[P] Starshine

[Auru]

Well, he supposed having finally made his way down to the shore side without getting stuck was a start, definitely an improvement over his last experience with trying to get down. He had actually addressed the situation with a clear mind this time, and sought out a path, hidden and minimalistic as it was, rather than simply trying to test his climbing skills and scaling down the cliffside under his own power.

He would always praise the heavens that he had found his way down that day, for now it allowed him the chance to visit whenever he liked, if it took a little longer than for those with wings upon their backs.

So he stood now with his hooves in the surf, the sand beneath him and looking out at the ocean, to distant horizons and fanciful wonderings on the lips of his mind.

What would it be like, to sail out into the distance and never look back? To alight on distant shores and distant worlds? To meet folk who did not speak his tongue, to be welcomed into their fold and taught their ways? To see sights one might never have imagined? To drink from foreign cups and feast on delicacies unknown to the folk of Novus?

A part of him wondered what it would be like to set hoof on another world.

He wondered if he would meet other horses, or if he would find himself in the thrall of a different folk altogether.

Would they be equine, or would he find himself within a pack of wolves, skulking in the swamps as they worshiped their fire god and sought vengeance against their kin of the north? Would he find himself in a herd, or would he find himself in a pride of lions, wandering about woodlands draped in endless mist, a people of shadow as they worshiped their goddesses of day and night? Perhaps he would find a pack of minuscule fairy wolves, tiny creatures no higher than his hock at most that were just now realizing that the sheltered paradise they had come from was ever so small compared to the rest of the world's boundless reaches.

He wondered if he would meet himself in these other lands, for surely the soul must not be bound to one world, surely, if one traveled far enough, one would come face to face with their own reflection, having lived a different life in a different body but with eyes so very similar.

If he closed his eyes for a moment, he could almost picture it. Could almost smell the dankness of the wolven swamp as his paws sunk heavily in the muck, could taste the mist of the shadowed wood on his tongue as his whiskers twitched and he felt the soft brush of his pridemates against him, could almost feel the powerful blow of some of the larger of the small fairy creatures as they slapped his back, meaning to congratulate him on a job well done but not realizing just how powerful they were and sending him tripping over his own paws. He could almost hear the proud cries of the man who thought himself a god while he sat shackled in slavery and contemplated how he and the others would escape to the land of the good-hearted. Could almost hear the excited cries of the pups he had been left to look after while the parents went hunting, Auru the only member of the pack who was not a part of the small family, and having been put on baby-sitting duty while the other adults were busy.

"Auru..."

If he closed his eyes, he could almost hear their voices, smell their scents. Could almost hear them calling out his name. Some were happy to see him, others scornful. But each was different, and if he closed his eyes, and let his mind wander far enough into the distance, he could almost see the black panther girl who frightened him from his digging, hear the long forgotten whispers of a civilization that died before it ever lived, taste the flowers he harvested to bring back for treatment. He could feel the warm embrace of friends and family welcoming him home after a long day out, could almost feel the claws of his masters that struck him down.

"Auru..."

He almost thought he could hear their voices now, voices of a distant land calling to him, beckoning him to come forward and see what all there must be on the distant shores, just waiting for him...

"Auru..."

So many voices, they almost seemed to mingle into one with their growing urgency. The face of a red wolf seemed to bleed into view, cyan eyes lighting up the dark. Now it was a half-burned golden one, the clear one so handsome but the burned so ugly. Now it was a lion, a man of pale fur lined with kohl black, bone white antlers curving from his skull. A wolf of green and blue, another with piercing yellow eyes and twisting kudu horns. So many faces, they all seemed to bleed into one as they opened their mouths to speak.

"Auru, wake up."

His eyes snapped open, and he could feel salt encrusting his lips from how long he had been standing with his face to the distant horizon, and he felt everything that had coursed through his mind slipping away like a half-forgotten dream, and already the thoughts and memor-... no, thoughts... dreams... he didn't even know what he was thinking about, only that it had fallen away from him as swiftly as sand fell through one's-...

One's...

The crashing of a wave brought him to look upward before his mind could fade once more, and he stepped back from the water line, eyeing it with trepidation as he felt the unfamiliar fogginess in his mind begin to recede, his tongue sneaking out to swipe over salt-encrusted lips as he began to realize just how much his muscles were hurting and how far the sun had fallen, the end result of standing in one place for so very long.

