09-07-2021, 06:06 PM
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again
He smiled faintly at his twin's assertion, at the emerald fire in her eyes. There was so much the casual observer would never know about Cheri. The fairy-like exterior (so similar to their mother's) was a pretty container for a burning soul. Sometimes he wondered how the forest didn't catch fire from the force of her. Maybe it would have, if she hadn't moved on when she did.
"I know you won't," he assured her truthfully. As eclectic as their family was, he'd never doubted the love in it, the commitment. They were characteristics seemingly embedded in the bloodline. Why he was lingering in a forest that housed more shadows and ghosts than anything these days.
Sorrow pinched at his heart, and he knew it was felt by the both of them. All, if he took the younger two into account. The air of mourning had taken them all, and even that much had felt like a confession, an admission of defeat. Like giving up. If they were morning, then it meant that they had really lost something.
He looked off into the depths of the forest, the towering silvergreens roaring in a way that would always remind him of Amarine. "I can't leave." He admitted finally, still not meeting his twin's eye. "Not while there's a chance they'll return. There needs to be a home for them to return to." He shrugged, belying the determination that kept him rooted.
"The little ones are welcome to move with you, but you know I'll keep an eye on them if they want to stay here." It was the least he could do. The four of them had been born in these woods. If their younger siblings wanted to keep living here, it seemed only right in his mind. Even if it meant they'd be divided by space.
Her almost-pleading tugged at him though. Gilded with the night sky, the dark stallion sighed while the weight of the world sat heavy on their paired shoulders. "You're my sister and my queen," he acknowledged with pride and gentle brightness. "If you want me in Loess, I will follow you happily. And if you think I can do more good here, I'll trust your judgment in that too."
This was, he thought, perhaps a bigger decision than it felt in the moment. A choice in kingdoms, and leadership, and family. It was never as easy as you wished it would be.
Reynard
@Cheri