the rocks might melt; the sea may burn. || exist

[Canaan]

well, the good ol' days may not return,
and the rocks might melt, and the sea may burn.

    The wild adrenaline that courses through her veins is palpable; tangible. He can very nearly feel it rooting within his own soul, crawling through each individual veil and capillary, flooding his senses with a sense of invincibility that only the starlit night had ever stirred within him before. Though her eyes, brilliant and bright, turn towards the wide expanse of sky overhead, his own remain steady - hazel flecks observing the way her youthful features give way to age. The gentle slope of her jawline and the long lines of developing muscle along the length of her broad, but still slender neck cause something unusual and raw to rise in the tight confines of his suddenly too-dry throat.

   Soon, her skin is against his own and he is brought back to the moment with a jolt of binding electricity, and a boisterous laugh emerges from the broadness of his chest. The touch is only brief, but it is enough to break him away from the heavy moment his mind had only just surrendered to, reminding him again of his youth and of the many nights shared lingering beneath the moon and alongside the bubbling pools of lava that give the ashen land its sunlit glow. 

   Her teeth graze lightly across his skin before pulling into an elfish grin, causing his own to uptick at the corners of his whiskered mouth. She burns before him, a flickering ember that has all at once become a raging inferno, enthrallment filling every crevice of her changing features and still, he burns in the presence of her brightness.

   "Show me," is all that he can manage before she unfurls the beauty and grace of her own feathered limbs - stained a deep copper and bathing beneath the undeniable glow of magma and ash from the mountain that lay so tantalizingly close behind her. There is something remarkable and glorious in their beauty, in the way her feathers lay so flawlessly preened and lined with perfection along the hollow but powerful bones of her newfound branches to freedom. His own heart pounds yet again, thrusting with vigor against the solidity of his rib cage, the golden specks in his green eyes tracing each curving line before meeting her eye. Just then, with a powerful stroke, his own frosted tresses are tossed across the nape of his thick neck from the sudden burst of warm air as her wingspan flaps against the stillness of the air. 

   And then, she is gone. He is caught in the moment, his own growing limbs (no longer lanky, but now limber and agile) churning the bulk of his muscled body forward, each footfall landing with a powerful thud that rattles the soft and moist ground that lay beneath his weight. Adrenaline now courses through his own veins as the starlit night is soon lost to him, his gaze set only upon the sloping spine and riveting feathered limbs of the young female before him. His blunt teeth are bared with determination and unbridled laughter as he tosses his own neck towards the sky, just as his own shoulder brushes alongside his. 

   As his skin touches hers, he is filled to the brim with something unbridled and wild - something invigorating and his heart very nearly threatens to burst forth from his chest, and his hazel eyes look wildly to her with both excitement and confusion. The bristling magic follows every line and crevice of his body, tucking itself into the very fibers of his being and drawing forth what he cannot see - pulling to the surface only what he can feel. His lungs burn from the intensity, the simmering coals of an unstoked fire suddenly burning bright within him, and he is very nearly breathless. 

   And he does not know how it stirs within him, until her breathless words reach him through the thick of the night: Show me how, Canaan.

   His throbbing heart skips a beat, and his smile slackens as she unfurls the length of her breathtaking wings, using the lighthearted spring in her step and the power behind her quickened pace to throw herself with wild abandon to the twinkling sky above her. Dread branches from the very rooted bottom of his belly, as he knows all too well how difficult flight can be, knows how unforgiving and brutal the hard ground can be to one too confident and too unyielding to gravity. Without meaning to, a heavy gust of wind is seemingly pulled out of nowhere, stirring the once thick and still air of night and carrying itself beneath the broad expanse of her wings, pushing her up and carrying her into the twilight.

   Awe etches itself into his features as he launches himself after her with a few hefty wing-beats into the sky, his own sheer will carrying her as her own wings taste the sweet vermouth of freedom that only the sheer openness of the sky can offer. With power he had never known he held locked away within some darkened part of him, his wild heart and racing mind manipulate the very air that surrounds them, weaving itself between her bristling feathers and carrying the weight and burden of her inexperience. Once more, the elated grin pulls at his lips as each takes to the night, suddenly knowing the truth behind her exhilaration and all at once, filled with it himself.

   "Fly, Exist - the sky is yours."

Canaan