Welcome to Gaia! ::

Oh goodness oh goodness oh goodness oh goodness...what had she gotten herself into? What had she done?

~~~

It was as though Rynia didn't know herself any more, her behavior was so beyond anything she'd ever done before. Looking back at her actions, she was practically overwhelmed with conflicting emotions: guilt, shame, shock, and fear were all prominent, yes, but mixed in was also some excitement and even...joy? Yet to feel excitement, happiness or joy at this time seemed just as bad as anything she'd ever done before. What sort of daughter was she, to feel joy at such a time?

~~~

She couldn't believe it was still the same day. True, the sun had vanished beyond the horizon line and it was the cool of the evening that surrounded her rather than the midday sun, but less than 24 hours had passed since her life had turned completely upside down. In the course of the day, she had heard music, true music, for the first time in her life; she had met strangers and survived, she had witnessed her mother's rage, had actively defied her...

She had left her.

In spite of the warmth of the evening, Rynia shivered. That was the crux of the matter; after spending her entire life in the same region, following the same pattern, accepting her mother's words and actions as gospel, believing and trusting her with her whole soul, she had brought shame to Ladius by publicly defying her, by taking the side of a stranger, by questioning her mother's judgement. As if that wasn't bad enough, she had then left, both her mother and her home, in the company of a stranger, and a strange stallion, at that! Never would she have believed such a thing of herself, yet here she was.

They had flown for she didn't know how long, putting miles and miles between themselves and her mother. When Rynia finally felt that she needed to stop, to rest, to try and process her tumultuous thoughts, the land she descended to was unfamiliar. There were trees, and grass, and a small stream, but none of them were what she had known. So intent was she on her thoughts that she didn't think to check and see whether Raines had noticed her descent until she had reached the ground. For a moment, terror gripped her; Raines might be a stranger, but their acquaintance of the day was still something tangible, far superior to being out here in this strange place alone.

But she was able to rest easy, for the first thing she saw as she glanced upward was a swirl of birds; obviously she had been noticed, and she would not be abandoned. Considering how terrified she had been of the birds at their first meeting, it was almost laughable how much joy she found in their presence now.

