she walked in moondust
and stars were sprinkled in her hair
and stars were sprinkled in her hair
The music thrummed, her blood boiling, the drums sending shivers down the length of her spine and each individual feather of her great wings. Her mouth watered as her senses were overloaded with the sweet sound of pipes and the layers of smells of sugar and pumpkin pastries, woodsmoke heavy in the air from the multitude of burning pyres. As the sun began to sink lower, heavy and drifting into a deep slumber, the stars began to shimmer awake high above them. Her orbs of blue blinking upwards to welcome those shining stars; the only touch of Calligo that she could claim besides the gathering darkness and shadows.. and then suddenly, she realizes something. That Denocte's nights were truly uncompared by any other kingdom.
A knowing smile tugs at her lips as her heartbeat thunders, happiness flooding in her in a warm, yellow glow. Her hooves craved to prance through the embers of the many fires, to join in the passion and throng of dancing through the blazing flames; but instead, she weaves through the crowd, slowly taking in each and every detail. She was overwhelmed by the joy of it all; the bliss lacing her blood a most welcome drug that she had not felt in too long. Aislinn found herself beneath a beautiful tree burnished in gold and burnt umber, the heat wafting from a nearby bonfire singing her skin in lovely tingles. She was about to give in to her desire to twirl with the other dancers, to be free and one with the building music, when a familiar winged shadow joined her.
Surprised to see a familiar face amongst so many strangers.
Her crown quirked to the side as she turned to take in the silver-blue warrior, her smile widening as her orbs glimmered in greeting. Ulric, a face to the name. She did not forget him, or his bravery, when they had battled on the Steppe nearly a full moon ago. Aislinn recalls how she foolishly flown to the plateau, her instincts screaming for spilled blood, sweat, and tears; her silent call answered by no one other than the warrior who stood before her now. Looking at him through the flickering firelight, she notes the speckled wings at his sides and the handsome air that followed the smooth planes of his face. Details that she did not notice in the shadows of her crimson fury and ravaged emotions when they had met for the first time. @
She did not let her untamed grief and anger taint her vision now, as she dips her crown and gaze in mutual respect to Dawn's chosen protector. "I know your face," she admitted through smiling lips, "I'm pleased to meet you outside of the battlefield. I'm Aislinn Stormsinger, Champion of Battle of the Night Court." She did not bat an eye at the thought of her introduction; her true name accompanied by her given kinvadantee title that was as much apart of her as Calligo's sea of stars winked in the night sky. Words of thanks nearly touched her lips as she was about to breathe them to life when a bay prince — her prince — stepped into the boundaries of her fiery blue gaze.
Her breath catches in her throat, oxygen burning in her lungs as he emerges from the fray. He is just as she remembers; the slithering shadows of night that cling to his dark coat, and the kiss of twilight that touches the smooth line of his neck. Warmth floods to her cheeks, blushing her skin rose underneath the ebony of her coat. A shred of guilt pierces her lungs as her attention is suddenly grabbed by the stranger who had walked out of her daydreams and danced with her beneath the summer stars so many nights ago. Aislinn nearly sighs as she is transported back into the field of sweetgrass, fireflies fluttering around them like floating pixie dust and glowing faeries. But now, her eyes brightened like little blue flames as she sees only him and the beautiful tilted star on his forehead that shines like a beacon of ivory in the growing crowd. @asterion
Aislinn..
His lips breathing her name has her mending heart pause, beating madly against the dusk-colored threads that are slowly glueing each shredded piece to wholeness. She is about to step forward, to close the ocean of distance that lay between them, when her ears finally catch the last of his words.
..this is Florentine, my sister.
Reality shattered like broken glass all around her, the mirrors of her dreams crashing down in reflecting pieces. Her eyes widen in shock as realization sets in, as slow and painful as a well-tinkered poison as her prince — the man she was beginning to helplessly fall for — was joined by a familiar golden girl. A girl of milk and honey, intoxicating lavender blossoms tangled in the silk of her hair. She was the same spring goddess she had met on the cliffs overlooking an angry sea; the same girl who had brushed soft lips through the starlight of her mane; the same girl who had draped a wing across her back as the cliff drank in her tears. The very same girl of amethyst orbs and gold-dusted lashes that held the heart of her king.. the one who was responsible for the bleeding ache that had cleaved her into a million pieces. @
Her lungs were ablaze and scorching, her tongue dry as she stared at the girl now as she suffocated her gaze of blue. Desperately, she steps back, wanting nothing more than to escape this wretched reality, to breathe. She, the girl who had taken what her maiden heart had wanted most of all, and now she was.. she was.. kin to the stranger she was tumbling into the depths of galaxies and dreams for. The blood in her veins ran cold as ice, freezing each tender muscle, tightening and bunching beneath her skin as her body shook in shivers. Not angry, not grieving.. but anxious; her heart a caged bird that fluttered violently against her ribs.
She needed out.. for her heart could not take another moment of pain that tore through every chamber with each pump in her chest.
Aislinn did not notice the boy of green scales and eternal youth join them; did not hear his words. She did not notice the man of obsidian shadow that watched the events unfold from afar. Instead, her entire body, her heart, even her soul was hyper-focused on the bay prince before her that had happiness turning her into a lovely mess, and the sister of gold who's purple blossoms were thick and heavy and coating every inch of space in her lungs. @pan @blackplague
With a sharp inhale, she blinks and looks to Ulric. "I'm sorry, I just.. I.." her breath comes in shudders, unable to catch any oxygen. She cannot breathe, her chest heavy, as if a small dragon had curled up and fallen asleep in the cavity of her lungs. Now, she is caught; agonizing over the primal need to run away, to put oceans between her and the girl who had nearly ripped out her bleeding heart, and wanting nothing more than to dance in the wild flames with the prince who she no doubt was beginning to love.
Unable to process her feelings, her emotions, as they swirl and rage as threatening as a summertide hurricane, Aislinn stands there, her body trembling as words failed her completely.
@
"Aislinn speech."
