[ Respond | Andarin: The Mountains ]
Posted by Amelia on March 6, 2009, 10:20 pm
12.153.182.2
where you will sit and contemplate your day
Amelia can feel the trees beginning to claim her body. Their shadows run along her flesh, caressing her in their coolness. Her thin coat, worn down from harsh weather and a weaker diet (cacti provide little nutritional value), is not thick enough to keep her contently warm in Andarin, but her nerves keep her warm. Muscles twitch and flicker under her pelt. The comfort of the overhanging branches, combined with the kindness of Oceantree, keeps her here. Somewhere in her, she feels a pull to return to the desert. It has become her home, and as the dark feeling edges further and further into her body, she aches with the want of something. She can feel the Element fraying at the edges, and it is with this in mind that she continues her quest to gain knowledge from Oceantree. The pull is a small distraction, tugging at her mind when there is no words between the two mares.
As Oceantree begins to make the earth move and shift, Amelia steadies her stance, her hooves finding grip in the earth. But instead of being tossed from the earth, she remains steady. She watches the ripples move through the earth, edging around them. The trees around them groan from the changing earth, and she can see roots hold firm in the soil, steadying the old trees. The leaves and petals that drift from Oceantree's body after the vines disappear fall on the earth, creating a circle of bright colors under their feet. Amelia lowers her muzzle, blowing warm air against petals to send them skittering along the earth. They are real; she knows by now to not doubt anything, but sometimes... sometimes she cannot believe that she has happened across a land that allows such acts. She straightens back up, watching Oceantree as she prepares for another illustration of the elements.
And as the rain fell from the sky, leaving Amelia untouched, she yearned to lean into it, to move so that it falls on her flesh. She does miss that. The desert does not offer rain, and her skin, though used to the heat, misses the way rain can sink into a skin and leave her feeling complete. Amelia feels the drops pull towards her body before falling to the earth, and she thinks they can feel her pushing towards them. As the earth explodes around them, she can feel herself being protected from it, and when Oceantree emerges from the cloud of material that hangs in the air, Amelia finds that she has been holding air in her lungs. She exhales, slowly, and then breathes in again.
Oceantree's words resonate in Amelia's mind, and she tucks them away, just as they came from Oceantree's mouth, so that she can think about her options later. She thinks she knows which she will choose, or which will choose her, but she wishes to speak to Sterling, perhaps once more, before she commits herself. He is her other source of guidance. Yet, as she stands here, with Oceantree, she can feel a heat rush through the earth, and then a surge of water that follows. The water clings to her hooves through the earth. She breathes in, hard, and her lungs hurt from it. Something is not right. Something has changed the Element, something is missing. She clenches her teeth together, letting her ears flit back and forth (hoping to catch sound on the air, waiting for something to tell her that her fear is not possible). She speaks to Oceantree, trying to turn all of her attention back to the helpful mare.
“Yes, I do believe I will know which to follow. I think I know which will be mine to develop.”
“Thank you, Oceantree, for your help. Perhaps when I have decided, I will come back and show you? I think I'd like to visit Andarin again (foolish girl, to think that it will remain much longer, with the air changing with the wind). I think... I think I should return to Ni'Srilan. I feel that something requires my attention. Would it be rude of me to leave?”
She dips her head, her muzzle drawing in closer to her chest. She does not wish to be rude; she appreciates Oceantree's help. It is through her lesson that Amelia has decided on water. It will her element to devote her body to, and it will develop and she will come back and show Oceantree. She is sure she will.
“Yes, I think I should leave. I think I need to return to Andarin. But thank you, thank you so much. Lycoris was right – you are a kind teacher, and I appreciate it.” She turns to the bushes that are near them, thinks she hears a sound of movement from the leaves. Seeing nothing buyt green leaves and light branches, she looks back to Oceantree. “Thank you.”
She turns away from the mare, her eyes pleading with the mare to not think her rash or greedy in reference to the knowledge she has just learned. She feels the need to return to the desert to tell Sterling the story of her trip to Andarin, and how she has decided on water, because it feels right, like nothing else has ever felt right. As she moves across the land, working her way back to Ni'Srilan, she cannot help but feel a tightness grow in her stomach; it matches the ache in her bones that make her run the last third of the distance.
Ni-Srilan
Ambassador
Message Thread:
« Back to thread