Private we are only so much apart

salome de la rosa

enough with the lies tell me one
more time my blood your line is this you inside

ight had fallen, and the bat unfurls her wings to take to the sky. She roams to the mountains of Denocte due to habit and she does not allow herself to gain hope. He is long gone. He no longer remains here, not when the whole world was at his disposal.

But still, she dares. She lingers. She breathes in the same air as she did once, long ago. No longer a girl, but not even a woman anymore. A monster. Something foreign, something plaguing the lands of Novus. Not even the sun could stand her, for it burned her at touch. She wanted to feel it again. She wanted to feel some sort of warmth. But this world is cold.

Her hooves clink wordlessly against ground. Her eyes are downcast. So perhaps fate is kind today, and it thinks to throw her a bone. The bat doesn't register it at first. She breathes in the smell, thinking it a memory playing a cruel trick on her. She doesn't want to believe it. But when she looks up through her hooded robe, she sees him.

"Gareth..."

RE: we are only so much apart - Gareth - 01-09-2021

He breathes deep the warm summer air, taking it into his lungs and savoring all the flavours of home. Home… Though he has come to spend his last few years among the civilized folk, the brute will always find the mountains to be his home. The night itself is quiet, the dull buzz and hum of the night creatures a distant sound to his audits. Though he wishes that the visit were for pleasure, this is merely business. His store of hemlock, so carefully kept, had run low. Though it was not an often asked request, he did not like to be caught without supplies. Besides, the types of souls would would dare ask him about the plant would not likely take kind to him spending several days travel to retrieve it for them. They always wanted their “solutions” quickly. He snorted soft through his nares, rolling his eyes a bit.

The large stallion’s companion looked at him quizzically, tilting his lush antlers as bright, nearly feline eyes impressed the question to his mind. “What’s so funny? You know I can’t laugh with you if you don’t share.” The stag shifts his pistons, watching the dappled figure next to him with an understanding.

A smile forms on the pinked maw of equine, his nares crinkling. This time the smile reaches his eyes, which it so rarely does these days. He speaks for the benefit of his bonded companion, the rich tones of his mountain lyrics deep and booming in the otherwise tranquil night. “My apologies, Noor.” He looks to the cluster of branches above them, where a large owl rests, watching the strange pair, the glow of the moonlight casting the predator’s features into shadow.

“I was just thinking about how few people have patience, that’s all.” The stallion looks back to his friend. The stag looks unconvinced, but doesn’t press the issue immediately. They continue their hunt for medicinal items. After all, if they were to make the trip to the mountains they may as well be sure to gather all that they can carry back to their small hovel. The hemlock was really an excuse, though, the bonded knew. The stallion always came back to the mountains at this time of year.

They walked in silence, the glow of Noor’s foliage providing a soft light in the places where the canopy was too thick for the moon to penetrate. Over the years, the stallion’s eyesight had adjusted to wandering the night, though it would never be as good as a creature born to it. Never as good as the owl that followed them curiously from tree to tree. It had no intention to hunt them, but the two figures were rather strange as they made their way across the mountain and it provided entertainment for a while.

“You know,” the stallion spoke slowly, his cannons coming to a stop in a small clearing, crown lifted to the sky. The deep blue was pricked with light like fireflies, and he could almost hear the revelry that would have been taking place had he stayed with his herd. The summer had always been a more joyous time, he thought. Spring carried with it the birth of all things, but Summer? Summer was the fruit of life, the fragrant essence of youth and the culmination of all innocence and belief before the first autumnal breeze shook the foundations and brought all things tumbling down to the reality of life- That it ends. He gave a heavy sigh, his dappled pelt rippling.

“It’s right about the time Salome left with her suitor, is it not?” He brings his attention back to his companion, but the stag is alert and looking into the distant shadows. Every muscle of the elk is coiled, ready to bolt. A chill ripples through Noor’s pelt and he impresses another thought to his friend, so gentle it is nearly a whisper in the stallion’s mind.

“She is here.”

@~~Salome~~ | speaks Noor
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RE: we are only so much apart - Salome - 01-09-2021

salome de la rosa

enough with the lies tell me one
more time my blood your line is this you inside

e does not notice her. She blames the shadows she now calls friend. Hugging to her every curve, resisting as she tries to pull to the light. Even the moon's rays are a burden. Nothing under them are innocent. They warp the mind's of mortal beings, casting long shadows upon the earth. Making them see things that aren't there.

