|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:17 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:22 pm
 |
|
|
|
'I dare you.' A bold thought entered Leesa's mind and it was a challenging statement that had been repeated many times in the unicorn's mind prior to this moment. Hazel eyes, steady and unwavering looked upon an outline set a short ways away, bordering the view of a river sculpting twists and turns in the valley beyond. There was no way of knowing what lay beneath the edge of the rock face, there could be countless spires reaching skywards in anticipation of her reckless undertakings and yet, not one bead of sweat decorated the fine hair of her strikingly stormy, cadet coloured coat.
In the darkest days of her life, Leesa had wallowed in the what if's, questioning her thoughts, her actions, the words she had spoken and the words she would speak to those she would encounter. Her whole world was occupied with an unattainable script of how she could change herself in order to remove the possibility of making the same mistakes she had made in the days of her youth. Having been alone most of her life since then, travelling day by day, barely conversing with another life-form pass the small talk and how they came to be in their chance meeting;not once had a bond or connection formed between them that had felt... Real.
Because of this, the mare realised that no matter how hard she tried to control the situation, she would never ever be able to change what was written and all she was achieving was betraying who she really was and when she finally arrived at that conclusion... It pained her more than the thought of being alone forevermore. From that moment on, her entire focus trained on resisting her startlingly overwhelming hyper-awareness of self and she began channelling her physical and mental energy towards confronting the obstacles that came before her as she swept across the land, moving as far away from the past as she possibly could, and saw these momentary set-backs as tasks that the spirits had set her in order for her to progress forward on her journey. So, instead of questioning them, she would just do and believe that whatever fate was awaiting her was meant to be.
On that note of affirmation, Leesa kicked her hind hooves in to green earth, separating roots and soil as it broke up in to fragments in the wind behind her. Wild locks of tangled mane waved back and forth in distress as her heart rate began to climb and continued climbing until she could hear the pounding in her ears. Time slowed, her breath taking presidency followed by the dulled drum roll of her hooves as they neared the last stretch of solid ground and then as her back legs bent and sprang forth away from the tufts of grass that laced the edge of her runway - there she found her release, a peaceful and seemingly endless silence; a pocket of space that cleansed her body and freed her spirit of the confines of her conscious.
Is this what the gift of flight feels like? She mused softly, closing her eyes and embracing the feel of the air resisting against her descent in to the unknown. A ticklish sensation tingled her senses, as if she was being stroked from nose to tail tip, over and over again. A soft smile crept upon her maw in the same instant that her horn tip pierced the surface of the water, creating a crater of sun sparkling waves flowing up, down and around her - and finally, consuming what was left of her fleeting form.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:49 pm
|
|
|
 |
The stallion was still adjusting to his new life at the head of an actual herd. He'd spent so much of his formative years leading his brothers, keeping them safe until they could make a home. Perhaps in the back of his mind he assumed when they got wherever they were going he could step back from his role and take a back seat for once. Instead he found himself the right-hoof stallion at the head of the surviving members of their old herd. From the moment he woke to the moment he slept his thoughts were always buzzing with organizational details and status reports from the herd as a whole. There was so much to do, particularly with the recent kalona presence along their borders and the attempt on Abigail's life. Abigail herself was begining to concern Vira with her increasingly manic mental state.
But today he pushed all of that away. He needed a break. He needed time to think things through and refresh his mind, though how he would go about that he had no idea. So he began simply by walking. He traversed the complicated labarynth of trails that squeezed through the mountains that served as the entrance to their herdlands and came out the other side blinking against the sun. Their herdlands got a fair bit of shadow due to the mountains and stepping out of them was always like stepping into a new world.
He continued to follow the river, trying to empty his mind of everything. He meandered absently, though couldn't keep from being aware of every sound and smell in the air. A lifetime of fleeing for safety made for strong senses and a persisitent need to be aware of everything. He tried taking a few deep breaths as he wandered along the shore, but nearly choked on one of them when he caught sight of her.
The river had a lazy course and because of one particularly curling turn it created a rather large, calm pool at the base of a tall outcropping of rock. Vira was on the shore of the river a ways off, approaching in just the right direction to be treated to the view of a colorful shadow leaping out into the sun, haloed against the light behind her. She dove into the water below causing the water to burst out in rainbowed explosions of water droplets.
