IPOMOEA
she said lay me down in golden dandelions
E
very minute felt like an hour, and with every stone and pebble he moved it became more and more obvious that Po was not used to manual labor. It did not take much time at all for sweat to dampen his flanks and shoulders, a trickle of it running down his face. His flower crown was askew, many of the petals wilted and missing pieces, his mane beginning to come out of his careful braids and becoming a frizzy mess. Still, he toiled alongside the other regimes, having given up hope of moving the trees and resigning himself to digging his way out—literally.
”I don’t understand!” he wanted to cry out, affording himself a sidelong look at the prone and inanimate statue. His entire life he had believed himself blessed by the gods—blessed to be carried out of Solterra as a babe, blessed to find such kind traveling merchants to shelter him, blessed to be nursed back to health by Grainne and to find Odet and to find a home and purpose within the Dawn Court. The gods had only ever been kind to him—or so he had thought. This meeting, along with Tempus’ enigmatic statements and the arguing that had commenced above them, none of it made sense to him. It made his heart and heart ache.
He did a double take at the statue. ”It’s eyes…” The wind whispered through the trees as the statue began to glow once more, and Ipomoea stopped all pretense of his work.
And then the trees began to shrink, bending for the god in a way that they never would for Po.
He took a tentative step forward, watching as those glowing eyes went blank once more. All around him the Regimes echoed his confusion, and made their exits, saying their goodbyes and taking their leaves. Po continued to stare at Tempus, taking one slow step after step closer until he stood right at the statue, a scrutinizing frown on his face.
And then he turned and followed Somnus and Orion, still silent as he stepped through the opening and weaved between the saplings. He made sure to brush his wings against each as he passed, feeling their thrumming energy and reliving the events through them. They sang to him sweetly, a soft goodbye that sharply contrasted the events of the meeting. He pressed his shoulder softly into Somnus’.
He wasn’t walking for long before a familiar blue bird came winging through the air at him in a flurry of wind and feathers.
Ipomoea had only enough time to stop and prepare himself before Odet barreled into him, his small mass striking him like a bullet. There was a minute of confusion, the appaloosa simply standing there and allowing his bonded to flit around him from nose to tail, withers to hooves, checking him over for cuts or bruises or anything amiss.
Satisfied that his bonded was unharmed, the songbird settled himself happily between Po’s ears, taking his rightful place at his crown of flowers. “I’m happy to see you, too.” Odet replied with a series of small chirps, nesting deeper into his forelock. He was home.
Only then did Ipomoea continue to follow Somnus. He knew there would be many conversations behind closed doors to come, as well as an address to their people… but first, he just wanted to see Messalina.
@everyone | "speaks" | notes: po is out <3