@Ossian

OOC: Finally got their thread up <3

[Ossian]

The first kiss of spring brought a yielding smile to Ossian's elfish face, dark lips curling to meet the cries of newborn gulls and warmer currents on the breeze. Spring by the sea was nothing but a gift to the boy, for in those first tender weeks it seemed as though every sense might just be stimulated by something newer than yesterday. The shells seemed to glitter brighter in the pale sunlight, and the sea seemed to hum a tune that he had grown to love over the course of his short, uneventful life. 

It was a gossamer afternoon, and the light from a dying sun cast the beach in a haze of chrome and gold; the final act had begun. Of course, Ossian was here: it was rare to find him anywhere else. After his first week in Novus (a week spent beneath the grandiose roof of a white-walled castle) the charcoal boy found himself, unsurprisingly, tied to the shore - dancing back to the only place he had ever called home, the place he had met Cyrene. Novus' waterfront was not Ama's, but it was close enough - without the sound of the water lulling against the dark, Ossi found it almost impossible to sleep.

Upon long diaphanous limbs, Ossian floated, the stark frothy white of his endless hair swaying with his every movement, the damp ends tracing shapes in the sand behind his hooves. The golden compass hanging loose around his neck swung rhythmically from side to side, and upon the wings of a sweet thought the boy smiled as he relished the familiarity of its cool beat against his skin; never again would he relinquish it from sight. The same avid protection was given the precious assortment of shells chiming amongst his hair, woven between string and the bleached strands of his mane - a perpetual reminder of Ama.  

Humming quietly to himself, Ossi drew to a steady walk, pacing closer to the lapping water. As he stood, ankle-deep, in the shallows, the scent of another man came seeping in upon a swell of briny air. The night-skinned youth flared his nostrils tentatively, glancing to his left to surely to lay eyes upon the sight of a small stranger in the distance. So many new souls to encounter - so much beauty, so much life. Ossi smiled, knowing in his heart that Ama, despite her own misgivings toward Others, would have been proud. And so, slowly, bashfully, the sunset-eyed boy began to patter closer. 

---

@auru

[Auru]

Auru was quite distracted as he shook himself from his reverie. It was like his mind had wandered off to another world and only just returned from trekking throughout the galaxies. He felt distant, detached from himself, and a tongue slipping out to lick at his salt-encrusted lips (which he promptly spat on the ground in disgust) indicated just how long he had dissociated as he stood. He had to shake himself like a wet dog to try and get life back into his haunches, tossing his head as he gave a soft snort, blinking and stretching his face.

Everything felt tight, not really because he'd been standing still, but because of the salt spray. It clung to his skin and made movement more difficult, leaving him to shudder uncomfortably and nose at his own flank to try and dislodge the discomfort.

A quiet, rhythmic splashing drew his attention, and not the splashing of the waves themselves. It was far too small, and sounding more like hoofsteps.

His ears angled towards the sound before he lifted his head to look as well, blinking curiously. In retrospect, he would suppose the way he reacted to the approaching figure as a mixture of two factors.

One, Auru was very disoriented at the current moment, his mind detached and distant, like he wasn't really there. It was hard to fret when one felt as if they were floating, the whole world beneath them feeling like it almost swayed as though he were standing on the waves and not the shore. Two, the one approaching him was a child.

Sure, Auru himself was barely out of his foalhood, and wasn't a wizened adult by any means. But still, he was a fully grown stallion, was considered a man, and the boy approaching him was not so. It invoked a strange feeling in him, something he had never had much of a chance to experience before, as he had never really been around children when he himself was not a child, but it still did something strange to him.

Rather than want to run in the other direction, Auru's anxiety was still very much so present, but something else nudged his hindquarters instead. Something more base, something stronger than the need to run. Something that was ingrained in the species beyond the need to protect oneself, because ensuring the protection of offspring was more vital to the species than defense of an adult.

It bid him to approach rather than to flee.

So, curious, and quite frankly only half-way there, Auru did. He didn't go barging up to introduce himself, but he did meet the other's gaze, an open and interested look painting itself onto his lightly salted visage. His head tilted one way, then the other, before he shook out his mane, taking a few steps forward, indicating that he was more than amicable to socialization.

For once.

Which was weird.

He was still too dreamy feeling to really question it.

"Hello."

Small talk still wasn't really his specialty. Let's be honest.

@Ossian