The stallion stood dead-still, dazed and breathless as he watched for her to surface.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:47 pm
|
|
|
|
One would believe that the contemplation of doing something grand and the flutter of butterfly wings twitching every nerve end leading up to the act would be the hardest part of anything that forced an individual to go against their basic survival instincts that screamed and clawed at them Don't do it! but as Leesa was finding out, that was not at all the case.
An unpleasant burning sensation spread rapidly across the walls of her nostrils as they flared, throwing caution to the unfamiliar faster than Leesa could compose herself. Gushes of water rushed inside from the force of entry and in succession, a shriek of protest gurgled in the water. Her eyes sprang open in alarm while her legs thrashed in subconscious protest - heeding the need to escape - however, once the panic had settled and the sting of the immediate impact pinching at her cheeks, shoulders and flank melted away, the blur of abyss cupping her vision crumbled in response and began unravelling a gradient of colours and shapes expertly painting an abstract of surrounding life.
It was undeniably beautiful, creating an image of pure serenity and coaxing Leesa to stay so that she would never forget this feeling of awe;completely unaware what was waiting for her on the shoreline.
Unable to breathe and releasing a series of strained jerks, she knew she had to move fast and that her memory of this experience was going to have to remain a memory as she had more to see and experience and she refused to let this be the last. She had come so far and was learning so much with her new and improved outlook. she gently kicked her hind legs downcast in to the water and twirled, paddling her way to the surface.
She broke the barrier with a gasp of desperation, throwing her head back, she felt the tug of her mane as it retracted from her facial features and looped in to the air and back to the curvature of her neck. At first she did not notice the presence of another, too busy panting and gulping back lost oxygen in an attempt to remove the foggy haze that was impairing both her visual and mental capabilities, causing her head and the world around her to spin.
'What is... that? In an effort to distract herself, she found the abnormality of colour unnaturally bright that her eyes strained and she had to squint when chasing the image as it swayed back on forth and eventually merged back in to one entity;returning to a natural state of order. It took her sometime to process what it was she was actually seeing, as this heavenly creature that was hard to look at it was so pure in coloration just looked like an animated cloud hovering by the water. The only way she could reason with such an absurd idea was that it had to be no more than a figment of her imagination... Right? Surely, this novel bound character had to have been an angel? This piece of genius engineering got her thinking. Had she not made it? Had she hit the rocks and sank to the bottom of the lake or had she not been able to make the surface before.... No, it couldn't be. Her bottom jaw slackened at the possibility and she wished with all her might that she was absolutely being ridiculous to even consider that was the case because denying her this opportunity would have been a far worse punishment than all that came before.
Question after question rolled through her mind. The one thing she was certain of was that she could not take her eyes off of this mythical being and the beauty of what she had seen beneath the water only seconds ago held no comparison to the masterpiece being exhibited to her now... 'Is he.? HE IS! He's looking at me! Quick, act natural.' Her eyelids lifted a touch as she realised she was lost in the essence that someone like this stallion could even be in the realm of fantasy, let alone exist in the flesh. Her lips spread in to a wide, tooth filled grin that took over her sense of surprise and filled her eyes with utter joy. She waded through the water and gradually emerged, one heap of soaking wet fetlock at a time, unconcerned whatsoever by her dishevelled appearance.
"Heyy!" She greeted the other energetically, tilting her head to one side and peering at him from the break in a couple of loose fore-strands of honey-stroked mane.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:09 pm
|
|
|
|
He started forward in earnest, seeing the mare struggling in the water. He was about knee-deep before the mare burst forth from the waves, gasping as the water flew around her, twinkling in the light. The stallion paused uncertainly as his hooves sank into the loose riverbed. Before he could so much as compose himself or think of what to say the beautiful mare approached him with an open smile and not a care in the world.
He was too struck by her to even move. He wondered if the mare was even real. She had fallen from the sky, nearly drowned, and here she stood with matted hair streaming down her neck and face, sopping wet and smiling. He'd never seen anything so beautiful. There was something wild about her, untamable. Yet she was also open and friendly - he felt immediately drawn to her.
After a time he came back to homself, realising he hadn't answered the lady's greeting. Was he staring? He blinked and glanced about in an attempt to look casual. He was a calm, collected stallion that had a cool head in just about any situation. Yet in the presence of a pretty mare he was reduced to an awkward foal.
"Are you ok," he blurted, taking a step closer to her. "That was an impressive stunt you pulled there." He offered her a shy smile.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
