So many more arrived - more than Otem had seen since they all were first birthed through the Portal. There were even Helovian's she recognized! The girl longed to see them, to ask if they knew anything of her family or her friends, but in the face of the great tree and the vast distribution of gifts, Otem thought perhaps it would be better to wait.
To that end, although Otem was not given as much as some of the others, the Rift did not leave her out. The small golden charms that nestled themselves in her mane seemed to be the same burnt brassy colour of the oak leaves that were currently there. As her dapples pulsed warmly, the charms reflected the light and glimmered prettily amidst her mass of auburn mane.
Thank you so very much. Otem said telepathically, her words reaching invisibly towards the Matron. For these, and for everything The charms would be a beautiful addition to her oaken adornments, but it was surely the return of Pandora's voice to her mind that was the real gift.
You're distracted—by everyone, I guess, and by the mare you've just flicked a snowball at. You're smug, like a cat, delicately shaking out a dark wing to dislodge the last bits of white from the edges of your feathers. Snow wasn't a luxury you often received back home, so whenever it fell and got thick enough, you kids liked to have snow fights. You were a pro.
Which is why it's surprising that when Taivas comes down, you don't really notice. I mean, you obviously notice, because she's Taivas and she's kind of on your radar, but you don't do more than flash her a grin. Your fight is with Kiada, your snow war, your—
The tiny shower of snow hits your face like a very sudden and surprising gift, or curse, you don't really know. Spluttering, you turn to Taivas, not at all upset at having been fed your own medicine, just trying to get the snow out of your mouth. She's smiling, impishly, an expression that seems foreign on her face—you recall only her solemn glances, her smiles that never knew quite how to form, but maybe that was just the levity of the situation. You had, after all, been kind of dying on her.
Still, the smile, and the merry laugh following it, makes your heart melt in a kind of confusing fashion. You save it for later, something to examine when you need to distract yourself from the dark thoughts baying at you, and give her your best, boyish grin.
Only then do you notice the gifts magically appearing—scarves and charms, little dots of colors, subtle texture changes. You stop, for a moment, marveling, looking. Your breath pools in the cold air, sunlight glitters upon every frosted branch and in every piece of silver tinsel. It's.. beautiful, in a light, elegant way you previously hadn't seen in this dark and miserable place. Slowly, you crane your head, catching the sparkle of charms tied into your mane, little stars against the night black of your hair.
Turns out your slowly fading glow wasn't festive enough for the tree; you've been re-decorated, and you rather like it.
If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky You can hide underneath me and come out at night
Even if the magic surrounding Uwaritace was temporary, the imagery of the great mother tree standing tall, whole, and decorated lifted the worries from Taivas's slender shoulders. In this magicked realm of winter, at least the girl could find peace and respite, if only as part of a beautiful illusion.
Her lifted spirits were mirrored in many faces, including the darkset features of the boy she had saved. He looks at her with some sort of innocent shock as the snow rains down on him from her well aimed cowkick, his young features dusted with frost. Her twinkle of a laugh ends with another smile on her features, ever so briefly, before she begins to notice them.
Gifts.
They begin to flow out from the matrons toward all those around the tree, scarves wrapping around necks and charms dangling from others. Suddenly, a tug on her mane is felt; in place of her silver bead, she can see an odd medallion, weaving itself carefully into a braid. A new sort of wonderment fills her dark eyes, but her face is slack and emotionless, and her attention turns back to Waker.
She notices within his own mane, small baubles and decorations now sit, glimmering like tiny stars in a sea of dark. He looks at Uwaritace himself, and admiring the glimmers and glitz of the tinsel. A wonderful gift to be received on a cold day in the middle of summer, to be sure.
"They look nice," she says, motioning to the beads interspersed in Waker's mane, as well as the background he stood against.
When I turn jet black, and you show off your light I live to let you shine
The inhabitants lingered and mingled with one another, some of them sharing orbs in the joy that the Tree of Light brought to them. The Matron surveyed them all with happy, crystal eyes as she waited for more to approach. She wasn’t disappointed when a young girl complete with a griffin companion stood alongside the outskirts. Her eyes watched the girl for a brief moment, uncertain if she’d offer anything to the tree or if she was simply too anxious to do so. She didn’t mind, she could understand the hesitant nature of these small creatures. Never the less, the Matron still offered the girl a gift, appearing beside her in the soft snow.
