Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
The night felt comfortable.
There was a darkness that she was enjoying, familiar with even. But here on the cold sand, it felt even better. Above her, the stars were out to shine in the darkness, a familiar sight as they smiled down on their lost sister. Out in front of her, stretching as far as she could see, the sea was as still as ice and reflected the same scene - a dark canvas that made sparkling stars stand out. Staring out, she couldn't see where the water ended and the sky began, it was like an expanse of the stars in front of her. If she ignored the fact she was breathing this odd air and was laying on a surface, she could almost imagine that she was back in space among her others.
Her breath left her, comfortable.
The closest she had come to feel like she was at home. Her limbs were curled beneath her, her wings draped into the sand, and around her the galaxy dust shed off her hair and wings, her very body, kicked up on the soft breeze that helped give her floating hair life of its own, casting the galactic dust as far as the eye could see, streaking the air around her with sparkling hues of mini stars, and the pink and cyan dust that mirrored the markings on her body. Her vibrant pink eyes closed in peace, before opening again to watch the stars twinkle, her smile soft, warm, and comfortable.
Felt like home.
A part of her hoped the yellow star in this system would never come back into sight - so she could be trapped in this endless expanse of the universe. She slowly stood, shaking her wings to rid her feathers of sand, before she moved forward. She ignored the cold water as she stepped into it, moving out until she was up to her knees, another star in the galaxy that surrounded her, another star once more among her sisters and brothers. Just part of the universe, just part of the many shining bright.
She could almost pretend it was real
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Jane Notes:: Shy girls unite?
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
On the slopes above the ocean, Jane found herself changed from the being who had once crossed these same shores. From the rocks she could see the waves crashing against the shore, the foam as white as teeth. It was night time, and the moon swayed with her movements, always watching.
Once upon a time, Jane had been a girl here. She remembered the ache of her muscles, the raw hunger in her gut from months of walking with nothing but brown shrubbery to keep her alive. She had been stubborn here, stupid here. She had met a mare down on those shores, a creature of sea shells and magic. To think that a single meeting on that shore would be the last normal interaction Jane had. Two days later, Hardison would be dead and Jane would be alone with her childhood and innocence bleeding from the bite wounds in her hide. And what of Willoughby, left rifling through the seashells on the shore. Jane had loved to see the ocean. It had been angry then, but it had bewitched her.
Now it didn’t even try. Ducking her head, Jane turned and made her way along the edge of the cliff. Starlight bathed her skin, and unlike in Night she felt truly alone. She did know it was foolish; no political affiliations would save her. Not that she was certain it would save her anyway, now. She and Seb were still close, but she could see the annoyance starting to grow in her aunt’s eyes.
After a while, Jane found a place that sloped to a calmer part of the sea. Before her stretched the sea, as wide as anything she had ever seen. Endless. Sand and salt brushed against the plains of her face and burned at her nostrils. It had been like that before too, but it tasted more bitter now. Jane kicked a little at the sand before a new scent entered her consciousness. Yes, alongside the scent of brine and seaweed, there was the scent of something living. Equine? She couldn’t really place it.
Jane paused, nearly expecting to be pounced. You couldn’t judge first appearances, but you also couldn’t be too careful. There were many creatures that would easily snap up an innocent mare, body filled to the brim with wasted life and love.
The scent lingered, and she located it until she noticed a pair of hoofprints. They started in the dry but quickly filled with water. A flash of panic registered in Jane’s chest but she controlled it, turning to the direction. There, out in the still waters, was the form of another. It certainly looked equine, the moon capturing the creature’s frame. Jane had heard of kelpies from her mother, but this horse was facing away from her rather than toward her. It wasn’t looking at her.
A bit of water brushed over Jane’s hocks and she winced at the icy cold. Despite the fact that Summer made the land bake during the day, at night it was nearly cold enough to kill. In the Autumn, it was like knives in her legs.
“You shouldn’t trust the water,” Jane called out, recovering herself, “It looks still, but it isn’t. It can pull you in. And the creatures here don't kill slowly.” She braced herself for a reaction, for someone to tear her down and bite into her, to end her feeble life. (And what a meaningless life, Jane thought. What an anticlimax, what a nothing she was. Would they even care, back in Angora? Would they even know, with her body drawn into watery depths where no one would ever see her?)
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
She smelt her before she heard her.
