[private] this is a kindness you can't afford; Demi

[Ruhr]

He takes a few steps forward, the sensation of clouds underfoot familiar and calming. Turning his head, he watches Demi alight on the clouds. The left corner of his mouth tilts up in amusement at the precautious flapping of her wings, though he smooths it away long before it is apparent. Ruhr does not wish her to think he’s laughing. The movement sends the clouds rolling away from her, like waves emanating out from her pale shape, and this time when he smiles it is with appropriate and genuine appreciation.

It is difficult for him to read the expression on the beaked hippogriff face, but the pegasus approaches without hesitation once she is settled, moving forward with the barest of limps on the cloudfloor until they’re near enough to speak.

Well, until he is near enough anyway. How far away can she speak from, he wonders. Could her ability be as limitless as the Moon’s?

The voice with which she speaks has the same bright enthusiasm he recognizes, though he cannot help but glance once more at the hippogriff’s wickedly hooked beak and the stern expression that it - she - seems to wear.

It is with no small relief that he nods affirmation to her question.

“Yes,” he replies aloud, “The clouds are as substantial as the earth. You can get through them if you want, if you work at it, but never by accident or by misstep.”

@Demi

[Demi]

Demi

Curiosity peaks in the fore front of my mind as I consider his reply.  Clouds as substantial as the ground, could it really be such a thing.  I have never known clouds to be any more than puffs of vapor, penetrable and without form.

My avian head tips, allowing my view to land at my taloned claws.  With no more than a deep breath I shed the cape of feathers, and with it my wings, leaving only a set of hooves in my view.  Standing upon the clouds is no more than a spotted horse.

I shift my weight, testing the tangibility of the surface.  It appears solid, as was told to me, and a smile finds my face as I look up to the sunset-colored stallion.  Finding my voice having returned I ask aloud, "How long has it been since you were here last?"  Having been in avian form for many many years I am a bit shocked I had never stumbled upon the land on my own, but perhaps it is a place that can only be found by those who already know where it is.

With a step forward I find it with ease to walk on.  There is a slight softness to surface, and though at first it heightens my anxiety of falling through, I soon find with another step it is similar to the give of walking on the sandy dunes of the coastline.  I smile as I think of sandy beaches and watching the white puffs of clouds floating overhead.  The clouds which I now stand upon.

"Where is your favorite place in all of Stratos?!"  I say with nostalgic excitement.  Surely he has a favorite spot, doesn't everyone?

Legends & Myths

@ Ruhr

[Ruhr]

She speaks aloud this time, her presence no longer sounding within his mind. Ruhr blinks, momentarily startled by the adjustment, at how very mortal Demi sounded as she spoke to him from an equine mouth. Somehow, he’d expected her to sound like the Moon.

He was letting his imagination cary him away, Ruhr knew, and focuses instead on the question she’d asked him. How long had it been since he was here? The stallion frowns, his feathered brow furrowing.

“Maybe a year?” He says, “I visited, but didn’t stay long. I’ve not really lived here since I came to Beqanna. My home was in a part of Stratos that didn’t come to this world, and since the Moon does not speak to me in the sky, I do not often return.”

Ruhr turns his eyes toward the crescent in the sky as he speaks of Her, ever aware of the location of the Moon. When he turns back, Demi is cautiously exploring the cloudy surface, and Ruhr smiles at the enthusiasm in her voice as she looks back at him to ask where his favorite place is.

Despite the casual way with which he’d just spoken of part of Stratos not coming to this world, there is a flicker of sadness in his eyes at the second question. His favorite place is gone, that look says, and he still mourns it.

“What about my faovrite time, instead?” He asks, rather than lie or dwell too long on what he has lost. “There are not many things as beautiful as seeing sunset from the sky.”

@Demi

[Demi]

Demi

When he says his home did not come with the version of Stratos they now occupy, I can feel the emotional burden that weighed upon him.  My home too had not returned with the rest of Beqanna.  The sky was the only home I could claim now.

My distraction is brief as I take another step, lowering my muzzle to the cotton white substance I stand upon.  An ear flicks towards him, showing I am listening as he speaks even though it may look as though I am not.  I was about to ask of the Moon that he now looked to, but I hold back seeing the inner conflict painted on his face.

Only a comforting smile finds my lips as I move closer to the sunset-colored stallion, reaching my soft muzzle to nudge his shoulder in a gesture meant to console.  

Looking to him a gentle nod is given as an agreement of his statement.  There was nothing quite like watching the skies colors shift while seated within it.  And I am eager to know how things differ here then on the mainland.

My bi-colored eyes gaze out across the vast expanse of cloud and sky.  I wait for his lead before following on either hoof or wing.

Legends & Myths

Appearance: Equine form

@ Ruhr