"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
That morning, Cheri hardly knew where the wind took her. The sky had just broken apart, shafted through with spears of winter’s daylight that struck her closed eyes and refused to let them remain shut. “Adventure is calling.” Cheri thought sluggishly, wishing the damn thing would be quiet for a spell, but she was awake by then and it felt useless to resist a good mood. Shivering, the young mare stretched her neck and shook out the warm tension of standing while sleeping, quick to trot out from her hiding covey on the eastern side of Loess where she’d slept the night away. Her breakfast was a quick one - just tugging at random edibles while she passed them by - and the chill of the early morning swept her up into the sky thereafter, too much of a temptation to resist when the heavens felt close enough to touch.
She flew without a destination in mind, quickly coming to find that the terrain had changed below her from canyons and valleys to woods and dense pockets of shadowy darkness. “The forest.” She thought, lowering her altitude to coast high above the bare-limbed treetops with her forelegs tucked near to her belly and her hind legs drifting out lazily behind.
She hadn’t thought about him in what felt like ages - Anubias, that was. The shimmering colt from an encounter in her youth who helped Cheri make her way back home when she’d been lost at the beginning of the Eclipse year. She remembered him telling her that he’d grown up in a stretch of commonswood with his parents and she wondered if that was still true. “Only one way to find out.” She decided, her curiosity over the matter sending her even lower toward the wintery grove. Flapping her wings, Cheri galloped through the air and skimmed the very tops of the trees with her crystalline pink hooves, circling wide until she found the edge of the sector where the forest thinned out. There, she landed.
For a few miles or so the going was easy. Cheri huffed great plumes of icy clouds, looking around in wonder at the serene wilderness and taking little paths through the commonwealth. To her surprise she came across a few horses along the way: a mated pair of unicorn traveling south for the winter, and a grizzled old stud covered in scales that hissed a very obscene offer at her to join his merry band. Cheri pleasantly declined, bristling for another mile after that until at last she chanced upon a small waterfall near the base of a ravine. She stopped to drink, admiring the spring-fed water trickling over slat stones covered in algae, and appreciating the silence.
05-10-2021, 03:57 PM (This post was last modified: 05-10-2021, 03:57 PM by Anubias.)
Anubias has been spending his life now much the same as he had when he was a colt - though the return of the sun has been nice. He spends a little less time with his parents and more time exploring the forest or creating wonderful dreamscapes for him and his companion to play games through. It is a peaceful, uneventful life and he has no qualms about it whatsoever.
But, when the red panda comes skittering towards him looking like something is up - he adjusts quickly and the excitement he feels through their bond catches. She nips him lightly on his nose when he reaches down to her before she hurries off. Anubias laughs but is quick to follow, eager to see what she’s so excited about - and it certainly does not take very long to figure out what the whole fuss is about.
“Cheri!” His entire face lights up when he sees her standing by the waterfall. If he had known she was appreciating the silence, he might have been a little more subtle about his approach, but he is unaware of it and unable to contain the happiness that bubbles out of him. He is not the gangly-legged colt that he had been when they had met, but he moves forward like he is. All joy and no hesitation, he moves to bump her gently on the muzzle before stepping back - pale green eyes dancing. “It’s good to see you - and to see you in the day too!” A chittering noise announces that his companion is feeling neglected and if it were possible, his smile might grow more. “Creature says hi.” Anubias and his companion still hadn’t discovered another name - when it was just the two of them it hardly mattered. The red panda is pleased by this translation of her thoughts and ambles over to the green-haired girl where it attempts to coil around her forelegs in greeting.
He thinks about asking after her parents, but it was such a long time ago that surely she had found them and made it home safely. He’d often wondered if she’d made it - and right now he can’t remember why he didn’t just travel there himself to see. But, she’s here now and he motions to the forest around them with a small laugh “What do you think, are Taiga’s trees still bigger?” She had said they could hold up the sky but he wonders if, like him, things that were once big had lost some of their impressive stature as she grew.
