she walked in moondust
and stars were sprinkled in her hair
Something blossomed in her chest; the unmistakable rush of joy and wonder flooding her in an invisible, warm glow. She cherished it — craved it — almost as if she was addicted to the drug that was her undeniable wanderlust. Her basic need to travel was ingrained into every cell, her DNA. She could not ignore the call that had her legs moving, her wings aching to catch the summertide winds blowing from the sea.
Only once had she seen the cliffs in all of her migrations from place to place. Her mother tribe had always been on the move; only to stay in one place for maybe a week, perhaps two or more on a rare occasion. She had seen every nook and cranny of Denocte, every hidden crevice and cave, save for a few. Even the neutral lands were not entirely unknown to her. The other court lands, however.. they remained a tempestuous stranger that whispered to her, ever nudging her in their direction. Since the rise of the new kinglings and queenlings, Aislinn had held her breath; hesitant to answer the call in her blood to roam across the borders. But now.. she pushed down her feelings for too long. Having locked her neediness into a box of obsidian adamant, frozen over until she could relish in her own guilty pleasures at the right moment.
There was no perfect time than now. Her bliss a living, tangible thing that burst forth from it's cage in the far reaches of her mind. She had rushed out of the sleeping castle of Night like the storm she was, surrendering to her need to be free.
Wildness coursed through her veins, the sweet victory of retreating from her newfound life in Court like honey on her tongue. The stormsinger had galloped through the rest of the slumbering hours Calligo ruled; until at last, she slowed, her pace faltering as she neared the edge of the world. Rocks tumbled under her hooves, falling over the sudden edge of the crag and into the raging fathoms below. Hot air blew through her nostrils as she panted, catching her breath, the first licks of glimmering sunlight stretching across the open sea as the sun yawned awake. A slick layer of sweat had her coat shining, her starlight-colored mane fluttering in the ocean breeze in a lovely, tangled mess. Aislinn smiled, relishing the moment, azure orbs matching her own happiness as dawn began to break.
This is what she lived for; what she craved. Her soul sang as she stood there on the toe's edge of the cliff, adrenaline flooding her. Finally.. somewhere sweet and new; somewhere she had not ever been before.
"It is beautiful, is it not?" A melodic greeting carried upon the winds toward the Stormsinger as the Sun began his sovereignty, illuminating the morning with pleasant pastel hues. His words are laced in the sweet smell of Roses and Chocolate Cosmos, dutifully braided into the cascading banners of starlight against his neck. Soothing fragrances made to calm the soul, gentle in its invisible caress against the senses. A lover's chaste kiss at sunset.
At this hour all is peaceful, perfect for those who lingered between Worlds. The weary and the troubled, restless souls whose minds betrayed their hearts and vice versa. It is the hour of the lamenting, just as the hour of twilight is the hour of the broken. There are secrets and confessions in these hours, leaving lips like prayers — desperate for absolution and solace.
Yes, Isorath knows these hours only too well. One of many with a fragmented heart between a cage of golden thorns, suspended by precarious silk tendrils.
He is silent in his approach, broad wings tucked beneath the trailing warmth of tulle and silk, constellations twinkling in the morning light, diamond eyes as majestic and serene as the stars themselves upon Calligo's ethereal bodice. The morning chill nips at his frame, and instinctively the leathery appendages pulled tighter against his scaled form, taloned fingers hugging the insides of the luxurious fabric.
The sound of Ocean waves and the tempest of the morning wind reached his ears, and the Sage could not deny the faint brush of a smile against his pale muzzle. It lasts for a moment, like a ghost in the fog, it's gone again. A breath against the wind, a moment lost to times codex. Instead, there is a melancholic note upon the sharp contours of his face, the glittering crystals and strands of golds doing little to distract from it's presence. He stilled beside the Stormchild, lavender pools taking in her windswept and sweat kissed visage.
The very essence of the wild and untamed storms at sea, beneath an inky canvas.
"Aislinn, wasn't it? What brings you to the edge of the World?" The Sage asked, recalling her name from when he had met her upon the storm torn hills in the rain. There had been promises whispered to those sacred winds that night, he briefly wondered how their conquest to be better had faired. There's no obligation for her to answer his question, though, there never is whenever the winged Kirin spoke without fire in his lungs. Isorath had long learned that questions outside of stone walls, while often asked with the best intentions, had dire consequences. They lead places one would either too gladly go, or find themselves lost within a maelstrom they couldn't find the end of. He himself, had been folly once or twice, and had quickly learned that nonchalance and passing inquisitiveness often diverted such precarious choices.
