The creek was born from a river, as most were. Having followed the bend of the water along its natural path, the youth arrives upon the babbling scene of the Rapax and pauses to drink in its beauty.
The silver water bends through the earth, leaping and dancing over boulders, and spilling in small falls. Shimmering in the cool race of the river are fish, occasionally leaping upwards and shining in the sun, before they return to the water. Gently touched by the passing of a breeze, the maiden sighs in contentment, feeling the mist of the river land in dew drops upon her face, and the rippling length of her milky mane.
Her toed hooves begin to move after a moments reverence, stepping gingerly between the stones lining the riverbed, to allow her to draw closer to the swiftly moving water. Giggling as the crisp water envelopes her ankles and tugs headily at her submerged limbs, the tree-marked youth makes her way towards a section of the water that seems deeper than the rest. With a gasp as the water is suddenly about her lower chest and the very bottom bow of her belly, the girl quickly rises up with breathless laughter at her impulsive decision, her long tail drifting along the water behind her, and eventually streaming liquid down to the earth below, as the maiden bounds back onto the river bed.
Glad to be cooled but not quite glad enough to remain in the water, the girl looks out across this side of the river, now that she finds herself here, and finds an open stretch of hill-laden meadow that spans between two groves; this natural road is most alluring. Her ears lift upwards, and her pale green eyes curiously search what little she can see over the rise and fall of the landscape, and, as she often does, the girl asks of the air:
"I wonder what’s beyond those hills?"
Maude
How should we like it if the stars were to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me.
She has finally learned how to fly, and goodness is it a sight to see. It’s awkward and clumsy, and sure it’s flight, but she tries to do it out of the watchful eyes of bystanders. Still, she barely notices how she lacks the grace of most others; flight is freedom, and as she fights to capture warm updrafts beneath all four wings, feeling the air currents play with her mane and tug at her feathers brings a warm contentment to her.
She has been following the meandering stretch of river for a while now, letting it guide her aimless path. She doesn’t realize she has left the boundaries of the night court and has entered another herd’s territory, but she couldn’t quite be bothered. Back in her last home, she had not belonged to a herd, and she had found most of her days spent in the sprawling wilds claimed by the outcasts and vagabonds, so it had never been an issue. The greenery here seems to lay somewhat untouched beneath autumn’s coming foliage, and as she decreases her altitude (certainly a little quicker than a more experienced flyer) she aims for a meadow kissed with wildflowers. Within the easily babbiling creek she spies another mare dancing within the water, and a smile plays upon her own face.
With a soft oomph!, she lands upon the ground. Shaking herself, she allows all of her feathers to find their rightful places, and her wings close upon her sides. Trotting towards the bank, and hopeful that her landing hadn’t gone entirely unnoticed as to not surprise the other girl, she clears her throat. “I haven’t been over those hills yet, but this place seems to go on for miles.” Slowing her pace, she tosses a friendly look towards the stranger, and finally comes to rest with her forehooves sinking into the damp soil of the river bank. She dips her head down, supping in the cool water. Sure, probably not the most polite entrance, but her intrusion into the maiden’s lovely afternoon was not meant to be disruptive. Pulling away from the cool flow of the creek, she turns smoothly, and tries to find the stunning green gaze of the other young mare. “This world seems so big! I’ve been flying all morning—“ she shrugs and shuffles her wings to accentuate the statement “—and the hills seem to go on forever.”
Her wandering heart craved the world. She wanted to see the rolling hills, the towering mountains, the crashing sea, the way autumn painted the world in glowing hues of fire. She wanted to see it all before the day grew dark. Ambitious, sure, but she doesn’t care. She wants to go where the wildflowers grow, and no terrain (or court lines, for that matter) would stop her. ”My name is Akeli, whats yours?”
The sound of something large landing on the ground nearby draws her attention; not the most naturally wary of creatures, even after watching her birth land obliterated by dark magic, and having been assaulted by flying things some seasons before, it’s remarkable that Maude notices the sound at all, especially as caught up in her adventurous ponderings as she is.
Looking over towards the winged girl who approaches with a smile of greeting, the maiden returns her eyes towards the rise of the hills. Tilting an ear back to catch the stranger’s words before she has arrived properly alongside the ginger and cream doe, the girl keeps her eyes on the distance, at least until the stranger lifts her head from her drink, for Maude to meet her eyes with a smile and a nod of agreement. For once, the growing youth doesn’t use words, instead letting her new company continue on.
“It is pretty big. There is a whole realm to the south of here, called the Dusk Court. It’s where I woke up, my first day here,” tells Maude of her own adventures in Novus; curious, as Akeli is, about the details of the places she hasn’t been, the young doe asks, “what’s out where you came from? This is as far as I’ve made it, yet.
“I’m Maude,” she smiles, though it falters slightly as she almost forgets to not add ‘from the World’s Edge.’ Still occasionally finding herself wrapped up in her melancholy, despite the beauty and joy to be offered by Novus, the maiden does her best to shrug off the heavy thought that she was hopelessly alone in a world she knew almost nothing about. “It’s nice to meet you.”
If you’re tossing & you’re turning,
& you just can’t fall asleep, I’ll sing a song beside you. and if you ever forget
how much you really mean to me, every day,
I will remind you.
A smile touches upon the lips of Akeli, and she dips her head upon hearing the other girl's name. "It's lovely to meet you, Maude." It was nice to meet a kindred soul, with a heart full of wanderlust and a desire to see what laid beyond the horizon. Akeli had never known herd-life before. When mother was still alive she had belonged to a small band of vagabonds, and when Ktulu had found her, it was the same. They had belonged to no one, lived beneath their own laws, slept beneath a free sky, ran upon unclaimed lands. Now, everyone seems contained and chained to their courts. How could anyone discover where they belonged in the world, when they were too restrained by responsibilities to really explore what existed around them? Maybe Akeli has finally found someone here to take the wild world on with. Maybe she is no longer alone...
Gesturing with a wing behind her, she continues. "I haven't seen much other than mountains since I left home. I hail from the Night Court. I'm new there. The mountains are beautiful, but hard to pass. I'm not a very good flyer yet-" a small laugh escapes her as she discloses her weakness, "-so I haven't made it terribly far. But progress is progress, I suppose."
'It's where I woke up my first day here.' Akeli tips her head to the side, intrigued by Maude's words. Was there someone else here who had just popped into Novus with no reason or explanation? Maybe she meant something different. Certainly she hasn't come from Helovia; what were the chances? Was it really that small a world? And it would help, perhaps, to know someone else who had seen similar devestatation, who had experienced dazzling light and seen their home blown to smithereens with no chance of salvation, other than being thrown into a swirling portal of uncertainty. But regardless of where she came from, it sounded as though she wasn't originally from here. "Sorry if it's none of my business," the filly begins cautiously, hoping to not cross any personal boundaries of the other girl, "but what do you mean that's where you 'woke up?' Do you not remember your past? Or did you come from somewhere else, before Novus?" Certainly her own arrival here had been weird, to say the least, but perhaps they could bond over strange tales of their arrival to Novus.
@Maude Sorry this took forever! It just took 3 tries to get it presentable
