and who cares if i'm coming back alive
so what, at least i had the strength to fight
too much, too much, too much, too much
is never enough
so what, at least i had the strength to fight
too much, too much, too much, too much
is never enough
Far far below her, Dusk breathes to life; a sleeping dragon that awoke from the slumber of grey winter, under the fading light of the sun above. She soars through the icy winds that were chased along the waves of the sea; each swoop of her wings cocooning her in snowfall and clouds. The sky was an uncommon riot of color with the promise of spring, all deep umber and violet and shocks of red as bright as the blood in her veins. She revels in the heavens as she flies; the tickle of frost on her feathers a most welcome bite of cold, and the kiss of sea spray on her legs cool against her burning skin. The stormsinger whirls, tucking her wings in close, as if she can paint the skies herself with the paintbrush of her mane, before her wingspan snaps open and she ascends the great cliff face of Terrastella.
Bonfires flicker to life along the edge of the world, reaching skywards in licks of flame and woodsmoke and cinnamon. Her nostrils flare with each hidden undertone that fills her lungs as she circles the revelry below. Spices and sugar and drink, and the sweet perfume of pine and snow. The strong salt and brine wind from the sea at her back. Each inhale brings with it a new sensation, and with it, a twist of emotion akin to hurricanes. This land is not as foreign to her now as she once believed. For these cliffs, these hidden alabaster stones beneath the snow.. they have tasted her tears, her sorrow, her anguish. They are no stranger to her own regrets, her nightmares, her betrayal.
And once again, she has returned to these same stones. No matter how hard she tries.. she cannot stay away. A ribbon has been tied around her heart, tugging, relentless — a pull that draws her here. Again and again.
Her hooves dance along the earth as she lands in a flurry of snow that swirls around her legs and tosses the fine threads of her mane. Crystals cling to her as she stills — a breathing star map beneath the discord of colors staining the sky above her. Under the setting sun, she is so so alive. For every second that her heart still beats, the darkness of her goddess grows. A gathering of shadows and stardust and ink that steadily claim the heavens in splotches, like a spilled pot of paint over a canvas. And with it.. the waking of stars.
Too long had she been away from her kingdom of stars and smoke; but also, not away long enough. She is a gypsy, after all; a wandering heart, a nomadic soul. Unbound by physical boundaries and forever a tempest to the breeze that calls her next adventure. But she did not leave her homeland for mere adventure or whim; but something that struck a seed of darkness far inside her. A pain that gnawed and cleaved her open. A raw kind of agony who wears a crown of stars and writhes in shadows and smoke. A man who's skin is kissed by the very same darkness she holds dear; no matter the havoc that has been caused in its wake.
The Rahilah Maiden, and stormsinger to the Court of Dreams, did not run from her kingdom because a phantom wind sang to her in lullabies. The storm in her has taken root; a monster slowly clawing at her insides, threatening, more prevalent with each passing day. In her time away, she realized that the demon might have a name; but she dared not breath life to such things, although the thought never left her. Once upon a time, each breath that graced her lips was his name; each heartbeat was the whisper of his kiss on her wing. She believed that there was a string of fate that tied them together; for she had seen all the signs. She had left for a reason; the linger of her broken heart still kindling deep in her chest. A ghostly pain that shattered with the beats of the organ, like a sword of starlight twisting in between the curves of her ribs. And suddenly, she realized that maybe her demons were all one and the same.
Her pain is a manifested beast; a shadow that not even her beloved goddess could make clear. At the earth's edge, she hangs over the balance of falling into the sea, like she had once done many moons ago. The rush is her escape, a temporary release that fights the darkness rooted in her core. Instead of tumbling, she waits, her gaze on the ascension of the moon as darkness falls. As the stars begin to glimmer, Calligo holds her stormchild close; wrapping her in a blanket of shadows as stardust begins to fall, clinging to her skin. The deep ebony of her coat brings out the gauze of silver that twinkles along her lithe frame, and suddenly, she has become a breathing night sky. A true Child of the Night, and daughter of darkness. And only when the stardust follows her, bringing with it a comfort of her goddess's blessing — despite her faults — does Aislinn melt into the festival.
Her legs pull her elsewhere, through the crowds of party goers that pulse at her sides and lounge on the pillows overlooking the sea. Heat sends shivers along her spine where she walks too close to the pyres, only to glaze over with frost as she steps further from light's embrace. The night sings to her, calls to her, in a way that the sun could never touch. Aislinn is too much a mistress of war, too much a tempest of the secrets that come out to play when Calligo takes over the skies. She thinks of this comfort as she moves like a wraith, until her gaze falls on a familiar figure. A man who embodies the stars and shadows and smoke that felled their skies.
She did not come back entirely empty handed.
The storm in her cracks and sizzles; lightning lacing in her blood and the bright blue of her eyes are gemstones that shine in the dark. Each step draws her closer and closer, until all at once, she stops, the coins at her neck tinkling softly at the movement. Inhaling, she raises her chin, as her lips form the name that has haunted her for too long. The same name that also brings with it a salvation that she cannot begin to understand. Her voice is a whisper of thunder and words left unsaid as she remembers to breathe.
"Reichenbach."
@reichenbach -screams- ahhh i'm too excited omg here you go babe ♡ ps. this turned into a book, I wasn't planning on this
"Aislinn speech."
