The nightmares had been the worst, she realizes. In Tephra it seemed to have fed off of her insecurities and loneliness, reminding her of how exactly she had come into such terrible solitude. Nothing of her own true doing, but the nightmares made it impossible to see anything else - she was too weak, too frail, no one wanted to tend to such a burden. So they all had left her, even Rilian, to fend for herself.
Some nights, she had prayed that she wouldn’t wake.
Immediately upon realizing another is near, Olena turns her thin and slender face away, hiding her tear-stained cheeks from him. Her blue-tipped ears flick back slightly in embarrassment, curving her golden neck to gently rub the side of her face against the deep onyx of the inside of her foreleg. When she lifts her head and turns back towards the stranger (of course it is a stranger, not one of her long-lost loves returned) - the leopard spots framing her gentle eyes making her appear sharper than she truly is - there is a soft, sad smile on her dark mouth. “I’m not hurt,” she replies to him, reassuring him that there is no physical ailment that causes the once steady trickle of tears to fall down her face and into the river below. Her voice wavers, however, and she knows she does not believe what she says.
Her brow furrows slightly in thought, remembering a time when all she could remember was hurting, aching and dying, and how when she had grown older the sickness seemed to magically alleviate. Only Rilian had been with her at the time and only he knew of her miraculous recovery, but soon after he had disappeared and she could not find him - nor Solace, nor Kagerus, nor Oberyn. Her throat tightens and it is clear that new tears threaten to spill over, but she squashes the feeling with a deep and shuddering inhale.
And then, her name is spoken for the first time in years and if it had been possible, all of the colors would have drained from her face. She felt weak as if she was once again a victim of her childhood illness, but her cerulean gaze sparkles with joy despite how her heart hammers in her slender chest. She soaks in his voice, his familiar form, and feels as if she could crumble from sheer surprise - someone still remained, Nashua is still here, alive and well. She nearly begins to cry again, all of her fear and doubt threatening to show itself physically in the form of delicate, crystal tears.
Olena doesn’t say anything, she can’t, and is thankful that he continues to move closer to her - the winged mare isn’t sure her legs would listen to her. Frozen, realizing she wants nothing more than to melt into the familiarity of his feathers, even though it had been years since the two had seen each other. If Nashua was here, perhaps her family is too - maybe even Rilian - and that would mean she isn’t lost at all. She smiles wearily, feeling all of the weight of the past few years as it resettles onto her back.
Symba speaks of the darkness and Olena’s face sharpens. The darkness is what had started her journey into solitude and though the reminder of it does not perturb her (she has been faced with that darkness for ages, even after the sun had returned), it seems as though the other stallion has found himself displaced because of it as well. Olena’s heart aches for him as much as it aches for herself and her lost family.
“I can’t stay in Tephra anymore,” she suddenly says, a frown on her thin face. “I can’t stand the loneliness.” I’m afraid I’ll die of it, she adds to herself silently. Her words, soft and meek, are directed at both the stranger and Nashua, explaining her being at the River as well as why she had been crying only moments before.
OLENA
all the stars go dark
@Symba
@Nashua