It is Noor that first notices. Bless him, he has grown into a fine one. So many years have passed, but also so few... And she had many, many more ahead of her. But them? They would grow old. They would become slow. Their hairs would grey and their eyes would fail them. She bites back a sigh, wondering how life became so unfair. Back then, it was all open to them. Every dream and detail. She dares to walk closer, making sure she could bolt if need be.

Just a glimpse is all she asks before leaving them be. The bat needs to feed, like any other night. Denying this unnatural thirst was... painful. Even as she glances at old friends, she doesn't see them as they are. She knows the veins pump below heavy coats. The red is there. It flows like water, and it is life. So Salome does not try to stay long. It is better if she is apart from them. But temptation is real. And she is eager to see old friends.

So she slips on a rock, sending it tumbling down to them on the mountain. A slight gasp escapes the robed figure as she recoils, backing into the dark.

RE: we are only so much apart - Gareth - 01-09-2021

What does he mean that she is here? The stallion’s audits twitch, watching his companion for any other signs of explanation. His heart pounds loudly in his chest, the thrum beating staccato in his ears, the pulse squeezing tightly around his heart. Noor was not known to be mistaken on things. He did not say words that were meaningless. He wouldn’t dare play tricks on his friend, knowing how the stallion feels about the mare still, all these years later.

He nearly misses the skittering of the rocks, but the stag is the first to draw attention to the otherwise insignificant calamity. “There,” he points, lifting a piston and bowing his decorated crown, urgency in his words as he presses the thought into the stallion’s mind. “She is there, Gareth, I swear to you.”

The desperation in the elk’s tone brings the stallion out of his stupor. Noor himself would not be the kind to emotionally attach himself to a thought such as this one. No, he was doing it because he knew how much this meant to his beloved friend, and the nervous energy was permeating the air. An electric prickle made its way across the dappled pelt of the stallion.

He took one feathered trunk, lifting it cautiously, taking a step towards the direction the stones had finally settled. He lifts his head, eyes darting, searching the darkness. “Salome?” His voice is but a feather on the wind, and it surprises him how soft it is. He lifts another cannon, and another, and he moves to the edge of the trees, hurried now. “Salome?” He calls again, his vocals thick with hope, his amber pools not able to penetrate the consuming shadows beyond. He paces desperately the same ten steps in front of the clatter that had alerted them to some kind of presence.

Noor watches him, a touch of pity in his bright eyes. Perhaps it was only the sixth sense of an animal born as inherent prey, but there had been something… wrong, with the figure he had felt in the darkness. It had looked, and almost even smelled so much like the mare he had known in his youth. A scent he had always thought of as comforting, was now… bitter. Tinged with a sourness that was not unlike old decay. She had the sense of a predator. But the stag could not relay this to his friend, who came to the mountains always desperately looking for her, even if he would never say such a thing. He was perhaps too noble, and Noor could not bear the thought of disintegrating what little good there was left in Gareth. So he watched as the stallion paced, tossing his head back and forth, calling for the spectre.

“Salome!” The name is shattered on his tongue, desperate and lonely, his throat tight and hot. Something akin to tears threaten to invade his vision, but he does not let them. He hangs his head in defeat, his entire frame shrinks, the moonlight distorting his musculature to look almost sickly. He opens his maw again, lyrics hoarse and raw and pleading. “Please.”

@~~Salome~~ | speaks Noor
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RE: we are only so much apart - Salome - 01-09-2021

salome de la rosa

enough with the lies tell me one
more time my blood your line is this you inside

t wasn't fair. It wasn't right. It was further evidence the world worked against them all. That the gods did not care. Salome backed until she could not back anymore, her hind legs hitting rock. Long ears pressed against her skull, hating how his call was the one good thing to happen to her since she got back. That her name on his voice was sweet.

Bitterness welled into her stomach, bile rose in her throat. Per instinct during her discomfort, she flashes her teeth at him as he nears. But they could easily be mistaken as a subtle light, not a predator's fangs. He cannot see in the dark. She envies that. She wants it for him. Keep Noor close, so he may light the darkness up. Not her Gareth, never her Gareth... never succumb to the shadows.

