10-06-2021, 06:43 AM
Tucked tightly against her mother’s side, Myrna breathes in the familiar scent of fur and feathers. She feels safe and warm and happy, and all across her body, a pattern of light begins to appear. Glowing markings like those of both her parents. Hidden under her mother’s wing, Myrna doesn’t notice the change, which is good because I haven’t yet decided what it will be.
She is too focused on what her mother has to say on the subject of frogs to feel the difference. They’re fun to chase, Mazikeen says, and then dangles the possibility of being able to catch one herself in front of Myrna. The girl’s blue-grey eyes grow very wide with excitement. She is much more enamored with the possibility of catching a frog than of leaving Hyaline, being too young yet to feel confined by her mountainous home.
“Oh yes!” She says, “I would like that very much!”
Myrna has mastered only two types of shifting: the small goat and the color teal. Her mother talks of shifting into a cat to chase frogs, so Myrna decides that she will master a cat before she gets very much older. She doesn’t know what slime tastes like, but her mother’s expression makes it very clear. Myrna mimics her face as best she can, reconsidering the prospect of eating one. Perhaps Malik had been telling the truth.
When her mother continues, Myrna misses the importance of poison, too distracted by what else she has revealed.
“You have a mom too?!” Her disbelief is nearly palpable, from her open mouth to the incredulous way her wide eyes narrow as she struggles to digest this strange fact. She knows that there are other horses in the world, but they are not her family. Family has always been a very small group. Her mother, her brother, and the Searcher (who despite her efforts to attract their watchful eye, never seems to notice her, but is as frequent a presence as her brother’s companion, and about whom she has never spoken).
“Are you sure?” She is not ready to believe that her mother would lie to her - or even that she could lie at all. But surely if her mother had a mother, she would be here, just like Mazikeen is here for Myrna? The girl tries to picture the mysterious woman. She must be at least a thousand feet tall, she imagines, since she would surely be taller than Mazikeen just like Mazikeen is taller than Myrna.
@Mazikeen
She is too focused on what her mother has to say on the subject of frogs to feel the difference. They’re fun to chase, Mazikeen says, and then dangles the possibility of being able to catch one herself in front of Myrna. The girl’s blue-grey eyes grow very wide with excitement. She is much more enamored with the possibility of catching a frog than of leaving Hyaline, being too young yet to feel confined by her mountainous home.
“Oh yes!” She says, “I would like that very much!”
Myrna has mastered only two types of shifting: the small goat and the color teal. Her mother talks of shifting into a cat to chase frogs, so Myrna decides that she will master a cat before she gets very much older. She doesn’t know what slime tastes like, but her mother’s expression makes it very clear. Myrna mimics her face as best she can, reconsidering the prospect of eating one. Perhaps Malik had been telling the truth.
When her mother continues, Myrna misses the importance of poison, too distracted by what else she has revealed.
“You have a mom too?!” Her disbelief is nearly palpable, from her open mouth to the incredulous way her wide eyes narrow as she struggles to digest this strange fact. She knows that there are other horses in the world, but they are not her family. Family has always been a very small group. Her mother, her brother, and the Searcher (who despite her efforts to attract their watchful eye, never seems to notice her, but is as frequent a presence as her brother’s companion, and about whom she has never spoken).
“Are you sure?” She is not ready to believe that her mother would lie to her - or even that she could lie at all. But surely if her mother had a mother, she would be here, just like Mazikeen is here for Myrna? The girl tries to picture the mysterious woman. She must be at least a thousand feet tall, she imagines, since she would surely be taller than Mazikeen just like Mazikeen is taller than Myrna.
@Mazikeen