And at once I knew, I was not magnificent [Any/All]

[Ledger]

The silent mare is silent no more and he looks at her almost in wonder. The way she talks is lyrical and in all his travels he has never heard anyone speak the way she has. So blinded by the snow that for the first time he can see his new companion clearly, covered in scars. Everywhere. Velvet lips brush gently against the scars on her shoulder, his breath hot on the raw skin. It’s an action he does unthinkingly, wanting to bring something soft… Something kind… To those ugly blistering wounds. ”Ledger. The stranger is Ledger. The Gates are safe. Safe.” Her words wrap an invisible blanket around him, his heart swelling in his chest. Suddenly wrought with internal emotions. Safe. The one thing that had long evaded him. His gold flecked eyes blaze with sudden intensity. When he had finally found the one person who ever truly cared for him, the one who could have protected him so long ago if he only knew of his existence, one of the first things he had said was.. You’re safe. His eyelids flutter quickly and he is the solemn stallion once more. Everything pushed back down in the lock box. Not today. It wouldn’t slam open today. The scarred female continues to speak, introducing herself and the filly. Her bones are protruding through her flesh, how did he not notice it before? Then again, he was quite thin himself thanks to the exertion of long time travel. In fact he looked much the same as he did the first time he had ever shown up here. Thin, dirty, and looking entirely worn out. Not much had changed. Not at all. The youngster has seemed to determine him non threatening enough, he can’t blame her nor is he offended, and asks him a simple question. Simple for her. Anxiety ridden for him. However he offers his gentle smile and looks around quietly for a moment, remembering and enjoying the strange quiet noise of snow fall. ”Well.. That tree wasn’t here.” For he has noticed the “mother tree” that had absolutely not been here when he had first come home. ”And there was a war on the horizon…” His voice has taken on a dreamy tone for now he is starting to recall things he had long forgotten. It had seemed so important back then, not at all now. ”My father had ruled here once with his true love. I wasn’t here then… But he had been a warrior and they had been quite respected.” He pauses, considering Tioga for a moment. ”I came here later on after my father died because I knew how much this place meant to him and what it had given him. The Gates has always been kind to me.” He trails off, lost in thought once more. L E D G E R