kindred
Drift gently...
Exhaustion cloaked in around her. She was afraid to close her eyes, but the way the edges of her sight were hazing over with a layer of darkness Kindred accepted that she had to for the night. Tomorrow. She’d make it back tomorrow. Perhaps if she just... yes. Her nose pressed against her pendant and the sound of the trees creaking and groaning in the light breeze faded from her senses.
I’ll find you Wren. Tomorrow. I have to...
Her breathing slowed to a point where any who stumbled across her might fear that her lungs had ceased working altogether. Yet, if they waited long enough they would see how her ribs would expand, pressing against her coat to show the ridges along her barrel. Alive, somehow.
She doesn’t know when, but as she faded into a restless sleep her nose slid from the pendant, allowing the sounds of the forest to lull her deeper and deeper into the nightmares. Wren dead. Kindred stumbling upon one of her wings torn off, but no body. Had the energy still existed in her muscles she might have been twitching and whimpering. Alas, at this time all of the energy left was needed to keep her body functioning.
The sound of hooves isn’t what stirred her. No, it was the feeling of the ground getting softer and a delicate voice reaching her ears. “Wr-Wren?” she choked out, eyes blinking as she attempted to pull the world around her back into focus and swat away the dark edges.
No. This wasn’t her. The creature before her wasn’t even obsidian. Five more blinks in rapid succession. A maple coat... not even equine... Am I alright? Kindred didn’t know how to answer that. She knew she’d be fine and Wren would be fine if she kept searching. Each direction. Five steps at a time. She’d find a sign and it would all be better.
Callynite. Sovereign. That didn’t seem right. Oh, did it matter? For the amount of time she’d been sifting through this forest for clues, it wouldn’t surprise her if the regime had changed. “I don’t believe... a doe was... in charge the last time I was within the confines of the court...” she whispers, voice cracked from lack of speech these past two years. “A pegasus maybe...” One could see her mind trying to place who all had been in charge, a name or defining feature. Alas, nothing would really come to her.
Nothing can help me... Unless you know where Wren is...
Kindred tries to lift her head to get a better look at the doe before her, the one thing drawing her in was the emerald cloak strewn across Callynite’s back and tied around her neck. Then, all at once, it hit her. Shit. She was laying down upon meeting the new Sovereign. Awkwardly she tries to pull herself back onto her feet, but it hurts and her joints creak and pop as she stands. How she sounds so much older than the (oh, what was she now?) seven years she’d lived.
She tries to bow, “Kindred, m’lady.” she whispers just as her back legs buckle once more, barely catching herself so her face does not slam into the ground with the weight of her bones. Five deep breaths. In. Two. Three. Four. Hold. Two. Three. Four. Out. Two. Three. Four. The world’s collapsing. She’s in a horrible state for meeting the leader of these lands and Wren is gone. The trees seem to close in and she can hear her heart racing in her ears.
Alone.
“I don’t- I don’t know...” she almost croaks, her voice stuck in her throat and eyes wide. Was there anything the leader of these lands could do to help her when Oriens himself had not allowed Kindred an inkling of hope that Wren had even left this forest... Somewhere inside her she recognized that she needed food and water. She recognized she needed sleep and to care for herself. But her mind wouldn’t let her move past five searches in each direction. Five steps at a time. Five breaths. Five prayers. Five searches.
@Callynite
I’ll find you Wren. Tomorrow. I have to...
Her breathing slowed to a point where any who stumbled across her might fear that her lungs had ceased working altogether. Yet, if they waited long enough they would see how her ribs would expand, pressing against her coat to show the ridges along her barrel. Alive, somehow.
She doesn’t know when, but as she faded into a restless sleep her nose slid from the pendant, allowing the sounds of the forest to lull her deeper and deeper into the nightmares. Wren dead. Kindred stumbling upon one of her wings torn off, but no body. Had the energy still existed in her muscles she might have been twitching and whimpering. Alas, at this time all of the energy left was needed to keep her body functioning.
The sound of hooves isn’t what stirred her. No, it was the feeling of the ground getting softer and a delicate voice reaching her ears. “Wr-Wren?” she choked out, eyes blinking as she attempted to pull the world around her back into focus and swat away the dark edges.
No. This wasn’t her. The creature before her wasn’t even obsidian. Five more blinks in rapid succession. A maple coat... not even equine... Am I alright? Kindred didn’t know how to answer that. She knew she’d be fine and Wren would be fine if she kept searching. Each direction. Five steps at a time. She’d find a sign and it would all be better.
Callynite. Sovereign. That didn’t seem right. Oh, did it matter? For the amount of time she’d been sifting through this forest for clues, it wouldn’t surprise her if the regime had changed. “I don’t believe... a doe was... in charge the last time I was within the confines of the court...” she whispers, voice cracked from lack of speech these past two years. “A pegasus maybe...” One could see her mind trying to place who all had been in charge, a name or defining feature. Alas, nothing would really come to her.
Nothing can help me... Unless you know where Wren is...
Kindred tries to lift her head to get a better look at the doe before her, the one thing drawing her in was the emerald cloak strewn across Callynite’s back and tied around her neck. Then, all at once, it hit her. Shit. She was laying down upon meeting the new Sovereign. Awkwardly she tries to pull herself back onto her feet, but it hurts and her joints creak and pop as she stands. How she sounds so much older than the (oh, what was she now?) seven years she’d lived.
She tries to bow, “Kindred, m’lady.” she whispers just as her back legs buckle once more, barely catching herself so her face does not slam into the ground with the weight of her bones. Five deep breaths. In. Two. Three. Four. Hold. Two. Three. Four. Out. Two. Three. Four. The world’s collapsing. She’s in a horrible state for meeting the leader of these lands and Wren is gone. The trees seem to close in and she can hear her heart racing in her ears.
Alone.
“I don’t- I don’t know...” she almost croaks, her voice stuck in her throat and eyes wide. Was there anything the leader of these lands could do to help her when Oriens himself had not allowed Kindred an inkling of hope that Wren had even left this forest... Somewhere inside her she recognized that she needed food and water. She recognized she needed sleep and to care for herself. But her mind wouldn’t let her move past five searches in each direction. Five steps at a time. Five breaths. Five prayers. Five searches.
@Callynite
... Into Oblivion
