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 Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2024 1:38 pm
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Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2024 1:50 pm
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Rose petals of white and scarlet mingled with the autumn leaves littered across the well traveled forest path. It was a path that the siblings had taken many times before. This time was their fourth rehearsal in a single day. The trio were growing agitated, well the boys were. Lady Primrose was just weary. She closed her eyes and sighed. They had used up all of the petals she had collected which meant that after this last practice run she’d have to go into the woods and gather more. She wasn’t going to be able to rest anytime soon, but that was to be expected with the parade scheduled for dawn the next day - a time that her stubborn brother and cousin had chosen. There was no arguing with them once they had their mind set. She’d learned this well as a foal. But it wasn’t all so bad, she told herself, once the parade concluded they’d have the rest of the day to relax and celebrate.
A few more drills and Scarlet, her brother, finally agreed on releasing them for the day. There was still a bit of sunlight so Prim took that as a win. “Great!” She cheered, “I’ll be sure to collect even more petals for tomorrow!”
Despite the training fatigue, she kicked up her hooves and trotted off. Her brother’s voice carried behind her, “No wilted ones!” She shook her head but kept up the pace. She definitely needed her space.
She sighed and drank in the peace and quiet in the center of the forest. Her favorite spot, which was no secret, was lined with wild and cultivated roses - it was the same place her aunt (Grey’s mother) had taken her when she was a foal. The mare had shown her how to tend to the garden and named every single plant that was in the circumference, even the ones without blooms. Primrose scoured the garden looking for full blooms that were about to fall or had already fallen. She gathered them into a pile for safekeeping until morning. Once she was done, she headed back to the village.
Primrose felt serene and light as she followed the path back home. Her gentle smile quickly faded at the sound of raised voices and she hesitated before stepping out into the village clearing. Just at the edge of the village, she could see Scarlet and Grey. “I can’t believe you!” Her cousin shouted at the darker stallion. “I would have told you…eventually.” That last comment seemed to spark something within her cousin. Grey snorted and whirled in a huff.
“Grey…” She barely got his name out before he pushed past her and disappeared into the forest.
---
“Ugh!” Grey groaned and huffed, and vented, now that he was away from the village and deeper into the woods. “How could he! How could they!”
He stomped his dark cloven hooves into the soft earth. He watched as they left an impression. The anger was still there…he stomped again. “Two faced liar!” He flattened his hoof into what was becoming a patch of mud. “No good cousin!”
A flurry of insults followed as he kept stamping the mud, ignoring the mud caking on his foot. Deep in his fury and frustration he almost missed the soft voice calling to him, “Grey? Grey…”
He looked up and furrowed his brow at his fair cousin. “What?” He growled at her.
Primrose flinched. It was so unlike him, that it even took him back. His voice softened but still remained irritated, “What do you want?”
She moved closer but kept her distance after glancing at the pockmarked earth and the mud all over his limbs. “What happened?”
“Seriously?” He huffed, “Wow that’s rich coming from you! You know what you two did.”
“I don’t -” He didn’t let her finish.
“Ugh give it up! You and Scarlet are working together! That’s why he entered you both into the competition!” He turned away from her, giving her his backside as if that would end the conversation.
“Competition? What competition?”
He glanced at her before turning his back to stare at the bush in front of him. He focused his navy eyes at a single bud. “The dance at dusk!”
It was a yearly tradition. With each passing year becoming even greater than the last. Those that competed were admired, and those that won were given the greatest honor - to coordinate the coming year’s events. If they won, they could incorporate so much more into their parades - to make them into a real show. It had been his dream since he was a colt, and his cousin Scarlet’s.
“I didn’t enter that.”
“Well your brother entered you and him AND not me!”
Primrose sighed. “Oh I see…” Grey harrumphed in reply. She sat her on her haunches indicating she wasn’t leaving anytime soon. “You know how Scarlet can be…”
“He told me it was for the good of our group! And that…I can’t dance…”
She paused before replying, trying to be tactful. “You could use some practice. We all could!”
His shoulders drooped in response. “Oh…so he was right?”
She stood up and walked over to nudge him. “Well he certainly didn’t go about it in the right way. That’s my brother for you! I wouldn’t mind practicing with you. Then maybe we’ll be ready in time for the competition. That’ll show Scarlet!”
“Yeah…maybe…” Grey took a deep breath then turned to her. “Okay but it’ll just be the two of us…for now.” He added.
