The Lost Islands
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Falls

Force-claiming is not allowed here. This is a peaceful, neutral area meant for socialising.

bittersweet between my teeth; ANY
Posted on April 2, 2015 at 08:26:33 PM by jezibelle


j e z i b e l l e
bay blanketed mare of nowhere

Jezibelle remembered the night they had left very, very clearly, so much so that if she closed her eyes and held her breath she was still standing in the Meadow near her brother and her Moonwalker.

For a time, all had been good once she was reunited with her Moonwalker. Her heart swelled to see the haggard male acknowledge her brother. Many others had ignored Rurisk because of his speechlessness, or in the hopes that by refusing to acknowledge or include him his aggression wouldn’t be turned against them. Rurisk was not stupid, but all too often the behavior others displayed toward him implied they thought he was, as if not having a voice somehow made him inferior.

Her brother had snorted in low acknowledgment of Balthazar’s gratitude and lowered his head to graze in a slow circle around the pair of them. Jezibelle kept an ear on her brother but most of her focus was on Balthazar. Still, she jumped at his outburst in response to her questions, and with dismay she saw Rurisk’s head jerk up. His wheat-gold coat rippled over tense muscles but his eyes were on her, and Jezibelle gave her head a vehement shake to deter him. Rurisk remained where he was, but shifted his gaze to Balthazar. Both of his ears pointed at the silver black stallion who stood beside her, and Jezibelle felt her stomach twist to know he was now invested in the conversation at hand.

With luck, Rurisk would not jump to conclusions. It was the only thought she had time for before her mind started scrambling for ways to reassure her Moonwalker— a futile task, it seemed, for his words spilled from him like poison from a wound and his voice was so raw it made her feel small. His agony was heartbreaking. The fact that she had evoked this outburst from him was intolerable, but it had also been unavoidable.

So she should not have been surprised when he turned and walked away from her, blind to his surroundings and raving. Rurisk had moved aside for the smaller horse and turned his head to watch him go before casting an unreadable glance at Jezibelle. The bay mare remained rooted in place for a long moment, and though she stared at the cluster of trees where her Moonwalker had taken refuge her gaze was unfocused.

The hefty buckskin snorted and stamped a hoof.

Jezibelle blinked. “Rurisk,” she had said, as if grounding herself in reality. She repeated his name with more urgency and he had come to her, his nose outstretched until it bumped against her neck. Jezibelle pressed her own muzzle against her brother’s taut shoulder and noted how he did not tremble under the heat of her breath as he once had. “We are all we have, aren’t we?” she asked him as she lifted her lips away from his scarred coat.

Her brother flicked an ear toward Balthazar.

“Rurisk. You heard what he said, about his son... About how he never did anything for his son, or with his son. That’s... Kisei did that to me. I did not exist to him.” She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. “I don’t believe my Moon— that Balthazar behaved with the intent of hurting his son. You’ve seen him, how careful he is when he speaks to me. But intentions mean little when they cause so much damage to others. He has a good heart. But it doesn’t excuse his behavior and— and if this has offended you, Rurisk, we will walk away from him and not return.”

Every beat of her heart hurt.

She felt her brother’s breath on the top of her lowered head, between her ears, and then the light pressure of his mouth as he grasped a bit of her forelock between his teeth and gave it a careful tug. Jezibelle opened her eyes and lifted her head to look at her brother. His mouth was open and for a moment all she could focus on was the soft pink color of his tongue. What would he say, at a moment like this, if he had the voice she had always taken for granted but hardly ever used?

Rurisk hadn’t said anything. He’d poked her nose with his cheek and turned away from her, away from Balthazar, and started walking. Jezibelle watched her brother’s spotted hindquarters as he crossed the snow and stood with her heart splitting between joining her Moonwalker in the grove of trees he huddled under and comforting him, or in following her abused brother out of the Meadow. Exposed in the middle of the territory and no longer protected by Rurisk, the bay mare had had to come up with a decision quickly.

In the end, it had been no choice at all.

Today Rurisk and Jezibelle stood together in the Falls and let the rush of the water descending do the talking for them. These days there was little need for conversation. Sometimes, at night, if the moon was full and impossible to ignore, Jezibelle filled the darkness with her voice. She spoke of anything, of everything, of nothing until her throat was dry and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and still she kept speaking, eyes shut tight until her voice was reduced to wordless panting and erratic mumbles. At those times, Rurisk would lean against her while she talked until the words went away, and then he would coax her into a walk and the two of them would travel one step at a time to a different location, usually one with a thick canopy. Sometimes he took her down the beach at the base of the Peak and hid her from the moon at the bottom of the big cliffs that supported the mountain.

Today, the two blanketed draft horses stood in the sun and listened to the Falls. Rurisk was calm. His ears were up and flicked idly toward various interesting noises as they arose while he grazed, and Jezibelle followed his slow path while she groomed his withers and back with careful teeth. The two of them had never appeared to be more at ease.


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