A Flame in the Dark

RIXEN i have late night conversations with the moon; It was as dark a day as any, at least in this particular neck of the woods. But I had grown accustomed to hardly being able to see where to place each hoof in front of me, and thus the lack of sunlight did not bother me in the least. Every time I returned to the Portal, I met someone knew. So it’d hardly be a surprise if the same thing happened this time. Perhaps it was the reason that I’d even bothered to come here at all, or was it simply by chance that I happened to be wandering through the very place where all newcomers arrived in the Rift, wide-eyed and wondering where they were. Fortunately, I could be the one to answer their questions. I didn’t mind doing so, because I knew what it felt like to come here for the first time, lost and scared and alone. It would’ve been nice to have someone to talk to then. Seeing where I was now, though, with a herd of my own, a place to belong, everything seemed to have worked out. From the beginning, finding, or in this case forging, a herd was the goal. Wasn’t it? Twigs on the forest floor crackled beneath my weight as I moved along. Each step was a slow, swinging, fluid movement, carrying me from one part of the Portal to the next. My head bobbed steadily with each movement. It was held high, on alert, unburdened by the mass of deer-like antlers perched on top. They were like small trees, the same color of brown as oak bark, adorned with vines, dressed up as if there was somewhere important they had to be. They always appeared that way, though, and today I wasn’t exactly headed anyplace special. The Portal didn’t exactly fit that category in my books. However, I did take a liking to meeting new horses there when the opportunity presented itself. I wondered if one would leap out today, from the shadows, or wherever it might be hiding.  Sure enough, there were the sounds of voices. They were faint, almost whispers, but they still managed to reach my ears, which swiveled to and fro at their gentle touch. At first, it was difficult to pinpoint the direction where the voices were coming from. They seemed to bounce off of the trees in every direction, surrounding me. They were everywhere, and nowhere, all at once. Frowning slightly, I strained to listen, not for words, but rather for location. Perhaps they originated someplace to my right, and so that was the way my limber body swung, floating forward between the tangled branches and glowing flora as effortlessly as a ghost. The ground was not beneath me, holding me up, permitting my every movement forward.  Indeed, the voices grew louder as I travelled along. It wasn’t long before I came to a halt, a short distance away from what appeared to be not one, but two horses standing in the dim light. I was still mostly covered by the shadowy foliage, enough that it would be difficult to see me unless one sought to do so. Peering through the branches, it was observable that they were both mostly golden in color, with light colored locks, and gleaming blue eyes. From what I could tell, that was about where the similarities ended. They were quite different in structure, height, and in age. It was difficult to discern how familiar the two with one another. The only bit of concrete information I latched onto were the last words spoken by the colt: he was new here. No surprise, of course.  So without giving the matter much more thought, I slipped out from the gloom to stand before them. Perhaps they were already aware of my presence, or maybe my sudden appearance had caught them off guard. I’d soon find out. Taking care to not interrupt their conversation, for I was a creature of manners, I waited until there was a pause before offering my greeting. "Hello." It was a single word - one that reached their ears in the form of a voice that was warm, friendly, while my verdant gaze shifted lingeringly between the strangers. "Talk." he tells me about the sun — and I tell him about you.

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@Galahad @Rexanna Have a Rixen! -shoves him forward-