1 ;; A Prayer to the Lost Gods
The forest seemed to scream in the echoed silence, the chilly breeze threading through the trees as an icy reminder that the darkness was never too far off. A small, small figure curled up in a tiny warm ball, hidden under the roots of a tree as if begging the tree for protection from the cold wind. Hunger etched at her, calling out a distant reminder that she needed to take care of herself better- but yet, how could she? The foal-sized being hadn't seen another considerably friendly face in what seemed to be years. A dark cloak drifted over her body, the hood covering her face and three purple gem-like rocks binding the blessed robe closed at her chest. It covered and hid her body, but it didn't mean that the soft and enchanted robe wasn't all that good at keeping out the chill.
She didn't know of the forest's name- the Evergreen Forest- due to her being an outlander. She never looked back, never stopped, and spent her countless days running. She had long lost track of when she had seen a flash of light, curses, and nothing but searing pain had overtaken her body. She still remembered her only friend's cries, demanding that she return, that she shouldn't run. How long had it been since she had slept? An icy dullness had drifted over her ever since that day, causing her to lose track of time and her own well being. Her legs aches, her heart beat faster then ever, even in this dull, icy stillness. She still felt chased, threatened. How far was she from home?
No, she couldn't think that. She wasn't far from home. "I-I don't need a home. You hear me, father? I don't need you anymore!" She called out the empty woods, only an echo of a distant startled bird answering her. It was good- the silence. Normally speaking out of line earned her pain, earned her a fierce glare of a lonesome father. So many secrets he kept and her mother was one of them- she had never met her mother. She sometimes envisioned her, wondering what the former Queen was like. She heard from rumor that she died bring her into life, but she never believed it. She saw her mother as a strong, brave and loyal queen, doing anything to protect her citizens and her kin.
Maybe she had done the same? Was this really for the best? She was unsure of her actions, but that didn't mean she was wrong. She was simply trying to rationalize the idea of this cowardice- this fear. Surely, when she was running, could she had just stopped? What if she had been captured- would she have been taken home and simply punished, or would the last in a long line of royal, impure blood be slaughtered for the crimes she didn't mean to commit? It wasn't her fault- her father never told her about the war, never told her about how dangerous the price of freedom and friendship was. She wanted to go back to her friend, tell them everything- but no. She couldn't risk it. She couldn't go anywhere near 'home'- not for a very, very long time.
Even with the slight rest and the long distance, she couldn't risk it. Standing up again, she embraced the cold wind and the chilly darkness that night provided her. It had been a long time since she had last slept- how long had she been running? Last she remembered, the sun was rising over the distance mountains, the bright cheeriness barely touching the dark and barren land she once called home. Humming a song to distract her from her many sources of worsening pain, she forced her sore legs to move forward as she begun to walk towards the direction she had previously headed in, lacking the energy to walk or to even trot. There was too much going on anyways.
Did she even bring anything? No. All she noted having was her cloak- it was most important to her because it hid her identity. She had no plans of running away previously, and she had no idea that a chase would go one. She didn't even get to take her headband, either. Now that she thought about it- no, she knew it wouldn't fit now. Lowering her head slightly, she carried on in her journeys, her belly still crying out and reminding her that she was not in fact hungry- no, she was starving. Starving, cold, and desperately alone. No one would be there for her, recognize her, or possibly even help her. She knew how cruel the world was- she saw it every day in the cruelty of her father. Surely peasants were the same way?
She would have traded her soul to be born into a different family, to be born a peasant. She didn't want to be royalty, she didn't want to be anyone important and she didn't want to be special and she didn't want to carry the heavy weight of her family name. Most would expect, on hearing that she is a future princess, to see the horn and the wings marking her of great, pure power. Her family carries something quite different- something marking them of unstable, dark, but extremely strong power. Power that could counter the strongest of curses, power- when not tamed, turned members of the family into beasts. She didn't want to be a beast- she she had always practiced. She wanted to have a control over her power- she wanted to banish it.
She couldn't banish it, though. From the moment her soul had started forming in the void, something else inhabited it. It was not simply her own soul- it was the bearer of something else, something that could not normally crawl out of the depths of the void that it normally inhabited. But, luckily, it was only a link to this being. A link, a link that if she could figure out how, she could shatter it and destroy the chain tying the two together. She might get hurt in the process, but she had seen the shameless, heartless monster her father had become once. He had told her to cherish the bond between what he called her 'shadow,' told her to grow it and to let it become one with her- but she had plans otherwise.
She wasn't letting anyone, anyone into her life. Not even if it was some part of her, not even if it belongs to her, not even if it was the one thing that kept her alive in her current state. It was the only thing that fueled her running, it was the only thing and kept her going and the only reason why she hadn't gotten hypothermia and frozen to death. It was hazy, now that she thought back to her running- how long had she ran? How far? Had it taken control, and had it boosted her journey? Some part of her didn't want to know. Her walk still going steadily, she noted the foliage around her slowly becoming less and less, the trees less often and a direct treeline ahead of her.
Was she free from the familiar faces of her homeland, or was it only just beginning?