"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
i was born in the arms of imaginary friends,
free to roam; made a home out of everywhere i've been.
»«
The small palomino was shifting to that of a palomino dandelion fluff. The girl had not yet truly experienced winter but so far so good! The snow provided endless hours of play (and after being left in the den for God knows what!) Maribel has adapted to entertaining herself quite well. As you can see, just look over your right shoulder, you'll see her currently trying to make a snow angel...I emphasize trying.
Lately though, Maribel had been experimenting with her color changing abilities. One moment she would be a vivid purple, at other times she would change to the purest white to hide amongst the fresh snow then suddenly leap out and startled the creatures who did not hibernate in the Tundra. And at this very moment, she decided to shift her coat to that of a blazing sunset. The tips of her ears a gray blue as her head is that if a deep red followed by a lush orange, a lemony yellow, to a whipped chiffon till her hooves were an almost blinding white (but currently the snow hid that). But as the pale blue eyes looked over the winder capped land she realized that she was a bit lonely...well a bit more than lonely but she didn't really know the difference. The filly decided to call out to see if anyone was out there. With all her strength and a super puffed out chest she lets out the strongest, mightiest, most serious -squeak- ever...
With a small shrug of her shoulders she figures it's better than nothing and the child waits for a reply, any reply.
BROTHER, LET ME BE YOUR FORTRESS, WHEN THE NIGHT WINDS ARE DRIVING ON.
I CAN BE THE ONE TO LIGHT YOUR WAY; I WILL BRING YOU HOME.
He cannot explain the warmth that surrounds his heart when he sees such a youthful display of innocence - it brings the promise of new memories and the return of old, fond ones, which usually lie dormant so deeply within the recesses of his mind. He allows himself to surrender to these emotions in her presence, as she is a child and stoicism is not necessary. She always looks to him with such unadulterated eagerness that he cannot deny her even the faintest of smiles or the softest touch to her hip.
She is so in awe of the world around her and so purely curious that it reminds him of the littlest things in life that he has since allowed to move around him without a second glance. The soft crackle and pop of a broken twig beneath the frosty layer of ice on the flatland floor, or the whistling of the wind as she bounds and sprints against it.
He observes her from the shadows of the mid-afternoon light, as the sun begins to sink down below the horizon, painting the snow-trodden land in an eye catching array of colors. She seems to be mimicking it, becoming a brilliant shade of violet, and then the purest shade of white - brilliant and gleaming in the dying light. She emits a sound that evokes a deep, guttural laughter from the depths of his throat, and he pulls himself from the shadows, pressing his long, thick legs forward as he closes the gap between them.
He has been gone far too long, but he has left her to the care of others who he knew would watch after her for him in his absence. She is his, though, wholly, and a regretful pang aches in his chest.
He had been amiss too long. He would not spend so much time away, he promised himself, as he stepped beside her and leaned down to affectionately nudge and nip at her tangled mane, tugging a few wayward twigs and leaves from it. "That was quite a roar, Maribel," He muses with another low chuckle, nudging her cheek now. "I heard you clear across the valley. I am impressed."
04-02-2016, 07:33 PM (This post was last modified: 04-02-2016, 07:35 PM by isle.)
hold my hand, it's a long way down to the bottom of the river
She joins them from across the way, toddling awkwardly through the snow drifts with her pregnant belly swinging from side to side. It didn’t seem possible that she could grow any larger than this, and yet the mornings came and went and still, nothing. She didn’t worry that something might be wrong though, not when she could feel the child moving inside her, could feel tiny hooves poking at her belly when she moved around too much. It had been an odd feeling at first, to have something living in her belly, but it was a sensation she had quickly come to love. At nights when she could not sleep, on long days when Offspring had to tend to Kingdom related issues, she could simply stand and count with a soft smile the number of times the child shifted inside her.
With a gentle smile etched across the bright and pale of her pink lips, she closed the distance between herself and the pair, settling close to Offspring. But for once she did not immediately reach out to taste the winter on his skin, the dust in his fur. She was struck instead by the softness of the expression stretched across his heavy head while he watched this bright child, his daughter, playing in the snow. This moment seemed to stretch on forever and she greedily traced the slack lines of his face, the way the shadows seemed to fade from his crimson eyes. Even his smile was different when he watched the girl, Maribel, she guessed from what he had told her a few days ago. A thought struck her, a fleeting curiosity as she found herself wondering if he had been a father before. This felt too natural to be something new, but then, it seemed there was little that did not come easily to him. With a quick shake of her small head the thought was gone, it did not matter right now.
Easing a little closer to both, though still a little reluctant to interrupt this moment, this memory she knew she would look back on fondly for a long time to come, she came to stand beside Offspring. She recalls the bleating cry as the girl had called out into the echo of the quiet Tundra, a roar Offspring had called it, and Isle smiles again. “Offspring, did you hear that?” She says and her dark eyes twinkle conspiratorially despite not feeling as adept at this as he was, and then with a feigned frown that deepened the soft wrinkles around her pale mouth, “I’m afraid your Tundra might have lions.”
i was born in the arms of imaginary friends,
free to roam; made a home out of everywhere i've been.
»«
Honestly, the little one is absolutely SHOCKED when daddy pony tells her that he heard her. The small chest puffs up as much as possible and the small skull lifts high as she smiles. "Gonna be like you, dahdee." The tiny palomino moves and rubs against his chest like a little golden kitten when the super duper pretty mare comes over. Maribel's attention is immediately drawn to the nice to look at face as she stares not so subtly with big ole blue eyes. "You heard me TOO?" An even bigger grin crosses her childish features as she laughs and bounds over to the brown lady.
"I like you!" The small voice declares rather forcefully as she stares at Isle then looks back to her father before scooting over to the mare and proceeding to rub her cheek against her chest. "Dahdee, is this mama?" She looks up and over her shoulder at the massive stallion. "Cause I like her." And so the child has decided, in her mind, enthralled with the dark dappled woman.
Plus she smells good and is warm and is pretty and is nice and is pretty and is brown and she is-
