08-23-2017, 10:27 PM
Polaris
She likes Jinju well enough - the black mare is strong like her father, though not nearly as soul-quiet. But she seems more careful around her glass sister, more contained and patient as though maybe Ruan has warned her that Polaris is like the sun of an early dawn - bright and beautiful, but shy in her singularity. It is not an easy thing to traverse a world in solitude, to see day after day that you are the only one of your kind. Dangerous, perhaps, to know this loneliness and learn to love it, and learn, too, to fear that which threatens to change it. But Jinju does not push her, seems to know the limits that even Polaris is unsure of, and so she does not balk when Ruan leaves them.
The boy scares her though. He is sweet and bright, but he is as all children are and how she has never been. Vibrant and fearless with a mother like Jinju to always keep him safe. He doesn’t fear running and playing, doesn’t shy away from the crash of bodies thrown together in a moment of game-play. But that is because he is flesh and bone, muscle and sinew. He is bold and beautiful and all things Polaris has only been in the most secret depths of her dreams. Here she is brittle and beautiful, a silhouette of glass and spiderweb cracks. She cannot play, has never played, except with Ruan who has always been so gentle. Ander will be gentle someday too, she is sure. Like his mother and his grandfather. But for now she keeps a careful distance, drifts just a few paces back from Jinju’s dark hip.
‘Isn’t this a wonderful place to camp at?’ Jinju asks them both, a smile on her mouth as she glances between Polaris and Ander. The smile looks genuine except that is doesn’t quite reach those ruby eyes, and Polaris is not so young as to not have noticed the deliberate way Jinju herds them from the heart of their home. She says nothing though, trusts that if the dark woman is keeping secrets, it must be out of necessity. ‘Maybe the wolves will come keep us company tonight.’ She adds, teasing them, but Polaris only offers a hint of a smile, more out of reflex than any real emotion.
The quiet grows though and she knows she should say something, but words have never been her strength and the quiet suits her so. Instead she steps closer, touches her lips to Jinju’s flank as though to draw her attention for a moment. Her delicate teal brow is soft and furrowed, glossy in the watery light that filters through the thick forest around them. There is a look of knowing that passes between them, a wordless understanding that flashes in the amber depths of Polaris’ eyes when they swallow the gem-bright red of Jinju’s. I feel it, too, she conveys silently. But aloud all she says in that whisper voice is, “How far are we going?”
The boy scares her though. He is sweet and bright, but he is as all children are and how she has never been. Vibrant and fearless with a mother like Jinju to always keep him safe. He doesn’t fear running and playing, doesn’t shy away from the crash of bodies thrown together in a moment of game-play. But that is because he is flesh and bone, muscle and sinew. He is bold and beautiful and all things Polaris has only been in the most secret depths of her dreams. Here she is brittle and beautiful, a silhouette of glass and spiderweb cracks. She cannot play, has never played, except with Ruan who has always been so gentle. Ander will be gentle someday too, she is sure. Like his mother and his grandfather. But for now she keeps a careful distance, drifts just a few paces back from Jinju’s dark hip.
‘Isn’t this a wonderful place to camp at?’ Jinju asks them both, a smile on her mouth as she glances between Polaris and Ander. The smile looks genuine except that is doesn’t quite reach those ruby eyes, and Polaris is not so young as to not have noticed the deliberate way Jinju herds them from the heart of their home. She says nothing though, trusts that if the dark woman is keeping secrets, it must be out of necessity. ‘Maybe the wolves will come keep us company tonight.’ She adds, teasing them, but Polaris only offers a hint of a smile, more out of reflex than any real emotion.
The quiet grows though and she knows she should say something, but words have never been her strength and the quiet suits her so. Instead she steps closer, touches her lips to Jinju’s flank as though to draw her attention for a moment. Her delicate teal brow is soft and furrowed, glossy in the watery light that filters through the thick forest around them. There is a look of knowing that passes between them, a wordless understanding that flashes in the amber depths of Polaris’ eyes when they swallow the gem-bright red of Jinju’s. I feel it, too, she conveys silently. But aloud all she says in that whisper voice is, “How far are we going?”
though i never needed any proof to trust the heart that beats inside of you