It was a subtle change, but sharp enough to pull Veil from the day dream, proof this wasn't the galaxy, the universe she wanted to pass through once more. She wasn't back among the stars, she wasn't shining bright, she wasn't in the sky. The scent was of those creatures, the ones that seemed to resemble her own new shape, but this one didn't smell of any locations she'd been yet. She'd seen some of the clusters, the groupings of these creatures, but she knew she hadn't seen it all. The foreign scent proved it. Veil stood still, letting her attention return to the starline that stretched as far as the eye could see, once more trying to place herself among the stars, galatic dust wafting off her pelt, as if to further trick her mind on where she was.
She knew better.
The sound of water splashed up made the young nebula turn slowly, her pink eyes focusing on the other, tilting her head curiously at the creature there. Dark in the nightlight, with the moon frail moonlight illuminating gold streaks. Not a pattern she recognized, not a creature she recognized. The other spoke, sounds leaving the mouth - but not the familiar sounds Veil had begun to associate with greeting, so what was this creature wanting of her? She focused on the tone instead of the words. Caution. Hesitation. Determination. Anxiety. They were the emotions such tones brought to Veil's attention as the mare was forced to step into another's hooves, trying to figure out what was going on.
A warning, perhaps.
It would be a logical conclusion that the other was warning her of something, but not what she could easily identify - so was the curse of not knowing a language - any language. But the mare was hesitating at the water, which meant it was the water that had caused the alarm spike. Veil glanced back behind her, expression softening, wistful as her gaze turned towards the sky one last time, the endless stars that seemed to be twinkling to her, encouraging her to come home, come back. Veil turned back to the mare instead, stepping slowly out of the water, drawing her wings close to her body as she carefully gave distance between herself and this anxious creature.
She dipped her head.
A silent greeting, a silent thanks for what ever warning she had felt need to give, even if the mare couldn't guess what she needed to be warned about. She stepped fully out of the water, shaking off slightly, as the galatic dust wafted off her dark purple body, twisting and twirling elegantly from the strands of her darker purple mane and tail. Her gaze turned back questioningly towards the unknown female, not speaking, not having a word she could say if she wanted, but still not sure how to properly express appreciation for help towards a potential danger Veil wouldn't know about.
Instead, her gaze turned away.
Shy, awkward, once more reminded how out of place she was. Can a star really fall so far, an outcast among mere creatures born to a rock. Once she shown with an array of galatic hues, cyans, purples, pinks that lit up the sky - a Nebula that had been part of a larger system, a galaxy - a place to belong. Now she felt like a tresspassing observer, unable to communicate with those she came across, but desperate for some sort of stability. She retucked her wings, her gaze dropping to her hooves uncertainly.
How do you communicate with out words?
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Jane Notes:: ALOT harder writing her in response to someone with out a concept of language. Trying to have her rationalize all of this with out actually alluding to her thinking the words, but understanding the intent.
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
Someone said that Hell was other people. Now, Jane could not be called a philosopher, nor a big thinker, but solitude had a way of forcing you to contemplate the circumstance of your own unhappiness. As such, Jane had come to the conclusion that they were wrong. Hell was a room in a Solterran grotto, with empty walls and emptier hallways. She could talk to the servants, but hardly be friends with them. They pitied her too much, she thought, and that stung worse than all the rest.
The creature of galaxy and moonlight turned in the water and fixed Jane with a gaze that fixed her to the sand. It was a colour beyond Jane’s vocabulary, something that would be summarised as ‘pink’, but more. The water spooled around the other mare, unremarkably vicious against a body that Jane could barely describe. She was learned, but there were not enough words in the world to describe the other’s pattern.
Colours of cosmic creation were what decorated the other’s frame. Jane sensed the other’s hesitation, their lowered head suggesting gentleness. Then they stepped towards the shore, their patterned body damp with salt. The scent wafted over Jane, soaked her in a nightly ocean. What were all the scents that made up the sea, anyway? All the fish, the crabs, the shipwrecks- did these in any way affect it?
The creature, marelike in its form, stepped onto the sand close to Jane. Yes, the step left a print, so she could not be of imagination- or dream, or memory, or anything other than real. Something like dust drifted from the creature’s body as they stared silently at Jane as though beyond ability. Jane was aware of a slight breathlessness.
They turned their face away, and Jane thought it was as though they had lost something. As though they had failed, but what on earth could they have failed.
“Are you okay?” Jane asked, her voice dropping. A bit of concern flowed for the other figure. “I’m Jane. I…” Words died on her tongue, the cold of the Autumn night cloying in her throat. Her eyes stung a little bit. At the back of her mind, she imagined that Hardison was on those fields that Jane had fled. Any minute now, Jane would be called. Jane blinked away the thought, focusing again on the other equine who stood so small, so… frightened. Jane remembered another time, another her, quiet and awkward on these very shores. “It’s okay,” Jane whispered.