Creature gave away Anubias’ sudden appearance, but not before the fuzzy little critter startled Cheri like it had the first time they’d met. She’d just raised her head when the sensation of another animal’s fur rubbing up against her leg scared her, and looking down at the adorable masked face of the companion dispelled that fear immediately. “It’s you!” Cheri laughed, watching the red panda disappear into the woods again with a smile. That was how Anubias first saw her when he came into the scene moments later: with her head raised prettily and her ears forward, grinning and eyes sparkling as they touched noses.
“I know!” She gushed about the sunlight and seeing him again, her gaze briefly skimming over the green horse. He seemed healthy; the once-colt was now a young stallion himself, covered in a skin the color of emerald summer grass but positively gleaming with iridescence in the little dapples of sunlight from up above. “And hello to you too, Creature.” She beamed down at the female red panda, amused by the thought that she’d ever been scared of her to begin with.
For her, she had a gentle welcome - Cheri ran her dark nose overtop the panda’s back and then looked at Anubias again. “Has it really been so long?” She wondered pleasantly, happy that her excursion down to the surface had resulted in his appearing once again. It felt like an entire lifetime had passed since that fateful evening at the River’s edge, and in that time almost anything could’ve happened to the colt. Cheri was glad that the opposite was true. He seemed unchanged and just as positive as ever, and his mood transferred itself to her by association until she was laughing along with him, eyes pointed at the canopy above.
“The world may have gotten a little smaller since we last saw each other, but Taiga’s trees are still the quiet titans they always were.” She sighed happily. “I moved away from home, by the way.” Cheri was quick to add. “I live in Loess now. We’re neighbors!” She giggled softly, still a filly at heart if not in size anymore.
“In fact, I came here today hoping that I’d run across you. I wanted to properly thank you for helping me.” Her humor dampened with sincerity, and the crystalline mare uncurled her neck to plant a tender peck on Anubias’ nose. “Because of you I made it home safe and sound. I owe you one.” She withdrew, lashes downturned.
It is a wonderful thing, to see Cheri again and be greeted with the same warmth he was feeling coursing through his body. They’re still friends - he discovers quickly - and hopes that this will be true no matter how much time passes, though he is hoping that less time passes between this time and the next. Anubias listens happily as she answers his question about Taiga’s trees, his smile brightening when she informs him that she’s moved - to somewhere considerably closer.
Everything about him is already bright, delighted by Cheri’s presence in his day - everything else fading away. Still, somehow when she gives him a tender peck and offers her thanks, the smile that blossoms in Anubias’ pale green eyes becomes absolutely luminous. Creature rolls hers in response, clamouring up a nearby tree to give the two friends time to reacquaint themselves, and because she’s sure they won’t stand still long enough for her to get a good nap in on either of their backs.
The metallic green stallion isn’t thinking about his companion right now, though, as he replies with his own sincerity. “You don’t owe me anything, Cheri. That’s what friends are for.” That bright, shining smile beams for a moment longer before becoming more casual, relishing in this reunion and the news that she was going to be living close by - so maybe they could see each other a little more often. “But I’m glad you’re here. And that you’ll be close by now! I was thinking about visiting you in Taiga and it just got a whole lot easier.” A little worried that this makes it sound like visiting her in Taiga wasn't worth the effort - he's quick to add, a little bashfully: “Not that I wouldn’t have minded the trip.”
Maybe one day they could still go, he'd still like to see those trees that hold up the sky.
But Anubias settles himself into the present moment, because it is a wonderful moment. His interest is absolutely genuine when he asks “What made you decide to move to Loess?”
It was the scuffling of clawed toes as they made their way up a tree that caused Cheri to look up again, bashfully happy. Between herself and Anubias, they might have been capable of making an emotionally receptive horse sick - or in their case, one receptive red panda annoyed. Today though, Cheri could care less. Anubias was still her friend after all and he apparently always would be, regardless of payback or not. That was something Cheri loved about him: his steadfastness. Just like he had back then, he was here for her now - no questions asked, nothing expected.
“You’re a lucky girl.” Her conscience reminded her, even if other horses would have her believe that luck was nothing more than privilege. Hell, maybe it was a privilege to have Anubias as her friend. If so, she should recognize that fact and start appreciating it more. “Beginning now.” The bejeweled mare thought.
