She is stirred to life with gentle nudges and whuffling of a familiar dark muzzle. Olena breathes in sharply, though it is not as deep as her lungs would have liked, and her exhale is ragged and desperate. There has been a soft blue beam of light that has graced them all but Olena has missed it, her deep navy eyes blinking wearily into the afternoon sun, attempting to find her breath and rise to her feet. It was always a challenge to go from sleeping to waking, and she leans to her leopard bay mother for support as she rises gently to her slender feet, sighing roughly against the familiar slope of Kagerus’ auburn shoulder, leaning more than she should for a girl her age.
Despite this, there is simple joy on her face as her eyes rest on her brothers, desperate to join their rambunctiousness as they flit and flutter before her. Her own wings rustle at her withers, thin and weak compared to that of her twin brother. She giggles, an airy and quiet breath, as Oberyn takes flight with Indius, a sort of melancholy in her face as they float just before her - just out of reach, much like how each moment of her life seems to be. She immediately turns to her mother, however, and is pleased with the gentleness in her loving gaze, and the smile that finds Olena’s mouth is genuine though it is small and feeble. She would always have her mother - one of them or both, which was better - to ensure her happiness and the buckskin filly curls into Kagerus, weary already but excited to see where the afternoon leads them.
Olena’s deep blue eyes sparkle with the reflection of Kagerus’ magic, occupying herself with the view before her and that of her brothers, instead of the way her lungs seem to gasp for more oxygen than she can give them and the way her muscles shout for rest. There is laughter that bubbles in her throat but is choked by her inability to catch her breath, coughing gently but nevertheless grinning, her eyes sparkling. She coos softly into her mother’s skin - a gentle and tender moment that was only meant for them, a hum in her throat of true happiness despite the fragility that disparages the little tri-colored buckskin.
The filly’s eyes depart from the sparkles that Kagerus has made just for her to rest on Solace, devotion and adoration welling in the deep navy irises. She hadn’t even noticed Oriash yet, or even the strange stallion next to her, when a shrill and warbling whinny departs from her mouth, soft and rattling and barely audible. The noise is enough to stir her twin’s attention and he glances to her for a moment, ensuring everything is alright, before reacting to the scene before him. Olena finds his gaze for a tender second, before tucking herself closer into Kagerus though she wishes to greet Solace, feeling small and unimportant amidst the larger and stronger group that surrounds her. Her small nose nuzzles into the auburn crook of Kagerus’ shoulder, whuffling her nostrils to soothe herself and to steady the soft wheeze that is apparent in her mouth.
Olena nickers gently, her wide eyes sweeping from Solace to Oriash with a smooth tip of her chin. The unfamiliar woman is her sister, she realizes and despite the broad antlers that spread from her forehead, the two looked rather similar, and even with the shadow of the dark stranger beside her, Olena felt herself drawn to Oriash in a way she could not explain. It was enough to cause the little, weak filly to peek from behind her mother’s protection, blinking eyes set curiously on her sister, her little face looking up at her with wonder and bashfulness.
When Kagerus greets the dark stranger, however, Olena finds herself feeling small and helpless, so naturally she skitters towards the shelter of Solace’s blue wings, seeking shelter beneath their downy softness and to shield her with their willowy embrace. “I’m Olena,” she chirps softly from beneath sky blue feathers and after Kagerus’ conclusion, her ocean eyes peeking to linger on the dark man for a second before resting gently on Oriash, comfortable with the way their familiar depths appeared to her.
OLENA
if the whole world just stops singing
& all the stars go dark
i turn the light on in my soul