Skeleton Trees
12-04-2016, 02:06 PM
It was barely past noon and the sun had already begun its descend beneath the equator. The sky was drab, furnished with clouds that seemed immobile and choked out all but a few rays of sunlight. It was silent other than an occasional breeze that funneled through the orchards, threatening to turn the water that pooled on the ground to ice. In some areas the top layer had already solidified, no more than a millimeter thick; but it wasn't ice as one might think, it was dirtied. The entire orchard was a great disaster of slush and mud with ice filling tracks of animals where water might have pooled. The atmosphere held an unrelenting chill, and it was drying to ones skin to just linger. The skeleton trees that once bared fruit now stood just so, with thin rails of ice trailing down their knotty bark.
Every step was audible as the pressure from his large paws upon the ground elicited a great crunching noise. If his cumbersome movement didn't make him known, his coloration would surely do him in. His tans and greys stood out against the vastly white backdrop, and the cool browns of bark laced in ice. A mist spouted from twin nares with every exhale, and upon inspiration he could still smell the sweetness of half spoiled fruit that laid covered by mud and ice. Perhaps the sweetness lured him here as it did others, and that would explain the surplus of tracks around the orchards dark boles.
He wore thick plush that was impenetrable by the occasional breeze; his core unmistakably warm. He was but a refuge in this new land, and couldn't pass judgment off of the wintery landscape, but this new realm harbored so many scents. It was promising to say the least. Chocolate eyes scanned gingerly across the orchard, examining the occasional bird landing on one of the skeletal branch for a rest. He too needed a rest, but the short trees of the orchard had not grown close enough to offer protection from the elements, and even now it flurried gently.
Every step was audible as the pressure from his large paws upon the ground elicited a great crunching noise. If his cumbersome movement didn't make him known, his coloration would surely do him in. His tans and greys stood out against the vastly white backdrop, and the cool browns of bark laced in ice. A mist spouted from twin nares with every exhale, and upon inspiration he could still smell the sweetness of half spoiled fruit that laid covered by mud and ice. Perhaps the sweetness lured him here as it did others, and that would explain the surplus of tracks around the orchards dark boles.
He wore thick plush that was impenetrable by the occasional breeze; his core unmistakably warm. He was but a refuge in this new land, and couldn't pass judgment off of the wintery landscape, but this new realm harbored so many scents. It was promising to say the least. Chocolate eyes scanned gingerly across the orchard, examining the occasional bird landing on one of the skeletal branch for a rest. He too needed a rest, but the short trees of the orchard had not grown close enough to offer protection from the elements, and even now it flurried gently.
12-05-2016, 08:23 PM
There was a bitter loneliness that knotted in my core. It was unmistakable, unrelenting, and oh, it was brutal. It was pit in my stomach that I was able to suppress most days, but something inside me still gnawed away at my soul. There was much to explore in these lands, much to do, but it was not always enough to suppress the waves of self-loathing and existential dread that rolled over me and threatened to suck me into the current.
The orchard was a lovely place, if not slightly overwhelming. I had ventured here more than once, the rotting fruits a putrid but somehow enticing scent, but at the frost solidified and the cold weather settled on the lands like a bird back in its roost, the smells slowly dissipated, and he haunting rows of barren trees, lined at attention like soldiers, became a more bearable place to escape the cold.
There was not much fat on my body, not much muscle either, and I had found that the winter months were particularly hard on my rapidly-aging joints.
I was moving in between the trees as the smell struck me, but at first, it didnt register. It was an instantaneous deja vu, but more intense. It wasnt just a familiar smell. It was more than that. It was...it was the scent of a knight I once knew. A knight I loved as a friend, as a brother, and as a piece of my soul. A knight I had abandoned.
I froze, pausing mid-stride with a forepaw hovering above the snow, a precarious position for a woman with only two remaining legs on the ground, but my brain had shut down for the moment. Lids squeezed tightly over emerald orbs. An illusion.
There was no way Arborick could be here. I had run and I had run and I had run and I had launched into the sea and I had selfishly fled my old life in the pursuit of... well, in the pursuit of anything. Anything had to be better than the mess I was trapped in.
An illusion, but the smell had not faded. My own breath had paused, leaving a deathly silence. But that silence was filled with the muffled sounds of paws sinking into the snow, and warm snorts of breath in the cold air.
With a start my eyes snapped open, and skull swung wildly as my body bounced and heaved in and effort to pivot to find the source of the smell, of the sound.
