[AW] i see sunshine

[Maret]

The world was too bright. 

That was the first thing she noticed as she stepped out of the citadel and into the sunlit courtyard beyond. It was as if the sun had swelled in size, or had wandered too close to Novus; all she saw when she looked up at the sky was one great and hulking eye staring back down at her. She blinked numbly up at it, confusion rendering her immobile, hardly noticing the adults that pushed past her on their own way out. 

Was the sun always this big? It had never looked this big in Delumine. She had heard it said once that Solterra was closer to the sun because Solis could never bear to be apart from it for long - she had never believed it. Not until now. Not until she saw it. It wasn’t the golden sea that everyone liked to say it was. It was a bowl of sunlight, filled to the brim and overflowing with it.

The desert was shining all around her, everything gold and bright and new and all of it calling out to her, demanding her attention, ordering her to look this way but also this way and that way too. And she wants to listen, she does - but all she can look at is a spot in the sky that’s close to the sun, and although it hurts her eyes it’s still not close enough. 

Her chest rises and falls like something wild, each breath more shallow than the last. She can feel her heart beating against her ribcage, like a knock on the door that’s tap, tap, tapping and it doesn’t stop, not until it gets what it wants. 

Only the caged thing inside of her is begging to be let out, not in. And all she can think as she stands in the center of Solterra’s palace courtyard is that she’s never wanted to run more than she does today. 

She looks up at the sky, baring her throat to the desert. 

And for the first time she feels like she might be something strong, even when her chest is beating so hard she thinks it might break through her ribs. And even if she were to die here - even if her heart escaped and left her lying there in the sand, a red spot against all that gold of the desert - as long as the sun was here to warm her bones, it would be okay. Because there was a part of her that thought she might already be dead, and her body just didn't know it yet. 

She's still standing in the middle of the courtyard, staring up at the sun while people stream past her the way the river parts around a water-slick stone. And if anyone stops to stare at her, she might not notice, or care, or bear to look at anything but the light.

"Speaking."

---

@any

❋

[Ezital]

EZITAL





This place stank of stale horse sweat and salt.

He delicately wove a path between the shadows, hugging the walls and leaving a dark, moist smear on the stone in his wake. The slivers of shade offered little relief from the heat, but at least his black hide had some protection from the powerful desert sun. The past few days had proven to be punishingly hot, dry, and bright.

Truly, he wasn’t cut out for this climate. He longed for the damp forests, with soft moss underfoot and beautiful birdsong. Food was green, plentiful, and wonderfully sweet. The forests he’d spent his days in as a leggy yearling were far away now. He hadn’t appreciated them then. They were little more than passing scenery as he’d wandered through.

Perhaps he was different now, different than the colt that had pranced around strange lands without a care. Now he was a bit more cautious where he roamed, and his loneliness had grown into a separate, living thing. It lurked, always. Poking, prodding, threatening to leave him shivering with anxious nightmares.

So he would linger here, amongst these strangers, to sate the need for companionship. For attention, his less forgiving thoughts provided. He pushed that away though.

Amongst the bustling activity, a tall figure with splashy markings caught his attention. She seemed distracted, halted right in the middle of traffic, heedless of her surroundings. Others were left to weave around her massive frame like a huge boulder tossed into a stream.

He sighed from his hiding place, where the sun failed to reach a patch of ground that almost covered his entire body. Half an asscheek was still getting roasted. His tail fanned the ground in an annoyed sweep. Perhaps the heat was getting to him, and that’s why his temper suddenly boiled over and he found himself marching over the strange mare. He lowered his head as he approached, intending to poke her with the rounded tips of his antlers, but chickened out at the last second.

”Hey,” he said, settling for stomping a hoof to get her attention. “Get out of the way!”

From this distance, he got a better look at her, and realized how young she must be. She’d yet to fully grow into her huge frame, even though she already towered over him. He struggled to muster the irritation he’d felt a few moments ago.

”And don’t stare at the sun like that. You’ll damage your eyes.”

He huffed at her, stretching his neck to appear just a little taller.

Youths.



@Maret

[Maret]

She wonders if this is how a rock in the ocean feels. As it forces the waves to pass around it. Or how the gods feel, oblivious to the woes of the horses she claim to love, uncaring of their pleas. Did the king of Solterra ignore his people, the way the kings she had read about ignored their’s?

She can feel a shoulder press into her’s; she stumbles, but she does not fall. Maret only closes her eyes, smiles at the warmth of the sunlight on her face, smiles at the sounds of people chattering and gossiping all around her. The sound of children laughing from the market square makes her want to laugh alongside them - but her smile only grows.

Because in that moment, it feel as though the sun is shining for her and for her alone. Ice glitters like diamond dust against her skin, fracturing the sunlight into a thousand pieces that she wears like a cloak. In a court of Solterrans, a court full of people who worship the midday sun, she imagines that she alone is the only one who truly understands it. Oh, would Solis be proud?

She almost - almost - ignores the stomp that shakes the earth nearby, and the obvious huff aimed in her direction.

Her smile doesn’t falter. If anything, when she opens her eyes and looks at him, her smile becomes daring, emboldened by his ire. She tilts her head endearingly at him, teething flashing bright and white. “Am I bothering you?” she asks sweetly, without moving.

Adults, she thinks defiantly to herself, lifting her chin a fraction higher. Always thinking they knew better.

“I was looking at the sunlight, not the sun,” she tells him matter of factly. She pauses then, meeting his eye. “There’s a difference,” she adds, as it if should be obvious. Had he never looked up at the sky himself? A shame really, considering how beautiful it was. Maret couldn’t imagine how so many adults could spend all their time staring at the ground, when there were so many lovely sights to see.

Dirt, in comparison, was just so -

Boring.

Are you boring, too? she wants to ask him. But with the red creeping along his belly like a rising sun, and the antlers crowning hi head, he certainly didn’t look boring - not here, compared to all the sand-colored horses. He looked bold, if grouchy. So instead she smiles again, and with the same sweetness to her voice asks, “who are you?”

A poem is echoing in her mind the whole time.

Are you nobody, too?

"Speaking."

---

@ezital

❋