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 Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:47 am
This is a private self-RP between Aiko and Memory. Please do not post unless invited to do so. Thanks.   (Memory's cert is still pending)
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:53 am
Aiko sat on the hill looking up at the night sky. She loved watched the changes that too place above. It was as if a great being's mood determined how the sky appeared. Sometimes it was magnificent, filled with colours and radiant hope; other times it was calm and clear with the stars twinkling in contrast against the darkness around them; and sometimes it was filled with storm clouds that swirled and threatened to weep on the land. It was fascinating.
Tonight it was clear, the stars shining in all their marvellous magnificence. She smiled. Night like this were always her favourite, perfect for thinking and simply watching the world go by. The heat was soft but cool and she shuffled her wings on her back several times to trap the heat in against her body.
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:58 am
Memory was in pain, her heart ached and roared for more than what she had done today. Following the traditions of her people she had tatooed 'memory marks' upon her pelt for everyone she had lost, her entire herd. Now she knew she needed to release her pain, to cherish their memories rather than mourn their death. It was a hard thing to do even when you were surrounded by those you loved.... but Memory had no one.
Still, she was determined to honour her people correctly. That was why she had wandered here, to the highest point she had been able to see in the otherwise relatively flat land. It was a small hill, and she suspected the sight of the evening sky would be magnificent, the perfect place to leave her pain and tributes for those she had lost.
Slowly, one hoof at a time, she troded onwards. Her memories threatened to overwhelm her, her brother playing tricks on her and then bringing her pretty flowers to say 'sorry', her father's commanding voice making her cower as a foal, her mother's singing..... everything was so dear and close to her heart. Why had she not died also?
Memory stopped short as she realised she was mere paces away from someone else.... an alicorn if she wasn't mistaken. She looked up at the sky in longing, this was indeed the perfect spot, but she couldn't bring herself to interupt anothers dear moments for her own. Slowly she turned to leave....
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:02 am
Aiko had been about to sing, the words flowing to her mind when she heard a noise behind her. Her ears twitched and her turned to the source, relaxing slightly when she saw it was another mare.... one with a bloom of brilliantly long hair. Yet... she seemed to be leaving? Aiko noted the troubled look upon her face, so much pain that it made Aiko's heart ache in sympathy.
Aiko knew she didn't know the mare, but she couldn't turn her back on someone in need of help.... "Don't go." She smiled softly, "You can sit here too if you wish... that is why you came right? To look up at the stars?" She paused for a moment, watching the clear indecision upon the mares fair face, she was torn by what to do, that much was obvious. In an effort to try and comfort her Aiko smile again and said, "It seems like you could do with the company.... I am a good listener..... or we could just sit in silence." She shrugged her shoulders, "It's up to you."
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:35 am
Memory hesitated.... part of her wanted to stay, part of her wanted to leave. Everything about her seemed torn lately, she didn't feel like she was whole, complete, solid.... it was as if a big part of her had died in that fire and all that was left was her fragile empty shell of a body.
She stood in silence for a moment, neither deciding to leave or stay.... just happy for a moment to simply 'be'. Then with a sigh she nodded her thanks and sat down.
The idea of talking was too much, and although she knew she would eventually have to open up to someone she needed to keep her silence for a little longer.
Looking up at the sky her heart wept. The sky was more beautiful than she could remember.
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:44 am
Aiko nodded and smiled in silent victory as the mare sat down on the hill beside her. Although the other mare hadn't yet said a word Aiko knew it had been a battle within herself to decide what to do.
Looking up at the sky she simply remained silent for the longest time. Her breathing started to syncronize with the other mares. In out. In out. In out. The endless cycle of life.
Unable to simply stay in silent anymore, the waves of pain clearly slamming into her from here. Aiko decided to comment on the very thing that held them both fascinated. "Beautiful aren't they?" Part of her hoped that the other mare would answer..... but perhaps that was too much to ask.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:27 am
Reluctantly Memory spoke, "Yes they are," Her words felt as if they some how tainted the purity of the scene before her.
"I miss them...." She found herself saying, bringing her front hooves up under her chin as she examined the markings around her knees. These were her family.... her mother, father, brother.... even her sister who was banished all those years earlier. No reduced to nothing more than a line upon her pelt. She had once been nearly as pure as snow, with flaming red hair that stood out a mile, and a soft black tarnish around her ankles and chest that the elders said was to remind everyone that the world was made up of darkness and light..... but that light was stronger. Yet as she had looked at her pelt in the river she had noted that now her white pelt was more consumed by the darkness, the tatoo's of her loved ones taking over.
But Memory didn't feel like this made her tainted, if anything she felt lighter, brighter! It was the right thing to remember them.... all of them.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 7:32 am
Aiko tilted her head and frowned, she 'missed them'? Was that what made her heart hang so heavy? The pain was clear, it was pain that Aiko wanted to take away..... but how?
She looked up at the sky again, "I was told once that those we lose can be seen in the stars." She was careful with her use of words, not knowing for sure if the other mare had 'misplaced' her missed ones or if they had left this world all together. Aiko supposed that in part what she said was truth either way, she knew of those able to read the stars to tell futures and pasts, even locate people for those who had been seeking them for years and years. And if they had passed on, then Aiko believed that like all horses, they would return to the sky. To shine and watch over the ones they had left behind for all eternity.
"It is said that when a star falls something significant will happen on the earth.... like a war or a great king will rise. Both a warning and a blessing." She paused for a moment, turning her attention back towards the mare.... "Is that why you have come to look at the stars? For answers? For peace?"
