The winter’s biting chill had finally forced the stallion down from the mountains. His elk companion had been urging him for weeks now as the nights became cool and the wind whistled through the trees. The brute hadn’t wanted to listen to him. After the first month, he had left disappointed. A week later, though, he had been back and it had been with provisions to stay. The stallion’s heart ached to see her again, and each night he had stood at the entrance to the cave, hoping to see her visage materialize from the darkness, just as it once had. Gareth was a stubborn man, and once he had set his mind to something it was difficult to get him to focus on anything else. Some would consider it bullheadedness, and perhaps they were right. It served him well, in most things. But in matters of the heart, all it would do, it seems, is make him bitter and lonely.
Noor had thought that this final rejection after sudden and fleeting hope would break him. And while the stallion was perhaps not yet ready to admit it, the elk could see the cracks forming, and the guards being carefully built around his heart. It pained him to see his friend hurting this way, even though he had been correct. No one ever wins in those situations- no one wants to tell the ones that they love that they are going to be hurt, and they certainly don’t celebrate when their predictions turn true. Noor, perhaps almost as much as Gareth, had been hoping that Salome would show herself. That they could speak and, if nothing else, make amends. When she had not come the first time, he had tried to get his stallion companion to move on, but once that light of hope was inside of him, he could not let it go. Noor knew that he had to let the man come to conclusions on his own, even if it meant that he would have to fall apart.
But the elk would be there, as he always had. He would be the stallion’s silent rock, and he would help him shoulder whatever weight, and he would help him piece himself together again. That is what friends did. That is what one’s chosen family did. And fuck Salome, if she was too full of herself to see that. If her head was too in the clouds or far and away somewhere else, to toy with the gentle giant. To so deeply hurt a man who clearly still loved her after all of these years… it was a disgrace as far as he was concerned. But he would not voice those thoughts to Gareth. Perhaps he never could. It would wound him too much, and he had already been through enough. He watched the stallion, who walked just a bit ahead of him, shoulders hunched against the cold, so much like a child trying to curl into himself and disappear from the world that was far too big.
They were walking in the shadow of the mountain now, but it would still be a good half day at least until they would reach home. The snow here was, blessedly, sparse. He had let his mane down from the semi-neat buns that he normally kept to attempt to warm his neck. The strands fell in thick locks, whispering against his skin all of the sweet nothings that he had so wished to hear from lips not his own.
The stallion tried to push the thought from his mind and Gareth wondered briefly if anyone had missed him these last few months. After all, he had gone to the mountains just before the new Sovereign was named. He wondered what the final tally had been, and how the chips had fallen. He supposed in the end it didn’t matter much. He had never been one to play too much with politics, and found that most rulers were all variations of the same. He pushed air harshly through his nares, the action nearly causing him a coughing fit. He had spent much too long on the mountain, and he knew that. Noor had known it, too, but the stallion was too pigheaded to agree. He had been too desperate, perhaps. He had wanted so strongly to believe… But hope was a fickle bitch, and perhaps an aching lung would be a well deserved lesson what foolishness blind hope can bring a man.
The stars are alive, child! Did you know that? Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purpose abroad!
Winter was never kind. With it came sickness and death. Snow that covered the ground like freshly fallen ashes, but with none of the warmth lingering. Somehow it was both the brightest and darkest of seasons. It was winter that brought up the most troubling of memories, and the coldest of feelings.
It was certainly not the season in which a mare with the figure of a skeleton should be wandering the foot of a mountain. But, Luvena was a stubborn woman, and even the clutch of winter could not keep her at bay. Yara and Mithra pressed in beside her, their warmth shielding her from the harsh temperatures that fell the higher one ventured into the mountains. She was in fact in search of something, or rather someone.
She had met the man once, in a state of near delirium, and really hadn’t recalled much about him, aside from a name. But it turned out he had a bit of a name for himself among the court, and she was easily able to find that he was a dealer of… questionable concoctions in the mountains. She hoped that maybe his herb stores were better then her own, and that for a price, he might share some for her to bring back to the court.
