Toro continued to elect to stay away from Solterra. It was almost certainly a bad thing - it had been a month or so, at least, and he hadn’t even been Champion for that long. But it seemed to him that an era of peace - however brief - had finally dawned on the Day Court, and Orestes had been hard at work on more courtly things than facing off challengers and the like. Toro had left with only a short note to Orestes’ assistant, and then he was off, traveling southward until he finally reached the edge of their world. The Terminus Sea.
It frightened him.
El Toro had never gotten this close to an ocean before. He’d crossed land bridges and portals, and once even ventured through an underground tunnel system. Arriving in Novus had been something of an accident; portals were easier to stumble upon in some worlds than others, and all it took was for him to trip and - poof - he was somewhere else. Luckily, his gold had come with him. A near-universal currency was a terrible thing to lose.
The sea looked to him like a great conglomeration of monsters, ever-shifting, crashing into stone and collapsing in on itself, always roaring. Midday sun, still spring-cool, did little to shield him from the sea breeze. Sometimes he thought he saw horse-shapes, sometimes other shadows that he did not wish to dwell on. He stood at a cliff’s edge (when did he not?), a shiver running down his spine as he peered over the edge. (The edge, it whispered to him, the edge the edge the edge.) He stepped back. A small path ran down the cliffside, steep and craggy and unwelcoming. The tide had pulled back from the shore just enough that he could venture downward if he wanted. Fear twisted his stomach into knots; concern ran through his bond with Hajduk, the lion chasing gulls along the cliffs, just out of sight. I’m fine, Toro assured him. Something drew him to stay there, and it was not the ledge.
As Novus made its way into the heart of spring, she found her spirits lifting. She had now made it through an entire season in this land, without it fading or crumbling. Without disaster striking her life once again. and though she dared not hope, she wondered if, finally, she could settle to live out the remainder of her days. She was sure they were numbered now that immortality had left her, though at least she wasn't fending for herself in a desert this time. She had been spending a great deal of time in the hospital, rebuilding stores, brushing up on local fauna, prepping herself for the spring. For with spring, she had learned, often came changes. from allergies to wars, it was a time of destruction and rebirth. But, as much as she enjoyed the smell of drying herbs, it could get musty and suffocating, and as she often did when she felt trapped, she wandered to the sea.
She had seen the Prrastigia cliffs already and wanted to see what other areas lay along the coast. So she had ventured through the swamp and around the bay, crossing the Bellum Steppe, and sneaking along the borders of the night court until she reached the towering cliffs of the Terminus Sea.
they were impressive, huge towers of crumbling rock, pieces eaten away by the raging sea below. Even with the tides retreating it was terrifying. beautiful. She wondered what it looked like when the sea was high. She imagined the waves would reach where she was standing now, meters away from the edge. Something about the sea here was mesmerizing. The water eddied around the rocks, angry and festering, yet there were spots of calm, where the currents moved in harmony, and the sea stilled. Her dull eyes strained to take in every detail she could.
Her heart longed to move closer, as she had in Elysium, looking out over the waves, standing against the strong winds that should have blown her away. But, she didn't trust her feet to safely navigate the terrain beneath her, jagged and full of small pits. One misstep and she would be sent tumbling, and she doubted she would have the strength to get back up.
She saw another, silhouetted further down the coastline. She gingerly picked her way across the rocky cliffs, lifting her feet high, stumbling once or twice. As she grew closer she could see he was tall, with two horns growing forward from behind his ears. She stood a little way downwind from him, much farther from the edge. Feeling brave, she let out a gentle whinny to get his attention, though she was careful. She didn't want to startle him, where he stood so precariously. Picoro, the sloth, who clung gently to her withers let out a gentle hiss at her. "Luvena, do you even have a plan if he turns nasty? You have no chance of running away". She shushed him promptly. "Are you alright?" she called. She wasn't often the one asking that question.
His ears pivoted at the whinny. El Toro turned, backing up from the ledge. His eyes went wide at the sight of the mare before him. She looked hairless, at first, save for her mane and tail, and he - was she hairless? How…ugly. (He didn’t think it in a mean-spirited sort of way, it was just the truth, and he wasn’t the sort of guy who had mental roadblocks to unpleasant truths. It simply Was.)
”Are you alright?”
He could’ve asked her the same thing, but he was feeling bad now, and a little confused, and what was that thing on her shoulder?
Toro almost forgot to answer her. ”Ahm- yeah, I’m fine, thanks.” The white stallion picked his way down to a few feet from where she stood. He had to force himself into a comfortable distance; something about her appearance suggested the plague. He tried not to stare but failed miserably. Maybe she wasn’t hairless, after all…? Think of something else, something else, something else. His gaze fell back to the sloth hanging off of her. ”What - um - what is that…animal?”
It wasn’t an introduction, or a question about the weather, or her appearance - which was good, right? - but, damn him if it wasn’t awkward. She was probably nice! Nice girls could look like walking corpses, couldn’t they?
Though she was used to others looking at her as if she was some foreign object, her stomach still sunk a little upon seeing his stare. Most looked at her with pity, his seemed less like pity, and more like horror. He was much worse at hiding it than others were too. It seemed he was so absorbed in staring at her that he had forgotten how to speak, as he stumbled over his words. Picoro hissed at him as he approached, and once again she turned her head to shush him.