@[Veil Nebula] / speaks / im listening to a cottagecore playlist and i'm digging veils vibe
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
The creature smelled of this planet.
A denizen who comes from the soil. A creature that has walked these trails, breathed the components of the atmosphere, and taken for granted the simplicity of being hailed from this world. Sure, these creatures might change location, terrain, or home, but they didn't understand the changing of elements. To suddenly have yourself choking as your suddenly in a world with an atmosphere richer than the space that Veil previously traveled. A shooting star trapped in the gravitational field of a planet unwilling to relinquish its claim on the intruder. No distance of flight, no altitude achieved could bring her far enough to break free.
The galaxies were out of reach.
Closed off except for the bits she was made of, the star in her chest that fed her more of the galatic dust that was converted into the energy her body, her systems needed. A constant compression from the small gravitational field with in herself, too small to enact a force on others, but strong enough to keep her body together, her systems created with an odd mix of galactic particles and condensed atoms for skeletal, and muscular structure, even as her vascular system seemed comprised more of dust and star residue than normal bodily floods. She had bled upon her landing, her blood an odd black-purple, gleaming with the dust particles that glittered like stars trapped with in her nebula of colors.
Her colors were a part of her.
Stamped into her pelt, swirled into her blood, ghosted off her mane, tail, feathers. A constant swirl that when she ignored her features and just focused on the Nebula remnants, she could almost pretend none of this had happened. Not the crash. Not the solitude of her youth. Not the black hole. That she was back in the heavens, another Nebula in the galaxy.
The other stared.
Veil couldn't blame her. How many stars would one find on this planet, trapped into a body not their own, forced to breath, to eat, to live in a state of half-life. It was with slow steps, measured and fluid in the water that allowed more buoyancy- reminding her of space - but as soon as she was far enough out, the gravity weighed down on her again. Steps became more heavy, awkward, like a foal learning to walk through the thickest of mud for the first time. Stepping fully out of the water, she was surprised in the earthlings actions of noting her imprints, she was no ghost.
Even if she felt unconnected to this earthen plane.
She could feel the gaze the attention on her, knew the other was surprised, many where when presented with a fallen star, a remnant of the universe trapped in place upon a hostile world. Well not hostile, but still difficult.
Her gaze turned away.
She wasn't like them, she knew that. She felt it when they spoke to deaf ears, when they did things she didn't understand, when she stood like the lone space rock suspended with out anything to orbit. A lost star wanting to be home again.
Noise, soft, low, acknowledging.
The other was making the sounds these creatures used for communication. Veil turned her gaze, before hearing a familiar sound, followed by a strange one. It was part of the greeting noises, though she couldn't figure out what each noise meant. The other was silent and Veil wondered if that was it, an otherwise dismissal. And then the other spoke again, her noises layered with so much emotion Veil froze for a moment.
The wind picked up, swirling galaxy dust around the two.
But Veil paid it little mind. Comfort. Acknowledgement. Reassurance. Soft Yellow, warmth, sympathy, yellow and warm, yellow and warm, yellow and warm. It lightened her heart, like a star was suddenly twinkling with her, letting her know she wasn't alone. But this creature wasn't a star, yet she would offer such emotions to the mare.
Veil stepped forward.
Her muzzle drew up in a soft, grateful smile, her eyes sparkling like the galaxies in the heavens, pinks and purples and whites. She said nothing, even as her muzzle touched the shoulder of the mare, soft and gentle, returning the warmth, the understanding, the silent comoradarie being offered, emotions continuing to swell.
For a moment, Veil didn't need to stare wistfully to the sky.
Standing on the shore, Jane watched the creature with concern. It looked regal, something completely new and of itself against the backdrop of the universe. The waves occasionally passed her body. Jane twitched a little as ice cold water slid past her hocks. It felt like it entered her veins, her lungs, her stomach. Jane felt herself being watched by the creature; rose-like eyes seeming to search for something beyond Jane’s skin and flesh. It was no use, she wanted to say. There’s nothing here but flesh and blood, my pumping heart, my liver. If you open me up for all the knowledge in the world, you will find nothing.
She felt herself staring back, and wished she could look away. How impolite, how crude, how low, and yet her eyes were drawn to the other with an unrelenting magnetism; like a planet caught in orbit as it passed a star. Dust of incorporeal colours, colours without name, brushed from the horse’s withers. Was it a horse? Jane didn’t know if it was anything at all.
