B e l o w Z e r o
let the waves up take me down, let the hurricane set in motion
Bel was in an odd frame of mind as of recent. It was not what you expect to happen - during a fall festival to run into the baby sister you had been forced to abandon and believed to be dead and gone - unreachable forever. For her sister to turn up out of the blue, it had taken Bel for a spin, a very tragic spin into a state she just wasn't sure where she sat. It left her wondering, left her lost, left her in a constant state of focusing on "What Ifs". What if she hadn't been so discouraged and had kept searching for her sister longer. What if those nomads hadn't come and her sister had to experience the worst death imaginable to their species, I'll while forced to watch those sharks closing in from beneath the ice. What if her baby sister had suffered even worse, because she had given up! She had given up and chose to escape from the memroeis rather than search for her sister proper. She had give up on Polar! It was like abandoning her twice!
You couldn't have known. Bel spun towards Yukime, eyes wide at the insight of her companion. The Serpent was curled up on a rock, while Bel paced within the swamplands, her vapors near arctic temperatures to counter the heat and humidity of the swamplands. After the first few well-placed hooves, the predators of the half-waters were avoiding her as well (plus the Serpent's snarls and the ominous creaking of ice shards). Bel sighed, her head dropping like a limp jellyfish, "I know, I just feel like I should have done more! I took the easy way out, Yukime! I left her, and then abandoned her twice when she had to be rescued for someone else because I swam like a guppy afraid of a shadow. I was supposed to be the one to protect her . . . instead, someone else raised her."
The Serpent hissed at the distress being shown on the mare's face, "You aren't her dam! You are her sister, and you were barely out of the egg yourself!" Bel flinched back, glowing cyan eyes staring in wide shock at the pale glowing ice of her companions, "Bel . . ." The Serpent spoke softer this time, but shocking her companion with the use of the nickname, "I know it hurts, but I don't think your mother would blame you for all that has happened. You need to stop finding weight to add to your shoulders. Or you'll crumble like a stressed ice shelf! You did your best for yourself and her. It's okay to move on now. She's here now, and she's not going to chase you off like a territorial shark. You can get to know her again, and it will get better. Isn't this the ending your mother would have hoped for. For her two pups to be together again, supporting each other - not living in the past works and what-ifs."
Bel sighed before nodding once, moving towards the glowing pale creature on the rock and brushing her cheek against her in a soft motion of gratitude, more thankful for the companion that had opened her eyes to so much. "Thank you, for everything Yukime. Can you . . . tell me more about the world where my ancestors came from?" It was a plea of distraction, but Yukime was happy to accept it, motioning with her finned tail for Bel to get comfortable. Bel immediately lowered herself into the swamp, relaxing into the waters as her vapors quickly cooled it around her to be a touch more comfortable for the polar being.
The talk didn't last long until the Serpent froze and spun towards a sound that had Bel sitting up in concern. "Yukime?" She asked with caution, looking up and around before her ears perked at the sound of another huffing and making their way through the swamp, It's your giant stalker." The Serpent dead-panned, before barely having time to grab onto Bel and secure her hold before the mare was moving curiously forward, ears perked struggling to spot the black stallion against the night. Of course, upon finding him, standing in the gushy swamp, water up past the point of his knees, and Bel stood still in surprise, tilting her head curiously, from the dry bar she was walking on that kept her out of the water, "Sol? Why are you trying to swim in the swamp? Most use the dry parts to make their way across - there are predators in the water, you know?" She asked innocently, nodding to a caiman that had entered the water further down, swimming away from the glowing blue creature.
"Actually - what are you doing in a swamp at all, silly!" Still trying to figure out what he was doing in the swamp, to begin with.
"Bel"
Yukime
@Sol Bestiam
Notes::
You couldn't have known. Bel spun towards Yukime, eyes wide at the insight of her companion. The Serpent was curled up on a rock, while Bel paced within the swamplands, her vapors near arctic temperatures to counter the heat and humidity of the swamplands. After the first few well-placed hooves, the predators of the half-waters were avoiding her as well (plus the Serpent's snarls and the ominous creaking of ice shards). Bel sighed, her head dropping like a limp jellyfish, "I know, I just feel like I should have done more! I took the easy way out, Yukime! I left her, and then abandoned her twice when she had to be rescued for someone else because I swam like a guppy afraid of a shadow. I was supposed to be the one to protect her . . . instead, someone else raised her."
The Serpent hissed at the distress being shown on the mare's face, "You aren't her dam! You are her sister, and you were barely out of the egg yourself!" Bel flinched back, glowing cyan eyes staring in wide shock at the pale glowing ice of her companions, "Bel . . ." The Serpent spoke softer this time, but shocking her companion with the use of the nickname, "I know it hurts, but I don't think your mother would blame you for all that has happened. You need to stop finding weight to add to your shoulders. Or you'll crumble like a stressed ice shelf! You did your best for yourself and her. It's okay to move on now. She's here now, and she's not going to chase you off like a territorial shark. You can get to know her again, and it will get better. Isn't this the ending your mother would have hoped for. For her two pups to be together again, supporting each other - not living in the past works and what-ifs."
Bel sighed before nodding once, moving towards the glowing pale creature on the rock and brushing her cheek against her in a soft motion of gratitude, more thankful for the companion that had opened her eyes to so much. "Thank you, for everything Yukime. Can you . . . tell me more about the world where my ancestors came from?" It was a plea of distraction, but Yukime was happy to accept it, motioning with her finned tail for Bel to get comfortable. Bel immediately lowered herself into the swamp, relaxing into the waters as her vapors quickly cooled it around her to be a touch more comfortable for the polar being.
The talk didn't last long until the Serpent froze and spun towards a sound that had Bel sitting up in concern. "Yukime?" She asked with caution, looking up and around before her ears perked at the sound of another huffing and making their way through the swamp, It's your giant stalker." The Serpent dead-panned, before barely having time to grab onto Bel and secure her hold before the mare was moving curiously forward, ears perked struggling to spot the black stallion against the night. Of course, upon finding him, standing in the gushy swamp, water up past the point of his knees, and Bel stood still in surprise, tilting her head curiously, from the dry bar she was walking on that kept her out of the water, "Sol? Why are you trying to swim in the swamp? Most use the dry parts to make their way across - there are predators in the water, you know?" She asked innocently, nodding to a caiman that had entered the water further down, swimming away from the glowing blue creature.
"Actually - what are you doing in a swamp at all, silly!" Still trying to figure out what he was doing in the swamp, to begin with.
"Bel"
Yukime
@Sol Bestiam
Notes::
![[Image: i-jTNwWx8.png]](https://photos.smugmug.com/BelowZeroNovus/n-X9d9fZ/i-jTNwWx8/1/e09fb6c3/O/i-jTNwWx8.png)
