[AW] Mountains of the Moon

[Valerian]

Always on the move, Valerian set his eyes on the spiny teeth of mountains inhabiting Novus. Something to get lost in, to delve in fully – mentally, spiritually, physically as each precipice defied the heavens. He would never admit truthfully to his nomadic tendencies, that it was his wings that ached to keep him moving rather than his limbs. That it was truly an ingrained sense of wanderlust, that existed fervently in each person. To be without this sense, this desire – meant like something of a death to Valerian. Who, hardly satisfied with a sedentary life style, could not envision a life confined to one familiar space. Unbroken, untested and ultimately chained to the rudimentary.   It was with a heavy, beating heart that he dove further into the winding paths. The trails became necessary to travel by, when the weather did not cooperate. Which it hardly did between mountains – how Valerian knew, and respected the giants that rested within Novus’ heart. The wind could not escape their twisting knife-edges, nor the rhythm of trapped and lost humidity. “Aye, but what a prickly heart you have,” he mumbled with a huff. “Calloused and… rough, unforgiving… son of a –,” he held his tongue between his teeth. Shivering, when a light breeze ruffled past his wet, sweaty sides. Superstitions set aside, Valerian did not want to evoke the fates upon him.   In the distance a fleet of plumed clouds sailed against him. Tall, bodacious, churning as the air filled with the scent of dust and nearly prickled against his skin. Charging the air with forewarning to those who traversed throughout the mountain’s sides. The high sun dull as the clouds moved closer.     While a jolt of trepidation furrowed his brow, a likewise smile crawled defiantly along his lips. Taking the challenge, he picked up his pace and unfurled his wings to test the airs around him. Time was on the horizon, slipping away as the encroaching storm buckled forward. Though the winds were hardly cooperative the further he pulled up. Each swoon and push became more unpredictable than the next. His eye sought a means for shelter along the road. And just as he was about to give up, Valerian spotted a ledge carved out from one of the sides. Housed by a small patch of conifers, gnarled and beaten, Valerian made his unsteady descent against its edges. The path remained at his left side, as he made purchase of the ground with his hooves. Nearly loosing his footing he stumbled forward. His wings beating to compensate for the loss of traction. Valerian cursed underneath his breath. He crooked his head back to the left, eyeing the fringes of the rock ledge that crumbled beneath his hind hooves. While the air whistled about him, growing stronger and steadier with time.

credits :: blueshoodesigns
ooc: for @Vadim    ! :3

[Vadim]

He felt like he was drowning.

The air was wet and heavy and the air that stirred it seemed more like the current of a river than the life giving breath of wind he was so used to.  The toothy, tongueless mountains seemed to snarl down at him, framed by the queerly lit sky.  

Go home, son of the desert, they seemed to snarl down at him with a hiss of falling rock and gravel.  His hooves, meant for finding purchase on soft sand, danced uneasily across the loose shale that threatened his footing her.  His body hugged close to the side of the mountain.  The molten gold of his coat was dimmed by dirt and darkened with sweat that had more to do with fear than heat.  

He couldn't breathe.

The clouds rolled closer, robbing the sun of it's strength.  Caged, boxed in, Vadim could hardly bring himself to move.  Then, slowly, he felt the wind begin to rise.  He could feel it first played with the thin strands of his tail.  Then the cooling fingers as it brushed across his prespiration-damp body.  The chill was welcome.  Despite the water hanging heavy in the air the wind seemed to claw it's way into his mouth and nose, driving down his throat it thrust open his lung.  Drawing a deep, gasping breath he surged forward along the trail.

Though the mountains were strangers to him, he was no fool when it came to dangerous weather.  The wind could rip him from the precarious trail he traveled on as quickly as it had freed him from his paralysis.  The sound of his hooves was almost lost in the wind.  Then a shadow, darker than the storm clouds, drew his attention upward.  Dark wings against dark clouds but a bright bodhy like a stray ray of light- whether moonlight or sunlight, Vadim didn't care.  He followed the equine's flight path, descending unsteadily, until it dissappeared around the jagged curve of the mountain.  Then he picked his way further along the path, head bowed against the treacherous wind and eyes fixed on his hooves.