“Don’t worry, I feel the same way.” She laughed gently, noting his attempt to reconcile a blunder that really wasn’t a blunder at all. “I mean it’s kind of why I hadn’t come looking for you before now.” Cheri shrugged her wings. With a downward swipe of her head, the petite fledging ripped up a fresh bout of reedy grass, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing to answer him.
“It felt logical.” She answered briefly, running her tongue over the backsides of her teeth to ensure nothing was left over, then continued on. “Close to home so I could visit there, a central Kingdom so I could venture in any given direction for some adventure if I wanted it ….” Cheri lingered for a moment, looking sideways and then back at Anubias before she stepped closer and lowered her voice.
“Most of all, I hear there’s secrets hidden there.” Cheri’s smile was a wicked one, though it could never upset her kind nature. “Once, I heard a story about an ancient cacti in the desert. Apparently it only blooms once every hundred years, and they say any horse who eats the bloom is transformed.” The black appaloosa pulled away again, winking. Of course ‘the desert’ could be anywhere, really. The Plains, Pangea, maybe even the beach … but Cheri wouldn’t spoil the atmosphere with silly things like technicalities. Not when she knew it’d be much more fun to conspire with Anubias instead.
Having never once been tempted to move or live anywhere else, Anubias does not fully follow the logic of Cheri’s decision to relocate to Loess but he follows enough of it that he can nod along and not be fully lying when he thinks he understands. It would help, maybe, if he knew where Loess was in relation to Taiga. Or even where Taiga was - all he knew was that if he followed the river for long enough he would eventually get there.
These thoughts don’t linger long anyway, because then she’s got a wicked grin and Anubias readies himself, prepared to hear something wonderfully interesting. And sure enough, she tells him about a cacti that will transform the horse who eats it. His pale eyes are bright with wonder at this and when she pulls away, there’s a dreamy look on his expression as he tries to imagine what this means. “Transformed!” It’s a magical word all by itself. He’d transformed into things, but only in his dreams. There had never been a limit there as to what could happen, but that was all part of their charm.
For something to transform in real life is an entirely different matter.
Questions bubble up from him easily, and he voices them in a whisper - because that feels appropriate for this kind of wondrous topic. “What do they transform into? A cactus??” That would be pretty magnificent but maybe a little bit boring for whichever horse went through all the trouble to find the magical cacti.
Anubias had a way about him that drew the mythical out of Cheri, whether she intended for that to happen or not. It was his mannerism - both youthful and somehow mature at the same time - that could entertain her endlessly for hours. Had they made the trip up the river together that fateful night during the eclipse, Cheri had very little doubt she would’ve enjoyed the journey every step of the way. He enthralled her; perhaps he had a magical gift for it, if so Cheri felt it to the fullest extent, and her eyes lit with the same dreamy enthusiasm his did when he spoke the word transformed.
The green-haired mare threw her lovely head back with an equally alluring laugh.
“Gosh, I don’t know!” She responded afterwards, trying to catch her breath the same way someone did when they were recovering from an explosion of genuine hilarity. Now and then another chuckle would slip out, and her eyes watered from pure joy. What a silly, wondrous thing to think of. Anubias alone had that ability. “Would that really be so terrible though?” Cheri sighed, imaging herself as a quiet but prickly cactus soaking up Loess’ sunlight.
After a moment of collection she spoke again.
“What have you been up to all this time Anubias?” The winged mare wondered. He had the forest and a set of parents he’d told her about, the ones he was always ‘finding’ when they got lost. The memory of that conversation roused a smile across her lips, svelte and a bit secretive. But he must be up to something else, surely? Or perhaps he wasn’t; Creature was as good a companion as any, the Forest was deep and rife with enough mystery for several lifetimes. He seemed content as he was, living here and going about his business in the natural way of things.
For the first time in a long time, Cheri considered the idea that her life was unusual and out-of-the-norm.
Anubias’ green eyes dance when Cheri laughs at his question about turning into a cactus, and he grins - feeling rather proud of himself to have gotten that reaction from her. He was picturing a cactus shaped into Cheri, right down to a few smaller branches forming the crystals that crowned her head. When she asks if it would be terrible, he only gives it a moments thought before saying “I think it would be fun for the first day and then very boring unless you were a cactus that could move. That would be pretty great. You could pretend you were a normal cactus and then move as someone walked by.”
