there is beauty in the darkness

[Saskya]

When you're blind, you can still see.
My eyes catch the hint of difference between light and dark. My body knows when the sun is up and the sky is full of stars. My nose can tell if a mushroom is poisonous or if there is another creature nearby. My lips can taste the change in the air like an electric hum. My ears are my best tools of all. With them I can catch the subtle variance in the wings of a fly or the wings of a moth. I don't know if it is blindness that makes my senses so sensitive, having nothing to compare them with, or if it simply that I pay more attention to the world around me.

My continued existed depends on my curiosity. I can never let my guard down because the landscape is always changing. Even with the best of ears I can still crash and fall, and nature doesn't care that I wasn't given a complete set of senses.

I am told I am moss green, a soft, earthy tone that blends in with late summer foliage. I do not know, but it doesn't much matter to me. Life isn't about appearances. After all, you'd have an awfully hard time fooling me with looks. My hair hangs in darker green wisps, tending to curls in some places. It would be hard to tell what my lineage is, but my best guess is something stocky and average sized like a mustang. I feel strength in my body, despite the lack of sight that I would need to pull into a full on gallop.

I ache for that sometimes, to feel the wind tearing through my mane and the ground being gobbled up by my hungry hooves. It would be foolish.

I find my way to the field by scent and sound. Spring has brought out a fresh crop of herdless equine looking for somewhere to belong. I'd like to say my reason is different, just to be contrary, but I cannot. I am looking for a home, first and foremost, and I will be more than pleased if I can find someone worth talking to. A friend, perhaps, or something more.

Damaged horses aren't immune to longings, although I have met many who thought so. As if my blindness makes me lesser, not fully sentient.

I sigh, for the sake of making noise and lift my nose to scent the wind. I move carefully, occasionally dropping my head to grab a bite or cocking an ear to figure out how close I might be to a rustling tree. It's embarrassing, really, how many trees I've hit in my life. It really shouldn't happen considering I have six summers under me, and nearly as many children, but I get distracted following a smell or a sound that intrigues me.

Maybe I will find a home I can learn well enough that I will be able to run within its borders. I grin a little at that, imagining the sight I would make when I inevitably tumbled head over heels. I might as well have wings as gallop.

Shapes of black and white and in between pass over my vision, but none approach me yet, and so I wait contentedly, enjoying the warm breezes after a difficult winter.

SASKYA
there is beauty in the darkness

No Valley, Amazon or Chamber. :p Need new places for my pony.

[Chezter]

I wander in the field, again. Once again looking for new horses for the Falls. She seems like she is nice. I think to myself. "Hullo, I am Chezter, resident of the falls. They are a magnificent place! There's a healing pool. Then the council. You are more than welcome to come discover it for yourself." I say, trying to peak her interest. I don't know if it has worked, but we shall see.

[Nadyah]

I go to the field to try my luck at getting a new member for the Gates. Too bad I've got all these burns and scars. I don't even know if my tail will grow back in! There's two horses over there. I walk twords them, beginning to listen. Healing pool? I should tell Mast about this. New members? This was exactly my mission. "Hi there! My name is Nadyah. I wish it were at a better time, but I am from the gates. Normally they are beautiful. Just like Heaven on Earth. There's the mother tree, who's fruits make you tell the truth. Then there's just the over all beauty. Please, come visit the gates, both of you." I say, trying to gain the green one and learn more about this Chezter.

[Piety]

It’s been such a long time since she has made this trip from the Falls to the Field. It sometimes doesn’t feel real, that she’s truly awake again. Sometimes she thinks she’s still slumbering peacefully in the cave of the waterfall. But the song of the kingdom is loud in her smooth curved ears and it’s singing to her as it has always done when she was awake and alive. The Kingdom needs her. Which is why she is here. Her two-toned eyes see the small group and she approaches with a gentle smile. Chezter who she recognizes from his brief appearance in the kingdom meeting is there. While he is already offering her a home, she figures it won’t hurt for her to join the meeting. He is quite quick to jump on offering the homeless mare somewhere to go but she has more skill with words and besides… She wants to get an idea of what this stranger might have to offer for their small Kingdom. They need good sturdy citizens to call the Falls home, ones that are willing to serve it dutifully to restore it to it’s former glory. ”Hello, I’m Piety. Also from the Falls.” Taking in the mare’s appearance, it seems there may be something wrong with her eyes. It doesn’t throw off the bay and white mare from learning more about her. Blindness was merely an obstacle and spoke nothing of someone’s inner character. ”Perhaps you can tell me more about yourself. I would love to see if you may be a good fit for our kingdom.” P I E T Y ----------Prague x Texas

[Saskya]

And so they come. I take in their scents, my ears flicking forward to hear their approach. A male first, smelling of a damp earthiness. He is brash and impetuous. Healing waters is not something I've heard of, but I can't imagine what use they would be to me. I do have the odd bruise now and then from my lack of attention, but those seem a trivial reason.

A mare appears then, before I can respond to his immediate offer. This one smells overwhelmingly of flowers. I wrinkle my nose. Daisies and wild roses. Beautiful to look at, I've heard, but they drown out the smell of almost everything else and leave me scent blind as well as eye blind. I am not a fan of flowers. Her words tumble out ahead of her, and I start to wonder if perhaps everyone has been practicing a pre approved speech.

"You don't even know me. I could be plotting to infiltrate the first kingdom who invites me in and destroy them." I deadpan. A moment passes before I add dryly, "Wouldn't you like my name first?"

Another approaches, interrupting what is sure to be a delightful chat. I prick my ears forward. Curious. She smells of the similar earthiness that the male does. She introduces herself as Piety, and I dip my head politely.

"That's a change. I thought for sure you were going to ask me to sleep with you, the way my day is going." I grin at her wryly. "I'm Saskya. I'm blind and I'm afraid to say this, but I have very few ambitions at the moment beyond my immediate safety. But I will be loyal to whatever home I choose."

Some horses have the luxury of adventure and travel, but I have to be more careful. A lone blind mare is easy prey. For predators of both equine and other natures.

SASKYA
there is beauty in the darkness