Breathe… I have to concentrate on the thought, letting it fill my very being and become nothing but the breath in my lungs. I close my eyes, dazzled by the setting sun, the hues of pink struck through with tendrils of lilac as it dips below the gentle slope of the horizon. I focus on the breath as the heat of the day is gently blown away by the evening breeze, cooling my pelt. It fills my bodice near to bursting and I hold it there, counting to myself slowly before I deliberately let go just as slowly. I’ve been caught in a whirlwind of thoughts lately and the allure of a warm twilight has always had a pleasant effect on me. I breathe again with the same deliberateness, the afterglow of the sun slowly fading from behind my lids to be replaced with a welcoming darkness. I branch out my thoughts beyond the breath, stretching out to my limbs and into the earth, feeling the heat of the long grass against my pistons and how they sway with each subtle breath of the wind. I listen intently to the sounds of the night creatures slowly waking from their daytime slumber, stretching the sleep from their weary limbs and going about their night business.
I open my eyes and lift them to the darkening sky, the lavish blue colour not so unlike the colour of my own deep pools. Stars begin to twinkle, first a few here, then a few there, slowly cutting a path across the clear evening like a congregation of fireflies. They blink and giggle and whisper their secrets to each other. A smile finds its way to my lips and contentedness wraps itself around me like a well loved cloak. This land may be still yet new to me, and its denizens may be as varied and colourful as those who made their living outside of the temple walls, but there was still this constant thing. The rising and falling of the sun and his loving partner and opposite in the moon. The changes of the days and season were, thankfully, something I could rely on to be as simple and natural as they were in every other way of my former life.
Former… The thought brings with it a deep ache, the realization that I would never return to those that I love. That I may never hear the voice of my Goddess as I once knew her- or worse, that she has abandoned me completely. It has been these creeping feelings that have plagued me the last several months. I had finally come to terms with the reality of Novus. The scar on my neck had proven that to me firmly, as did the encounter with the sea mare that had put it there. Still, I could not be troubled to hold anger against her, or the incident. It had woken me to the truth of the situation. Before I had been lost, still wondering when I would return to my study halls. When I might see my masters and my students. When I might tell of the strangeness that had occurred to me, of the in-between place I had traveled in for so long. But after her words to me, spoken in an earnestness that I could not see as false, I had come to understand that none of those things would occur, no matter how much I may have wanted them.
I was comfortable for a time, delighted with the idea of creating a life in a new place, but there was still an ache in me that longed for home. For the loves and friendships and connections I had made there.
The souls I had so far met had all done a great deal for my growth, but none had done anything to comfort me. And I realized, staring into the starry sky that comfort is what I needed more than anything. But how to find it?
It's not unusual to find the little zorse out in the surrounding areas of Delumine. Away from the court, it's easy to spot the small mare as she wanders the meadow and looks for herbs and other things she needs to cultivate in her little garden. Today's task is looking for Blue Vervain, which she knows grows among the grasses of Illuster Meadow. After that, she knows she has to wander to another land, perhaps maybe take a trip to Terrastella instead or Denocte. Herbs there are plenty, and she can grow them too, adding to her already extensive collection.
The life of a healer seems to never lack some type of adventure, even if said adventure is looking for something such as flowers or herbs. It keeps Eirene busy, keeps her from letting her little horned head wander off into the clouds. It's a little more difficult to find these things at night, but the summer moon is warm and bright above, and Eirene? Well. She's never been one to really sleep, not when there's work to be done.
Peachy pink hooves slide through the grass, feeling it spread around her in the longer tufts, allowing her to walk through them. The ends tickle at her belly, and she can't help the smile on her lips. Illuster Meadow is perhaps one of the most fun places to be, if asked. Warm and welcoming, even with the starry skies above twinkling. It's a place she could potentially see as having a second home, or maybe a sort of garden out here, if the weather allowed it. It would mean a greenhouse of sorts, shelter, but then that means messing up the visual beauty of this area.
Her thoughts wander, fixing somewhere on her past. The words of the elders and her herdmates echoing, her mother. Telling her it was her duty to leave the herd and to help heal those in need all around her when she came across them. Funny, how that seems to be her driving force now.
Wrinkling her nose, she stops as she sees a silhouette nearby, glancing out toward it and swiveling her ears gently, leaning her nose forward just a little as she does. "Hello?" She asks it more than says it, tilting her head just a little bit. She seems to be meeting quite a few new faces lately, and she can't help but smile at the thought.
@Torielle
!! have this tiny smol
sorry it's a short post lsdlksjdf
My audits twitch as I hear a sweet voice from behind me. The moon is full tonight and so light is easy to come by. Not in golden honey hues like the sun, but as a soft silver glow. I think I’ve always preferred the night, as it is when I have done my best thinking, my deepest work within myself. There are those who thrive in the sunlight, but I have always felt my growth has been best under the cradle of the moon. There is something soothing, healing about her light and gentle touch. If I were to have guessed, she would have sounded much like the curious voice calling to me now.
I turn to face perhaps the most beautiful mare I have ever seen. And that includes the dancers from my home tribe. She is a slight thing, delicate in every way. Even her antlers, decorated with the vines and petals of living things, somehow manage to look weightless upon her forehead. Her mane and tail are wild things, not tangled, no not that, but brushed through with the wind. Her features are punctuated by attractive stripes, creams met with a soft grey-blue and dark accents at her knees and the very edges of her audits. All of these things are beautiful, but I think perhaps what draws me in most, are the striking colour of her eyes. The blue of my own pools are a deep well, but this mare, this porcelain doe, hers are vibrant, struck through with life, and curiosity and kindness. They are as open as the wide summer sky and even in the silver-kissed light of the moon they are like the clearest lake-bed.