She had not expected to find him this low to the ground though. Having anticipated a tiring journey further up the mountains, nearer the temples of the night order. He looked a right state were she to be honest, breathing heavily through the winter chill. “Gareth!” she called out, short fo breath herself. “The winter seems to be treating you even worse then it is myself” she attempted lightly with a smile as she approached.
She still was far from the picture of health, but certainly looked better then the first time they had met. “And Noor” she greeted the elk with a dip of her head. Her own companion, Picoro, had been left behind. Preferring to huddle inside rather than brave the snow covered peaks once more. “What brings you so far down here? I was told you tended to stay farther up”
The stallion was surprised when he saw the skeletal figure materialize in front of him. With her dull pelt in dusty hues, he should have been able to spot her easily against the thin blanket of white. He shook his head clear, trying to take in a deep breath and faltering just a bit. He offered a strained smile that didn’t quite reach his warm amber eyes. The colour of whiskey barrels he wished he kept on hand, something to soothe the pain buried deep inside. He cleared his throat and took in the mare’s visage once more.
Luvena was still as sickly looking as when he had met her, but at least this go around she was steady on her feet. That kindled a quiet warmth in Gareth. The mare had proven to be much stronger than she lead on, and from what small conversation they had shared, she was a skilled healer. It pleased him greatly to see her now, and it was only at that thought that he realized that since ascending the mountains to wait for a woman who would never come, Noor had been his only company. His pelt shivered, rolling across his spine and down his haunch to his knotted tail.
“I actually keep a home fairly close to the court, but I like to come to the mountains on long expeditions for gathering materials.” He watched the woman’s two wolf cubs, bigger than he remembered, trying to shield her with their bodies. He coughed briefly, turning his sights back to the mare herself. “This last venture was of a more personal nature, and I’m afraid I lost track of the season.” Gareth tossed his head back towards the mountains. “She snuck up on me, and I am returning home quite a bit later than I had really intended.”
He bowed his head to her, the free locks of his mane shifting along his neck and moving the thin gold chain that stayed there. It swayed for a moment as his boa remained arched, like a pendulum deciding whether or not to divine your fate. Then, as he righted himself, the pendant fell back against his chest and was still once more. “It’s really good that we ran into each other, Luvena. Otherwise your trek up the mountains might well have been for naught.”
He glanced back to Noor, who offered nothing to the stallion and simply observed him. The winter chill had not been his friend, either, and the moss and lichen that dripped along his body had started to freeze. When the elk made no indication of his thoughts one way or the other, the stallion returned his gaze to the mare before him. He took a few steady strides to be at her side.
“Walk with me back to civilization, and you can tell me all about what has brought you so far in such cruel weather.” This time his smile did reach his eyes and the warmth was a far better look on Gareth's features than the sunken and jaded expression she had first come across.
The stars are alive, child! Did you know that? Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purpose abroad!
She tilted her head as she listened, before reaching down to open one of the satchels that hung around her neck. She wasn’t sure why she carried them both these days. One, given by Caligo herself was bottomless enough to carry all she could ever need. Truth be told, she still carried the other for sentimentality it seemed. She held an olive leaf out towards him.
“Here. I’ve not got much to spare, but it’ll help with the cough.” She knew what it was to be stuck out in the winter months, and she knew what happened to those who left a cough lingering for too long. “And for that I am grateful” she replied “The night order was good home, but I will not miss trekking up and down these gods-forsaken mountains” she laughed. Truthfully it had been exhausting, and embarrassing to find a guide every time. And the ice was not for the faint of heart.
She nodded, turning back towards the court. Making a home there had been one of her best decisions. The people were good, and honest. The work was rewarding, and she had more true friends then she had had in a long time. “Truthfully I’ve come to you in search of some herbs. The stocks in the court are low, and already winter is taking its toll on the populace. And between you and I, I don’t really have the energy to go out gathering this time of year. I doubt I’ll be of much use even after this small venture.” she paused “Tell me though, what brought you into the mountains for so long you managed to catch a chill?”
