Falls
Force-claiming is not allowed here. This is a peaceful, neutral area meant for socialising.
Posted on August 9, 2020 at 06:00:03 AM by Sabriel
Cold numbed her skin, crept down her spine, soaked into her very bones. It was both salvation and torment; though the frigid water’s kiss soothed the aches throughout Sabriel’s body, a different sort of pain was left in its wake. Strangely enough, the mare’s dark skin felt as if it were engulfed by flames - the pinpricks that had been her body’s initial response yielding to a more intense burning sensation. Despite this, however, the wretched creature did not deign to move. Instead, she embraced the physical agony as something far easier to bear than the emotions that tore through her chest in violent sobs that were muffled into soft, indiscernible cries when they managed to break past the dam of her lips. And even this expression of her sorrow was a weakness she would not have permitted if not for the steady hum of the falls to cover its sound.
Or at least, she had believed herself alone and without an audience to her pain.
Though vastly different from Solomon’s sultry purr, the deep baritone of a masculine voice was enough to send Sabriel skittering sideways with alarm. Sky-blue eyes that had been clouded and distant were suddenly alert and aware as they slid over the stranger’s large body. Shadows of fear passed across her expression like clouds over the face of the sun, and lingered in her gaze even after she masked it beneath a neutral expression. Tears still streaked her face, but Sabriel assured herself that the damp patches could easily be mistaken for water from the pool - just as her motley collection of minor bruises and abrasions could be tokens of a rough journey, or a scuffle with another of her kind. There would be no benefit to revealing just how deep the core of her vulnerabilities ran to the spotted male. For all she knew, he was no different than Solomon - just another beast hiding behind beautiful skin.
“Yes. I - I tumbled down a slope earlier,” she lied, her soft voice barely distinguishable above the constant sound of the water. “And I thought it would be best to wash the dirt from my wounds. But I didn’t realize the water would be so cold.” It was a flimsy tale, but the best she could come up with in her distress. And by the way the colorful stallion lingered in the shallows - as if trying to determine whether he should go to her - Sabriel was not certain she had been entirely believed. But perhaps if she demonstrated that she was well enough, then he would move on and leave her in peace. Sabriel turned and began to stride back toward the shore, toward the stranger. And as she drew near enough that he could reach out to touch her, a shiver that had nothing to do with cold passed down the full length of her body. Sapphire eyes met emerald for a single instant, almost challenging in their haughtiness - a glimpse into the creature she had been before what had taken place. Then they slid downward, regarding the pebbles beneath them as if they held infinitely more fascination for her than the pintaloosa.
This close, a discerning gaze might be able to see beyond the lie she had spoken. On her withers and shoulder, the abrasions were too symmetrical to have been caused by a fall - arranged in a semi-circular pattern that could have been matched to Solomon’s teeth. And in her eyes - even focused elsewhere as they were - the dewy sheen of unshed tears had gathered. Sabriel found, too, that she trembled more violently for her proximity to the muscular male, and hastened to put distance between them. Within a couple strides she had gained the bank, and shook the clinging moisture from her ebony-and-ivory coat in a would-be casual manner. And just as nonchalantly, she turned her neck in a sharp arch as if to nip at an itch on her belly - though in truth she was glancing back to see if the yet-unnamed creature had gone.
And discovered that - save for the eyes that had followed Sabriel to where she now stood - her audience had not moved. “Is it a custom here to insert oneself where they are both unwelcome and unwanted?” The silver black questioned, the venom she’d sought to inject into these words conspicuously absent from her wavering tone. “P-please, just go.” The telltale warm trickle of tears was felt, and she sought to disguise it by turning away, as much as her instincts screamed at her for doing so. The worst had already happened, after all - what could his creature do that Solomon hadn’t already seen to?
And that single thought was all it took to send Sabriel tumbling down from her precarious ledge and into the void of her own despair. “I know what your kind seek, but you’re too late,” she half-snarled, half-sobbed. “He had me already, and nevermind what I wanted. But if you’re truly desperate enough to nose around another man’s leavings, then just get it over with and go,” she continued hollowly, tasting ash and the acerbic tang of fear in her mouth as she spoke.
Then, clamping her jaw firmly against the weeping cries that sought to bubble their way up from her chest, Sabriel stood and waited, letting her dark lids fall over her pale eyes like a veil.
Replies:
- without the fear we are all as good as dead - By bondurant August 12, 2020 at 04:20:11 AM
- the dark, the light, the shame - By Sabriel August 14, 2020 at 06:53:15 AM
- without the fear we are all as good as dead - By bondurant September 1, 2020 at 02:31:05 AM
- the dark, the light, the shame - By Sabriel September 5, 2020 at 03:50:25 AM
- without the fear we are all as good as dead - By bondurant September 1, 2020 at 02:31:05 AM
- the dark, the light, the shame - By Sabriel August 14, 2020 at 06:53:15 AM
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