"Please."

He begs now and she hates it. She doesn't ever want him to do that again, but knows she does not have that right anymore. She left. He remained. They can't ever go back to normal. Stop she wants to say, to pound her hoof into the dirt and tell him to cease. Stop walking toward her. Stop calling her name out. Just leave her alone, it wasn't fair for her to come this close. It wasn't fair to him. "I'm sorry" she says, feeling her tongue thick and useless.

I'm sorry she says again, in her mind.

"I shouldn't have..." she utters to herself mainly, trying to move past the large brute. She comes out of the shadows briefly, a flash of her silver-rose eyes downcast before the bat slips by. It's easier now that she's a skeleton. She doesn't have the weight of the living. No bulk to back up her bones. But she is sturdy, if someone ever was to strike her. She can hold her own. So she slips by, arching around his frame to back away. Acutely aware that Noor could block her at command.

RE: we are only so much apart - Gareth - 01-09-2021

The stallion closes his amber lamplights. Vision has done him no good in this endeavour. He couldn’t see into the thick black even if Noor came to his side. The mountain had always been a devil’s advocate, pushing people to their limits and whispering secrets that the stone kept close to it’s pale breast. Cold, ruthless. It was the very thing that Gareth had sworn that he would protect her from. The mountains can be devious, deceptive. Those stones could have come from miles off, tumbling down, down, down. If she had been there, she could be well gone before he had even the heart to speak out to her. Salome had always been a nimble creature, and it was something that he only faintly envied. His girth, though sturdy and reliable, could not maneuver the peaks as easily as she could. Or at least, as easily as he could remember. Memories are often rose tinted, glittering things taken from reality and placed upon a pedestal.

A shuffle in the treeline, the shadows moving like ink. He hears the motion more than he sees it, his lids sliding open to stare at the harsh ground. He thinks he hears the flutter of lyrics, but he can’t be sure. The stallion strains to hear again, and he misses it, capturing only the faintest wisp of sound. It speaks to him of regret, though if that is merely his own emotion or that of the mountain he is unsure.

Noor watches from behind, eyes locked onto the creature that torments his friend. Even if Gareth cannot see her, the elk knows she is there. Why would she come, after all this time? Why would she come just to lurk and dangle just outside of his reach? But the stag knows why. Because she is a shadow of her former self. Her visit is a selfish reason. But again, so is Gareth’s. The elk shuffles his split daggers, shifting his weight as he follows her fluid movements. The shadow, so delicate, moves around her old companion, skirting him as close as she may dare. The stag knows that she is watching him, a prey aware that a predator knows he is there. He would not stop her. It was not his place to interfere, and he understood that. He would be there to help the stallion pick up the pieces of his broken heart. The stag felt a pang of regret strike his breast. Perhaps he should not have drawn attention to this ghost from their past. But perhaps he, too, missed her.

Gareth catches but a glimpse, but surely it is her. He would know those rose-coloured orbs anywhere. Those galaxies that he wishes every day could swallow him whole. The soft pools that would sparkle when she laughed and danced in the firelight and brought him warmth with nothing more but a glance. But they are hollow now. Empty things, except for a deep sorrow. And then she is gone, fading back to the darkness from whence she came.

The stallion slowly brings himself back to full height, staring after his beloved. His heart aches, and in the distance the lonely howl of a wolf rings through the mountain tops, mourning for him. "Salome," he whispers to the darkness. "Come..." he trails off, the thought lost and hanging in the air, but the intent clear as any.

Come home.

@~~Salome~~ | speaks Noor
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RE: we are only so much apart - Salome - 01-09-2021

salome de la rosa

enough with the lies tell me one
more time my blood your line is this you inside

he is unkind. It was easy to call someone a monster, even oneself, but in that instant she knows she is cruel. To him, to Noor... bless them both. May their gods watch them, for they did not watch her. Breathing in a ragged breath, she is aware he had seen her. Gareth knows it is her but he does not stop her from departing.

She hates him in that moment.

You never fought for me. Even if he cared, he never fought for her. She was as shaken as she had been when she was sold off to a stranger. Feeling dizzy from lack of blood or her emotions, Salome staggered forward. He didn't stop her still. Did he see her slip? Did he feel her emotions? No... and perhaps yes. If he did, would he even try?

