04-09-2021, 07:51 PM
a little white light in a
sea gone black
sea gone black
≋
She had lingered at the cusp for an immeasurable amount of time, caught between Loess and the Forest with fearful expectancy that, as soon as she departed from her kingdom, the world would once again be plunged into darkness. That she would be caught outside of her safe foothills and canyons, and that whoever still remained in the Eastern kingdom would use her absence to their advantage. They had done it before, and though many months have passed now since her confrontation with Breach -- months that she has refused to leave the land that had placed the heavy crown upon her turquoise head -- the opalescent woman still refuses to relax her guard. She has yet to hear of the shapeshifter's departure from Hyaline, still expects her to retaliate for Oceane's own pilfering, and on her more anxious nights the Loessian Queen sleeps restlessly with dreams that combine Beqanna and Nau-Aib.
When finally she departs Loess, Oceane fights the urge to look immediately over her shoulder in fear that she will lose her nerve and return instantly to the warm embrace of her home. She forces herself to unfurl her feathered wings as soon as there is ample room, her shoulders taut with the weight of the appendages she had not used since the Long Night had fallen upon them, and takes to the skies.
Less graceful now than she ever had been in flight, the woman flaps excessively to compensate for the muscles that had atrophied during her landbound months. When finally she had cleared the forest canopy, her chest heaving at the exertion, Oceane finds her rhythm. She moves through the clear sky beneath the sun and her pearlescent coat shines like balefire in the golden rays.
By the time her amber eyes alight upon the Meadow, Oceane's shoulders ache but her mood has improved beyond what she had anticipated it could. Beneath the weight of her anxieties, thanks in part to Loess' politics but also to Soran's lengthening absence, she has not allowed herself even a moment of repose in months.
To land within the Meadow beneath the sun, despite the sad state of its foliage, fills Oceane with relief. She sighs slowly before grunting at the ache in her shoulders as she pulls the soft feathers of her wings back to her lean barrel and pivots in place, taking a moment to inspect her surroundings.
She's unsure why she hadn't expected to see anyone else taking advantage of the sun's homecoming, but regardless, the Loessian Queen is surprised to see the chestnut frame of a man standing within the shadows of a nearby willow. She clears her throat and clamps her jaw closed, dampening the heavy breathing from her flight before offering the stranger a terse nod as a greeting. Her amber eyes scrutinize him methodically, finding scars and an empty eye socket, prompting some concern to roil within her, though it lessens as she realizes that none of his injuries appear to be fresh.
“Was it the shadow creatures that harmed you?” she inquires, though the question is less doting and more invasive as she hopes to lessen the fear that the beasts could be closing in on Loess as they speak, to rend eyes from skulls and leave those she's supposed to protect to a life of an entirely different type of darkness.
When finally she departs Loess, Oceane fights the urge to look immediately over her shoulder in fear that she will lose her nerve and return instantly to the warm embrace of her home. She forces herself to unfurl her feathered wings as soon as there is ample room, her shoulders taut with the weight of the appendages she had not used since the Long Night had fallen upon them, and takes to the skies.
Less graceful now than she ever had been in flight, the woman flaps excessively to compensate for the muscles that had atrophied during her landbound months. When finally she had cleared the forest canopy, her chest heaving at the exertion, Oceane finds her rhythm. She moves through the clear sky beneath the sun and her pearlescent coat shines like balefire in the golden rays.
By the time her amber eyes alight upon the Meadow, Oceane's shoulders ache but her mood has improved beyond what she had anticipated it could. Beneath the weight of her anxieties, thanks in part to Loess' politics but also to Soran's lengthening absence, she has not allowed herself even a moment of repose in months.
To land within the Meadow beneath the sun, despite the sad state of its foliage, fills Oceane with relief. She sighs slowly before grunting at the ache in her shoulders as she pulls the soft feathers of her wings back to her lean barrel and pivots in place, taking a moment to inspect her surroundings.
She's unsure why she hadn't expected to see anyone else taking advantage of the sun's homecoming, but regardless, the Loessian Queen is surprised to see the chestnut frame of a man standing within the shadows of a nearby willow. She clears her throat and clamps her jaw closed, dampening the heavy breathing from her flight before offering the stranger a terse nod as a greeting. Her amber eyes scrutinize him methodically, finding scars and an empty eye socket, prompting some concern to roil within her, though it lessens as she realizes that none of his injuries appear to be fresh.
“Was it the shadow creatures that harmed you?” she inquires, though the question is less doting and more invasive as she hopes to lessen the fear that the beasts could be closing in on Loess as they speak, to rend eyes from skulls and leave those she's supposed to protect to a life of an entirely different type of darkness.
—
@[Ledger]
“”
@[Ledger]
“”
i must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
and all i ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by
and all i ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by