[open] i remembered each flash, as time began to blur

[Aranea]

the cage door slammed but the sound was lost in the chaos. the world had pulled apart at the seams and aranea had returned in time to be caught up in it all. ironic, wasn't it? for all the years that she had been gone and yet it was mere days before the upheaval that she had found her way back. mere hours before the earth-shattering shift that she had found her VOICE again. the cage door slammed, her voice was gone, but now she had wings. aranea had never imagined herself a pegasus, nor was she foolish enough to think that it was permanent. another fleeting change, no doubt. she wondered how long this new world order would last before it all trickled back in to a familiar path. the river had been rerouted for now, but the channels were gouged deep in the stone and the water had a memory. she had stood at the bottom of the mountain and she had flown around it, too. it was massive and strange and reeking of magic - aranea sensed that those who stood upon it might find some sense of their former selves. was that where all the magic had gone? there, and to the obscured parts of the world, surely. when she landed she found herself in the forest. here her own silence was not so loud - the life of the forest had a voice all of its own. here she did not feel so trapped, and here she finally allowed herself to rest. it had been a long day. tephra was home, now, and it too was in a state of flux. change was a part of beqanna and aranea loathed, only, that she could not speak up and be a part of it all. she wanted to have a VOICE, she wanted to have a SAY in her future. so she fled here - grumpy and frustrated - and knew full well that she would probably find herself with some company, soon. ARANEA (immortal, mute, infrared vision)from dust, she returned the dream, an enigma... silent

[Ruan]

Ruan

He was familiar with that sound, hooves landing heavily from above, and he turned to it.

It didn't really hurt anymore, the fact that he could no longer fly as well. Could no longer make that solid thump settle across the earth. He no longer had large wings at his side to shelter his children --who were mostly grown now anyway. Instead, a pair of welted scars marked where they had been, before a demon tore them from his body. It had happened here in the forest, actually, and even from here he could pinpoint the bloody scene. But he wouldn't go there today. It always seemed to foul his mood.

He investigated the sound, steady and silent as always from his time among the wolves. And came to find that she was familiar. It took a moment of thinking back and analyzing her scent, before recognition set in. Then he approached.

Aranea.
His voice and expression were far sterner than he'd meant them to be. It reminded him how different he was since he last saw her. So different, and not only with the loss of his wings. He was harder, colder, more distant. No sweet child latched on to his side for protection. His eyes had been a dull, dark blue when he'd first met her, and now they were returned to the bright light of magic, a piercing glacial blue. She'd been so kind to him before, and he wanted to be the man she'd met so long ago.

A boyish grin softened his face and he stepped closer to greet her with a touch.
Aranea.. he amended in a softer voice. Are you well?
She seemed a little agitated maybe, but for now he wouldn't pry.

[Aranea]

she rattled the bars. she beat against them with hooves and wings alike and found no give, no mercy. eventually she had accepted her fate - to be trapped, again, in silence - but she would not give up. as long as aranea lived and breathed she would seek some way to speak to them all, some way to make known her opinions and her beliefs. aranea had never been a lady of many words, but she did not need many. only some. the company was familiar, her relief was palpable. for all that she might have stumbled upon she was glad it was him; he, like eight, did not make her feel uncomfortable when she could not speak. ruan (a name she would not forget) was welcome company, though her ears still flickered with remnants of her agitation. agitation that was, it seemed, quiet obvious. a frustrated snort was the answer to his question, an irritated toss of the head the punctuation. no, she was not well! the cage bars rattled. under her slim frame her hooves burst in to a flurry of life, danced, and were still once more. a softer sound expelled in his direction that held a note of apology. bad timing and all that. he wasn't the source (nor target) of her frustration. but he would understand, wouldn't he? he the wolf who knew so well the language of the body? surely he would know what had ruffled her feathers, both real and proverbial. ARANEA (immortal, mute, infrared vision)from dust, she returned the dream, an enigma... silent

[Ruan]

Ruan

He visibly relaxed at the relief she showed when she recognized him. He may have wicked scars where his wings had been, but he was still himself. Mostly. He hadn't been entirely confident in how he'd be received by her, and it was rewarding to see she still thought well of him. They hadn't got to spend much time together that day they met, so he looked forward to this even if she was so clearly agitated.

