Kindred craved something different, yet oh-so familiar. The touch of maw against flesh, the warmth of breath against a pelt... Maybe even the tickling of feathers against her withers. Comfort and protection against the terrors of her mind in the form of another creature. ”Wren...” she whispered, moving towards the island of snow, but her sister’s name just became entangled in the wind – carried off to some unknown land, never to reach anyone’s ears.
Oh, how long had she been searching for that obsidian pelt... the yin to her yang. The sisters had never been truly apart for long and most certainly not like this. It pulled at her heart strings and forced Kindred to attempt to deal with the consistent flares of anxiety. Maybe if she resigned herself to the chill of the snow, Wren would come back. She would know her sister was suffering and return... It was stupid, but as she moved in deeper she allowed herself to feel the chill all the way into her bones. Mostly white, like the snow, Kindred only stood out through the black flecks which marred her pelt.
Deeper and deeper she went. Ignoring the chill that prickled her flesh, relishing the snow which fell and was cradled by her braided locks. Baby blue eyes darted back and forth across the hilly terrain, between the birch and pine trees that attempted to protect the inhabitants from the snow which seemed to fall relentlessly. One orb of light danced before her, having appeared not long after Kindred whispered her sister’s name. Perhaps it will guide me back to her... oh, please... Each step trying to move closer to the golden orb of light as it darted from tree to tree, coaxing her deeper and deeper into the forest. Deeper and deeper into the cold. Deeper and deeper into the fears of her mind. One right step to calming her mind. One wrong step from never returning again...
she was powerful not because she wasn't scared,
but because she went on strongly despite her fear.
Maerys, for all her quaking intuition and keen perception, did not see the orb of light that led Kindred deeper and deeper into her frostbitten future. The snow that danced so wonderfully in the light was a glass ballerina conducted by the island's wintry breath, and to Maerys, it stole the show from any twinkling fairy lights. It was her toddler-like curiosity that had led her so far into the glacial forest, the island's very pulse reeling her into its iron-cold clutch.
The silver woman could feel the fairies titters along her body as she skipped, bounced, danced, and rocked her way through the snowy eden. They laughed with her, a cold parallel to the reality Kindred faced just around the - "Oh, hello," she (with her ever-enduring kind expression) exalted, coming to an abrupt pause after turning directly into the stranger's path, her dance bellowing to be morphed into a duet as the euphoric energy in her soul pressed to ask the stranger to join her.
But the stranger did not seem in the mood to dance with the dun girl.
Kindred was adorned charmingly and carried a sort of beauty about her, but there was desolation in the scene. She moved with an eager purpose that contrasted with the dance Maerys had been enacting only moments prior. Her eyes scanned the scene repeatedly, so hungry to find something. Truthfully, it did not seem like the stranger wanted help, but it did seem like she needed it.
"How long has't thee been out here?" The small piles of snow that had formed where they could on her body were quite the tell - she'd been out here for a while. Maerys was not properly protected from the snow like others were with thick fur and thick skin, but she had not been out here long enough for it to bother her yet. "Wouldst thee take pleasure in joining me in the warmth? There is a cave mere moments away." Her breath is pale against the numbing air as the words leave her lips and her eyes blink thoughtfully at the frost that patiently kisses her face and leaves powdered illusions sitting heavy on her lashes.
"Oh," she said as if just remembering something. Her eyes glimmer with delight as a soft smile tugs her lips upwards and then into the words "I am Maerys."
It was almost abruptly that Kindred was met with the sound of something other than the low whistle of the breeze across the branches and snow drifts. Her eyes broke their search, head snapping in the direction of the voice that was so much softer than the broken speech of Wren. Her body lurching ever so slightly as her hooves dig into the earth below the snow. Distant baby blue orbs, though directed toward the dun, not quite seeming to focus on the frame but rather off in the distance where the fairy orb had turned to – floating just behind the other mare’s poll. The usual receptiveness of Kindred was dulled, probably much like her senses were from the cold she hadn’t cared to take shelter from.
Kindred can’t seem to bring words from her mouth, head tilting awkwardly to the side and blinking as the new mare continues to speak. The words seem to hit Kindred’s ears late, registering somewhere in the foggy confines of her mind. How long... Finally, she can feel her vocal chords shake, a torn voice emitting from her throat as she grasped her way back into the current moment. ”H-hello?” she starts with, eyes blinking as she slowly pulls herself back. ”Long. Though... I don’t quite know how long? Long enough to feel a chill I suppose...” It’s a tumble of words – a mix from a panic stricken mind clogged from not only the desperation but the cold which dug deep into the recesses of her brain. The shifting of her weight dislodging a few of the piles of snow from their perches upon her bodice.