Word Count: 926 |
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Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 10:57 pm
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March 2024
The night dragged on as the budding witch poured over his books. Volumes of novels and scraps of scrolls lay scattered at his hooves. He grimaced and groaned as his eyes roamed over the endless pages. His frustration was growing. For some strange reason he was the only one in his family that hadn’t managed to conjure a familiar yet - it was the bane of his existence. How difficult could it really be? His brother had managed to summon his after only six moons. His father, four. And his mother held the fastest at only two moons of study. Brier had been practicing for nearly a full year and still…nothing. He shook his tail, its grip tightened on his wand. Nothing, yet again.
The annual scholarly tests were fast approaching and he had absolutely nothing to show for it. He flipped through one last book. There were some words scrawled in the margins, the ink had started to fade. He peered closer with his crystalline blue eyes. He struggled with the interpretation and muttered to himself, “Phir…Phur Mol- Moldorgh Mern..ax.” The draconic words made no sense to him, he had never seen them in any of his literature. A bit of the script trailed off the page. He skipped to the back of it. Whoever had penned the words had circled one singular word multiple times for emphasis. “Danu…noo.”
Brier pointed his wand at a basket across his quarters and repeated the last word with emphasis. “Danoo!” His wand sputtered and shook, then the bright blue spark ricocheted off of the basket to the wall and out the open window.
“Well that was eventful, so much for my tool, my wand is but a stick…and none of this is quick,” he broke out into a poor attempt at a doggerel.
Brier sighed. It was a preconceived fantasy of his to think he’d be able to summon a familiar so quickly. Maybe if he had spent more time studying than day-dreaming. The young stallion decided to call it a night. Though to call it night wasn’t quite right, what with traces of dawn on the horizon. He pushed aside the parchment and books, just enough so he could lay down. He paused, his gaze lingering on his wand as he held it up to the candlelight. He finally set it down then curled up and dozed off near instantly.
His dreams were filled with hellish things and stress with every twist and turn. Inky black demons materialized and began to chase. Brier ran as fast as he could, his body tossing and turning in the waking plane, but he could not outrun them. He turned and pointed his wand, one demon ruptured into a black stain. Another, and another…but it was useless, when one was vanquished three more replaced it. He woke up with a start, and kicked over some candles that he had stupidly left lit! It didn’t take long before the flames found the paper. The blaze was growing!
Brier grabbed his wand and struggled to push through his sleepy haze, “Aa…Aquinas!”
Only a small burst of water erupted from his wand. Not enough to douse the roaring blaze that had found the last of his scrolls. Smoke was filling his quarters quickly, so thick that he couldn’t recall where the exit was. “Danoo!” He could never be certain why that one little odd word left his mouth, later he would chalk it up to stress.
His wand shuddered in his tail’s grasp while emanating a bright blue glow that grew. The light seemed to push away the smoke and the flames flickered at its boundary. He watched in awe as the light erased the fire, only the charred remnants left behind reminded him that this was not a dream. What just happened? What was that light? What had he done? Had -he- done it? His whirlwind of thoughts were interrupted with the smallest of meows. He hadn’t realized he had an audience.
He blinked and looked down at his hooves, at a feline! She purred and rubbed her translucent form against his fetlocks. Her bright blue fur reminded him of his own family’s familiars - they all were of this nature though the hue could vary. This couldn’t be right, he thought to himself. His family familiars were avian in nature, typically crow but a few like his grandfather were from the halcyon family, kingfishers. “No…no…no no no.” He kept repeating the cutting words as he took a step away from the kneazle. “You can not be my familiar! You can’t! I am Brier Crow! A cat?! I can’t…no I can not have a cat as a familiar!”
Like a true familiar, the kneazle was besotted with him - her purr never wavered even after his scalding words. She took a step to get closer to him. This time he didn’t move. She stared up at him with her bright blue eyes. He sighed, “How do I explain this to my family?” Ironically, summoning his first familiar seemed to contribute more stress than not being able to summon one.
Words: 852 |
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2024 2:39 pm
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“Let’s go home…” Cojini’s voice was soft but her words weren’t a mere suggestion. Aishe huffed, if Cojini truly wanted to go home then there would be no argument. She had full control over their limbs. When Aishe focused she could manipulate her side of the body but it was draining, which is why if her sister wanted to go home then they would. They had been walking all morning through forest clearings and meadows. They were further than they had ever ventured. The landscape had slowly changed from lush green fauna to rocks…lots of rocks and a few scattered plants. It didn’t look like much to her sister, but to Aishe it was perfect. They were finally somewhere new and away from their herd. Her blue eyes took it all in eagerly. She memorized what few details she could make out before her homebody of a sister turned tail and headed back. A jagged rock a few yards ahead sprouted a spiky plant as if it were a mane. Then beyond that she could make out larger rock formations, tall pillars and arches. A small ravine lay to the west, its riverbed wide and dark.
