It might seem to others that feathers were an odd suit for a horse to wear, but Raum, who shares this feature with his sister and with this Tigerboy, does not give them a second glance except to recognize the fading surprise. If anything, their existence cements the feeling in his childish breast that this new acquaintance is truly a creature of Hyaline, not some imported alien, like, he assumes, this Anath that has been found, and kept. It might also seem to others that perhaps 'kept' is an odd turn of phrase when referring to another foal, but the golden colt, in common with his mother and, apparently, the other boy's father, is fond of strange notions and accepts the idea quite readily.
Like his mother, his smile is wide and wild, but unlike hers, it is also full of sharp teeth that glint in the moonlight while he picks his way carefully from the rocks. He does not - or chooses not - to notice how the arrival of a griffon changes the other boy's countenance.
"Yes!" he is nearly shouting now (for there is nothing in Popinjay that would teach moderation,) "I've lived here my whole life!"
On level ground at last, Raum smiles again, and Malik will see how his pin-sharp baby teeth are not at all straight, but grown in a bit jagged and crocodilian. His mother - when she was pretending her very best at caring for her twins - told him that they reminded her of an old friend who was burned alive in a terrible fire, and how she had left in Nerine, tucked safely beside a pair of magicked eyes, a blackened piece of the mare's jawbone, all trace of muscle and pale hide burnt away to soot.
He had tried to See this death once, but that was before he learnt that his talent lay not in replaying the past but sifting through the future. He has, since, seen others burn in his shadow plays; the living and the dead, in fires natural and not, and even once in a river of infernal fluid vomited out of a broken-topped mountain he did not recognize.
"I Saw you were coming, but I didn't See where we're going." Ever ready for adventure, he claims a place in this one without waiting for permission or invitation. Unlike Malik, he has no worry of his parent's anger. She will certainly not mind.
Like his mother, his smile is wide and wild, but unlike hers, it is also full of sharp teeth that glint in the moonlight while he picks his way carefully from the rocks. He does not - or chooses not - to notice how the arrival of a griffon changes the other boy's countenance.
"Yes!" he is nearly shouting now (for there is nothing in Popinjay that would teach moderation,) "I've lived here my whole life!"
On level ground at last, Raum smiles again, and Malik will see how his pin-sharp baby teeth are not at all straight, but grown in a bit jagged and crocodilian. His mother - when she was pretending her very best at caring for her twins - told him that they reminded her of an old friend who was burned alive in a terrible fire, and how she had left in Nerine, tucked safely beside a pair of magicked eyes, a blackened piece of the mare's jawbone, all trace of muscle and pale hide burnt away to soot.
He had tried to See this death once, but that was before he learnt that his talent lay not in replaying the past but sifting through the future. He has, since, seen others burn in his shadow plays; the living and the dead, in fires natural and not, and even once in a river of infernal fluid vomited out of a broken-topped mountain he did not recognize.
"I Saw you were coming, but I didn't See where we're going." Ever ready for adventure, he claims a place in this one without waiting for permission or invitation. Unlike Malik, he has no worry of his parent's anger. She will certainly not mind.
Raum*
in every bird a black thought
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+408 words =771
Please tag ratty or Raum* (<--with the asterisk) in threads!