The light that meets the dark
Every second ticked by like a minute, and Cheri felt outside of herself. Like she wasn’t there in the moment, only she was and it seemed very confusing to her mind. She cast her eyes on the pebbles strewn around her, studying their various shapes and sizes until the black curvature of another horse’s hoof slid into sight. Interrupted, Cheri looked up; the colt blew sideways and she flinched, regretfully. To her surprise he didn’t seem much older than she was, and if she had to guess Cheri might venture they were born during the same season. He’d looked so sinister from far away… or had that been her fear talking, all this time?
Those dark lashes of hers came down once or twice.
“I… I’m not sure what I thought.” She answered his defeated expression, hesitant to relax. Was he really sad? Or just trying to ease up on her, get her to feel calm before the kill? He shrugged, silently answering Cheri’s absurd fears as if he’d guessed her thoughts, and for the first time since landing here Cheri’s legs stopped trembling. Maybe he wasn’t going to hurt her after all.
But stick with her?
“Oh, no, I…” Cheri’s tongue stumbled over itself. “Um, Starlore was it? I’m Cheri.” She shifted around tensely, feeling how numb her joints had become from standing in one place for so long. “Thank you - first of all. For your kindness. But I can’t, you know, stay here. Exploding boulders or not.” The black filly explained, wings fluttering.
The thought of it! Staying here, in the East, sticking with another yearling! A colt, she reminded herself. Cheri glanced aside and then back at the curiously sad horse, who stared out at her from the umbrella’s glow of his golden-white halo, so sure of himself and his decisions. Would it be such a bad thing? Defying her father for just a little while, getting the chance to see a place she’d never seen before… Could be amazing.
Those dark lashes of hers came down once or twice.
“I… I’m not sure what I thought.” She answered his defeated expression, hesitant to relax. Was he really sad? Or just trying to ease up on her, get her to feel calm before the kill? He shrugged, silently answering Cheri’s absurd fears as if he’d guessed her thoughts, and for the first time since landing here Cheri’s legs stopped trembling. Maybe he wasn’t going to hurt her after all.
But stick with her?
“Oh, no, I…” Cheri’s tongue stumbled over itself. “Um, Starlore was it? I’m Cheri.” She shifted around tensely, feeling how numb her joints had become from standing in one place for so long. “Thank you - first of all. For your kindness. But I can’t, you know, stay here. Exploding boulders or not.” The black filly explained, wings fluttering.
The thought of it! Staying here, in the East, sticking with another yearling! A colt, she reminded herself. Cheri glanced aside and then back at the curiously sad horse, who stared out at her from the umbrella’s glow of his golden-white halo, so sure of himself and his decisions. Would it be such a bad thing? Defying her father for just a little while, getting the chance to see a place she’d never seen before… Could be amazing.
@[starlore]