Another creature was more brazen, pushing himself to the front of the line – despite the fact there really wasn’t a line – and looked up to them expectantly. The Matron emitted a quiet rumble of a laugh, the humor sparking in her eyes as she looked upon the dragon scaled creature. Her long, battle worn trunk reached behind her ear and bestowed the creature a trinket. Something that would keep him warm, dry, and cool despite the harshness of the months. With a gleam in her eye she moved on to another that hadn’t quite approached.
Her eyes danced over Kyros as he profusely apologized to the mother-daughter duo. He seemed kind, and the Matron smiled quietly to herself as she thought of what to give him. She felt as though he could use something to help ease the burden of the Rift, and so she offered him a silent object, something he might not find today but eventually, and hopefully one he could really use. Before the Matron put too much thought into it, she turned her attention to the next creature to appear.
He was quiet and gentle as he approached the tree and the Matrons, lowering his head to remove his helmet, smiling and asking if he could. The Matron nodded, happily, and watched as he placed his helmet along the lower tree branch. He bowed his head and offered a silent prayer, and the Matron decided to grant him the same gift as Kyros. Something he could choose himself that he might find useful in the months to come.
After all the creatures had mingled and approached, the Matron lifted her head and her trunk, offering a song-like call. After she had their attention, she grinned to them before dipping her head. “Thank you all for coming and making this a wonderful event. We do hope you enjoy your gifts. Before you go, please collect your belongings from the Tree, and may the world grant you kindness in the months to come.” She rumbled, trying to catch eyes with those around the group before settling in beneath the tree to make sure that the creatures that grabbed the gifts were the ones that put it on the tree in the first place.
We hope you guys enjoy your gifts! Again, don't forget to let us know what you decide on in terms of items (both normal and enchanted) so we can cross it off our list! If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Thanks for making the end of 2017 a blast! :)
Zoeya - a leather bag to store herbs and trinkets with lightning bolts dyed into the flaps and along the strap. Abigor - temperature relief charm enchanted so it is a cold snowflake in scorch, a dryer in drench, and a warm ember in freeze. Kyros - enchanted item Rixen - enchanted item
Go ahead and wrap up your posts and take your items if you haven't already! We'll archive this post on January 9th. Thank you for joining us with the first Tree of Light! :)
Slowly, you turn back to Taivas. You just can't quite believe it, all of it—how winter tried to kill you mere weeks before, and now, it's like a blessing, something you desperately wish for in the too-hot daylight hours. You can't believe the power of the magic either, how it is capable of so wholly transforming this place. There's a beauty and grace in it, one you can't quite comprehend.
Pulsing shadows and neon eyes, shadows snapping at your heels, foreign stars in a foreign sky—and within the very same realm, such generosity, such kindness, such hope. You think back to Kisamoa, to the stark contrast between his appearance and his words. It's like the Rift is his body, Uwaritace in her winter glory his soul; you rather like thinking of it like that. Something beautiful within something hideous.
But nurturing your celebrity crush on the twisted creature can wait. You've realized that likely everyone has been given something, just that it's not all as obvious as the starry charms in your mane, or the scarves wrapped around necks. You're eager to find out what Taivas has received, and you start to take a step towards her when she speaks.
"They look nice," she says, and you stop dead in your tracks. This is the Taivas you remember from that night: her face calm and smooth and placid, but her eyes full of wonder. How easy it would be to miss if you didn't take the time to look. "Thank you," you answer kind of dumbly, knowing it is not by virtue of anything you've done, but still feeling the need to say something. Actually—you raise your head and look at the matron as she speaks again, before repeating the two words in her direction instead. "Thank you."
Then, you blink a little, and finally step a little closer. You never got a really good look at her; you were half-dead and it was dark, and later, when you saw her again, you were too enchanted by Kisamoa to soak up all the details. "What did they give you?" you ask, gently, your eyes finding the charm in her mane and you motion towards it with your muzzle, like a question. It's the only thing you can see that stands out from the multitude of beads, and you don't want her to think you're an inattentive jerk.
01-07-2018, 07:56 PM (This post was last modified: 01-07-2018, 07:58 PM by Kiada.)
the sun inside of her rages like wildfire
There’s a small amount of cold that creeps up at Kiada’s feet, and Khairi laughs quietly to himself in the distance newly recovered by their bond. Slowly, Kiada turns to spy a broken up snowball by her, narrowly missing her and nailing her fluffy feet. A small laugh escapes her throat as she looks to see Waker grinning mischievously before his attention was dragged elsewhere. There was joy that billowed beneath her chest, healing the small dark places that had cracked wider as she watched the world around them become happy. And in that moment, she, too, felt happy.
