the sky has never looked so clear; any

[Warrick]

like the sun swallowed up by the earth

The curiosity in her voice pleases him; did you meet them?

With a gentle smile, the navy and bay stallion shakes his head. “No,” he answers almost solemnly, “one morning I woke and the wings were there.” Warrick pauses, his eyes falling downwards to look at their reflection in the ocean’s waters, as well as the stars and constellations that ripple there. “Everyone calls them faeries, so I do too,” he muses with a certain dream-like voice, brushing the tip of his cobalt nose into the surface of the water, stirring the stars. “But my mother - my family - we believe that the stars are the ones who guide us, who gift us. The stars gave me my wings.”

He stares at the water until it settles, and then glances up at Wound with a gaze that is almost sad. Perhaps the two share more in common than previously realized, and as the stallion listens to her, his heart begins to ache. She is frightened, even now as she retells her childhood, and she shivers beneath his kind stare. “I did not mean to upset you, Wound,” he tells her quietly, carefully, “there are few that have happy stories to tell.” He has stepped closer to her as he spoke, cautious but attempting to be a comfort in the dim-lit ocean.

“The Reckoning took my family - my mother and my sister. They are as far away from me as the stars.” He pauses, his throat tightening. He hadn’t spoke of his past and has not shared the details with anyone besides Tangerine, but his heart felt eager to share it with her. “I have created my own family here, in Tephra. I found my way to this volcanic island not long ago and I, too, was confused on what to do next. I craved purpose and I craved hope and I craved my destiny. Tephra took care of me, and it will take care of you.” I will take care of you. He realizes that would become his oath to all those who live in Tephra, as he takes up the crown and becomes protector and guardian to all who inhabit it.

Warrick smiles at her, an encouraging smile despite the solemnity of their conversation as the moon moves across the sky. He wants to ask her about her leg, not because it feels like it will hinder her, but because he wants to know how he can help ease her anxiousness, but he remains silent about it for now, knowing that in time he may be able to help her without asking. “What would you like to be involved in, Wound?”

Warrick

@[Wound]