let my shadows prove the sunshine
He lets her rest against him as long as she needs, not willing to admit that physical touch seems to be the only thing to soothe the gentle ache that resides in his chest. It comforts him, a salve against the emotional wounds that now scar his heart. Ever the optimist, however, Svedka believes that time and surrounding himself with those he loves will heal the hurt eventually. He has children now and partners whom he would die for - besides his ‘adventure’ into the Afterlife, much of his time is consumed with love and adoration. He cannot possibly allow himself to be weighed down by the heaviness of the past, despite the reminder that is seared into the left of his shoulder, pink and gnarled and unforgiving.
The stallion’s brow furrows, feeling an overwhelming amount of sadness as Wishbone admits the length of time she spent in the afterlife. His heart breaks for her, unable to imagine spending any more than the time he had, which is so brief compared to hers. He turns his head towards her, his pink muzzle brushing against the broadness of her nose gently, soothingly. Svedka admires the golden expressive markings that now adorn her face - unfamiliar but somehow fitting.
He says nothing (for what is there to say?) until she mentions the kelpie. His murder had been orchestrated by Carnage himself, who somehow pulled the lion from Svedka and created it a separate entity, allowing it to shred him into the Afterlife. Wishbone, however, was not from the mind of a dark god. Just another citizen of Tephra and somehow, this wounds him more. Now having children himself, he feels a shudder in his chest. “Have you found them yet?” He asks of the twins, wondering if perhaps they could find them together if she hasn’t.
She asks him the question he knew was coming, but his breath still hitches in his throat. He turns from her, briefly stopping the gentle touch of his muzzle against her nose, to look out across the lava flows before them. He sighs dejectedly, swallowing hard. “I had become a shifter, somehow. A mountain lion, actually.” There is a twinkle of humor at his mention of this, but it quickly subsides as he continues. “We never got along, though. When Carnage called and my lion answered - I would have never. He allowed the lion to kill me to bring me into the Afterlife and we - there were others, too - were instructed to investigate a deep darkness that it seemed Carnage himself didn’t understand.”
He shakes his head, finding his voice trembling. “I nearly died again, somehow. The darkness was so deep and so endless...” He remembers vividly the reflection of himself in the blackness, amidst other things that squirmed and crawled insidiously. His lion came forth from that darkness, brandishing him with the scar he carries now before Carnage pulled him from the Afterlife and leaving the lion - a part of Svedka - behind.
The stallion would never admit it aloud, but he believes that he left a part of himself in the Afterlife, and soon it would call him there again.
“For some reason Carnage brought us all back. I’ve never felt ‘right’ since then.”
He settles his gaze back to hers again, sorrowful yet sparkling with hope. “But we’re both here now - so that’s something, right?”
svedka
@[Wishbone]