But it was nothing compared to the feeling she felt next. As she surveyed the crowd, seeing those she knew somewhat and others she hadn’t met yet, she was just about to open her mouth to call over to where Rikyn was. Before she could, there was a soft delicate touch at her shoulder. Immediately her ears twitched in uncertainty before a small voice – one she’d know regardless of time and age. She melted in the touch, the face pressed against her shoulder before she turned to see her mother. She was much shorter than Kiada originally remembered – partially due to the fact Kiada hadn’t been fully grown the last time they saw one another.
“Mom?” She croaked, turning to press her own similarly striped face to her mother’s. A smile bloomed across her lips as she looked upon the older mare, her family that had found her way to the Tree. Their reunion didn’t last long, as a creature basically ran into the two of them. Kiada forced the tears away from her eyes as she turned to look at the creature. “I’m assuming they’re the guardians of the tree of light?” She answered honestly, unsure if the question was directed at them or himself. As she did so, she watched as the orb of hope pulsed and broke into three pieces, one for her mother and one for Kyros as it slowly began to drift toward them. "Oh, and this is a ball of hope. We have to use them to heal the Rift." She mentioned, watching as the orbs slowly traveled to their new homes. And when he directed his attention to her mother, speaking of a scarf, Kiada tilted her head slightly.
Her mother wasn’t wearing a scarf, was she? As her icy eyes turned to look at the golden unicorn, she noticed the sudden appearance of a golden scarf wrapped around her neck. A small laugh escaped her lips as she looked upon the surprise. “Well, that’s incredible.” She offered as Khairi swooped back to the Tree to grab her trinkets on a chain. When he returned, she noticed there were more than the two that were there previously. In their stead, there was two added items and she smiled more to herself than anything else. She then, looked back to the boy with a soft smile. “I hate to steal my mother away but there’s something I must show her. It was nice meeting you.” She offered him quietly before nudging her mother away toward the end of the group – preparing to leave as she muttered her idea to her mother to see if Halyven was indeed the place she thought it was.
It felt like a dream as her face pressed into Kiada’s and the recognition on her daughter’s face that bloomed across as she spoke. The croaked ‘mom’ that erupted from the girl as she turned to face her mother. A sorrowful smile crossed her pale lips as her darker blue eyes took in the icy ones of her flesh and blood. “I missed you.” She offered quietly, until someone ran into them. A small amount shaken, she turned to look upon the creature that had appeared and offered apologies. The smile grew a bit more honest as she shook her head. “It’s no problem. I’m Rexanna, and this is Kiada.” She introduced them as she realized Kiada probably wasn’t going to.
At least some things hadn’t changed.
When Kiada answered the question the boy announced, she glanced over to her daughter – wanting to know just what amount of information her daughter had gathered during their time away. Before she can ask, she watched as an orb of light spread toward her and the boy. At first, she wasn’t certain about the benefits of this strange orb of light. But Marembo seemed very interested and pleased. A small laugh found its way out of her throat as she dipped her head slightly to Kiada. When the question was directed to her from the boy, she let her gaze dance over the boy. She noticed some very familiar feathers adorning the mane of him, and tilted her head slightly – not even noticing the scarf that found its way wrapped around her neck.
And as he asked, she finally noticed the gold item on her neck and the sudden warmth that came with it. She was mesmerized, but curious as she looked to Kyros. She wanted to ask if those were Ilios’ feathers, but refrained from doing so as Kiada’s voice reached her pale ears again. As she turned to her daughter for a brief moment, a small amount of worry creasing her brow at the urgency, but allowed her daughter to make her statement. Her head turned back toward Kyros with an apologetic smile. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen one another, do forgive us. Hopefully we meet again.” She offered, hoping that perhaps it would be great to speak with him and ask about Ilios, wherever the man was.
When her daughter dragged her to the edge of the gathering and spoke of Halyven, Rexanna nodded slightly toward her as if to say she’d been there and yes it was, before they left together once again.
