09-08-2021, 09:16 AM
Every time they spoke it felt like their dynamic was changing. At the beginning there’d been fire between them, now it feels like a strained friendship. Cheri thought that their conversation in the meadow had done them some good, brought them closer to one another if only for the purpose of burying old bones, but in honesty she wondered if Obscene’s tolerance of her only extended as far as her debt. She owed him an immeasurable sum and Cheri wasn’t sure if she’d made the right choice by doing so; regardless, she was a mare of her word.
His answer broke her train of thought. “You were trying to fix something?” She wondered, “well aren’t we all.” Cheri kept her mouth firmly shut. That was not the response he wanted.
“Every power has its limit.” She offered her wisdom, since he’d asked. More directly she could’ve said no, that she’d never encountered a subject she couldn’t heal, but the number of horses or creatures Cheri hadn’t tried to save were significantly more than the number of horses or creatures she had fixed. There was always room for doubt and failure.
Again, she assumed that wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, and what he tells her next is something Cheri could’ve gone without knowing as well - but looking back on this moment she’ll be grateful for it. His honesty, that is.
“Twins.” She whispered. A common occurrence in Beqanna. Cheri was actually a twin herself; she tried to imagine her life without Reynard in it and the false reality she concocted left her feeling a miniscule fraction of the pain Obscene must be living with constantly. It wasn’t pleasant. To lose one’s child… to watch it happen and feel powerless to do anything about it. “How utterly heartbreaking.” Cheri swallowed.
She didn’t want to, but she was sympathizing with Obscene. Of course there was the backlash that came with it: Obscene was a father - that stung. Did that make Aela the mother? Cheri doubted the palomino had a motherly bone in her body, even if miracles existed. So another mare, then?
Anger, confusion, compassion and melancholy; all of Cheri’s emotions blended together like the storm coming in on the horizon, and the sky broke apart into winter’s rain as she tried to control the turbulence roiling inside of her. “Every time,” she thought, “every time I think good of him, he reminds me why I shouldn’t.” Her expression darkened. Obscene’s personal problems were not hers to fix, she should leave this place and only return on official duty, but when Cheri moved to try and get out from under the rain and out from underneath Obscene’s cloud of despair she found her body unwilling.
The better side of herself refused to be ignored. She wished it were dead, this kindness in her heart that made such a fool out of her time and time again.
“Obscene… sometimes there are things even magic can’t fix.” She tried to speak reason into his head, though she doubted he would listen. A grieving parent’s love was no match for sanity, it defied logic. “But if you’re wanting to go down some dark paths, then I insist you let me help.” Cheri muttered through the rain, pulling her wings tighter to her sides to keep the warmth from escaping her body.
She told herself it was in her own best interests to help keep the Pampas Prince out of too much trouble if he was (as she assumed) looking for ways to raise the dead. Loess had grown accustomed to her southern neighbor and replacing him would be impossible. She told herself that helping him was not only her sovereign duty but a necessary evil. It was not because she cared about him, Cheri reasoned with her conscious.
It was what any friend would do.
His answer broke her train of thought. “You were trying to fix something?” She wondered, “well aren’t we all.” Cheri kept her mouth firmly shut. That was not the response he wanted.
“Every power has its limit.” She offered her wisdom, since he’d asked. More directly she could’ve said no, that she’d never encountered a subject she couldn’t heal, but the number of horses or creatures Cheri hadn’t tried to save were significantly more than the number of horses or creatures she had fixed. There was always room for doubt and failure.
Again, she assumed that wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, and what he tells her next is something Cheri could’ve gone without knowing as well - but looking back on this moment she’ll be grateful for it. His honesty, that is.
“Twins.” She whispered. A common occurrence in Beqanna. Cheri was actually a twin herself; she tried to imagine her life without Reynard in it and the false reality she concocted left her feeling a miniscule fraction of the pain Obscene must be living with constantly. It wasn’t pleasant. To lose one’s child… to watch it happen and feel powerless to do anything about it. “How utterly heartbreaking.” Cheri swallowed.
She didn’t want to, but she was sympathizing with Obscene. Of course there was the backlash that came with it: Obscene was a father - that stung. Did that make Aela the mother? Cheri doubted the palomino had a motherly bone in her body, even if miracles existed. So another mare, then?
Anger, confusion, compassion and melancholy; all of Cheri’s emotions blended together like the storm coming in on the horizon, and the sky broke apart into winter’s rain as she tried to control the turbulence roiling inside of her. “Every time,” she thought, “every time I think good of him, he reminds me why I shouldn’t.” Her expression darkened. Obscene’s personal problems were not hers to fix, she should leave this place and only return on official duty, but when Cheri moved to try and get out from under the rain and out from underneath Obscene’s cloud of despair she found her body unwilling.
The better side of herself refused to be ignored. She wished it were dead, this kindness in her heart that made such a fool out of her time and time again.
“Obscene… sometimes there are things even magic can’t fix.” She tried to speak reason into his head, though she doubted he would listen. A grieving parent’s love was no match for sanity, it defied logic. “But if you’re wanting to go down some dark paths, then I insist you let me help.” Cheri muttered through the rain, pulling her wings tighter to her sides to keep the warmth from escaping her body.
She told herself it was in her own best interests to help keep the Pampas Prince out of too much trouble if he was (as she assumed) looking for ways to raise the dead. Loess had grown accustomed to her southern neighbor and replacing him would be impossible. She told herself that helping him was not only her sovereign duty but a necessary evil. It was not because she cared about him, Cheri reasoned with her conscious.
It was what any friend would do.
@Obscene