[P] birds of a feather [quest]

[Elena]

Elena

let us live like flowers
drenched in sunlight

Y

ou’re not tired yet?” Her laugh was thin but it rang like silver bells in her mouth. She wonders about the girls parents. She thinks of the own child in her stomach, dancing, twirling, excited to be brought into the world just as this child has been. Elena too, is eager to meet them. Colt or filly? Would they like to pick flowers or would they rather race through them? Would they rather build a snow fort or play on the ice? She has so many questions that make her smile, so excited to see their little face.

And then there are other questions she asks herself. Would she tell Tenebrae? Would he ever find out that he played a part in this child’s creation? What would he resent his child if he found out? These thoughts make her shudder. This child was half his, Elena knew this, he had the right to know them, if he wanted to, but Elena would never know if she didn't ask, and she just cant find the courage to do so.

It’s easier to pretend Azrael is the father, and pray like hell the child doesn't look like it’s father.
And that they never find out.

And neither does Tenebrae.

“Beautiful,” Elena answers. “You can see every constellation up on the mountain. There are so many stars,” she comments. She thinks of Azrael, of them huddled close together, his kind voice, his warm body, the light that illuminated from him. “You don't want to go alone,” she says, trying to put some caution to her words. She feels the sadness rolling off the girl and it hits her soul. Elena shakes it away easily, children’s emotions were easier to handle most times, they could still be complicated, but there was not years and years of weight hanging on them, making them so impossible to dig through. “Maybe take your mom with you,” she offers, unaware of whose child this is.

It is then she feels something in the back of her mind, like it has always been there. Fire. She sees it clearly in her head and she understands that this girl must have the ability to wield it, but something else comes alive: healing. Elena doesn't ask. She rarely informs others of her ability to sense powers, most considering it an encroachment on their privacy. Is the girl aware of her gift? Elena has to wonder.

Blue eyes echo Maeve’s as a cry jets across the sky. The bird is moving crookedly, strained, it all together looks wrong, that is not how they are supposed to fly. And then the girl is gone. “Maeve!” Elena calls out, following closely behind before her strides match the girl. Call it motherly instinct, but she wants to stop the girl, tell her it is too dangerous. But she recognizes something in Maeve that has always lived in Elena. It can be as dangerous as poison, but it is as warm as sunlight. Compassion.

Compassion makes people do foolish things.

“Come on,” she says, her voice urgent, serious. “I think it fell over there.” Elena continues to race ahead, but with a slow enough pace that Maeve would not lose her. She slows down only when they reach some rocks, and there on top of one, rests the hawk. Elena goes over to it, lowers her golden head to ensure it is still breathing before turning blue eyes to Maeve. “Do you know how to heal, Maeve?” She asks her. Elena turns back to the hawk and her stomach knots. It needed healing, now.

code by rallidae
picture by cannon
@Maeve