A moment later he rounded a jut of rock and nearly found himself knocked from the ledge by the sudden backbeat of wings.  He staggered, caught himself, and pressed close to the rock.  He could just see around the pegasus' body to the narrow ledge and twisted stand of trees that offered some small windbreak.  

"Is there enough shelter to share?" He called above the rising storm, casting a wary eyes up to the sky that had changed it's temperament so suddenly.  

[@Valerian I hope that's okay!]

[Valerian]

He only realizes the stranger moments after he’s found his feet. Where his hooves can safely purchase the ground, and whilst he surveys the small outcropping with his one good eye. “Oh,” his voice is low. Too low and soft to be of any use between the spaces that surround them; it does however, leave the stallion’s lips ajar. Just a smidge, as Valerian folds his wings against his body and turns to face the fellow traveler with an unwavering smile. Erasing the small moment of hesitancy, and surprise that clearly ignores the disheveled appearance ahead of him. Or the piercing blue eyes that cast themselves into the encroaching storm.   “Sure! If not, we’ll make do. Yeah?” He calls out above the wind with a hearty breath, and faces the sky with a quickly beating heart. A grin curls at the edges of his dark lips, as the fear in his gut is mistaken for excitement. And the passionate wind beating against his frame, jostling his locks whichever way, remind him of flight. But his gaze does not linger long, twisting his head back to the slim stallion. “Come!” He moves himself further in and between the conifers. Their bark brushing harshly against his sides, chafing, as the ledge offered limited space. Valerian settles in what appears to be the area of maximum shelter offered by the foliage. The wind is still able to rattle their limbs, and push itself through now and then in waves. Loose, dehydrated needles filter down from the limbs that housed them. Valerian turned himself around in anticipation of the stranger following inwards. While he hadn’t taken a very long look at him, the first thing that came to his lips was, “You okay?” Tilting his head just so in curious nature. Ears drawn forward, intermittently twitching here and there as the storm began its descent. Naturally his left eye searched his body for any wounds. Leading his head to point slightly right. The right eye was all but useless. Serving its purpose as a good icebreaker, or a tale of woven lies – depending on his mood. The scar that ran down on that side often proved more intriguing. At least now they could talk without the wind completely silencing their voices.

credits :: blueshoodesigns
ooc: @Vadim    // it's great! XD

[Vadim]

The hearty welcome eases the little tension that always crossed Vadim's spine when meeting strangers for the first time.  Strange too, for he had as often as not been greeted warmly.  He notices the scar and though his curiosity is piqued he does not ask. Not yet at least.  After all, scars are not so uncommon.  Accidents, conflict, predators- these things exist and he has been lucky that in his short years his life has been easy enough on these.  Certainly he was no stranger to hardship but it was not the kind that left scars.  It was the kind that changed a horse in the molding, the kind that ran in his blood and his bones and the air he breathed.  He supposed that every horse's origin echoed in them like that, stamping them as distinctly as the stranger's scar.

He realized that perhaps he had let the conversation lapse a bit in his sudden rabbit trail of thoughts and he smiles a little, sheepish at his own woolgathering when the wind threatens to drag him from the mountainside.  He follows the winged one into the copse of conifers, flinching a little at the harsh scrape of bark against hide when he bumps between the trunks.  Though his lean frame should have less trouble in the confines he fidgets and shifts, unable to find a position in which he doesn't feel cramped and confined.  His head tilted up to peer at the needles falling around them, tossed by the wind and knocked by their movements.  He crowds perhaps a little closer to the stranger than would be normal, finding it more comfortable to be close to him than the cage of trees around them.

"Hm?"  He tilted his head, ears splaying a little in confusion at the winged stallion's question.  Then he seems to realize his own condition and he laughs, bright and clear.  "Oh, yes.  I'm not really used to climbing mountains and I'm afraid it didn't agree with me.  The air was just so... wet.  And heavy before the storm came in.  I think I panicked."  