It was brief, simple joy, one that passed quickly without remark. Now that she knew she wasn't forgotten, she allowed herself to sink back into her thoughts.

~~~

Her mother had attacked her, that was the long and short of it. Attacked her, with the intent of going for blood. It had been nothing like the training assaults she was used to, it had been sudden, urgent, and terrifying. She'd always known Ladius to be a mare of strong beliefs and principals, but to hear that she was willing to kill Rynia herself rather than let her sully their bloodline any further...if it hadn't been for Raines' sudden intervention, giving Rynia enough time to take the to air, it might have all ended in that moment.

A tear crept out of the corner of Rynia's eye, followed by another, and another. Before long, it was a copious flood of tears, running down her face and dripping off the end of her nose. She had driven her mother to murderous behavior through her disloyalty and disobedience, and in spite of everything she felt awash with guilt, guilt at her behavior, guilt that she still felt connected with Ladius, guilt that she had left, guilt that she was feeling guilt! It was so confusing and complicated, so overwhelming and terrifying. She barely knew Raines or his birds, she had no real skills besides flying and healing minor injuries. She had no idea where she was going to go, what she was going to do, or if she would even survive.

Perhaps it would have been best if she just let Ladius kill her. At least then, things would have been simple.

Later, Rynia would appreciate the tact and politeness that Raines showed her, giving her her space and what little dignity she was able to muster. She might not exactly feel comfortable around him, but she found him to be a very far cry from the rapacious cruelty that her mother had always said stallions exhibited. The thought might not be much to calm her nerves now, but later, she would to appreciate it. To say that she was rattled right now would have been the worst sort of understatement!

His voice broke in on her thoughts with a forcefulness that belied the softness of the voice itself. No one could accuse him of loudness, that much was for certain! But right now, busy as her own thoughts were, any outside voice could only come off as dramatic and intrusive.

She blinked at him for a moment, the pause as much an opportunity to clear away the tears as to process what he was saying. He had mentioned something about healing before, hadn't he? All those hours ago, when he had first noticed her leg? She glanced down at the limb, testing her its load bearing abilities and wincing when it protested. She would need to take care of it, no question; last time she'd had a wound that nasty, she'd ended up with an infection and fever.

He certainly seemed sincere, but she didn't quite know what she ought to do, at this point. Meeting more strangers was a terrifying thought, but she'd already burned her bridges with home and her mother in a spectacular way. What alternatives did she have? She could go her own way, which terrified her to begin with and could very well lead to meeting more strangers of an unknown temperament, or she could remain in the company of Raines and his bird friends for now, trusting that he would continue to be as non-threatening as he'd been so far.

It was an uncomfortable decision, obvious as the decision had to be.

Cautiously, edging slightly away from the stallion, she looked away and sniffed a couple times before asking, "Are you sure it wouldn't be...intrusive? Or a bother. I really wouldn't want to be a bother, or intrusive, or both." She stammered a bit, her words speeding up in the short speech until they were practically jumbled at the end. "And I wouldn't want to put out you, or your mother, or anyone."

Rynia had glanced back in Raines' direction as he spoke, only to be taken aback anew by his...whatever it was he was doing. Having never spent much time in the company or observation of birds, she didn't know that he was 'settling in', or that the fluffing and ruffling was meant to make him comfortable. It rather like he was somehow burrowing into the ground, or flattening into it. She didn't quite know what to make of it; obviously it was another sign that she was out of her element with anyone outside of her prior understanding!

He didn't exactly appear to be intimidating, flat as he was, but it was still very peculiar, as though she had fallen down the proverbial rabbit hole! How long would it take before she would cease to be shocked by everything, before she would stop jumping at every unusual sight or sound? She didn't know ANYTHING, and that was beyond terrifying.

Though she had to admit, he had a very soothing voice; low, and pleasant, and not the least bit grating. And more than the voice itself, the words were so encouraging, speaking of an openness, a welcoming world that she'd never known. His mother sounded so at odds with her mother; someone who welcomed company rather than drove it away, who wanted to heal rather than to hurt, who did not apparently belief that strength came from suffering. She seemed to be a mythical creature, as mythical as a unicorn!

Still, mythical or no, it sounded delightful. And at this point, wasn't it better to continue trusting? Snuffling back her tears, she considered for a moment, then said, "I think I would like to meet her, only..." She glanced towards the slopes where he'd gestured, taking note of the pointed peaks. "Isn't there a danger of falling off?"

It was just as well that Raines didn't understand Rynia's true meaning about the danger of falling off, or even his composure might have been tested. Having never been up the mountains, or been anywhere near the mountains, she knew only what she observed from here: namely, that the mountains were very pointy looking, so she had determined that either Soquili stood slanted at an angle on the side and ran the risk of sliding down the mountain, or else they had to balance on the pointy tip of the mountain and try not to tip off. Neither option sounded completely comfortable.

Nor, if she was being honest, like something she truly felt like facing tonight; not the slopes themselves, or the apparently numerous relations and acquaintances of Raines that seemed to live there. Considering what the day had been like, she'd rather have a little bit of time to bolster her nerves first.

She was feeling a bit more composed than she had before, and her tears were finally starting to dry. But she still felt fragile and bewildered, and unsure of everything. Had she been at home, she probably would have crept away to her riverside slab, to watch and listen to the river. Here, there was no hidey-hole, no comfortable slab, no river to listen to. But...

Timidly, she glanced at Raines in his weirdly flat state, then over at the birds who were sitting silently. Her eyes flicked from the stallion to the birds and back again a few times as she weighed whether she was being too bold. But finally, she asked, "Are the birds done with their singing, now?"

Just like that, Rynia was shut down, and she hastily withdrew herself into her wings. Obviously the birds were tired, and obviously Raines was tired. It had been a long day, and everyone had been through a lot. Obviously they wouldn’t feel like singing, and it was shameless and selfish of her to have even considered it. Besides, it was probably dangerous for them to sing out here. Who knew what might be lurking out beyond the trees, listening for the sound of easy prey? Obviously they should be quiet and careful; they had no idea where they were, or what was out there. Indeed, they probably ought to all go to sleep and try to recover from the events of the day!

All of these thoughts flicked through Rynia’s mind in the blink of an eye, and the glance she shot Raines and the birds at the tail end of her mental guilt trip was one of contrition. “You’re right, of course, it’s been a very long day. And we just had a long slight. I’m sure that at this point, the best thing for everyone would be to get a good night’s rest.” She paused, glancing down at her leg wound as though it would provide her with a reasonable answer to ‘why do you ask,’ then finished with a mild, “I was just curious. But it’s rather late, and my curiosity can be indulged later.”

Hopefully that was an adequate explanation; the last thing she wanted to do was push anyone past their comfort level when they’d already proven so kind to her. She still didn’t know what to make of them, but she owed them her gratitude for what they’d done. Especially those three little birds!