I have seen beauty in all her forms, but feel myself go weak at the knees in her presence. I want to drown in her. Not like the lustful drowning I held for the sea mare, the desire to be swallowed and forgotten. No. I want to lose myself under those crystalline gems and see things as she sees them. To see myself through her eyes I may be able to see myself as whole again.
It takes me a moment to realize that I am staring, that perhaps my maw has parted and I am ogling her, agape. How vulgar. But I cannot help but be star struck, and I take a step forward, the words falling from my tongue in a jumble before I can stop myself.
“You must be sent from the goddess herself. Here I am, wishing for an angel, and there you are, suddenly and openly.”I pause, the silence deafening as my mind finally catches up with what’s just happened and if the dark soot coat of my cheeks could have blushed they would have been a bright scarlet. As it is, my ears burn with embarrassment and I quickly look away. The bells strung through the branches of my antlers rattle, swinging violently back and forth.
“I-I… I’m sorry, I’m not sure where that came from…”I stammer, looking anywhere but this vexing creature. Realizing that I am much taller than she -if one were not to count the bone spires perched upon her head- I step back once more, and bend into a heavy bow, my nares nearly touching the ground.
“Forgive me. That’s no way to greet a lovely lady, I must sound like some mad dog…”I prattle on my apology, and I realize this is the first time since my coming to Delumine that I am genuinely flustered.
Her greeting hangs in the air, a soft sound that's whisked away by the twilight breeze, and she finds herself blinking a moment. Eirene had expected a new face, and she is not disappointed to see a mare in the knee high (belly high to herself) grasses of the meadow.
The mare is a deep bay, darkening on the limbs and any edges of her body, nearly blending with the sky itself here and there. Eirene is reminded of warm hearthfires when looking upon the woman, only to allow her gaze to wander and see antlers sprouting above her head, much like her own. Pale and laced with trinkets rather than flowers and vines, and deep blue eyes peering out. Much like Eirene decorates herself in floral adornments, this one seems to fancy the silvers of the world, and rightly so. They look striking on her.
For all her own staring, Eirene is jarred from her thoughts, her striped face warming slightly when spoken to, finding an odd twisting in her chest. It's rare that she finds herself complimented as such, as she never once really looks at herself that way. She's a humble healer, nothing more, nothing less. The pale fur darkens just slightly around her features, and soft laughter bubbles up from her throat, leaving her in a gentle tune that is in no way mocking. "I'm only a humble healer. If I came from a goddess, I think I would be a little shocked to learn about it." Black rimmed ears twist forward, feeling herself relax a little, the warmth and merriment visible in her features.
She looks startled at the bow, only to shake her head, the wild silvers of her mane tossed with the movement. "There's no need for that! It's fine, it's fine! I take no offense to it." She doesn't think, only reaching forward and gently bumping her dark muzzle against the side of the mare's neck, a gentle gesture.
"I'm Eirene," she says, drawing back and looking delighted. "And who are you, that compliments me more than I've ever heard?" It's such a gentle tease, the smile on her lips drawn in fond warmth.
@Torielle
I'm so sorry this is late lksdflksdf
<333
She is so sweet. Humble. The description is quite apt. Only a woman who is effortlessly secure in herself could not look at her own beauty and see it for what others see. The gentle nudge of her muzzle to my neck just about made my heart burst from my chest, like birds startled from a nest. Goodness, what a filly I was making of myself, acting like this. Perhaps I had been more homesick and sick for love and light than I had wanted to believe. I felt my cheeks going hot again and I lifted my eyes to look at her.
Eirene… It was a lovely name, and it suited her so well. The smile, even more so. I pulled myself out of the bow a little awkwardly and smiled sheepishly to her, not quite meeting her eyes. I’m not sure why, but I thought that if we gazed too long into each other, she might just see all of me. That thought thrilled me, but it terrified me just a bit more. I’d have to meditate on why. I’d never been afraid to meet someone’s gaze before. And it wasn’t out of pure fear, not like a prey animal being faced with a predator. It was more as a vulnerable girl looking at her own reflection in the mirror and truly seeing herself, and being unsure if she would like what she saw.
“Well, if it is to be believed, we all come from a god or a goddess. Blessed are we to be their children and to someday return to them.”I ventured to catch her eye for just a moment. There was something magnetic about them and the way she arranged her flowers to compliment her features. I was sure that it was unintentional, and I had the distinct impression that she simply picked up the buds that appealed to her the most and made her heart sing.“My name is Torielle. It is an absolute delight to meet you, Eirene.”
I rolled her name over my tongue like one would savour a sweet summer wine made of strawberries and honey. I wanted to say her name in every possible way known to earth and sea and sky. But perhaps that was the flirtatious jitters talking. After all, I hadn’t had much female company since arriving in Novus, and that which I had come by had been distinctly different.
“While I am out here enjoying the moon,” I looked up to the full disk in the sky, casting a loving light upon our meeting and I smiled a little more widely. “Might I ask what brings you out at this hour? You strike me much more as an early to rise type of woman.”I brought my dark blue pools back to the pale doe’s figure and I tried to keep myself from staring. I started counting the flowers in her hair, then the ones curling around her antlers while I listened intently for her reply.