They started to tread towards the shore, and it was clear that the motions were measured; slow. Not predatory at all. Jane stayed in place as the two finally shared the same ground. Well, they both shared solid ground. She took another moment, drinking in the other’s appearance as though it were fine liquor. You are so beautiful, she wanted to say, You are so beautiful that I think it could kill me, if you wanted it to.
They were awkward, shy, silent. This took nothing from the figure’s beauty, and if anything it accentuated it. How removed, how alien, how lost was this person? There was the distinct air of loss and mourning in the air, Jane thought. The air was thick with it, like the waves were thick with foam.
They appeared to hyperfocus on Jane’s words, and Jane took a half-step in their direction. Then they stepped forward, and Jane felt her muscles twitching. There was overextension in every part of her. But something seemed to affect the other, and their energy changed to one calm, almost relieved?
The touch of their muzzle was soft and unexpected. It felt like randomness, and Jane shivered at the thought that all things came to this one moment. Warmth, silence, something unknown and unnamed. Part of that which was unnamed flowed into Jane, too. She understood, underneath it all, that this one was lost too. Jane felt like a blister rubbed raw.
“Have you eaten?” she kept her voice low, and the sound of the water battled for dominance. “It’ll warm you up.” At the same moment, she took a step to the side and nudged her head in direction of the hills. Jane had known those who lacked her language, but this was different. Somehow, she felt like there were words that went deeper than speech.
@[Veil Nebula] / speaks / oh my god my muse just like. exploded at 1.30 am i love that for me
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
Noise had woken her after her fall.
It was the oddness of this planet, odder than the colors that seemed to shine around her in a constant moving state. Whites to Blondes to Greens to Pinks and Reds and Purples and Blues. Colors she had no names for, dotting the landscape, the denizens of this world, the entirety of this rock as it orbited the yellow star in the sky. It was more alarming than the sudden pressure of gravity, of atmosphere that seemed to hold her body tighter together than space did where she was just another small star from a nebula's demise. It was more awe-inspiring than the variety of creatures who swam, flew, and walked these lands with a grace she herself had yet to master, so new to gravity. That same grace was once more hers to control when she flew, thankfully.
But the sounds, oh the sounds!
The crashing of the liquid against the grainy particles of rock so small she couldn't see but specks of color in ivory, cream, and russet. The songs are sung by nature, of wind rustling branches, swirling past hollowed rocks, or the sliding of grass and weeds together. These sounds were harmonized together, with the calls of the small flying creatures who sang more beautifully than anything Veil could have ever hoped to imagine. And then there were the creatures like her, but yet so different, who made noises of such variety, of such emotional venture. She didn't know much about what the noises met, but they were inspiring to listen to.
But she still felt out of space.
A chasm of nothing among a bunch of somethings. As odd and unfamiliar as the very others were to her. She could feel the oddness come further alight, paining her breast with the sharp awareness that this wasn't normal - she wasn't normal, as she stared at this other female, moving forward carefully, until she stood on the same plane as the other, two sets of hooves in the dirt. A cosmic being from beyond this planet, and a creature of this rock. And she did appear as if rock, dark in hue, with vein work of gold scattering her pelt, as if she had been pulled, crafted from gold-rich rock, heavy with minerals into a creature of large stature, of grace but youth.
Did Veil appear as beautiful to the other?
Or was she an oddity, an asteroid that had lost its flare as soon as it had been burnt and trapped by the atmosphere, the gravitational pull that even now held her captive by this impossibly large rock. What did these creatures think, when they saw her? Was she still of the universe in her design? Had she lost her colors in her fall? Had her hydrogen begun to deplete, was she going to die before she got a chance to live, trapped in a world that couldn't sustain her?!
No . . . no, that wouldn't happen.
She'd seen her own reflection, the colors still dominating, no change in the galactic dust her body produced, no change in her own energy levels. She was fine, she was coping, she was still trapped. And then this creature . . . this wonderful, wonderful creature had graced her with such a gift, such a gift of compassion and empathy and understanding. It had soothed those tattered edges, the frayed ends of her mind that were alit with worry. Had softened the stress hiding behind her eyes, in the twitch of her ears.
A camaraderie was building, a mutual understanding.