Better to ask without consequences and chains, and let the receiver decide to take the leap into the unknown
she walked in moondust
and stars were sprinkled in her hair
Her blood was thrumming in her veins, her gypsy heart beating with the steady drums of waves crashing against the cliffs far below her. She was wondrously lost in thought and pure bliss; her soul softly glowing as ice-blue orbs took in the pastel skies and ocean that stretched as far as she could see. Aislinn was a thunderstorm and starlight bound and woven into flesh and bone; a nomad, warrior woman who desired nothing more than to travel, to explore. She was a child who longed for the knowledge and ecstasy of discovering new places, of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.
It is beautiful, is it not?
She blinks, her gaze light and shining as it lands upon the beautiful kirin joined at her side. He, a man crafted of moonbeams and golden scales. His handsomeness defined him well, his mane the same bright ivory of a burning star as her own, as she watched his orbs of lavender take in the sight of her. Aislinn recalled him, for how could she forget? Their meeting was fate-bound and written in the skies; on a night of chaos and raging storms that ravaged the same sea that crashed madly below them now. He had been shining then, like a beacon of light in the darkness gathering from the ocean, as he was almost glowing now in the morning hues dancing across the dawn-touched sky. A pure, genuine smile tugged her lips upwards as she dipped her gaze of blue in greeting to the winged kirin. "Nothing is more beautiful than nature's creations, don't you think?"
Aislinn, wasn't it? What brings you to the Edge of the World?
Her smile grew wider as happiness flooded her, reaching the bright blue of her eyes. She curled her wings closer to her body, warmth touching her where the waking sun began to dapple across her ebony skin. Carefully craning her neck forward, she toed the cliff's edge, just like she had on that night when the rain had fallen in thick sheets and lightning had crackled across the sky in swords of white light. Her heart thundered as she remembered the promises made on that very cliff; for they were stormchildren. Mighty and beautiful within the eye of the storm and discord of wickedly lovely things.
She peered below her, at the waves beating against the smooth stone of the cliffs, sea foam reaching for the heavens with each angry cry of the ocean. "Yes, it is," she replies, her voice soft and lulling as the sea lapping against a shore, "I desire for adventure and exploration.. it is a thirst I cannot quench."
Aislinn's gaze flickered upwards, to regard the man with skin of shining pearls at her side and his eyes of deep amethyst. "Isorath, if I remember correctly, yes?"
So rare was it to find those who still found the beauty in the wildness of creation, too many these days simply did not stop to take it all in and others, well they sought to tame it for their own purpose. An easy life where they were master over things which should never be shackled. But what fun was that, truly? Where was the thrill in sailing the skies on smooth currents? Give him the howling wind and the crack of lightning overhead, give him the feel of raindrops rolling off of his pale skin as he danced beneath the light of the moon.
Let him be a contradiction, perfection in the eye of the storm, brilliant and untouchable. The comet that blazed across the star streaked sky as it wept rain and roared thunder.
Together they stand in the morning rays, different but very much the same. She the night, and he the moon. It's different than their initial meeting, far less chaos for them to be swept away in it's all consuming arms, an embrace that would make even the most stone hearted weak. There are no more confessions swallowed by the howling wind and crashing ocean, no others that stand beside them. Just the two of them at the waking of the world, side by side, eyes cast out over the glittering ocean. A beautiful, melancholic scene for the artists to one day replicate. "No there isn't." He agreed whole-heartedly, his voice musical as it carried on the breeze. "There is nothing in this World that can compare to the Goddesses creations."
Her movement drew his gaze, inquisitiveness lining his iris. There could be a hundred different thoughts running through the Stormsinger's mind, such was the nature of the Storm. But what thought swirled in that vortex the most? Cloven hooves shifted in place before he rested his hind left delicately on it's split points. Content to let the silence stretch between them, he would not force her to respond to him if she did not want to. Sometimes words were not enough to articulate the innerworkings of the soul, or the troubles which lingered in dreams and the corners of the mind. Still, it instilled something within his breast, a flicker of light. An impulse. Isorath shifted once more as his wings revealed themselves from beneath the mist coloured cloak wrapped around his porcelain frame.
"Adventure and exploration? Terrastella has plenty of that to those bold enough to search." He repeated fondly, eyes half-lidded as a smile dared to ghost it's way across his sharp features. Hadn't that been him once? How he had fought with fire and fury, in order to taste freedom beyond the gilded chains of his homeland? It had burned him in the end, like Icarus flying too close to the sun, his wings had burned to ash and he had plummeted. Down and down he had tumbled, until he lay shattered on the stone floor, the gold of his soul bleeding into the marble cracks as he burned.
"Yes it is." He responded, there's distance in his voice. The kind that lets another know his thoughts have caught up with him, threatening to pull him look from this plane. Until it snapped back with one powerful stroke of his wings which sent him careening over the cliff's edge with a breathless laugh. His long tail swept through the grass and into the air with a weightless stroke, sending the starlit strands scattering into the breeze like the moon's banners. Like a comet he descended, the crash of the ocean in his ears punctuated by the whistle of the wind.