Aiko knew it was possible she was pushing the mare too much, after all only moments early she had said nothing at all. But a pain shared was a pain halved. Or at least it was in Aiko's mind.
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:09 am
Memory looked at the mare for a moment, an emptieness pouring into her heart and soul, she knew why she was here... but sharing that? Could she....? The pain was too much, consistricting to the point that she believed her breath would soon start to fail under the burden.
Still, as she took in the soft features of the mare, the gentle and alluring pink eyes.... she couldn't help but feel a connection, a sudden need to share a small chunk of her burden if nothing else.
Words escaped her but she nodded. She was looking for peace.
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:56 am
Aiko nearly let out a breath of relief when the mare replied, it may not have been a verbal one but it was a start. The pain coming from the mare in waves was still obvious, and Aiko couldn't simply sit by and do nothing..... not that she was sure she would actually be able to help.
"I lost my brother," she found herself saying, her eyes wandering to the sky as a tear threatened to overflow from her lids. "He was killed by a skinwalker while trying to protect me and two foals." Aiko and her brother hadn't even known the foals, but as always her brother shone out like a knight in shining armour, always there to defend those who couldn't defend themselves, always there to be strong and couragous when others would flee in fear. She missed him.
Unable to stand the pain of her own tragedy for much longer she asked, "Who did you lose?" The words were spoken quietly, a mere whisper on the wind.
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:02 am
Memory could empathise with the other mare at her loss, but the selfish part of her mind simply wouldn't allow it to compare to what she had loss. In one foal swoop everything she had known had been taken from her, her family, her siblings, her friends and even a male who had begun showing her affections.... gone, lost forever to the cold dark grip of death. Never to feel the light of day, the heat of the summer or the cold of winter again.
A sob escaped her, stranged and pained. And it was followed swiftly by another and another, then a stead flow of tears as they trickled down her cheeks like the tear lines on a leopard. It hurt so much.
"Everyone," She said eventually, the word broken and distorted from her tears. "I lost everyone. Fire." Unable to say anything else she looked to the sky, the only place that she still felt truely connected to the life she had once known. It was too cruel that she had lost so much when others seemed to gain so much..... but she supposed it was the balance of life. It still stunk. Was still unfair.
Her mother had once said that the Lord never gave you anything more than you could handle.... but in truth Memory didn't understand how anyone was expected to handle this.
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:06 am
Unable to stop herself Aiko leaned over to the other mare, pulling her towards her as she held her in silence. Everyone? Although Aiko didn't understand the extent of what that meant she assumed it at least meant her immediate family, and if had been a fire then the other mare was lucky to have escaped with her life.... though Aiko imagined she felt anything but lucky right now.
She gulped. Feeling guilty for having brought forth such horrible memories to the surface once more.
"I'm sorry..... so very sorry." She whispered, nuzzling the other mare gently in the only way she knew to give comfort; and hopefully ground them both.
Looking up at the stars she sat in silence, the sound of two breaths -one steady the other irregular due to her tears-, the beating of two hearts -both racing-, and the feel of the gentle breeze as it swept over them as if they were nothing. Aiko supposed that was true, each life only stayed on the earth for a short time, most never making any true impact on the world around them.... here one day, and gone the next. And Aiko couldn't help but wonder.... who would mourn her when she was gone?
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:23 am
Memory's pain was growing again... perhaps she had simply lost too much too suddenly for her memory marks to have done much good? True she had accepted their deaths.... but the feeling of loneliness, of unfairness, of weakness continued to linger... and Memory believed it would forever.
She accepted the gentle mares caress, knowing that she was only trying to help... and in truth Memory took a small slice of indulgence out of the action, after all, she had no idea when she would feel the warmth of another person.... and never again would that caress be from her family... her mother or father, her brother or sister... her aunties and uncles.... no.... she was all alone in a world that was unpredicatable and cruel, in a place where she didn't know or understand the rules.
The tears continued to flow, but they were slowing -mostly because there was no more moisture within her for them to continue. "Sorry..." she muttered eventually, her eyes once again looking at the stars. "I.... don't know how to move on...." She didn't know what had possessed her to speak, perhaps just getting the first few words out had opened the floodgates to her emotions... and Memory was scared they would soon drown her as they consumed her.
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:27 am
Aiko shook her head, "There is nothing to apolgise for. You have done nothing wrong." She offered as comforting smile as she could muster under the circumstances. The truth was Aiko could offer no words of wisdom, no promises that it would be alright and that things would work out... after all, she could not summon the death back to life, no matter how much she longed for that ability in this moment. No one should ever have to lose everything in one swoop.... never. That was just cruel.
Aiko wanted to aske question, to keep the mare talking now that she had started.... but what did you ask someone who seemed so close to self destruction? No, Aiko needed to help her heal, not rip a bandage off before it's time.
"They will always be with you... you know that right." She continued to look at the mare even as she stared almost blankly up at the stars in the sky... Aiko couldn't help but wonder what she saw in the darkness above. "In your heart." Aiko truely believed her words, she believed that even when we left this plane of exsistance a small fragment of your heart and soul remained with each and every person that you had touched during the journey of life. And since this mare had lost so much Aiko was sure that she was consumed in the love of those she grieved for.... she simply couldn't see it yet.
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:32 am
Memory tried to hear the words, to see them for what they were... comfort. But it was hard. She closed her eyes. Wishing with all her heart that when she opened them again all of this would be behind her, a distant and unpleasant memory that she would laugh about....
She opened them again slowly only to discover that nothing had changed. Everything was how it had been moments earlier....
"Do you believe in Gods? In spirits of the world.... or anything like that?" She whispered the words, almost scared that to speak too loudly would shatter her once and for all.
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