02-25-2021, 01:01 PM
Lumineer
It had sounded big, though he is uncertain if his fear had made it sound bigger than it had actually been. His heart thumps wildly against the cage of his ribs as he tries in vain to steady his breathing, to dampen the panic that threatens to swell dangerously in the parched column of his throat.
He should not have wandered out into the forest by himself. It had been a fool’s errand. He should have stayed close to home, should have just steeled himself against the desperate sadness that consumed him to know that his family suffered so terribly in the darkness.
But there is a certain strength in numbers, too, he thinks. And he cannot help but feel an immediate sort of camaraderie with this winged mare in the darkness, with her and the feline that slinks its way down out of the trees. He has thrust himself unceremoniously into their orbit and, whether mare and her companion like it or not, they are now in this together.
The emotion in her gaze is not lost on him and he does everything in his power to project an air of calm as he gazes back at her. He is frightened -- desperately frightened -- but his need to reassure her is greater than his need to succumb to his fear. He stops just short of verbally telling her everything’s going to be alright.
He considers her question a moment, still in motion. Ordinarily, he would stop to think, as if to channel all of his energy into his brain. But to stop now would be dangerous, so he kicks his limbs into auto-pilot instead. He draws in a long breath and tries to concentrate. They could run and putting as much space between themselves and whatever had made the noise seemed like a practical option. However, the most practical option would probably be to take flight, but that would mean leaving the mare’s companion on the ground unless the feline could scramble onto one of their backs and somehow hold on once they’d taken to the sky.
“We can run or we can fly if your companion can hang on, it’s your call,” he says. He’d be more than happy to let the feline cling to his mane. Although flying also meant finding a clearing in the dense canopy overhead, which could prove tricky in this crushing darkness.
He has never seen one of the monsters that loiters in the shadows and he doesn’t want now to be his first encounter, not really. But it feels as if the shadows are pressing in around them even closer now.. “No,” he answers, his voice instinctively dropping to a whisper.
Suddenly something nips at his ankle and he lurches forward, yelping.
He should not have wandered out into the forest by himself. It had been a fool’s errand. He should have stayed close to home, should have just steeled himself against the desperate sadness that consumed him to know that his family suffered so terribly in the darkness.
But there is a certain strength in numbers, too, he thinks. And he cannot help but feel an immediate sort of camaraderie with this winged mare in the darkness, with her and the feline that slinks its way down out of the trees. He has thrust himself unceremoniously into their orbit and, whether mare and her companion like it or not, they are now in this together.
The emotion in her gaze is not lost on him and he does everything in his power to project an air of calm as he gazes back at her. He is frightened -- desperately frightened -- but his need to reassure her is greater than his need to succumb to his fear. He stops just short of verbally telling her everything’s going to be alright.
He considers her question a moment, still in motion. Ordinarily, he would stop to think, as if to channel all of his energy into his brain. But to stop now would be dangerous, so he kicks his limbs into auto-pilot instead. He draws in a long breath and tries to concentrate. They could run and putting as much space between themselves and whatever had made the noise seemed like a practical option. However, the most practical option would probably be to take flight, but that would mean leaving the mare’s companion on the ground unless the feline could scramble onto one of their backs and somehow hold on once they’d taken to the sky.
“We can run or we can fly if your companion can hang on, it’s your call,” he says. He’d be more than happy to let the feline cling to his mane. Although flying also meant finding a clearing in the dense canopy overhead, which could prove tricky in this crushing darkness.
He has never seen one of the monsters that loiters in the shadows and he doesn’t want now to be his first encounter, not really. But it feels as if the shadows are pressing in around them even closer now.. “No,” he answers, his voice instinctively dropping to a whisper.
Suddenly something nips at his ankle and he lurches forward, yelping.
THROUGH THE DARKNESS TO THE DAWN
@[Chel] no YOU go wild