Pain beats in her chest. She glances to Noor, the elk she had taken part in raising with Gareth. She starts, pausing. The little calf is grown, yes, but he looks at her warily. No longer with any kindness. Nor love. She flattens her ears again, huffing quietly and moves on. She tries to, but knows she cannot help but come back. She would keep coming back, to this lonely mountain.

"Come..." says Gareth but she ignores him. This is also pain. It's better this way, surely. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry she echoes in her mind. it's my fault. I shouldn't have come here. I should have just left you alone. She knows she is the cause of his breaking and she hates herself now. Without another word to him or Noor, she preapres to step into the darkness again.

But this time, she pauses.

Glancing back, her hood mostly obscures her view. "I still have it" Salome breathes quietly, wondering if he knew what she meant. You were always a piece of me

RE: we are only so much apart - Gareth - 01-10-2021

I still have it

Those words are weapons dipped in a poison made of hope. It strikes the stallion’s heart like a pike in battle. He watches the outline of her form, teasing the edge of his vision, threatening to disappear again.

“Gareth,” Noor’s thoughts are a gentle press to the stallion’s chaotic mind. “Let her go, Gareth…” The elk’s words are true. He has always been a calming voice in the turmoil of the stallion’s world. He has been a steadfast friend and confidant. He has known for years the heartache the brute has lived with, the regret in allowing her to walk away. It angers him, that the stag would tell him to release this spectre now, to free his mind and heart from her.

He looks back to his faintly glowing companion. He seems… afraid of something. Unnerved. The stallion is torn between his two desires. To go to his bonded, his constant, to understand what it is that upsets him so. What is it that has caused him to change his mind so quickly. After all, it was he who drew attention to the mare. If he was going to just tell Gareth to walk away, why tell him of her at all? Confusion passes before the stallion’s amber gaze, and the stag knows without words needing to pass that he will have to answer those questions. The stag bows his head respectfully, waiting to see now what his friend shall do.

The bright splash of Gareth’s features return to the figure cloaked in shadow. He almost loses her again in the darkness, and his heart lurches. It is painful, yes, to see her like this. So unexpected, with so many things that he wishes he could say. But she is a married woman, and he has but himself to blame for that.

“Salome…” He lifts a piston, hesitating. If it is truly her, he would bring the mare into his chest and nuzzle her close. He would hold her the way he has always longed to. But he knows that this is rash, and he needs answers. Clearly she had not wanted to be seen just now. She’s made every effort to distance herself from him, and that pain rubs his heart raw. He sets his hoof down gently, taking a steadying breath.

“Meet me in our place, Salome. When the moon is full, I will be there, waiting for you.” His lanterns search the shadows, hoping for another glimpse of her rose-dusted pools. “Please,” his lyrics are thick, and it is clear that prolonging their meeting is a decision he has not made lightly. “I have so many things to say… But I need time to say them. I think…” he lets out a shaking breath, steadying himself once more before continuing. “I think you may need that time, too.”

He turns from her form, be she spectre or memory, and moves to rejoin Noor in the small clearing. His movements are slow, reluctant, but determined. He nods to the elk, murmuring. The stag bows, glancing to Salome once more before turning with his companion to follow him back into the crags of the mountains and away from this strange place.

@~~Salome~~ | speaks Noor
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RE: we are only so much apart - Salome - 01-10-2021

salome de la rosa

enough with the lies tell me one
more time my blood your line is this you inside

he bat is quiet, wondering why she has said such a thing. Gareth seems visibly confused and hopeful. He tells her to meet him at their spot, when the moon is full. So he could see her. So he could ~~see what a monster~~ see his old friend again. She takes in a ragged breath that she knows is too loud.

But she says nothing to him. Noor does not stop her as she moves again, her figure steady and trying to be regal. Trying to be composed and failing in her mind and heart. She is desperate to cull whatever relationship they had together, both in the past and now. But even she cannot escape temptation. The bat knows it too well, even if it is a relatively new friend compared to Gareth.

"I'll be there" she utters one final time before the dark creeps closer. She goes to it, embraces it and is gone.

/ EXIT