The Susurro Fields, when slumbering under a white blanket of snow, appears formless under grey overcast. The horizon is hard to discern, as it melts with the sky. The world becomes an ivory bubble, encapsulating those who tread its wide expanse. The brush of wind escaping the coast, the hard earth under hoof and the hidden lumps casting soft shadow breaks the illusion. If only for a moment.
Noëlle stands at its precipice. Bundled by the thick, indigo wool scarf wrapped about her neck. Pressing a silver necklace, attached to the white half-horn, close to her chest. At times it throbs, too close to the skin – but she imagines it beats with her, pulsing in faint memory. The fields spike a feeling of excitement in her flesh, a jolt of electricity that promptly propels her forward. Running headstrong into the wide berth, and trailing hot air from parted lips.
She looses all thought, digging deep into the sensations that begin to flare in the heat of the sprint. Limbs begin to burn with want to rest, and lungs threaten to lose their mechanical rhythm – for heaves and gasping. By then she’s already deep within the fields themselves. Swallowed whole by the illusion of monochrome and off-whites. She pulls back as exhaustion creeps, shifting into a walk with a heavy, bated breath. The heat rolls off her body, and follows along like a flag in the mild wind. She enjoys the coolness surrounding her, revels in its sharp bite and tender embrace. A wayward smile holds carelessly against Noëlle’s lips.
Besides the thrill and simplicities of the challenge, her eyes glittered in sapphire as they scanned the lands. In search of striking blood reds, and obscene orange colored berries taking shelter under snow. Perhaps – a juniper found its roots in the earth, offering hues of deep blue. She finally had a plan for herself, a sustainable business that would take quite some time to cultivate. The young fae licked her lips, and eyed the formless gray above with a narrow gaze. Only briefly, casting her demands on the forces commanding the skies. “A few hours,” she mumbled to them. “And that means three at the least!”
It would snow, again, perhaps sooner than expected. If it did, if it covered the earth again and blanketed the air as well – she would surely be trapped by its fury. Any effort to seek and find, that which held value to her, would prove futile. At least, she could look forward to its cautionary beauty.
ooc// for @Aeranas =)
 We'll leave this empty room, into the air we'll climb
The ghost found himself back in Terrastella once more. He found that he loved the landscape so dearly that he could not stay away for very long. It provided him the source of inspiration he needed to plan his first night of entertaining in the Dawn Court. He wanted to collect stories of wonder that could be found right here in Novus, no matter how beautiful he knew the rest of the world was. There was always something comforting in rediscovering the beauty of your homeland. Aeranas pressed himself onward through the fields that had led him to Terrastella once before. It is in these fields he saw a pale equine breezing through them at a high speed. Aeranas stopped to watch them run, he seemed to be unnoticed for now. That was how the ghost liked to be most of the time, an observer. Aeranas laughed slightly at that thought and the thought that he was comparable to a phantom. His long, limber form swayed gently with their movements. It was as if his body wanted to race and join them as if he could feel the same burn in his lungs that this stranger surely felt. Aeranas studied her when she cast her gaze to the sky, taking but a few moments to focus on something other than this hunt. A hunt that the ghost could only guess about until he spoke. The words that drifted from the stranger sounded feminine, her voice carried into the sky with an indiscernible emotion. It sounded as though she wished for more time for something.
Aeranas took this as an opportunity to approach her, a gentle smile was carved onto his marble face. His antlers had been covered in frost, as the sea between Delumine and Terrastella had left a thin dusting of sea spray on them. He had surged into colder terrains after the sea had kissed his antlers. Aeranas admired the stranger, she too was muted against the landscape. She looked more like the sky than the snow. Gentle grays were splattered with ash and snow in an elegant way. Her daggers, when he caught sight of them, were split in the middle. Cloven. His gaze quickly swept from her gently sloped face to the three horns that emerged, each one painted with the finest ivory. Upon her nape was a scarf that was dipped in rich indigo. Aeranas felt his heart ache with a fondness he could not explain. No, he could explain it, but he chose not to. She was gentle in the frigid snow, and she was fierce. Her determination for whatever it is she was doing had caught the admiration of Aeranas. A ghost who held only stories, and haunted no one but himself. "Does the sky challenge you to a race? It might be hard to accept a challenge without the ability to kiss the sky." Aerie joked to the woman lightly, but he did so in good nature. The ghost was feeling less poetic today than he usually did, but perhaps that would come to him in time. He had already fallen in love with her aesthetic against the barren, white landscape of Terrastella. Perhaps he would fall in love with all of the details that constructed her into who she was. Aerie smiled at the thought, for there was no doubt in his mind that this would be the case. It was always the case. He always fell in love with the small details and shared the joys of others. "Tell me, what is it that the tricorn hunts? What has the blankets, the sky has so lovingly covered us with, hidden from you?" @
We'll leave this empty room, into the air we'll climb
She laughs, it is a wonderful sound. Her banter makes his heart soar. She claims the sky owes her the wings he speaks of if it dares to challenge her. She is right, it isn't a fair fight without wings. Aerie smiles in response to her words, it is an easy thing for him to do. She breathes charisma, he is only lucky if he can catch some of it. The ghost feels her eyes crawl across his pale skin. He is unable to take credit for it, he has simply borrowed the flesh and bone from someone who was forgotten long ago. The thorns atop his crown twitch in response to her intake of breath. The air spills like a flood from her lungs, it forms words he would never imagine stringing together. He is no hunter. He exists to breathe the words of others. That is why the ghost haunts Novus. A smile forms on his pale lips, it is gentle just like him. She searches for berries that you do not dare eat at this time of year. His curiosity begs for knowledge, as though that will sate the ravenous hunger it carries. Aerie finds himself admiring the simple woman before him, in her simplicity she is one of the most beautiful creatures he has ever seen. She has the ability to captivate even the most stubborn creature in one breath.
"The sky isn't known for her kindness, nor desire for fairness. I think she might be selfish, jealous of those like us. She is forced to watch how the earth changes forms, I'll bet she is jealous of us because she loves the earth she cannot touch. She can only come so close. It must be painful to watch the one you love, for them to be so close and you cannot touch them. I'll bet that's why she is unfair." Aerie speaks, but his story is just a story. That is what the ghost is best at, weaving stories about nothing for the entertainment of others. He is always performing, even when he is simply haunting. Her gaze spills over him, it is hopeful. He hates to be the one to dash her hopes, but he has not seen any berries. Aerie is not a botanist, he does not know the first thing about identifying plants. He is not against learning, but he tends no gardens. The ghost shakes his crown, ice falls from his antlers as snow falls from the sky. It decorates him, as though he has the power to sparkle like the stars. As if he is made of the snow that glitters in the sunlight. Alas, he is but a ghost with borrowed bones. "I have not seen any, I am no gardener. I am but a simple storyteller, on my way to Terrastella. I am even less of a hunter than a gardener. Why do you hunt for something you cannot eat? I suppose there must always be some danger when a hunt is involved. I am happy to help you look." Aerie offers to her, his words are genuine. He is genuine. Every inch of his pale flesh is genuine. The ghost's flesh carries the secrets of other worlds, but that is all it carries. That is all his flesh is good for. Another smile crawls across his porcelain face, his rose eyes shine with excitement. This is a new adventure for him, to race across the fields with a stranger in search of dangerous berries. Aerie laughs slightly at his own dramatic thoughts. It must be true, he was born for this. Just like his grandmother always said. "I'm Aerie." He introduces himself, his eyes are still sparkling when he looks to her. @ |