His brows pulled together in concern as she snorted, shook her head, danced about. She was edgy, clearly frustrated with something. He could practically hear her shouting in her movements, upset at something she could never truly express to him. It made him wish he had the ability to unlock her mind and voice, but at the same time, he enjoyed that she was who she was. That her slender, dark figure was her voice.

She breathed softly in his direction, a clear apology though he felt it unnecessary. He shook his head, a faint smile in the corner of his mouth. No need, he said back in his own silence. Was it wrong to use words when she couldn't? He wasn't sure, but he assumed she had been born this way, would always be this way, and so she would be accustomed to being talked at. Right? Perhaps, she even enjoyed it at times, a break in the silence.

I would solve this for you, he said honestly. Whatever it was, he would do what he could to fix it and make her happy again. He supposed they barely knew each other, and perhaps it was odd for him to.. care that much. But he meant it. Whatever it was, he'd do it. It seemed he had an involuntary soft-spot for her, which surprised him, but was also brushed aside as soon as he acknowledged it.

Is there something I can do? Can I help?

[Aranea]

she sighed. if only he could. if only it were such a simple fix. he would not know of her days of glory - would he even recognize her? aranea had been fierce and merciless, full of passion and fire and brimstone. she had stood proud and tall and unforgiving - she, once, had been a force to be reckoned with. now? a shell. a shell of her former self locked away in a cage with bars of steel. mopey and edgy and such a special snowflake. even aranea didn't like herself much like this - how could she expect anybody else to tolerate it? at first she shook her head. at first she wallowed in her self pity and screamed in her mind that NO there is nothing you can do! but then she mulled over that question and seemed to reconsider. aranea had energy and zest and she could not stand still. what she wanted to do, what she needed to do, was run. to feel the wind on her face and the thunder course up her legs. so she tossed her head and tensed her muscles and then reached to nip at his shoulder. it was meant to be playful, to spur him in to action, but it was perhaps harder than it should have been. aranea did not pause to consider that, though, but instead burst in to a flurry of motion that would likely seem to come from the blue. come now, let's race. ARANEA (immortal, mute, infrared vision)from dust, she returned the dream, an enigma... silent

[Ruan]

Ruan

She shook her pretty head, the wild torment within her a raging, dark storm in her fire-eyes. They screamed and kicked, even at moments when her body stood still and steady. Bitter, hurt. Trapped. He didn't fully understand that. Hadn't she always been this way? Maybe he'd gotten it wrong, as he often did. It would not surprise him. But, then, couldn't he help in some way? There must be something he could do to put things to right for her.

In spontaneous movement, she tossed her head and clipped his shoulder with a bite. He jerked at the sting, his eyes sharpened. It instantly fueled his adrenaline, and his energy spiked. She never even got a head start, he was there with her as she lurched forward, reaching across to plant his own nip at her hip. His was perhaps not so gentle as well, his was a wolf's heart after all, and his bright, blue eyes gleamed in anticipation of a chase.

He lagged behind, just enough to snap at her rump, pushing her to go faster. She needed to run, then. Needed a release. He could give her that, if thats what she wished. If he could not help in any other way. The wolf could chase a dark hare. No, not a hare. She was stronger, bolder. She may be silent, but she was not prey. A dragon then; watchful and without a roar of warning. Only the sudden sting of a bite.

He grinned, moved off to the side a little as he kept pace with her. With his ice, he gave her a dragon's wings, hovering just above her shoulder like an illusion. A living, breathing illusion of webbed and frosted wings, claws at the wrist, pumping with her movements as though real. Beautiful. She was both fire and ice. He laughed aloud, then looked away from her. With a deep breath and just a touch of sadness in his eyes, he returned his own wings, replacing the gory scars at his sides. As though they were still there, his white wings. Did she remember them, too?

Pain and sadness --and anger, so much anger-- came with those memories. So he shattered his own into sparkling dust, leaving it in their wake as he shifted to bump playfully into her side, out of the way of the dragon wings still lingering in the air above her skin. He would've connected them for her, let her have control of them, but he wouldn't touch her with his magic without consent. Not his, painful and cold as it was to the skin.

He'd never hurt her.

