She moves with a grace so different from his own, so much lighter and sweeter. It comes from within, it is something she was born with. A blessing, if he's ever seen one. His grace has been hammered into him, shaped by pain and triumph. Not a gift but a prize hard-won. Yet here they are, their different stories suddenly intertwined like the wind in the trees.
As she leaps away he hesitates a moment, taken aback by the mischief in her smile. And then he springs after her, delighting in the movement of the body and the quiet companionship of the pretty mare. Tirzah. Sometimes he needs to spend some time with a person before their name grows on them, but this is not the case with her. Her name fits her perfectly. He thinks his name fits him, perhaps only because he has grown over the years to fit his name. The thought of being named Sunshine or Joy brings a small smile to his face. Perhaps life would have been easier.
As they vault upwards he focuses on the strength and coordination of his body, step by step. The tune she hums somehow seems to slow time and narrow his focus on being. For some reason it brings a sad calmness to his heart. Music is a dangerous thing-- it has always moved him more than reason dictates it should.
"I have not."" He says, unbothered by his ignorance (sometimes it stings him-- recently he has become accustomed to it) and focused more on the light that flares behind her words. Like a rising fire. As they ascend he senses the fire rising. He imagines her face is something to behold. "Where I am from, the gods were everywhere." His heart starts to race before the words finish leaving his lips. They tug at a wound he had hoped was healed, but there it is, threatening to split open again. He has not thought of that place and its gods in years.
(everywhere, and then nowhere. where were they that night, why did they leave? Or were they never really there to begin with?)
He is glad she is before him, and does not see the expressions that cross his face. With force he turns his thoughts to these lands. (home) He thinks of the courts, of the land so neatly divided in four. Of the differences that people find within themselves. He thinks perhaps it is more often that they choose their differences, choose what makes them better or worse than others. "Do you worship them all?"
And then, before she has the chance to answer his first question, "Are you afraid of them?"