Arborick...
Against the snow, my russet and cream pelt was a far cry of camouflage, and I would stand out like a neon sign, but then again, so should the gray man I was searching for.
He was a good distance away from me, making his own way through the orchard. An apparition of muted gray and tawny tones; from this distance I could make out the vague shape of his partially missing ear and his black collar marking, and I nearly wanted to cry.
I was swallowed in a wave of emotions; jubilance, indescribable happiness, confusion, and also.... guilt. The guilt settled in like a boulder and for a moment I thought that I would retch.
"Arborick..." I breathed out, the words rolling off my tongue like it was the only word in the world.
"Arborick?" I spoke again in the next breath, a question this time. A small voice, but it was loud enough for the male to hear. His senses were as sharp as anyones, even if I hadnt spoken, he would have found me.
The orchard was a lovely place, if not slightly overwhelming. I had ventured here more than once, the rotting fruits a putrid but somehow enticing scent, but at the frost solidified and the cold weather settled on the lands like a bird back in its roost, the smells slowly dissipated, and he haunting rows of barren trees, lined at attention like soldiers, became a more bearable place to escape the cold.
There was not much fat on my body, not much muscle either, and I had found that the winter months were particularly hard on my rapidly-aging joints.
I was moving in between the trees as the smell struck me, but at first, it didnt register. It was an instantaneous deja vu, but more intense. It wasnt just a familiar smell. It was more than that. It was...it was the scent of a knight I once knew. A knight I loved as a friend, as a brother, and as a piece of my soul. A knight I had abandoned.
I froze, pausing mid-stride with a forepaw hovering above the snow, a precarious position for a woman with only two remaining legs on the ground, but my brain had shut down for the moment. Lids squeezed tightly over emerald orbs. An illusion.
There was no way Arborick could be here. I had run and I had run and I had run and I had launched into the sea and I had selfishly fled my old life in the pursuit of... well, in the pursuit of anything. Anything had to be better than the mess I was trapped in.
An illusion, but the smell had not faded. My own breath had paused, leaving a deathly silence. But that silence was filled with the muffled sounds of paws sinking into the snow, and warm snorts of breath in the cold air.
With a start my eyes snapped open, and skull swung wildly as my body bounced and heaved in and effort to pivot to find the source of the smell, of the sound.
Arborick...
Against the snow, my russet and cream pelt was a far cry of camouflage, and I would stand out like a neon sign, but then again, so should the gray man I was searching for.
He was a good distance away from me, making his own way through the orchard. An apparition of muted gray and tawny tones; from this distance I could make out the vague shape of his partially missing ear and his black collar marking, and I nearly wanted to cry.
I was swallowed in a wave of emotions; jubilance, indescribable happiness, confusion, and also.... guilt. The guilt settled in like a boulder and for a moment I thought that I would retch.
"Arborick..." I breathed out, the words rolling off my tongue like it was the only word in the world.
"Arborick?" I spoke again in the next breath, a question this time. A small voice, but it was loud enough for the male to hear. His senses were as sharp as anyones, even if I hadnt spoken, he would have found me.
12-05-2016, 09:01 PM
Bring me that horizon. A voice in the distance froze his form mid stride. His name echoed throughout the orchard several times, amplifying until it was discernible. It was sorrowful and the winded, and in a moment of disbelief he stalked on, large paws carrying him west. The audible crunch of snow to his right grew loud enough to cause the beast to pick up his head and lock on to its owner. She was recognizable anywhere - there was no one in the world like Simber. “Simber!” Immense form swung round his grounded hindlimb, and then his bodice slinked to a full out sprint. They met within seconds, an inner fire stoked within him. He reared and leapt around her like he was a welp, playfully bowing and spiraling inward until he met her shoulders in a bear hug fashion. He dismounted shortly after as to not throw his tripod friend off balance and simply buried his skull into her chest, a grin transpiring ear to ear, his singular pinna laid flat agains his skull. “You’re alright, you’re safe. I found you..oh, how did it happen?” He chimed handsomely, rising before her once more to allow his gaze to settle into her own. What were the odds? It was a moment of splendor, the kind that rendered hurt void, and allowed a platonic love to blossom once more. He had so much to tell her, and he was sure she felt the same. It had been some time since the two had seen each other, and at this point, she was the only friend he still had. She had no knowledge of the events that plagued Resia, but she could come to find out. |