Closer and closer the jagged rocks inch, the spray can almost caress his face.
But he isn't afraid, oh no, he exalts as his wings catch the wind and send him upwards. He ascended, wild and alive in nature's aerie. "We should make the most of the morning, Stormsinger." He called as he hovered a short distance from the cliff edge, beckoning to her to take wing. "Wrap our troubles in exploration and adventure, while there is still time to be free."
she walked in moondust
and stars were sprinkled in her hair
Adventure and exploration? Terrastella has plenty of that to those bold enough to search.
She watches, gaze widening in shock as he tumbles over the edge. Aislinn rushes forward, loose pebbles crumbling beneath her hooves. Her own wings snapping open as she witnesses him fall towards the deep blue sea. Waves reaching heavensward to grab him, but instead, Isorath's wings burst open, a porcelain beacon in the morning light as he soars. A smile flirts with her own lips as icy orbs warm at the sight, the ocean breeze galloping towards her dancing with her, cradling her. A stormborn star that wished to launch herself into the sky as well. She shifted, nostrils flaring, as he caught the wind and fluttered in the air not several feet from where she stood. The glimmer of his violet eyes bright in the light dancing off of the sea, matching the wild of her own.
We should make the most of the morning, stormsinger. Wrap our troubles in exploration and adventure, while there is still time to be free.
The kirin beckoned to her, the flap of those great wings a most wondrous sound in her ears. A song of rushing wind with each beat of those wings, in tune with the crash and roar of the ocean far below. The sea breeze teased her hair, flirting with each of her feathers as she unfurled her own wings to their full span; the stretch of her muscles sending sweet tingles down her spine and to the tips of every plume. A smile tugged at her lips, and for once, she did not try to hide her own joy, her own happiness. Isorath silently reached out to her, and she felt that maybe he understood a simple part of her that not many did not. How nature and beauty and freedom called to her; an insatiable hunger for adventure. A calling for movement, of discovery. Something primal and built into every molecule of her being. A gypsy, a nomad, and a wanderer in her very heart. Her soul.
So she grinned, wide and wickedly, as she slipped off of the stone of the cliff face. Once before, the gypsy woman had fallen over the edge, tumbling towards the fathoms below. But now, she snapped open her wings, the air catching her as she swooped up and hung suspended in the air at the golden-white man's side. Her orbs flashing brightest blue, a gleam of wonder and burning shining there as she looked at him sidelong. "Let us have an adventure then; show me the kingdom that dances with both the sun and moon." Laughter bubbled in her throat, a musical sound that rippled along the wind that cocooned them both in the autumn sky. The color of dusty roses and warm yellows chasing away the night as the sun slowly yawned awake. Each drop of sunlight soaking into the ebony of her skin and glowing the edges of the white of her mane, and he.. The dawn sun flirted with the pure ivory of his coat, taking her breath away as her gaze flickered over to her company. Gilded and shining in gold and moondust.
She wondered then about the ethereal makings of this stormchild who flew at her side. What lay hidden beneath the amethyst of his eyes and the jeweled white-gold chains. Her heart simply swelled, curious, as her smile grew and Aislinn cast away the thoughts that intruded in her mind. Today was not the day of story-telling, but of adventure. Sweet, untamed adventure and exploration of a Court that lay in equal balance between day and night, Solis and Calligo. Ironic, how together they are almost mirror images of those gods. He, a bright and shining beacon of light; and she, an obsidian shadow touched by stars.
The stormsinger would not let anything ruin such a lovely, glorious thing. Her grin crooked upwards, lopsided and wild. Giving in to her own guilty pleasure. No longer a warrior woman, a Champion. Duty cast aside for a moment, allowing herself something sweeter and better than any drug.
"After you," the stormsinger says boldly, her voice almost lost in the screaming winds and the laughter that tugs at every word that touches her lips.
@isorath I'm not to proud of this post, I'm sorry love :( I probably shouldn't write while sleep deprived xD "Aislinn speech."
It had been a long, long time since he had given into wild impulse. It's as refreshing as sea spray against too hot skin, the wild wind whipping through too long hair and the crackle of lightning in the distance. It's a spark in his blood which ignited like fire starved. How good it was to let go, to strike the shackles from his spirit, to chase the sun with someone who posessed the storm in her veins and lightning in her eyes. The smile on his face is liberated, his breath timed with the thunder crack of his wings.
Lavender peered into Blue, waiting with baited breath for the Stormsinger to join him.