"Thank you." I smiled at the Matron as she bestowed me with a gift. It was a round golden pendant which glimmered as the sun reflected off of it. I gave the Matron another dip of my head in thanks and then, grasping the necklace in my teeth, moved away so that the other horses could collect their gifts. Was the delicate ornament magical, too? This was the Rift, after all. It seemed that anything was possible here - anything one imagined could come to be true at a moment's notice. I didn't know what the pendant might be able to do, what magical properties it might possess, but I knew it probably would not be long before I found out.
Trying not to get the Matron's gift entangled in my antlers, I slipped my head through the golden chain and tilted my neck skyward so that the pendant would slide down and the cool metal rested against my chest. Using my teeth, I gently made the final adjustments until I was pleased with the pendant's position. Today had been a merry day indeed, for I was extremely happy with my new possession. Although reluctant to admit it, I was fond of material things, in particular pretty, shiny trinkets. Craning my neck, I tried to get another look at the pendant, but doing so was difficult considering the anatomy and range of motion of a horse. I gave up quickly, not wanting to make a fool out of myself should anyone happen to glance in my direction. Perhaps I would try to find a pool of water somewhere so I could examine the golden trinket more closely in my reflection. The rest of the horses seemed busy conversing among themselves, and I decided it best that I take my leave. Without saying anything more, I headed for the trees from which I arrived, casting a final glance back at the Matrons and the happy recipients of their gifts, a smile on my lips.
"Talk."
they heard me singing and they told me to stop
quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock
If you'll be my star, I'll be your sky You can hide underneath me and come out at night
Thank you.
Taivas gives a nod, before her attention is taken away by the Matron's steady voice. The gentle elder's face is odd, but the shaman finds a strange sort of kinship between her and the great protector of the tree. Though they may be different, the girl believes that they shared some of the same principles, in the very least. The thought keeps her expression warm, even as the matriarch bids them farewell.
"Thank you," the girl echoes Waker beside her, feeling strange that everyone had been given gifts in exchange for seemingly nothing. Perhaps, they expected everyone here to pay it forward, the kindness shared and given here under the boughs of the great mother tree. Taivas did not know, but she would remember the kindly expression in the Matron's eyes for weeks to come.
Waker scoots closer, but the shaman pays no heed. It is not until he actually directs a question to her that her eyes are peeled from the matriarch. She looks at him for a moment, a blank expression, before her mind catches up with her to repeat his question in the recesses of her mind. "Ah," she lets out dumbly at first, before glancing back at her mane and the strange trinket braided within. "I am not sure; some sort of an amulet."
Her own eyes study the surface of the medallion more carefully. It looked like a small, burning ember. That is when she noticed it, the heat it emanated gently in the winter wonderland, taking off the cold breath from her now thinned pelt. Like a thin blanket, the magic charm seemed to cover her whole body.
"It is warm," she says decisively before looking at Waker once more. "Hopefully, when we leave here it will not be."
When I turn jet black, and you show off your light I live to let you shine
She's off somewhere else, lost in thoughts with her starry eyes glued to the matron. You find a smile touching your face, that mixture of brotherly affection and something else spreading pleasantly through your body. You're not sure about her age—half the time, you're not sure about your age, either—but at times like these, she looks so.. young. It makes you want to ruffle her forelock with your nose, but you also don't quite want to break the spell of the moment. Here, in the snow that is cold but not too cold, with the glittering, restored tree and the pale but warming sunlight, you feel happy. At peace. You don't want the moment to ever end.
Then she snaps back, and you feel like you're suddenly awfully close and up in her face; offering a bashful grin you take half a step back. She turns to study the charm, and you watch her with what feels like a frown, as if her declaring what it is is suddenly the most important thing ever. You're not at all sure why you're feeling like that, so you do your best to smooth it from your face.
She doesn't know what it is, either. It's an ember, that much is clear even to you. "Interesting," you offer in a distracted voice, wishing to press your muzzle up against it, as if it would reveal its secrets then. For a moment, you get lost in that thought, until Taivas speaks again. "It is warm," she states, and you feel like turning yourself inside out. Now you really want to press your nose against it, but you remind yourself of the thing called manners and refrain. Instead, you motion towards it again with a quiet "May I?", and if she'd let you, you'll touch it, and if she'd ignore you, you'd keep your peace.
Then, you cast a glance to the barrier, where the scorching heat meets the snow. "We could always try it?" you suggest with a grin, and a dash more excitement than the situation perhaps merits—but you still feel good, and you don't want to lose that.
Uwaritace