The man continued to stare at her as he approached, so she tilted her head up to him and stared right back, with dull turquoise eyes. "This is Picoro" she replied "He's a sloth. Don't mind him, he's rather protective" right on cue the sloth started grumbling at her and she promptly ignored him. "You know I'm not offended if you ask what's wrong with me" she spoke softly, her words almost drowned out by the crashing below. "I'd rather prefer over you staring at me if I'm to be perfectly honest with you."
She took a step forward and was suddenly aware of just how much taller he stood then her, how sharp the horns on his head were. Mind you though they were pointed in such a direction that it seemed they would be awkward to use for harm. "I'm Luvena" she introduced herself "I came from the dusk court, just to explore a bit. The swamp begins to feel rather small after a week or two" she smalled "not to mention the mud"
Aw, shit. He didn’t even have to ask himself if he was that obvious. He knew it, and she knew it, and now everything was even more awkward (or less? Maybe it was less) since she’d gone and said something about it. It wasn’t like he went around trying to stare at ugly girls! (Wait, no, that’s not exactly-)
”You know, I’m not offended if you ask what’s wrong with me. I’d rather prefer it over you staring at me, if I’m to be perfectly honest with you.”
Toro frowned and shook his head. ”I think that’d be very rude.”
Dumbass.
He stood stock-still when she came forward, failing utterly at looking comfortable (but if he’d stepped back, that would just be unforgiveable!) Toro smiled, maybe a little too wide, and said, ”That’s a luvely name, Luvena.”(Oh, gods, what the fuck did I just say?) He cleared his throat. ”Ahem - um, I’m Toro. I can’t say I’ve ever been to Dusk, but I’ve been everywhere else, aha.” He swallowed. Hajduk tugged at their bond, not with concern, but exasperation. The lion had surely predicted what was happening by now. ”I don’t imagine I’d like swamps very much. I live in Day, mostly, but I’m, um…I’m on vacation.” The white bull looked over her shoulder, and his, waves crashing up the rocks like they were coming to get him. Luvely! Gods, he should just finally do it. End the embarrassment once and for all.
She hadn't expected him to argue and was slightly taken aback, though she tried not to let it show on her face. He was certainly a strange creature. He spoke like a dumbstruck colt, who had only just met his first stranger. Except for this time the colt was a full-grown man-child, and he had no mother to hide behind, nor to speak for him.
She froze at that one. Luvely? of all the things one could say about a name... She couldn't help but make a face at the pun. She was so careful to always keep a polite facade, but luvely? it simply couldn't be avoided, though she did her best to wipe the look off her face quickly. "Thats uh.... certainly one way to describe it... thank you." she mumbled the last two words. Unsure of how else to respond without insulting the man. His name apparently was Toro. She was fairly certain that meant cow somewhere. "Toro" she repeated. "well that's certainly fitting" she just couldn't help herself. "Dusk is nice... if rather quiet sometimes. I'm sure that's my own fault though, I don't leave the hospital much, and no one is all that excited about trudging through the swamps to come to visit. You should visit, while you're on vacation. The Capitol is nice, a much safer view of the waves" She looked past him to the rough waves once again. She longed to set foot in them, but she didn't dare dream of doing it in those conditions.
Her expression was enough to make him feel as though his skin were peeling off. Or maybe it was his embarrassment, or the two gone hand in hand. She called his name fitting and he grimaced. He had often thought of changing it to something that didn’t sound stupid, but he was, in some ways, rather a simple man, and couldn’t make himself do it. It was too much pressure to think of something good, and he couldn’t be trusted with those sorts of things anyway, and he would just end up hating his new name and he wouldn’t be able to get anyone to stop calling him the new stupid name, and if he did, he’d have to go back to the old stupid name, wouldn’t he? How awful.
Honestly, he wasn’t listening to her. He caught something of swamps and shrugged. ”I’ve only been to Denocte’s capitol, and Solterra’s. Never Terrastella or Delumine, but that’s my own fault, isn’t it? I’ve certainly been here long enough.” Nobody had asked. He pawed at the ground. ”I should - I should go. Back. To uh. Day. You know? I’ve been very rude to you. I’m - you don’t have to be nice to me. Sorry. I’m going.” He stepped past her briskly, pausing momentarily a few feet away, thinking, perhaps, that he should say something else, but he’d ruined everything, really, so he descended the cliffs, determined, as if he’d had somewhere to go all along.
It seemed like he ignored her first few words, though she couldn't tell if it was on purpose, or if he was simply lost in thought. She was inclined to believe it was the former, only because so far he'd made a rather awful impression on her. I Haven't been to Denocte yet" she replied, "Or Solterra for that matter. I've hardly left Terrastella really." Not that it was any of his business where she'd been, or what she'd done. But Luvena was working desperately to fill the awkward spaces he left hanging in the air. Nothing about this interaction was nice, or fluid.
"Farewell" she muttered dully, glad to see him go, not even turning to watch him pick his way back down the shoreline. She stood there, watching the waves by herself for a while, watching as the tide slowly receded, leaving an empty beach, one filled with smooth rocks, and sand. Maybe one day she'd be lucky enough to taste strength again, and on that day she would venture down onto that rough shore. But for now she was stuck longing.
After enough time had passed that the sun was beginning to dip down over the sea, she turned away from the scene. Slowly she walked back towards the mainland, back towards the monotony of everyday life.
