[AW] out of the razor-wire nothingness

[Raam]

When I run fast enough, I can remember exactly what it felt like to fly.

But- and this is... embarrassing, for some reason I can't quite explain- in some ways running feels better than flying. At least running like this does; running fast as the wind, sweat foaming at my sides, heart pounding against my chest as if it wants to escape... or maybe it just has something to say? It feels like if I could just go a little faster, a little longer, I might be able to hear it speak.

In this way, running like this, I learn to communicate with earth the way I once did with wind and water. Or at least listen to her. She is quieter than her sisters, more subtle. You must listen to the way she presses into the bottom of each hoof, followed by the pressure that rises up each leg and into the body. I have not yet learned to speak to her in a way she can hear, but I'm working on it. For now I try to listen, and hope that understanding will follow.

I run as fast as I can along the creek at the northern edge of Terrastella, feeling the earth strong and generous beneath me even when it turns to swampland, thick with mud. Eventually the creek feeds into the sea and I come sliding to a halt, spraying a wave of sand before me in a way I find mildly entertaining. My sides are heaving like bellows, igniting the fire in my chest in a way that can only be described as thrilling. I don't think I've ever felt this way before in my long life. Maybe when you're mortal, the constant presence of death, patiently waiting, flavors each and every experience. Or maybe I have felt this once before but I just forgot about it... after so many lives you tend to lose track of yourself.

As my breathing slows, I become aware of the cool ocean breeze wrapping eagerly around my too-hot body and the cushion of sand beneath me. I take a deep breath of salty air and for a moment my troubles seem far away, lost somewhere among the beating of my heart in my ears. Earth, wind, and water- my world feels more stable when I let myself be embraced by all three.

-
ooc: sorry odd, still figuring out this guy and his moods. duskies preferred, but open to anyone <3 He's at the NW corner of the swamp, where amare creek meets the sea.

[Essielure]

 

Essielure

     "sing me a song my sweet hummingbird"

Trudging through the thick swamp lands of Terrastella, essie petite hooves begin to cover with thick mud. they stomp and splatter the area and her belly as she blissfully trots alongside the creek. her wings flick to the left at an alarming movement as a color splattered stallion races by. he was but a blur to essies slow eyes. mud flings onto her coat and she giggles as her blue coat turns to brown.

she watches as the stallion gallops down alongside the creek, then with a sudden stop, he is motionless at the edge of the lands. essie begins to trot towards him, flopping her wings with desire to meet this speedy, mysterious stranger. as she quickly tries to catch up to him, essies hooves slip around in the mud. nearly falling over completely, she regains her clumsy stride and eventually makes her way right behind the stallion.

"Hello there, sir!" essie blurts out in excitement, her cheeks slightly muddy, she smiles sweetly. "what is it that you are running so swiftly far from, or to?" she questions the broad horse.

@Raam "legend" 

[Raam]

As I flew down the countryside my vision become a blur- all of it except the horizon before me, the unwavering line where sea meets sky. I did not realize I passed a young mare, even afterward as she watched me. Over my heaving breath and my heartbeat in my ears I did not even hear her clumsy approach until she's right behind me. I whirl around in alarm, ears pinned back in surprise. They unfold only when I take a moment to look her over.

She's a rather unusual creature, all petite and delicate except for that red-orange bulls eye in the middle of her forehead. It reminds me of the patterns on a moth's wing, meant to imitate eyes. But what really gets me is the wings behind her ears. They are surprisingly expressive, flitting cheerfully as she looks at me with those big cheerful eyes. I've never seen anything like it, and I have seen a lot over the past few centuries.

"Just running for the feel of it." I am still a little out of breath. "It reminds me of flying." Normally the thought of all I'd lost would get me all worked up and sad again, but I'm in such a good mood from my run that I can focus on other things. Again my attention is drawn to her ears. "That is the oddest mutation I've seen." I reach out to sniff at her ear wings, wondering how such odd things came to be. As I inhale the smell of warm down feathers and beneath that the smell of her young skin, I remember that I've never really understood personal space. I take a step back with a grin.

"You're not from here, are you?" I haven't left Terrastella since the little fox brought me home with her. I know the scent of this land, and I know the strange little mare before me is not from here.

-
@Essielure <3