To lost creatures who were finding strength in each other, the borrowed warmth that she returned in her gentle touch, grateful and alive, and in this moment not feeling so alone and unwelcome in an unfamiliar land. This was better, this was easier, this wasn't so scary. More noise followed, low but heard between the space between them after Veil had withdrawn. She didn't understand the sounds, but she heard the compassion, the care in them, more sounds followed, a noise that was a gentle hum, almost drowning in the noise of the water. And then the other moved, an indication to another direction - a nudge of the head towards slopes that rose above the ground they currently stood on - nothing like the towering peaks she had crashed into upon her arrival but still tall enough to be noted.
She was being invited along?
Yes, that seemed right, but for what reason. There was still no threat being detected, no senses of unfamiliar or wayward emotions, nothing to clue her into further beyond the constant sense of warmth, compassion, understanding. Veil hesitated, before nodding for the other to lead the way, pink eyes that danced with a galaxy within moving in step, wings drawn to her side, trailing galactic dust that merged into that which drained from her locks, an ethereal movement that surrounded her body, making her awkward steps, that had grown easier with time to understand the weight of gravity on her body, appear a little more supernatural, a little more elegant, a little more otherworldly.
But she followed steps in tune to the other.
Transversing the path to those odd slopes that loomed above the sand, the texture beneath her hooves shifting as that green began to dot the landscape, growing thick patches broken up by other types of green vegetation, and some that had started to brown, or go bare as autumn set in - not that she understood that - she just saw spots of dead or dying green that she avoided with alarm as if it would pass death to if she neared it too close.
There was still a lingering question, however.
Why had they come here?
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Jane Notes:: ALOT harder writing her in response to someone with out a concept of language. Trying to have her rationalize all of this with out actually alluding to her thinking the words, but understanding the intent.
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
The world sang, raged around them, and Jane moved to shield the stranger from it. Protection and recognition pulsed in her chest, so powerful it could upend her. The undulation of fear in the other’s celestial face; the swirling calm that could only come from terror. Jane stepped closer to the mare, as though her height could block the world out from the other. But behind the terror lay something else, that Jane couldn’t truly recognise.
Gratitude.
Jane had lost herself on this beach before. The waves represented many things to her now; not just the ending of life but beginning. She remembered tales from her education, how a deity of love had sprung from the sea foam. It was used as a lesson, she remembered. How the sea could be so inviting but so, so deadly.
The unending sound died around her, as though warped by the other’s presence. The wind had started to pick up; and it threw itself against her body. Sand, salt, and other things threatened to hurt her. As she had expected, the tide was coming in. Slowly, it would inch up over her knees, to her haunches, and eventually it would consume her. Would she even die? Or would this figure change that too, drawn into perpetual orbit.
As she turned, it was clear that the other was nervous. Jane understood that. There were those in this land that could not be trusted, as in any land. But a silent vow sang in her heart, that this figure was someone important. If asked, she couldn’t say if it was important for the world, or important to her, but it was an importance that underlay everything. Jane smiled as the other finally accepted her invitation. Jane noted the dust that flew over the sand, the colours different from the sand.
This was bitter terrain. Jane knew that well; and the stress of the environment kept the grass sweet. Jane led the way up to the ledges that she had stood on before, and cast a final glance to the ocean behind them- the moon like a cup spilling milk over the waves that were growing more violent even from here.
Jane managed to find an outcrop that was sheltered from the wind and paused. Autumn was in full swing, and those that were seasonal were now brown. Amid the green grass shivered bushes that were bone-dry, as white as the seashells on the shore. She tried to twist toward a patch of grass that the other might find some interest in. She dipped her head to a patch and slid her glance up. “Grass,” she said, as though it might help the other to know the term. A thought flashed through her mind- the other hadn’t spoken, hadn’t registered even her name. Jane twisted her neck a little, so her muzzle bumped her own side. “Jane.” She wondered if it would affect anything, or if her name mattered at all.
Visions of your pretty face send me into hyper space
Caught up in a palentary world
She didn't notice the change in environment.
Well, not true, she felt the wind picking up, pulling on her mane. She felt the tide coming in, wetting her hooves, catching up in galactic dust that would then become caught on her skin, bonding through the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water. But she had no knowledge any of this could be bad - forcing her to take cues from the other, surprised when the creature of the earth, the one decorated by gold moved to shield her from the wind. Veil blinked in surprise, looking up at the other silently, even as she took a step closer, and another emotion was finally placed.
Care, protection, awareness, presence.
