The laughter of her sons echo through the shadowy haze of the Redwood forest and as the boys weave underneath and around the large ferns of Taiga, run rampant through its shadowed trails, Lilliana keeps an attentive eye on them. She always does. And the chestnut mare tries to assure herself that here - that especially in Taiga - her boys are safe.
Taiga, in every sense of the word, is home for them.
She tells herself that they have only been so long in returning to it because she had wanted to give her sons time to build their strength and then Fiorina had offered to teach Ruthless to fight. There had been foals in Nerine for her boys to play with - for them to test their limbs and their strength and their stamina - and that was why she had been so long in Nerine. There had been the need to discuss the terms of Ghaul's release and the return of Brine.
Not because she was avoiding Taiga.
Not because there was something to be afraid of here.
Not because she had, perhaps, ruined the only home she had ever truly known with her secrets.
The sunlight glimmers through the thick canopy above her head and Lilliana turns a corner, standing beneath the base of a proud Redwood that she had often rested under during her first days in Taiga. Before the coastline had called her west and before she finally succumbed to the pull of Nerine. It's been years since she has stood in this spot and her blue eyes sweep from the base of the Redwood to the full height of its branches.
How long has it been since she has stood here?
She can recall exactly everything that has changed since she last had.
Lilliana doesn’t mean to glance so abruptly over her shoulder. She doesn’t mean to move so quickly. She doesn’t mean to be so reactive. But it's hard when her boys are only yards away and there is so much she can’t see. When there is so much she still doesn’t know.
The relief in her expression is almost palpable when gazes upon Lethia. If Aten was the Guardian of their Forest then his mate, @[Izora Lethia], was the Mother of it. "Lethy,” the chestnut mare exhales. "It's been too long.” There is something in her blue-eyed gaze that says how sorry she is for that, too. "How is.. everything?" The chestnut smiles, trying to incorporate everything that has happened in Taiga recently. How Lethia was. How Aten had been with his recent return to power. What changes there might have been in the Redwoods since she had last been here - home, she reminds herself.
Taiga, in every sense of the word, is home for them.
She tells herself that they have only been so long in returning to it because she had wanted to give her sons time to build their strength and then Fiorina had offered to teach Ruthless to fight. There had been foals in Nerine for her boys to play with - for them to test their limbs and their strength and their stamina - and that was why she had been so long in Nerine. There had been the need to discuss the terms of Ghaul's release and the return of Brine.
Not because she was avoiding Taiga.
Not because there was something to be afraid of here.
Not because she had, perhaps, ruined the only home she had ever truly known with her secrets.
The sunlight glimmers through the thick canopy above her head and Lilliana turns a corner, standing beneath the base of a proud Redwood that she had often rested under during her first days in Taiga. Before the coastline had called her west and before she finally succumbed to the pull of Nerine. It's been years since she has stood in this spot and her blue eyes sweep from the base of the Redwood to the full height of its branches.
How long has it been since she has stood here?
She can recall exactly everything that has changed since she last had.
Lilliana doesn’t mean to glance so abruptly over her shoulder. She doesn’t mean to move so quickly. She doesn’t mean to be so reactive. But it's hard when her boys are only yards away and there is so much she can’t see. When there is so much she still doesn’t know.
The relief in her expression is almost palpable when gazes upon Lethia. If Aten was the Guardian of their Forest then his mate, @[Izora Lethia], was the Mother of it. "Lethy,” the chestnut mare exhales. "It's been too long.” There is something in her blue-eyed gaze that says how sorry she is for that, too. "How is.. everything?" The chestnut smiles, trying to incorporate everything that has happened in Taiga recently. How Lethia was. How Aten had been with his recent return to power. What changes there might have been in the Redwoods since she had last been here - home, she reminds herself.
LILLIANA
all that i'm after is a life full of laughter
(as long as i'm laughing with you)
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind