Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:49 am by Songhue
And as simply as that, she was undone. Tribe plastered herself to his side, her whole body shivering in spite of herself, her face pressed to his neck with her nose tucked just under his jawline.
It weighed heavy enough that she didn't allow herself to consider it; not normally, not while she traveled. She couldn't run from it at night and it had begun to prove harder to shake off with the coming of light, yet now that she had honestly admitted the truth to herself and the confrontation done with she found she felt better for it. The lancing of a wound, the release of pressure - that is what shook her, the sheer relief that rode the tail of the admitted pain.
And oh, such a relief as he had granted her. To have hope again. No grand promises, it wasn't time for that yet, but this was a place to start, a new beginning. It was hope returning to her heart.
For some it may be too soon to know if this would even be a good stallion to have by her side for these journeys they would share. It could simply be jumping at the first opportunity given to her, could be that the companion didn't matter as much as the companionship they represented.
Such things never once flickered in her heart.
He laughed with her, as she'd always known she would need. And oh, such a laugh as he had. He wasn't finicky, wasn't demanding about how they went about things, happy just to be going somewhere. And he would go, that was the most important thing, they would both go together. He knew how to live. How to go out from the security of their routine and properly live life, to experience what was waiting, ebbing and flowing in their travels back to their homes as the ocean's tides did the golden shores.
It was Gypsy, himself. The basics of a creature can be discovered fairly quickly, although secret shadows usually remained hidden for a time. Dangerous tempers, fatal affiliations, dependencies on things that only ushered death - small secrets found in various societies, vital things buried under the heart of it all. And yet the discoveries could change the tone of the heart of it, as well, once revealed; and within a short time of becoming familiar, rather than a stranger, the differences would peek through, reveal the hidden truths.
She always found the hidden things, in the end.
Already, they were much more than strangers to each other. She seemed to crawl inside of him, so one might certainly hope they weren't practically strangers any more. They knew of one another previously, from their tales, and yet neither had been prepared for the truth behind the story.
She longed to hear him sing to her - for her, especially. Even just once, before he wandered from her.
Another shiver, this one fainter and yet running all the deeper than the previous; the idea he might go, might tire of her. She had all but become convinced that there was something wrong with her; it was her own fault she couldn't find anyone to match her long strides. She wasn't good enough to set down roots with.
Would he ever risk having little ones, with the way they wandered? Would he even wish to be tied to a circle, to be captured by bonds that could thrive with the right care, with the tenderness of the hearts that held them?
Perhaps not. Perhaps he couldn't appreciate the paradox as she could; to explore, trade, discover, live, and yet to be so very grounded, so undeniably tied. She knew a bondmate who still held ties to his old circle with no memory of any who resided within the network of bonds. Every single one of them had retreated deep into their homes, never to be heard from again; tied, and yet so very alone. It was no wonder that Thorn was the Hermit, in such a case; she couldn't risk the same, to be so very bound to others that would desert her. Her days might be long, may take her far, but that didn't mean she would ever simply be gone. She needed ties that would thrive, someone who would cherish their closest bonds as much as she would.
He liked to wander, he knew of loneliness; would he know the need to find your true people? She had thought, once, that she may have - within the Circle of Cherished Dreams. She had tried to pursue the laughing trail walker, Crest; to no avail. They spoke, and he disappeared. Words of encouragement from both, but nothing deeper. Nothing that could touch this.
And there, again, the paradox. Such potential for things to seize up, for all the understanding they had found in one another to collapse, and yet nothing else could touch what had already past. He came and swept her away, spoke beautiful words of fondness and comfort, held her, showed concern for her; she had wanted, in her secret heart of hearts, nothing more than to be wooed, to be granted the option to be desired rather than the desperate seeker. He had initiated - she had lost hope.
She'd found it again. Would she risk letting it die for the sake of unanswered questions?
Poppycock. They were perhaps questions for later; enough had been laid upon his broad back for the moment. But later would come, and until then she would continue to enjoy whatever she could of him, this most dear companion she had no longer thought to find.
I'll ask no grand promises, my sugar-sweet Magpie, she breathed, and felt moisture touch between her cheek and his neck as emotion flowed freely past the restraint of manners, But tonight, if - if you could - please -
She faltered, her throat burning as her mind spun uselessly, trying to make some kind of headway above the wave that had crashed inside of her. Tribe, the wordsmith, the storyteller who had managed to talk her way out of half the trouble she got herself into, the wanderer of the long tales, found herself fumbling for the words for what boiled inside of her.
Finally, she could say only Please, Gypsy, don't leave me alone tonight.
They could take tomorrow as it came, and each day after that for all she cared; hopefully the day might come where she would no longer await the night he did leave her to face the darkness by herself. But that was a distant hope, in some whispering corner of her hidden desires.
Tonight, she needed the solid presence of him; she craved it as the seas craved the shores that shape them.
Please, just for tonight, let it stop hurting for a little while.
