"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
Supposedly, in a year, Xiah will be an adult. A fully functional adult, one who should by all means be capable of independence. Just before her second birthday, she might have whined for this tall-tale of independence. But when her parents did not greet her with good-morning kisses and heart felt happy-birthdays on that day; the day she had spoken of animatedly to them ever since her first birthday. Baby Kida came and wished her well, but at that exact moment, the little unicorn knew that exactly the opposite was about to overtake their lives.
Nearly a year has passed since that misfortunate day, and every day more stressful than the next. Supposedly, in a year, Xiah will be an adult. And yet she would fiercely argue to any who said such that she is already an adult. She is, after all, independent to the point of caring for another soul, another body. With Mum and Daddy quite thoroughly gone, Kida’s life flopped into Xiah’s cumbersome care. Just like the first day she met the little cyclops, however, no thought of abandonment enters her mind. Kida is her sister; Kida is her baby now.
Every morning, it is the thought of her sister that rouses her from an ever advancing darkness, and not the one that comes with sleep. This morning is no different. While it may take her a number of minutes to compose a tear-lined face and soften her stormy grey eyes, Xiah always manages to exit her cavern in what may seem to be a good mood, at least to a young soul.
Eyeing the complicated path down the side of the mountain, Xiah snorts contemptuously. Deciding to have a little fun, the two year old lifts herself above the rocky debris and shoots downwards. Legs pumping beneath her, as is instinctual for the girl, Xiah skillfully dodges oncoming obstacles. A light-hearted laugh bubbles from her lungs, and for a moment, that silly girl Errant and Lea knew reappears.
As she lands just outside the entrance to Kida’s cavern, the carefree persona falters, and the Xiah she has become returns. “Kida!” She calls impatiently, striking the cool stone floor with a striped hoof. “Kida get up! Don’t make me come in there and get you,” She forces a playful tone into her high-pitched voice, though it pains her to do so. Yet despite this pain, even the orphan girl manages to find some glimmer of what she used to be.
It’s not so bad…
You won't have any friends, and I'll live in a room With flowers on the walls, and golden doorknobs
Her mother and father have disappeared without a trace, leaving both her and Xiah essentially orphans. It’s been hard on Kida of course - she misses her parents dearly - but she’s well aware that it’s been even harder on her sister. With the absence of any adult to take care of them, Xiah has been forced to take on the parental role in their little family, and despite Xiah being only a year older, Kida thinks she’s doing an admirable job.
Kida, for her part, has tried to make it as easy as possible for her sister. They’ve had their spats of course, as sisters will do, but for the most part their lives have continued on peacefully. Well, perhaps not peacefully - both girls are energetic, curious creatures - but at least pleasantly. And it’s enough for Kida.
Kida is just regaining consciousness when her big sister starts stomping noisily on the cavern floor. She opens her eye to blink sleepily at the girl, her voice becoming a high-pitched whine. “Xiaaaaaah, you’re so loouuuud.” But there’s nothing for it. She’s fully awake now, and she knows that Xiah means what she says. “Ugh I’m cooooming.”
Still grumbling, she drags herself to her feet and drags her feet to the mouth of the cave where Xiah stands, looking, in her opinion, a little smug. Kida glowers at her, though in reality she’s not at all grumpy at Xiah - she loves her sister and would forgive her anything. “Whaddya want?”
The wait-time for her sister’s wakefulness is not a long one. Nearly immediately after Xiah’s terrible attempt at cosplaying an alarm clock, Kida begins whining. Xiah only smiles; it is, after all their troubles, endearing to her. I don’t see how, comes the languid voice of her shoulder-devil. Those squealing noises of her are quite unappealing. Muttering foully beneath her breath at the damned thing, Xiah flicks her tail as though to brush it away.
Moments after this invisible encounter, a grumbling Kida stomps from her cavern. Xiah relaxes her expression, grinning warmly at the frumpy girl. With a little help from her self-telekinesis, the two-year-old hops animatedly towards her younger sister.
“To say good-morning of course!” The filly pulls a mock-chastising face. “And to clean you up a little.” Extending her spiral-horned head, Xiah lovingly – if not a little roughly – flattens Kida’s fuzzy hair-tufts with deft strokes of her tongue. When she’s gotten Kida as presentable as could be wished for – or until the girl defiantly pulls away – Xiah grins and pokes the girl gently with the tip of her horn. “I’ve never known anyone to have such bad bedhead.”
I can’t say you are much of a beauty queen either, the voice mocks.
(Oh, fuck off). And that mouth! Almost as foul as your face my dear.
Teeth grinding, Xiah shakes her head to rid herself of the running commentary on her life. “Anyways. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come on an adventure with me? Or something?” A lethargic smile coats her lips; it’s so very hard to be positive when the world surrounding you feeds off of negativity. “I just thought it would be fun to go see where Mum ruled. That’s the Dale, by the way.” Her smile wavers, silver eyes darkening as though dipped into the cool waters of depression. “You don’t gotta come if you don’t wanna."
Kida rolls her eyes at Xiah’s answer to her question and grumbles as her sister reaches out to flatten the fuzzy tufts that make up her mane. The older filly really can be such a mom some times. “Uuuugh Xiah.” She doesn’t pull away though, she’ll allow her sister this much.
She perks up when her sister suggests they have a little adventure. “The Dale?” Her head cocks the side, thinking. Mum hadn’t told her too much about what it had been like ruling the Dale (Lea hadn’t wanted to tell her youngest daughters too much about their royal lineage and have them end up like Laiken), but she does know that their mother had ruled the Dale for a long time. And she knows that, at some point, Lea had died, and that their father had made a grave for her before he was able to rescue her. In her young mind, it’s just about the pinnacle of romance.
“Yeah! Let’s go!” The last vestiges of sleep leave her and she bounces on the spot, nearly bumping into Xiah. “We could go see the gazebo Dad made for Mum!” Then she pauses, suddenly sad. It’s been such a long time since they last saw their parents. She hopes they come back soon. “I miss them Xiah. I hope they’re ok, wherever they are.”
She shakes her head suddenly. She doesn’t want to upset her sister. They both miss their parents, and Xiah is doing the best that she can. “Anyway, let’s go!”