Still, her eyes don’t ever seem to really focus on the dun before her. It’s as if she can’t quite accept that she’s even receiving the attention – that it must be a figment of her imagination from the orb before her. Yet, as the cold seems to truly hit her, her muscles trembling in shock she hears the mare offer a location with warmth. Go. Warm up... She can almost hear Wren pleading with her, so she swallows, it getting caught in her throat as she peers upward. ”Yes... that might be... a keen idea...” Finally, Kindred’s gaze un-focuses from the fairy dancing just behind the mare and instead chooses to take in the creature before her. She registers the way the puff of air from the mare’s nostrils pool around her maw and float into the air, how the cold has begun to cling to her eyelashes, and the snow has clung to her pelt. It was similar to herself, but far less drastic. Lord. The reality of how close she was getting to frostbite was slowly settling in. The name falls effortlessly off of smile and Kindred tries to lock it into her memory. Best she do it now, before she accidentally calls her Wren in her deranged state regardless of the fact that the mare looked nothing like her winged sister. ”Kindred... I’m Kindred...” Her voice is a whisper now as she fights the desire to collapse and shiver, to let the cold take her so she didn’t have to deal with the panic and pain of not knowing where he twin was anymore.
she was powerful not because she wasn't scared,
but because she went on strongly despite her fear.
Kindred didn't know how long she'd been out here which was a concerning revelation, but Maerys did not fully grasp the situation, how could she? The woman knew of the ache that came when there was someone so desperately missed. It was the feeling of every atom in your body your soul craving so needily to talk and laugh with the one most prominently absent. Oh yes, Maerys knew the feeling well, but she did not know Kindred at all and didn't understand the wound she felt was just as grave as the one Maerys had felt only two years ago and continued to remember now.
As Maerys offered the warmth of a cave, she could see those confused eyes searching for what to say before her lips accept the offer. And then a name, a beautiful name - Kindred. The name is delicate and light as the wind carries it to Maerys' ears.
"Kindred," the girl quoted, her eyelashes fluttering, propelling the powder that had begun to weigh too heavily off of them. "Follow me this way," she said with the lively flick of her skull to the course she'd just come from, her nimble legs thoughtfully commencing their exuberant jig once more, alert to take paths that would leave enough space for Kindred to follow.
Maerys - with an abundance of affection for spring and summer - could not help but admire this wintertime as they made their way to the aforementioned cavern. The trees embedded their rootstocks deep into the frozen soil and rested unconcernedly, their barren boughs quivering in the flurry that so diligently stirred their wintry dreams. The ice would form and melt, zephyrs of frost approaching like clockwork, then each spring it would bloom and send frissons of joy through the area. By summertime, most wished it were winter once more (and there was a variety of divine majesty in that mere fact alone).
"It shouldst be just 'round this -" she turned distinctly mid-sentence to the right, around an expressly thick-trunked tree. "Here," she beamed with youthful excitement, peering backward at Kindred in anticipation of her opinion.
If winter was beautiful, the cave was something worlds could not describe.
The terrain morphed with nuance, emanating from the earth with an even regularity. The trees did not mind the switch in footing, and their roots had expanded into that ground as if it were no different, but such was not the case. The hill had a gaping jaw that sloped downwards generously into its core. Diminutive gravel littered the floor - fallen stalactites - but at the moment its most remarkable characteristic would be the temperature it so readily bequeathed upon those who crossed its threshold.
"Come, Kindred! 'twill surely be of a more sensible warmth within," she nodded at the stranger for reassurance before descending into the formation. The air that escaped her lungs now was not so visible as it once was and though the snow howled just beyond the entrance, it was almost... warm.
Her name flowed off of Maerys’s lips with ease. It was something she wasn’t quite used to, someone else being able to take her name in such a way that it wasn’t either overbearing or underwhelming. No, instead it was just right – or at least it was registering to her brain in the hazed state she found herself in. A delicate skull was tossed in the direction from which Kindred could see hoofprints and she could only assume was from whence they had come.
Kindred moves forward, hooves landing painfully heavy as the cold tugged and tightened her muscles. Awkward movement – movement that shouldn’t be allowed, and she could almost feel the pain as she was hit for not floating and refusing to create noise. The grove of trees did its wonders to hide her from onlookers, though she doubted that it would truly matter. If this mare was actually a threat then she was certainly going to be meeting her end today. Though, she supposed it was fair that she meet hers alone when Wren had possibly had the same.
They moved from tree to tree until they found a small outcropping in the hills, protected by the thickest portion of the grove trees. Still, Kindred looked back eyes desperately wanting to see the golden orb which she swore had been leading her to her sister. I’ll be back… Just don’t leave… she swore to herself. She’d find Wren one day. She just had to. Then, finally, she allowed her eyes to linger upon the cave, noticing the excitement that radiated off of the mare before her. Yet, she didn’t move until Maerys had entered the cave. A few of her legs shifted, just barely moving forward as she made sure the frozen state didn’t result in her stepping wrong on any of the gravel before her.
