Lost in the deep end // star pony

[lilliana]

Bravery is so much easier when borrowed; Lilliana knows that feeling all too well.

But as the starlight spreads before them, as Antares grows to his full strength and bathes everything in that beautiful luminescent light of the heavens, Lilli can feel adoration filling her gaze. The star rests on a leaf, and while the thought might have been a silly one in daylight, the smile that etches itself on her crimson face is full of the love that she has learned from her mother. The stars, after all, were caretakers - were sentinels of dreams and wishes and all lost things. They could act as guides to bring you home.

Perhaps thats why she feels herself so drawn to Antares; how long has she been lost?
Home. Her heart lurches at the word.

There is one gaze that she lets go, one where she looks to heavens and she wonders: Orani? Is this a friend of yours? Have you heard his dreams?

Silent thoughts to the heavens but Antares, while he might bring Tyr jealousy (which she would have been greatly upset to learn of), brought a great amount of relief to the chestnut mare. There was something so comforting, so reassuring about the familiarities of her old life when they presented themselves. Seeing a star might be something unsettling, perhaps it should be, but the presence of Antares feels more like an answer to an unheard prayer than something to be afraid of.

There is a soft smile that curves on her crimson features, a gentle look in her eyes as he says her name. 
But it is a warning he brings. 

"There are strange beings not of this world appearing in the East, my friends. It will not do to wander alone much longer."

Lilliana glances back to the star, heeding his words with each syllable of caution that he uses. The adoration falls away and gives way to something sharper, something fiercer that comes to life behind that blue-eyed gaze. Determination. For a second, she thinks to address the star but his relationship has been with Tyr, not her. And there is something deep, almost sacred, about the bond between the two of them. She won't intrude on that. 

Instead, the questioning expression looks to Tyr, trying to see if the midnight-blue stallion might inquire further. What kind of beings? A message as dark as this one, so tinged in warning, leaves more questions than answers. Tyr thanks Antares and directs the conversation back at her, calling her away from the worries that spread like a plague in her mind. 

"Forgive me," she offers, "It was rude to not tell you earlier. But yes, I'm Lilliana. Lilli, if you don't mind." The last part is colored with a smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Tyr." And it is, despite the celestial tidings as the one that Antares has brought.

There are so many worries that cloud her mind at the words of strangers in the East. Her heart ties in knots and all she can think of is Hyaline, of Elaina. Of how she had wanted nothing but a quiet, peaceful life in that place before she had disappeared. Lilli feels her chest tighten and there are so many thoughts, so many questions, so many heavy things that weigh on her.

The knot rises to her throat and Lilliana does her best to swallow it down. "I come from Taiga," comes a reserved reply. "To the North." She isn't deaf to Tyr's offer and so she counters it with her own, an extension of his kindness. "I'm a Diplomat there. We actually visited with Ischia recently.. with Aquaria and Eva," she says as if that would explain everything. "You'd be welcome there as well," a pause she tries to fill with a sense of humor and the beginnings of a smile, "And Antares too."

@[Tyr]