When I run fast enough, I can remember exactly what it felt like to fly.
But- and this is... embarrassing, for some reason I can't quite explain- in some ways running feels better than flying. At least running like this does; running fast as the wind, sweat foaming at my sides, heart pounding against my chest as if it wants to escape... or maybe it just has something to say? It feels like if I could just go a little faster, a little longer, I might be able to hear it speak.
In this way, running like this, I learn to communicate with earth the way I once did with wind and water. Or at least listen to her. She is quieter than her sisters, more subtle. You must listen to the way she presses into the bottom of each hoof, followed by the pressure that rises up each leg and into the body. I have not yet learned to speak to her in a way she can hear, but I'm working on it. For now I try to listen, and hope that understanding will follow.
I run as fast as I can along the creek at the northern edge of Terrastella, feeling the earth strong and generous beneath me even when it turns to swampland, thick with mud. Eventually the creek feeds into the sea and I come sliding to a halt, spraying a wave of sand before me in a way I find mildly entertaining. My sides are heaving like bellows, igniting the fire in my chest in a way that can only be described as thrilling. I don't think I've ever felt this way before in my long life. Maybe when you're mortal, the constant presence of death, patiently waiting, flavors each and every experience. Or maybe I have felt this once before but I just forgot about it... after so many lives you tend to lose track of yourself.
As my breathing slows, I become aware of the cool ocean breeze wrapping eagerly around my too-hot body and the cushion of sand beneath me. I take a deep breath of salty air and for a moment my troubles seem far away, lost somewhere among the beating of my heart in my ears. Earth, wind, and water- my world feels more stable when I let myself be embraced by all three.
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ooc: sorry odd, still figuring out this guy and his moods. duskies preferred, but open to anyone <3 He's at the NW corner of the swamp, where amare creek meets the sea.