She was being aided by the stranger that she became more and more grateful to. She had come to this beach, to see how the water reflected the sky, making her feel like she was just outside of the universe, and yet not so close enough to join the heavens again, a melancholy state that had left her feeling more lost and alone - and then this earthen goddess crafter of soil and veins of gold arrived, and she cast those worries, fears, and desperate loneliness away, replacing it instead with understanding and compassion, a constant presence so far that promised more care should she need it. Warm as the sun, steady as the earth - a mare that Veil could feel admiration building up for inside herself.
Then it was suggested they move on.
Or that was what it seemed to be to Veil, who hadn't really understood what had been suggested, what the noises made were alluding to. Yet, she put her faith in the other, allowing her to lead the way, silently watching, silently following. Silent, but watching, seeing everything, soaking it all up as if she could gain knowledge purely through osmosis. She followed the way pointed, up the ledges before finally, they stopped in the outcrop, and she was suddenly pointed towards some green patch, and this time when the other spoke, it was clear, it was concrete, a name for the item. Veil blinked, glancing from the mare than to the greenery she had named, the sounds familiar but a connection made between neurons.
And then the other seemed to pause.
Her muzzle suddenly turned, head twisting to touch her own side, and then that noise from before was repeated, the one that was used in correlation to a greeting noise, but not part of the noises she usually heard. They had said their greetings, though, what was the point of repeating . . . . oh, oh . . . Oh. . . . OH!! It was like a light bulb turned on, and suddenly she felt like she understood It wasn't a greeting noise. It was HER noise, the noise of the mare that made her, her. And Veil's eyes widened, her muzzle dropping into a bright smile, nodding her head vastly in understanding.
It wasn't a greeting, it was a gift!
She had shared her noise, and suddenly Veil wanted to do the same, her hooves almost dancing her in place, as her muzzle dipped, tapping her chest and then moving up again . . . and her eyes went wide as her body rose. How does she return the favor? How does she introduce herself without knowing how? She paused as she seemed to struggle with the return, her muzzle dropping, her features shifting to embarrassed dismay before she glanced at her dust. Instantly her tail was kicked up, and the colors suddenly worked around them, and in that moment, with the colorful hues of the nebula she was born from surrounding her, Veil's muzzle dipped, first to her chest, then to the nebula in her galactic fust, before finally her muzzle turned upwards, towards the sky, the universe, a silent explanation for where she came from, the Nebula that became a star and then crashed on this planet.
FROM THE MOUTH INSIDE THE MIND
@Jane Notes:: She is having some connections being made now :D
Breathin' in you give me air, I'm living on your solar flare
Could you be my super nova girl?
Jane felt a cosmic duty towards this other mare. Her entire being was pulled towards this figure like water down a mountain side. And at least part of it was mutual as they followed her up the mountain. It didn’t appear that the mare perceived danger down on this shore, but in many ways it seemed like ignorance from not being taught. Not a word had passed from the companion’s lips, and it was quickly becoming evident that she wouldn’t. This didn’t mean she was simple, though. No, it seemed as though there was some core truth in her. What stories did she possess, what knowledge did she own? Jane felt compelled to uncover it, but also to protect it as well as the figure that held them.
It was a type of recognition, in a way. Seeing the figure in the water, looking lost amidst the stars and waves, Jane saw something of herself. Also lost, also alone, yet striving for something more. She saw fear in the figure’s movements, a kind of estrangement that Jane herself had felt more than a couple of times.
On the ground, the figure’s aura felt cool; soft as it bled over towards Jane. Gratitude was alive in the other’s eyes, and Jane nearly felt guilty in response. It felt like a sin to do anything other than help the creature who was so spectacularly beautiful that she seemed to come from the stars themselves.
Despite her newness, Jane heard the other’s footsteps behind her; accompanied by the sense of trepidation as they stepped up over stones. Jane was glad to leave the beach behind them, with all of its memories and the trappings of her former self.
As Jane introduced herself once more, she saw the mare’s gaze light up in gratitude. This meant something to her, and Jane felt good. She felt kind. She watched the other mare’s dazzling eyes seem to search for something, before embarrassment seemed to pass over her features. She lacks no sound at all. I wonder if her heart has the same beat rhythm as mine. Jane watched patiently, but also calmly.
Then she tried to repeat Jane’s motion, but instead of uttering a sound she looked up to the sky. The universe spread above them, a blanket on a star-studded night. Jane had the distinct impression that this mare contained truths that were far more important than her words could have conveyed, even if she had them.
“You’re from very far away, aren’t you,” Jane said, not a question. Empathy, compassion, and solace found their place on her face and in her eyes. She knew that they did not speak the same language but maybe- maybe- Jane could help. “So am I. But I think you’re further from home than I am.”