Yes, they could chase the dawn and leave their troubles behind, for now. It took him back to Vectaeryn, the mornings he tumbled off of the tower balconies with Sabine and Tiberius at his side. They had been free then, wild, reckless. Untamed storms in skin and feathers. They'd screamed into the wind and the wind howled back, the sound of leather wings overhead as dragon's coiled and descended around them in their morning ritual. There had been no broken hearts and war banners in those days, the fire had burned so brightly. A sun within his chest that refused to let the clouds obscure it's brilliance. Isorath had not crashed into the earth then.
Thoughts for another time, his mind whispered, think of the now. Now was the breathless laugh that rolled off his tongue when Aislinn finally joined him. A valkyrie spreading her wings and an eagle soaring. Now was a time for happiness to also unfurl it's wings and shelter them beneath it's winged shadow. There would be no demons and broken hearts in the sky this morning, no banshee's on the wind and ghouls in the crags of the steep rocks. Just wild abandon, two souls that understood the wanderlust of life. Adventure had sent Isorath down this road once before, it was time to reconnect with the essence of it all.
No shackles. No fractures. No tears.
"Can you keep up? Our dance is a fast paced, exhilarating one, stormchild." Isorath retorted with a smirk, eyes alight and alive in the morning rays as he watched her. Here she is in her element, that much he can see. They both are. She is a daughter of night, Calligo's loving brush has painted her in all the shades of night and the storms at sea. In the light of the morning she does not pale or wither away until Dusk chased the Day away. She is as striking as she was in the Night of the Storm. Sea Smoke and Night's tapestry made flesh and blood.
His tail coiled in elegant arcs beneath him, catching the light and painting it upon the scales which lined his body. They glowed in these hours, glittered in all the shades of gold. Molten and polished, their textured and smooth surfaces magnificent. He wasted no more time the moment her words reached his ears, muted by the whistling winds. Stories could wait for the adventure to be done, when they're warming their bodies in the safety of stone walls and their insides with tea.
"If you insist." And with that, his wings snapped back to his body. Down again he descended, gathering the wind's speed and grace before they stretched outward again. One hoof skimmed the surf of the sea as he chased the waves, as the very tips of his wings occasionally pressed kisses into the waters. Neck thrown into an elegant arched, lilac eyes peered upward toward the figure of the mare, checking to see if she followed close behind. Together they would explore and root out the secrets of Terrastella, find her stories and her memories. Starting with the edge of Vespera's embrace.
she walked in moondust
and stars were sprinkled in her hair
The air that flirted with her wings, dancing with each feather and plume as she floated in the dawn light, sent shivers of excitement down her spine and into the core of her very bones. Her body was a sliver of Shadow itself; a carved piece of starlight and Calligo's darkness, hanging in the balance above the sea. At her side, a man who shared a common bond with she. Stormchildren, born of wildness and thunder and untamed beauty. Together, they were not chained to the ground, but let loose in the sky. Unbound by duty, for once in too long; allowing a moment of wanderlust. Adventure. Something truly divine that neither of them could deny themselves of it any longer. Not for another moment.
Can you keep up?
A wicked, knowing smile blossomed across her face, reaching up to her eyes and igniting the blue of her orbs in liquid fire. The lavender of his eyes was bright; gleaming amethyst gems that stared back at her with so many words, unspoken and understood. Her gaze took in the sight of him. How the sunbeams tasted the moonlight of his skin and each lovely scale glittered in gold. Words failed her then, not even a whisper of them on her lips as she simply inclined the crown of her head. Her mane falling in wisps around her, a halo of stardust and ink. She would be the smoke and shadow to him, a beacon of light shining in the morning rays.
If you insist.
He plummeted, and she followed, her wings snapping close to her body as she fell like a cold star to the earth. Below her, the Child of Dusk dove for the sea, waves of shimmering blue and pink rushing towards them like a wall of salt and brine. Aislinn's wings fluttered open to their full span, her hooves dancing along ocean's surface. Saltwater sprayed at her underbelly, her legs, her lips coated in salt and the taste of joyous tears that have fallen from her eyes. Icy and wonderful, the air cocooned them in grace and light the color of desert roses. A blessing it was, to be gifted the ability to soar, to fly. Laughter bubbled in her throat. The happiness showering her in a warm autumn glow so so precious, despite the pain that had shriveled a part of her own heart and soul.
But today.. today she would not let a shred of her past heartache take root in her. She refused to let it fester, to take a hold of her and choke her of air. Instead, she gulped in the sea, and each drop of sunlight that touched the ebony of her skin. And her eyes.. her eyes were fixated on the man who flew at her side. Show me your homeland, stormchild. The smile that tugged at her lips true, as she swooped forward like a spear of Night as dawn rose above the break in the horizon.
@isorath I absolutely adore our thread my dear <3 I'm sorry in advance if this post reads weird at all.. I'm sick and I shouldn't write while sneezing my brains out xD But I couldn't help myself haha "Aislinn speech."