[Aranea]

Ice and fire, fire and ice. Opposites, yet entirely the same. Each carried it's own burn - each could leave disaster in its wake. She was a blend of both - the fire of her father, the ice of her mother. The web had spun and spun and of the spider's egg came a creation both beautiful and dangerous. Once upon a time.. Her breath came fast, his teeth were hot on her hip. The earth echoed beneath her hooves and she very nearly flew across the forest floor. Trees appeared as spindly-armed obstacles and she dodged them easily, neatly, dipping in and out and leaping fallen logs without a second of pause. At first she did not even notice the icy wings. Fiery eyes finally lit upon them but she did not stop or gawk. Instead her pace increased as if she might outrun them, herself spurred on by the notion of competition. Yes, she was hungry. The taste of victory and accomplishment were the sweetest fruit she knew and even as her sides flecked with sweet and her lips frothed she did not slow. He bumped her and she faltered - spent. Then and only then did the ashen mare pull up, heaving, and study the icy vision placed above her with interest. Her own temporary wings were folded and out of use and she remembered, then, that his were gone. Aranea, even as she struggled to regain her breath, even as she stood looking half foolish (nearly black with sweat) looked at the ragged scars. Without thought she extended her nose and blew softly towards the marks before she sought eye contact, a clear question written there and in the arc of her neck - what happened? ARANEA (immortal, mute, infrared vision)from dust, she returned the dream, an enigma... silent

[Ruan]

Ruan

She was stunning and powerful even as her stride faltered and she slowed them to a stop. Blue eyes bright with the chase, he watched her curiously as sweat dampened her coat shades darker. Without even thinking on it, he cooled the air around her to relieve some of the heat, warping the temperature with his magic. Her sharp gaze took in the sight of the frosted wings he’d formed above her and he let them disintegrate to glittering dust, feeling suddenly a bit foolish for it.

She turned to him next, her muzzle extending and releasing a breath gently across his scar on one side. He tensed and jerked his gaze away but held still, his heart heavy and eyes haunted. He didn't want her to know of that day, to see him differently. It had been a time of great shame, as he lay worthless beneath a demon, as his wings were ripped from him one at a time. As he bled out into this very forest, his screams shattering the peace of his favorite place to be.

His eyes closed to shield her from the remenents of that pain, his chin falling lower and dark hair cascading over his face. He stepped closer to her and pressed his shoulder to hers lightly. A solid hold to bind him to the present, not to get lost in that dark moment that had changed him. Not to the days after when he had nearly been feral and attacked his own child. He swallowed, and shook his head, pulling a weak smile to his face as he opened ice-blue eyes to her again. He couldn't hold her stare for long this time, and they fell instead to the sweeping curve of her jaw.

It is done, now. It's nothing, he said quietly. It's in the past, cannot be changed.

The warmth at his shoulder gently soothed him, allowed him to carefully tuck away the terrible nightmares back into the past where they belonged. He was not helpless now, not anymore. It wouldn't happen again. Now he could fight back. With a faint tendril of reluctance, he removed himself from the closeness he'd pressed on her, settling a step away again and studying her with bright, blue eyes.

Will you visit the Taiga again soon? he asked, meaning it as an offer and hoping he'd see her again. I would like that, he added with a shaded smile.

[Aranea]

ice and fire, fire and ice. eyes of blue and eyes of orange - a contrast she appreciated. he moved close and she did not shy away. he sought comfort and she gave it, freely. there was no much that she could give, with the words caged in her throat, but comfort did not require a voice. aranea stood silent at his side and reached to press her velvet nose to the nearest side of his neck. it trailed, lightly, towards their shoulders that touched. a soft touch, a quiet reassurance. though they were barely more than acquaintances she already considered him a friend and she knew well enough that it was not nothing. unchangeable, perhaps, but not meaningless. his question was easy enough to answer as her head bobbed twice in quick succession. yes, she would visit him. but now... a pause and then her head jerked towards home and her fire eyes hoped to convey a certain sadness at having to part ways. he was her friend, but she had other things she must do. moping about was not one of them, and determination sparked as she recognized she could not wait forever for things to change. aranea must change them. so with a light snort and another touch of nose to neck she would turn and part company with her friend, legs picking up in to a trot as she returned to her beloved home. (I hope you dont mind me exiting, she will come visit with her voice ;D) ARANEA (immortal, mute, infrared vision)from dust, she returned the dream, an enigma... silent