmenting her own. Oh, she had forgotten to ask about a name, hadn't she? Good thing Hallon was with her, or she might have waited too long before thinking about it. The rasp of his scales against hers earned her brother a curious look, but comprehension had her tail winding surreptitiously around his back leg. Giving the captured ankle a little tug in an attempt to convey encouragement, she turned her attention back to the mare.

When the pause lengthened, Sitareh wondered if perhaps there was a language barrier at work. Just as she was about to address the older filly in the soft susurrations of moths, she finally spoke, the hesitance gone from her all at once. Alyssum! The given name pulled Sitareh in two directions simultaneously, evoking both the images of frail flowers and some half-remembered conversations between her parents. Why had they been talking about an Alyssum? If it had only been her mother, she might have written it off as the remnants of a lesson on plants and their properties; yet she distinctly recalled her father's quiet agreement, not to mention the seriousness of the delivery.

A thoughtful hum vibrated in her throat as she chased the thread, recalling the yielding texture of the leaves that she and Hallon had sprawled in night after night, his body warm and familiar at her side. When they finally settled, their mother's lilting soprano always kept them company, guiding them toward an easy sleep. Her father's shadow had lurked nearby during those times, adding the occasional word whenever the flow of the story was broken. With the memory solidifying, fragments of those early childhood stories surfaced. There had been many of them, sometimes with lessons at their core. But the most interesting ones had contained a brave mare, one who had stood alongside her mother and father against some unnamable dark. It had sounded fantastical, something Laurelin had invented to entertain her and Hallon before bedtime. But this Alyssum, who was clearly not a flower, had said that she was a friend of her parents.

Sitareh glanced sideways at Hallon to see if he had caught onto her own train of thought, excitement flaring corona-bright behind her breast. Could this be the same Alyssum that had colored so many of her mother's stories? Sitareh had always imagined such a heroine would be bigger, somehow, not necessarily in size, but in feeling; aside from that, she had no real expectations. And when asked a simple enough question, Sitareh was only too willing to give the most direct answer in reply. "Sure we know them! That's momma and daddy."