08-11-2020, 09:53 AM
Beryl does not need anybody to tell her that she has failed. Her only instruction, of course, had been to return @[lilliana] to Nerine and to that point, she has done exactly as requested, but things are never as simple as that. The world is not black and white. She remembers being in the painted mare's dream world and the blank white nothing that she had been deposited within to do with what she could. She could do nothing until the shadows came, pouring out of her mouth, turning her inside out. They had mixed with the purity of that blankness, with the starlight that sparked off her shoulder, had stained the void with darkness and color, and built an entire world.
What else she had done in that world was not relevant. What is relevant is what she is doing in this one, and in this one, she has left a child lost. The tawny mare knows exactly how that destroys a family, how it can tarnish a childhood. It's impossible not to remember her own loss in a similar manner (she had been young and unaware of her powers, the shadows had been eager to accept her among them,) and it adds an extra barb of ice to the usual fear and guilt that pierce her breast.
Of course she has failed, she does not need Neverwhere's scowl to tell her that, and Lilliana's acceptance is too easy, too simple. It makes her brow crease, her eyes narrow in concern, flicking from the red mare to the dappled one, but Beryl's forte is in hiding among shadows, not handling the emotions of others, she can barely control her own. Instead, she returns Neverwhere's stern frown and touches her muzzle softly to Lilliana's red poll, an apology, a farewell.
"I'll go. We," she means the shadows, there are so many in the deep sea, "can watch the water," and then she is gone in a sudden rush of cool shadows.
Neverwhere is silent as Beryl fades away in a cloud of darkness and there is something in that power that feels familiar, something long ago - in experiences if not in actual years - and she cannot quite place it. A memory of shadows and lions and golden horses. She snorts softly - it cannot be important. Certainly not more important than the topic at hand.
"Ischia? I hadn't thought to ask. I don't think his protection stretches as far as that, but he spends quite a lot of time there, so he may have friends willing to help. It might be best to find out what he needs from him."
Saying it is admitting that she has not done exactly that already, and she knows that she is doing a poor job of leading Nerine but it does not weigh as heavily on her as perhaps it should. Pale eyes run over Lilliana's thin frame, her mane unkempt, her coat dull and scarred, and she sighs.
"That is not a trip for you to make right now." There is a warning in her voice - she knows full well that her crimson friend would try. "We can find someone else if it is needed."
If it is needed. Brazen and Fiorina could watch the borders, but it will not be enough to be defensive. Defensive will leave Brennen in the ocean forever.
"I think we need to figure out how to end this, Lilli," Neverwhere shakes her head emphatically, "Wolfbane needs to be stopped, and it's more complicated than just killing him or Lepis would have let Castile burn him years ago."
What else she had done in that world was not relevant. What is relevant is what she is doing in this one, and in this one, she has left a child lost. The tawny mare knows exactly how that destroys a family, how it can tarnish a childhood. It's impossible not to remember her own loss in a similar manner (she had been young and unaware of her powers, the shadows had been eager to accept her among them,) and it adds an extra barb of ice to the usual fear and guilt that pierce her breast.
Of course she has failed, she does not need Neverwhere's scowl to tell her that, and Lilliana's acceptance is too easy, too simple. It makes her brow crease, her eyes narrow in concern, flicking from the red mare to the dappled one, but Beryl's forte is in hiding among shadows, not handling the emotions of others, she can barely control her own. Instead, she returns Neverwhere's stern frown and touches her muzzle softly to Lilliana's red poll, an apology, a farewell.
"I'll go. We," she means the shadows, there are so many in the deep sea, "can watch the water," and then she is gone in a sudden rush of cool shadows.
Neverwhere is silent as Beryl fades away in a cloud of darkness and there is something in that power that feels familiar, something long ago - in experiences if not in actual years - and she cannot quite place it. A memory of shadows and lions and golden horses. She snorts softly - it cannot be important. Certainly not more important than the topic at hand.
"Ischia? I hadn't thought to ask. I don't think his protection stretches as far as that, but he spends quite a lot of time there, so he may have friends willing to help. It might be best to find out what he needs from him."
Saying it is admitting that she has not done exactly that already, and she knows that she is doing a poor job of leading Nerine but it does not weigh as heavily on her as perhaps it should. Pale eyes run over Lilliana's thin frame, her mane unkempt, her coat dull and scarred, and she sighs.
"That is not a trip for you to make right now." There is a warning in her voice - she knows full well that her crimson friend would try. "We can find someone else if it is needed."
If it is needed. Brazen and Fiorina could watch the borders, but it will not be enough to be defensive. Defensive will leave Brennen in the ocean forever.
"I think we need to figure out how to end this, Lilli," Neverwhere shakes her head emphatically, "Wolfbane needs to be stopped, and it's more complicated than just killing him or Lepis would have let Castile burn him years ago."
