09-27-2018, 07:59 PM
There’s not much about the ocean that’s changed in the week we’ve been gone, and why should there be? She can be a temperamental bitch, but she’s steady, her ebb and flow pretty constant aside from the occasional raging storm, and who doesn’t have a temper tantrum now and again? So I don’t notice right away that something’s off.
Kharon catches it first, though of course he would. Got that magic mind of his, reaching out and touching others’ even from here. Or noticing when others’ are missing. When he stops, coaxing Kali closer to his side and wrapping his wing a little tighter around her, I stop too. Give him a long, searching look while he fills me in on what he’s hearing, and who he’s not hearing.
I nod, seeing the way Kali presses herself nervously against his side, eyes wide and ears flicking back and breath coming shaky. Okay. Okay. Wary grey eyes watch the coastline, and I can guess what he’s thinking. I know what strangers mean too. You take Kali back out. Stay close enough you can hear me, yeah? I’ll go see what’s going on. I press a kiss to each of their foreheads, hold them close for a moment.
“Kali, baby, you stay with Kharon, okay? I’m just gonna go make sure everything’s okay before you guys follow me in.” She watches me with her mom’s angel eyes all dark with worry, the tiniest tremble to her lower lip as she nods and clings tighter to her safety, her Khari. “It’s alright, baby girl, everything’s gonna be okay.” One more little reassuring (I hope) nuzzle, and I turn to go scope out our home and see what the hell’s going on.
Kharon’s right. Something looks off as I get closer, though I can’t quite tell what. Something in the shape of the trees, the curve of the beach, I don’t know. As I step onto the beach, the smell hits me, and it’s wrong. Not the background scent of the island itself, that’s normal enough, but the rest. The people. The traces of horse in the air should be familiar, all attached to names and faces in the back of my head, but they’re all blanks.
I walk past the beach, step into the trees and the undergrowth, make my way through familiar territory that looks just a little off, still listening, still keeping a nose out for anyone familiar. And when I’m deep enough that the beach is out of sight and I won’t draw attention to my kids out on the water, I give a shout.
“HEY! ANYBODY HOME?”
I mean, it’s one way to get noticed, yeah?Bite my shiny metal ass.
Kharon catches it first, though of course he would. Got that magic mind of his, reaching out and touching others’ even from here. Or noticing when others’ are missing. When he stops, coaxing Kali closer to his side and wrapping his wing a little tighter around her, I stop too. Give him a long, searching look while he fills me in on what he’s hearing, and who he’s not hearing.
I nod, seeing the way Kali presses herself nervously against his side, eyes wide and ears flicking back and breath coming shaky. Okay. Okay. Wary grey eyes watch the coastline, and I can guess what he’s thinking. I know what strangers mean too. You take Kali back out. Stay close enough you can hear me, yeah? I’ll go see what’s going on. I press a kiss to each of their foreheads, hold them close for a moment.
“Kali, baby, you stay with Kharon, okay? I’m just gonna go make sure everything’s okay before you guys follow me in.” She watches me with her mom’s angel eyes all dark with worry, the tiniest tremble to her lower lip as she nods and clings tighter to her safety, her Khari. “It’s alright, baby girl, everything’s gonna be okay.” One more little reassuring (I hope) nuzzle, and I turn to go scope out our home and see what the hell’s going on.
Kharon’s right. Something looks off as I get closer, though I can’t quite tell what. Something in the shape of the trees, the curve of the beach, I don’t know. As I step onto the beach, the smell hits me, and it’s wrong. Not the background scent of the island itself, that’s normal enough, but the rest. The people. The traces of horse in the air should be familiar, all attached to names and faces in the back of my head, but they’re all blanks.
I walk past the beach, step into the trees and the undergrowth, make my way through familiar territory that looks just a little off, still listening, still keeping a nose out for anyone familiar. And when I’m deep enough that the beach is out of sight and I won’t draw attention to my kids out on the water, I give a shout.
“HEY! ANYBODY HOME?”
I mean, it’s one way to get noticed, yeah?
@[Kylin]