[P] errant

[Elena]

Elena Daray

let us live like flowers
drenched in sunlight

T

here is a part of Elena that has always feared that she has not left a mark anywhere in this world. That she moves in and out of people’s lives like a needle through fabric. Each of the lands Elena has been in has shaped her, has molded her, even if she hadn't stayed. But she has to wonder, how many of those lands remember, how many places are there still that are marker by her presence. How many eyes can still recall the blonde of her hair or the curve of her smile? How many would recognize her now if they saw her, here, where Terrastella is embedding itself in her? Would Valerio look past her, believing her to be just another palomino in another home? Would Aletta ask for her name, not thinking it could possibly be Elena? Would Alvaro turn his back to her, thinking he would not smile for a stranger? So maybe, at the end of it all, Elena is not terrified of leaving her mark on the world, because scars fade, paint chips, and  flowers die, but leaving her mark on the people of each world she has been apart of.

There is a piece of her, here with this mare, that is here for her own selfish regard, that she is using her. She is a distraction, and she is grateful for it. As with all distractions nowadays, she pours herself into it wholeheartedly, abandoning the pain, the memories, in the back of her mind.

A genuine smile radiates across her face like sunshine and she lowers her head with the girl until they are both watching the crab with interest. They rest then, at nearly eye level, with Elena explaining to the girl, she tries to keep herself from sound brittle, the delicate girl with sunshine buried in her skin. “If you come to the beach often you will see that it is full of them.” And just as she says this, another, smaller crab appears and scurries off as quickly as they had come.

“You can be a knight wherever you wish, maybe you can start an order here,” she offers. “The pleasure is mine, I always welcome knights in my company,” she says with a smile. Reckless is a word she is familiar with. She had been called as much by her family, so often rushing headfirst into things, standing up to snow princes and throwing herself in front of those she protects, whether they be friends or strangers.

Elena’s heart is an ocean. An ever changing thing. It swells and grows like high tide, it pulls out with the low, as if afraid of being touched. But with this girl, the ocean comes flowing in, swirling around their ankles as she smiles. “It took me some time too, never fear,” she says, and inside her heart she laughs. She tells a knight to never fear when she was probably far braver than herself. “Let me help you find them,” she says taking a step forwards. “In the mean time—do you need a place to stay?”

code by rallidae
picture by cannon
@Nicnevin