"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Woohoo! Kellyn is back! Zilpah’s smile grows wider (if that’s even possible) when Kellyn says she’s going to give the Deserts another go. And then an idea pops into her head. “I’ve only been to the Jungle once. Maybe we can come visit sometime soon, yeah? I am feeling the need for a Great Adventure.” You see, unlike Kellyn, Zilpah hasn’t hear the call for any quest, and she hasn’t gone roaming about the cosmos, and she doesn’t know how to manipulate time. She has stayed in the very Kingdom her mother ruled her whole life, and there is something beginning to itch inside her.
The birds know what it’s like to see everything. They don’t always make sense when they talk, but Zilpah gets the sense that wherever they go to and from is very far away. They see a land outside Beqanna. A land she’s always known existed (Ima came from some other Desert), but never explored.
With a spring in her step, Zilpah heads towards the Desert again with her friend in tow
When they start to get to the part where dirt turns into sand and the greenery starts to become more sparse and tough, Zilpah says, “So we have a big oak tree at the oasis now, in remembrance of Van. But other than that, it hasn’t changed much. “
I wish I could feel it all for you, I wish I could do it all for you
Yes, perhaps a Jungle visit. Kellyn has a wandering heart, occasionally, and it’s clear Zilpah can be persuaded to go adventuring also. So she flicks a half-smile back at Malka, and then follows her friend. For once she travels normally, not messing with time, and she enjoys the walk beside her cheerful friend. Distance falls away beneath their feet, and slowly dirt and green turns to sand and gold.
The feel of the hot Deserts air is familiar in her throat, warm against her skin. The sand shifts underfoot and she sighs, familiarity a comfort. Zilpah speaks again, and Kellyn turns to her friend, ears flicking to catch the words. “A tree?” she responds, amused, trying to imagine a big tree growing in the Desert’s small oasis. She finds she can’t quite imagine it – and when she closes her eyes, it’s the horror of the underworld she still sees – so she bounces to the tip of her hooves and back, edgy with the need to keep running from what she saw. “I think I remember the way to the oasis,” she laughs. “Let’s race!”
She is light of foot, light of body, and runs atop the sand dunes, mane and tail streaming. It doesn’t take long, and she does remember the way. When she finds the tree she is pleasantly surprised that it is, in fact, very large. Blinking up at it, she takes a drink from the water of the oasis and then settles beneath the spreading branches of the oak, looking once more at Zilpah. “I’ve changed some, too.” she says, and her voice is quiet and serious. She doesn’t know how much she wants to say – but she wants to tell someone; and since she didn’t go home to her family, to her father and her grandfather, Zilpah is all she has.
Kellyn
the girl who walks in time and talks to ghosts
daughter of cagney and elite
Zilpah laughs and then takes a running start in order to leap into the sky, pumping her cream and russet wings in order to clear the dune ahead. She keeps pace with Kellyn as her pink friend runs underneath her, until they reach the oasis and the Vanquish tree. She wheels around the grand, leafy boughs and comes to rest on the ground, facing Kellyn. It is hot, and she is sweating, but Zilpah is smiling, as per usual. She dips her black nose into the cool water and drinks deeply.
Without the oasis, they could not survive here. It was the heart of the Kingdom, and in fact Zilpah is surprised that there is no one else there. The kingdom has grown, but she finds that moments like these, when the land is quiet, remind her of her childhood. That was a wonderful time.
Zilpah is about to start chattering away again, but Kellyn beats her to it. Her dainty head tilts a little to the left, scrutinizing the other mare. “Really? What’s changed? Is it a good thing? I can’t see anything different…. oh! Are you going to have a baby?!” Her eyes light up and her big, Akhal ears swivel forward, because she knows what it’s like to be a ‘mother,’ and she would love to be an Auntie! Babies are just so darn cute and fluffy!
