The stars are alive, child! Did you know that? Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purpose abroad!
Her stay at the night orders temple had done her well. She felt stronger then she had in a long time. Not her strongest - she feared she would never feel that strength again - but good. However it was fall, and when fall turned to winter.. well, that spelled trouble for those whose bodies rebelled against them. Nevertheless, now was good. and she wasn't going to waste it. She had heard tell that the night court was the best place to see the stars. Upon asking the acolytes, she was told that the Sideralis prairie was the place to be.
The timing was perfect. She was in the night court anyways, having left the temple. While she was backtracking ever so slightly, she couldn't pass up the opportunity. As she walked, she watched the sunset, not a cloud in the sky, the perfect canvas for the stippling of stars. She settled into the long grass, between two hills, her legs tucked neatly beneath her slender frame. and she watched as the constellations began to flicker into existence. How many times had she gone over those constellations? There were gaps though, those who had been put into the sky years ago... they didn't exist here. Their stars had flickered out of existence, and even if they hadn't... she didn't think you would be able to see them from Novus anyway.
The darkness in Delumine really was remarkable. Like nothing, she had ever seen before. even with the stars and moon above, it was as if the world had been swallowed by shadows. So dark... she almost missed the shadow on the horizon. She pricked her ears, listening, waiting. But did not move from where she lay. Hoping that maybe if she stayed there, she would go unseen.
There's a reason Lucinda doesn't wander in the Court lands often. It seems every time she does, something about them either disappoints or annoys her. Being in Denocte tonight doesn't make her feel much different. At the very least, she knows it borders the sea and she can easily go back in the water once she gets bored enough.
The leaves are changing around her, reminding her of the brilliant colors of fire. It seems the air is not taking its time in welcoming the crisp coldness of the soon-to-be winter. The kelpie welcomes it. After all, winter is her birth season and holds a special place in her heart (maybe because her very heart is as cold as ice so it's most comfortable that way).
As the night falls and the moon changes place with the sun in the sky, the colors of the world are washed in moonlight. The chill is stronger and she can even see her breath form clouds in front of her off and on. The prairie has the best view of the night sky it seems and she comes upon a mare taking in the sight of it all. Lu remembers being a young filly and looking up in awe at the billions of stars. Diaval had been more interested in the constellations than she had, but she let him tell her about them anyway. A small part of her is sad she doesn't remember much of his stories.
The woman looking at the stars is what reminds her of her brother now. "Brilliant sky tonight, hm?" she asks upon her approach, her wings tucked neatly at her sides. Abraxia is not by the kelpie's side tonight, but is instead out hunting. Her absence is not abnormal though and Lu is very much capable of holding her own.
There is a slight breeze that comes through and pulls at her mane. It carries the scent of the sea with it and a calling to come back home. To her real home, not here among a stranger and the stars and memories of her long lost brother.
The stars are alive, child! Did you know that? Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purpose abroad!
Luvena tensed as the sinuous woman spoke to her. While her words were not cruel, nor her tone, something about the woman was discordant... as if her relationship with compassion, and honesty, were tenuous at best. It was hard to make out much of the dark-coated mare in the dim moonlight. She could see feathered wings, tipped with claws sharp enough to gut a creature in seconds. She did not like what she saw. Picoro, let a drawn-out hiss escape his mouth, it's cadence one he reserved only for a select few. She stood quickly, her body in good enough shape to carry her without trembling.
"Indeed" she replied carefully. "The stars certainly shine brightly here, under Caligos watch. I apologize for this one" she gestured to the sloth who clung to her withers. "He tends not to take very kindly to strangers. He's a strange little beast" she chose her words carefully. Fearful of what the dark woman could do. Perhaps she was really a kind stranger, but Luvena was in strange lands, with no one to defend her, and she knew better than to tempt fate with a few misplaced words. "What brings you here, so late at night? Come to see the stars as well?" she tilted her head, smiling through her sentence, though it was tinted with fear. "I'm Luvena, by the way."
@Lucinda
This isn't great sorry! I was really struggling with this one
It seems she's startled the woman upon her approach, but mostly her sloth companion who hisses at her. Lucinda merely raises a brow, but does not flinch. If anything, the lowly creature amuses her and she can only imagine the things Abraxia could do to it within seconds.
The woman apologizes on behalf of her companion, claiming she doesn't take too kindly to strangers. Clearly, the kelpie thinks, but she is still more amused than irked.
"It's quite alright. Sometimes the beasts have minds of their own, no matter how strong of a bond we share with them," she replies, a smirk showing upon her lips. Abraxia is not the type to cross Lu or go against her orders, but she would not scold the dragon for swooping down to kill an innocent for fun. Lu would easily do the same.
"I wouldn't call myself the stargazer type, that was my brother," she muses, although she feels the need to take a glance up at the stars now. They're a beautiful sight, she won't argue that, but it's nothing more than the night sky to her. She's heard of stories about the stars being ancestors looking down on us, or in this woman's world, the deities, but they just look like little lights in the sky to her and nothing special. "I was hunting." She's always hunting, perhaps she still is.
It's almost humorous that their names sound similar. "I'm Lucinda. Do you live here?"
The stars are alive, child! Did you know that? Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purpose abroad!
She had met hunters before, discovered quickly that she didn’t like them very much. All sharp teeth and predatory instincts. They weren’t built to be predators, not with side facing eyes and swift feet meant to run long distances. They were prey. Luvena was prey.
“Hmm” she hummed in response. “He certainly does. They keep us in check though. Or at least, Picoro keeps me in check” she laughed nervously. Wary of the mares stance. Something about her still seemed wicked.
Hunting. Hunting what? Luvena had been hunted before, in many ways. First Obyana, scouted her out as a target, a pawn he could use to get his way. Then the wolf queen, who had hunted her down after her own reign over Crucis. Driven her to the waste. She had never stood a chance against her. Was she being hunted now? For meat would be a first. Most would discard her. There was little flesh on her bones, her hide far too tattered to put on display. She would be no trophy of strength to any decent hunter.
“No” she answered quickly. “I’m from dusk. A medic. I take it you are? From here I mean” The only other place she could imagine such a sharp woman could live was in day court (she had heard many rumors of the harsh individuals who roamed the deserts), but something about her seemed tethered to the night sky.
The nervousness in the mare's voice only further fuels the fire in Lucinda. She is hungry for more of it, to see Luvena tremble beneath her grip. But she decides not to lash out with her teeth like she usually does. Perhaps she's gone soft or the mare is just lucky to have caught the kelpie on an off day.
When she explains how her companion keeps her in check, the kelpie is amused. Not so much at Luvena but by how opposite they are. Abraxia, while she's protective of Lu, certainly does not keep her in check. If anything, Lu keeps her beast in check and she would not do anything without Lu's command. They are bonded, but Lu is her master above all else.
It doesn't really surprise her that the woman is a medic. She does not have the muscle tone or grace to be a warrior or of any higher rank. Of course, healers were highly valued back home in their own ways, so she certainly does not discredit them. They just had vastly different physical qualities compared to those like her who trained for battle and dragon taming.
Although, the mention of Dusk does pique her interest.
"No, but I do belong to the sea now," she answers, looking out in the direction that the waters would be now. The longer she stays away from it, the more she longs for its embrace. "Dusk, hm? Do you know Anandi then?" Her heart is beating faster as she thinks of the other kelpie, the Emissary, the one who turned her. Their last meeting had been delightful, so much blood had been shed, the woman was pissed and Lu just laughed.
Still, there's a small part hidden beneath all the fury that wonders just how Anandi is doing after their fight. Is it concern? Maybe, maybe not.
