Posted on June 18, 2022 at 09:55:40 PM by TAVAS
And the cold lonely air. On the rock restless seas. A lot was happening at once. Tavas felt on edge, hyper-aware of her body and her surroundings. The crunch of their feet against the hard earth stung in her ears - a sharp staccato snap with every foot fall. A brisk breeze pricked its way through her golden hide. She jumped in place every few steps, her gold-flecked gaze catching something moving or new and intruding out of the corner of her eye, causing her to side-step quickly into Ramiel or for her head to pop high over her withers. She knew she was acting strangely, unhinged even, but she couldn't bottle up the nervous energy. She just had to get it all out. She'd offer Ramiel a sympathetic look every time her spooks caused him to pause in concern. And then she'd jig off, too anxious to walk, but not quite so feral and unladylike to just trot off ahead of him. Ramiel took it all in stride, the calm, kind and sensible stallion that he was. In this moment, he was her rock. One day she'd have the courage to tell him so, and to thank him for the kindness he'd shown her today, when she was wrecked; a hot mess, if you will. Tavas did her best to quiet her mind and give Ramiel her full attention when he spoke, but was it was challenging. Her eyes flitted to the left and right of him, untrusting of the woods they stood in. The strong musk of another stallion didn't do anything to settle those feelings. "It's funny, my mother also mentioned a cave." She said, cocking her head to one side as she pushed the memory to the forefront of her mind. "It seems like it was a special place." "She lived this whole life here... with Nephilim. And then for years after, never told anyone about it." She was rambling, she knew. But it felt good to speak of it. To get it off her chest. "It's so wild to think how your life can change so much. It was as if... she just started over between stallions." Because before Nephilim, there was also Koray. Radically different chapters of one mare's life. Tavas understood enough to know she never wanted her relationships to dictate the path she was on. Before she could dwell on it too much, a mare emerged from the brush, cautiously, taking dainty steps in their direction. Tavas watched as familiarity flooded Ramiel's features. She watched curiously as the two recognized each other, a smile growing across her face at the happenstance of it all. "Hi... Maziel." She said sheepishly, taking a step toward Ramiel now before arching her neck to share a breath. "It's lovely to meet you... to meet more of this big family I'm learning so much about." She wondered if she should offer up some kind of explanation. It felt strange for this stranger to accept her as family at face value, just because Ramiel said so. So she blurted: "My dam is Vita Nova. If you knew her." Tavas retreated then, wanting to give them some space as Ramiel greeted the filly who appeared at her side. But then someone else appeared down the trail... A familiar face. The palomino mare squinted into the distance at the mare, who stood frozen in the short distance. A chill shot down the length of her spine when she finally realized - "Ysabel?!" She said out loud. Without giving Ramiel or Maziel another look, she trotted off in her direction. "Ysabel!"
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