She stretched her head toward the distant pillars as a scarlet lock dropped in front of her eyes. She shook her mane before turning an eye on her long haired sister, “Can’t we at least see those rocks before we go home?”
“Come on. We can’t have gone this far and not seen anything new! Please big sis!” Aishe pleaded.
Cojini sighed. She heavily preferred staying close to home…but she would do just about anything for her sister. She didn’t want to give in too quickly, or that little secret would be out. Cojini scrunched up her face as though she were trying to decide. Out of the corner of her eyes, the same crystalline blue as her twin’s, she could see Aishe silently pleading. “Oh alright!” She groaned. “But only to the pillars, we take a quick look around and then we are headed home. Okay?”
“Yes!” Aishe jumped for joy, pulling Cojini’s side up as well. Cojini chuckled.
“The things I put up with…”
“Because you’re an awesome big sister, that’s why!”
Cojini smiled as her sister yammered on about everything they came across; rocks, plants, lizards, beetles. Instead she focused on their footing on the loose dirt. This region was far more dry than any of the forests they had been in. Their claws scratched the caked earth with each passing step, dredging up dust as they strolled. First item of business when they reached home - a bath.
“Oh! What’s that?!” Aishe exclaimed.
Cojini looked up to see what her sister was on about. Only a few yards ahead stood a strange silhouette amongst a rocky arch. Judging by the size it was another Soquili but it wasn’t shaped like one they had encountered before. “Huh that is strange…”
Before Cojini could stop her sister, Aishe called out, “Hello there!”
The silhouette didn’t move. “Maybe they didn’t hear us?” Aishe muttered. Cojini stopped walking. Aishe tugged on their limbs. “Come on, they’ll hear us better if we’re closer.”
She didn’t fight her adventurous sister, but she did keep their gait slow and cautious. “Alright but let’s be careful.”
—
“Hello there!” Linden stayed frozen even after the second greeting. He glanced down at his rabbit plush. He kept his voice low and barely moved his muzzle, “Shh, Lyle. We don’t know who that is.”
He groaned and forgot to stay still, “Yes, I know we would know them if we met them. But right now they are strangers and we do not talk to strangers.”
The young stallion turned back to see where said stranger was and jumped when he realized how close they were. “Hi!”
He gulped and snatched up Lyle from the ground. “Oh! I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to startle you.” His umber eyes frantically searched for a way out of this situation. “Wait please!” The red haired head said. “We’re new to this area. I’m Aishe and this is my sister, Cojini.”
The sudden urge to flee eased. They weren’t strangers anymore. He put his plush down and cleared his throat. “Erm, I’m Linden and this is Lyle.”
The two sisters exchanged glances. Then the blonde head spoke up, Cojini if he remembered correctly. “Are you from this area?”
He waited a breath before answering. This was the most conversation he had had in a very long time, not since he was a young foal. “No.”
The sisters waited for him to add more but he didn’t. “So where are you from?”
“I…I don’t know.”
The two exchanged glances again. He gulped. Was that not the right answer? He truly could not remember where he and his family were from. The last place he remembered being with his family was a meadow full of sweet smelling flowers but then he had wandered off through the trees and couldn’t find the meadow. He did his best to retell this to the sisters.
“Oh…” Cojini looked at him so sadly.
“And you still haven’t found them? You must miss them so much,” Aishe tilted her head towards him.
“I don’t remember them. It’s just been me and Lyle.” He nudged his bunny plush.
“You don’t remember anything?”
“No. I know I had a mom, a dad and a sibling but I don’t recall their names, their voices or even what they looked like.”
The two headed sisters exchanged another look. Cojini sighed, “We come from forests and meadows. Our herd has traveled far and wide, maybe someone would know of them.”
“I could find my family?” He blinked in disbelief.
“Yeah, will you come back with us?” He nodded and picked up Lyle, tossing him onto his back.
—
The three of them headed back home. Cojini kept a close eye on the stranger, while Aishe chattered away. They never did make it to see the arches but her sister didn’t seem to care. She really had seemed to take a liking to the strange stallion and his odd ways - then again she didn’t have much room to judge considering how odd the two of them were. Just as one adventure came to a close it appeared they were onto their next - to find Linden’s family.
Words: 1055 |
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