Falls

The rise and fall tide of emotions washes over them both. Nyimara can feel it in the tension beneath the dark mare’s skin. Electricity prickles between them like the promise of lightning on the wind. It seemed as if the entire island waited with bated breath for the outcome of this meeting of souls. For the briefest of moments, or perhaps it was her mind alone that wanted to say so, Shenzi meets the pressure of her weight. For the briefest of moments, Nyimara imagines that her boon mate was with her once more. The half of her soul that had been separated from her when Shenzi was gone was merged together again. In that moment that the touch was made real, the dying fires within her ignited anew.

But it is not to last.

With a feral growl, Shenzi breaks the contact between them. The final shove of her companion’s weight causes Nyimara to take a step backwards, her proud head dipping to balance out her weight once more. Brows furrow as dark eyes search those of Shenzi, watching as the battle-scarred mare’s chest heaved from the exertion of wills and rush of emotions. Likewise her own chocolate flesh darkened, flecked white her and there by a thin layer of sweat and water. Overhead, thunder rumbled, causing her gaze momentarily to lift towards the sky. What had been bright, clear skies only hours ago had darkened to blue black. Clouds hung low, just above the treeline. Wind whistles through the trees above, leaves rattling in warning and causing the thick branches to moan against the pressure.

’In the Peak.’... the words are spoken in a monotone voice, devoid of any hints of emotion. Nyimara turns her gaze once more to meet the dark woman’s eyes but there is no evidence of the passion and fire that had burned there only moments ago. She was a stranger. Dark ears fall back amid the curling tendrils of her silver white mane. Nyimara did not like her like this. Where did this woman come from? Where was the fierce lioness that had met her time and again in sparring? Where was the warrior that stood nose to tail with her in protection of Warduna when the Lagoon had come calling?

Shenzi tucks her chin against her breast and likewise Nyimara mirrors the action, her own crown ducking low. ’Learning of the damage you have wrought.’ the words cause her lips to peel back into a fierce snarl. Damage? What damage? The only one who ever spoke of damage had been Siobhan. Was that where the red bitch was hiding now? Spreading discord of lies and deceit through the peaks? Fury burns in her dark eyes as a guttural growl rumbles from her throat. ”You let her turn you against me?!” the voice a barely audible whisper above the strengthening wind. Droplets of rain begin to fall, splattering onto the granite rocks underfoot and turning them almost black in color. The skies begin to open as again another rumble of thunder vibrates the earth beneath them.

Bjorn had once said ’You chase off anyone who could love you.’ The words had fallen on deaf ears at the time, believed to be nothing more than anger and resentment. However as the years pass, the weight of that judgment whispers deep into her mind, the whisper of a child, soft and faint. Over the years, the voice faded. The love and devotion she had felt towards Bjorn dampened until only fragments remained to torment her deepest dreams. Shenzi had replaced them, replacing her longing for acceptance with understanding. The dark mare saw her for the ambitious, determined, spirited woman that she was and never once had she tried to tame or change her. The question that Shenzi lays before her now brings Bjorn’s sad voice soaring to the surface. Dark eyes widen in shock as her slender frame goes rigid beneath the weight of those words. ’Is that why you can’t let go of me?’ No…no…

”NO!” she screams, stomping her hooves in the sloshing mud beneath her. ”No!” she repeats, shaking her head viciously side to side, causing water logged tendrils of her mane to snap audibly against her darkened neck. Her heart thunders within her breast, her sides heaving breathlessly. Once more, once again, she was being abandoned. She was left by the wayside. Shenzi had gotten from her what she needed, used her as an outlet for her rage and anger and now that the fires were subsiding within her she felt no need to keep her company. Anger rises, this time, the anger is directed at the very mare that she had spent her last few years searching for. Accusations hang on Shenzi’s words now as she speaks. Her will? No. Not this time. She would not take the blame alone.

With a trumpet of rage she rushes forward, slamming the weight of her body against the dark mare’s shoulder. Mud sprays around them as she snakes her neck forward with jaws agape. ”OUR will!” she growls, striking out her chipped hoof at Shenzi’s breast. ”I searched for you. I fought for you. For us! You…. you betrayed me!!” she snarls again, thrusting her weight forward again this time in hopes of drawing the breath from the dark mare’s lungs. Pain made her mad. Rage made her rabid. Paper thin nostrils flare as the silver haired woman blinks against the droplets of rain that fall onto her face. ”You… you…are not the woman I know. You… you left… I… I….” the words tumble together in a jumbled mess, her lips frothing with venom.

Alone…. Always alone. again, Bjorn’s handsome face appears in her mind, that cocky smile and those knowing blue eyes. He was right. Like poison she spits the words from her lips. ”You… you are weaker than I thought Shenzi. You…” the sting is real this time as she struggles to form them upon her lips, ”.. You are a pawn in their game. Not mine. I… I… you… have no heart like mine!”