Unabashed by his admission, he glances towards the edge of the ledge as if to make sure there's still some distance between him and it though it is obscured by their windbreak of trees.  "I saw you flying though.  Isn't it dangerous with a storm in the air?  I'm Vadim, you?"  The last is added almost as an afterthought as the bright gaze returns to the other stallion's face.

@Valerian

[Valerian]

Though their proximity is close, the stallion is rather familiar with it. His sense of personal space is condemned by his upbringing. And perhaps the stranger’s presence brings about a fleeting sense of warmth, when the nostalgia settles in. Of late, cool nights and warm bodies staving off the cold. Laughs and late night philosophies bouncing and dancing between the smoldering coals, all but vanish as the howling wind reminds him of the present.    The pearly stranger appears aloof at first, lost before it hits him. And Valerian can’t help himself but chuckle alongside the stranger. “Aye, if you say so.” Better safe than sorry later, and as far as he could tell the stallion did not harbor any scrapes or bruises. No cuts that have pierced through thin skin. It baffled him briefly that his companion had trekked this far into the mountains. Alas he could not admit where exactly this fellow originated from, or where his natural environment took residence. Though he had never seen a coat like his, even dulled by the grit and earth, it seemed to glow when hit with the right amount of angle and light. Intrigue embedded a lopsided smile against his mouth.   “Sure. It’s a mighty risk, but… There wasn’t any shelter along the road I was following then. So I took the chance. Hell of a fight, too. It was rather refreshing,” he teased with a laugh. “A pleasure Vadim. I go by No-name.” An impromptu bow allows Valerian to dip his head just so – given the amount of space. He forgets that the inhabitants of Novus are assigned to their courts, their ideals and histories that flutter vicariously above Valerian’s head. Too new and magical to have imprinted themselves against his heart, mere concepts and ideologies will have to play out for a far longer course.   “What brings you to Novus’ spiny heart, fair Vadim? Despite the predicament we find ourselves in, I’ve heard the stars are the brightest here at night.” He had always wondered if the stars could be captured. Held, if just for a moment to gleam what mysteries they held from the rest of the world. Or perhaps they were too pure for mortal hands, too far and distant – safely tucked away into the places no mortal dared to reach.

credits :: blueshoodesigns
ooc: @Vadim    

[Vadim]

Raptly he listens to the winged stallion's description of the flight, brief though it is, and there is a certain amount of yearning in his eyes.  Before he came to Novus he had never thought of flight.  It was simply impossible.  The closest he'd gotten was to run in front of the wind and let it lighten his steps and carry him forward.  To flee before a storm, chased by heat lightning and churning sand.  The first time he had seen a winged horse upon the air though, he had known envy.  Never before had he felt like he was lacking something.  To walk upon air.  How wondrous.  

The other's laughter was almost as welcome as the wind on the path- Solterra often seemed like a laughterless place, though Vadim didn't believe it was dead at it's heart.  It just needed a little life breathed into it, like the food they were trying to grow.  The introduction cause a slight quirk of the head, Vadim's bright eyes dancing with silent laughter.  He didn't begrudge the stranger his choice of name.  Though curious now why he chose to go by such a moniker, the golden stallion just curved his neck a little, seeking to bump his shoulder lightly against No-name's in a friendly gesture.  He seemed equally unconcerned by the other stallion's larger height, unintimidated.

"Not for a view of the stars, though I would gladly stay out the night to see them.  I heard the Night Court was on the other side of the mountains and I thought I might see it, if no one objected."  Vadim briefly turned his white-masked face to the sky, though it showed no hint of starlight and he knew it wouldn't.  Then his gaze came back to No-name, still energized by the raging wind.  A peal of thunder rumbled, echoing between the mountains and he jumped a little at the sound, small hooves dancing on the stone beneath him.  Fear or excitement, they bled together in one surge of adrenaline.  

"And what of you, No-name storm walker?"  The compliment (for that was what he had taken 'fair Vadim' to be) had not been lost on him and his voice was light with teasing.  "Did you simply come to see the stars?"

@Valerian