When the question is turned on him, the metallic stallion wishes he had something more exciting to tell Cheri. That he had filled his days with adventures that he could spin for her now.
Truthfully, his life had been pretty calm still - which suited him. He didn’t think it was boring personally but he wondered if it would sound boring to someone who was wrapped up in the world of kingdoms and herds. And he's very much keen on not being boring for Cheri.
There was, however, one thing that had been new - and his pale eyes light up a bit to think of it. “Well I’ve been sleeping a lot because I’ve got this super cool new power where I can shape dreams and do whatever I can think of in them. So Creature and I do a lot of running around trying to tire ourselves out and then I can take her into the dream and…” Anubias pauses for a breath and realizes that maybe this isn’t as interesting for Cheri as it is for him. His ears flick back momentarily and he gives her a bashful look. It was strange, probably, that he spent so much time in the dream world instead of here, with his hooves on the ground. For such a friendly boy, he was not prone to being very social - not unless he ran into them or accidentally took them into his dream.
“Is that a silly way to spend my time? You’re my friend so you gotta tell me the truth.” And then his smile brightens once more with delight when he adds “We could actually transform into cactuses in that dream place.”
Perfectly imperfect: that’s what Cheri thought about Anubias and his description of being a moving cacti. It worked for the most part; she’d seen what her father’s second wife was capable of and had witnessed Memorie creating miracles of life from the dark soil of Taiga’s woods, so it was naturally very easy for her to imagine a magically moving cacti with the spirit of a horse trapped within. What she cannot imagine is the way he shapes her current body into a cacti for reference, but if she had Cheri would’ve laughed all the same.
It took a dreamer’s heart to create something so spectacular, she mused.
Which made all the more sense when her friend’s eyes lit up, remembering something about himself that might be news to her. At first she was confused: “Sleeping a lot?” Cheri tempered an incredulous grin at the announcement, allowing Anubias to finish what he was saying before she could pass any real judgment on the issue. He went on to explain why a young stallion of his age might be napping so often, and when he did the grin vanished - replacing itself with a look of awe and wonder.
He paused, making the story incomplete, leaving Cheri dangling onto the last word he’d said with an impatient sort of energy.
“Silly?! No! Not at all!” She exclaimed, lifting her head in astonishment. To her it seemed like a wonderful gift, full of potential and promise. Their world could be so dull sometimes. If it were up to her, she’d probably sleep a lot more as well. “I think the power of making dreams come to life is like … awesome.” Cheri huffed, wondering who in their right mind would ever try to make Anubias think otherwise.
“And you said ‘we’, so you could take me with you?” She asked, stepping closer to the metallic green stallion and his adorable companion. “As in tonight, or whenever I got tired and fell asleep?” Cheri was fascinated now. If the answer was a solid “yes” then she was determined to see everything from his perspective, even if it meant she’d get turned into a cactus in the process. What was one more night away from home anyways?
Anubias’ worries are easily soothed by Cheri’s exclamation that spending his time in a dream wasn’t silly. It was, maybe a little bit, but he is happy that she does not think so and that certainly feels like enough for him. He found it wonderful too, and he is delighted when she shows interest in coming along into that world - his pale eyes brightening even further when she steps closer, making no attempt whatsoever to conceal his happiness. “Yeah! I’ve taken Creature with me lots of times and I accidentally took someone else with me once…” He trails off, thinking of Kamaria and how disgruntled she had been at first, but smiling softly to himself with the memory all the same. She hadn’t wanted him to wake up when he had offered, after realizing his mistake, and it had been wonderful to get the chance to share the dreamscape with someone.
This time, at least, his companion into the dreamworld would not find it a surprise - and he is quick to add “But I’m much better at it now, so whenever we’re both tired I can take you!”
And there’s just a small pause before he asks with a crooked grin “How tired are you now?” Was she tired enough that a nap could be needed right now, or should they explore the living world around them a little more in order to reach a point where sleep was possible. Anubias was finding he could almost always nap nowadays, but he is glad that he had not yet visited the dream world yet today so it will be easier for him to drift whenever he tries.
If his excitement over sharing this trick with his friend will settle down enough for him to sleep.