She could feel a visible difference in the warmth as she moved deeper into the cave. ”Certainly a bit more warmth…” she said, shaking the snow off of her pelt a little bit as she kept her eyes trained on the entrance watching the gold orb which danced just off in the distance. Watching. Waiting. Taunting. A possible way to get back to her twin… Full of false promises.
The snow collapsed at her feet, only a few pieces of it lingered within her locks and stuck to her lashes. Her breath still puffing before her, just not as extravagantly as it had when out in the wind and snow. ”Thank you, Maerys…” she offered, appreciative of the other equine’s appearance and the fact that she pulled Kindred from wandering to a frostbitten death.
she was powerful not because she wasn't scared,
but because she went on strongly despite her fear.
It was draining to be in love with a memory; an echo from another time, there but not in reality. Maerys had lost herself once in an echo, in the green canopy of trees among the ever-changing leaves. She had mourned for so many hours beneath the savage sky as the stars twinkled their stories of ancient times down to her and the clouds sent pretty pictures to match.
And though the flowers had grown towards her immense warmth, the radiance from her soul drawing them in, all she could do was weep.
This pain that had long ago laced itself into every moment every breath had faded for Maerys, but the scars had not. Even now, many moons after the most painful chapter of her life had concluded, she still sometimes felt those memories come to her in her sleep once more. It was the feeling of being reunited with those that were dearly departed only to lose them all over once the dream ended. It was so so so warm, and then bitterly cold, the harsh stab of reality. It was these dreams that served as a reminder of the suffering she had felt and made her all the more resolved to never be wounded again.
And so the wolf that she had formed into since never let the world see the lamb in her soul - in her heart..
But sometimes there was a flicker of it in her eyes.
Sometimes her voice cracked.
Sometimes she couldn't hide her pain.
It was similar to Kindred and more and less all at once.
"Ah, yes, unquestionably," she nodded mildly in response to Kindred's assessment of the cave. The cold had bitten at her skin and whipped itself through her tresses, so it was lovely to sit in the cave and feel her nerves tingle in excitement from the heat, synapses drunk on the feeling.
But Kindred was stuck on the snow, and Maerys did not understand why (and it wasn't for lack of trying).
Kindred thanked Maerys, but the silver-haired child hadn't truly done anything that warranted it. Kindred needed more - a friend, a comrade, a shoulder to cry on, but Maerys didn't know how to be that for her right now. Yet still, she smiled in acceptance of the words.
And then, curiosity stole the conversation from them.
"What art thou doing out here?" She'd been on a pretty direct path and hadn't truly even seen Maerys until she was standing directly in front of her. It seemed her eyes were always focused on something in the distance, but what? There was some sort of mission going on that Maerys was fully unaware of. "The freezing can be a daunting force to competeth with. I am not quite sure what I am even doing here."
If one shatters apart in solitude in the wintry cold, does it make a noise?
If it does, is it as powerful and loud as the terminal swing to a decayed heart when it is irrevocably wasted forever?
Or was it the delicate strangulation that bit into flesh in words like I'm fine?
As she paused for any sort of answer, she ultimately was able to truly see Kindred. She was stunning in her sort of way, thick and short with ornaments of black and white lain onto her body like ink blotches. Her legs lessened into silky tresses, her neck was adorned by neat braiding. There was continuous muscling and delicacy thrown onto that frame as if she needed to be both robust and dainty simultaneously - a ballerina.
She was laborious to interpret and revealed little to ease Maerys unquenchable curiosity, except for her eyes.
She was almost numb, barely registering the cold that tickled across her flesh and fought against the tinges of warmth which were caressing her worn muscles. No, her brain refused to register most of what was ailing her bodice. It would much rather only allow her to cling to the dancing light in the distance. The light she would never actually be allowed to reach.
The question hit her in such a way that it was almost as if her breath had been knocked away. A simple question, but most certainly a loaded one. Kindred pauses, taking in a shaky breath before turning her head a little more towards the mare beside her. ”I was following the dancing orb of light...” her voice breaks a little as she blinks, eyes watering as she obviously attempted to fight back whatever emotion was sloshing around inside of her. Her head moves just enough to finally knock the snow free from the curves of her horns. ”They were regarded as signs of wandering souls where I came from... and they were said to lead those worthy towards what they were looking for...” It’s a quiet admittance as she tosses her nose in the direction of the light orb only to see it had disappeared completely from view. ”... It's gone...” dismay clouded her voice as she started to step back out towards the cold. Yet.... she can’t quite bring herself to actually stumble back out toward her death.
It's a quiet sigh that escapes her mouth, a puff of fog escaping as she closes her eyes for a moment. ”I hadn’t even planned on going deep into this island once I saw the ice and snow from outside… but the seele… it was right there…” Exasperation, and dejection all mixed into one. Yet, somehow, underneath all of the pain there was still a spark of life deep within her.
![[Image: maerys-pixel.png]](https://i.ibb.co/kM48w8r/maerys-pixel.png){kind=tracking}
