Author's Note
First story back after a fair amount of years off. Pardon any visible rust you see and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1
Autumn Blaze sighed quietly as she laid in her hammock and stared at the cloudy, midday sky above. A constant breeze swept up from the valley below her house, soft enough to not rouse her from her relaxed state, yet strong enough to sway her hammock slightly and let the nearby wind chimes play. As the melody played out, she inhaled deeply as the breeze picked up and swept through her curly mane, relaxing her further.
“This is…. Soooooooooo boring,” she sighed melodramatically, before letting her relaxed body go slack and sink into the hammock.
Even though she enjoyed the beautiful scenery, it only comforted her for so long. Considering she was living by herself, she always found it hard to occupy her rather active mind. Turning her head to her left, she stared quietly at the forest path that led back to her village and imagined what everyone was currently doing to pass the time.
“How can they live like that?” she questioned herself out loud. “I nearly went crazy without my voice and emotions. And that was just in the first week! Nevermind the years after that as well!”
It had been about eight months since she was asked to leave the nearby Kirin village thanks to her ability to talk again, courtesy of the Foal’s Breath flower she found and turned into a brew. While she missed living with her friends and family, she couldn’t do it without her voice and emotions. Just thinking back to how annoying and excruciating it was to not speak and even think properly was a nightmare in its own right and it made her start to get irritated and restless. While the Stream of Silence was supposed to calm down emotions and take just the user’s voice away, she found that over the years that her emotions were slowly becoming obsolete to the point that some days she would wake up and feel nothing at all. If it wasn’t for the cure she found she couldn’t even imagine how she would be like right now.
No longer able to relax, she sat herself up and brought one hoof to her cheek, before resting her head on it. She pondered deeper, wondering how anyone was able to function there at all. Even when she had no choice but to head into the village to trade for supplies on occasion, she would always look around with worry and sadness. They functioned as a society somehow, but without voice or emotion it always looked like they wandered around without a purpose.
“I just… can’t,” she muttered quietly, bringing her other hoof up and put both to her eyes before rubbing them down her face.
It wasn't like she could do anything either. The flower she found for her cure didn't bloom again in the spot where she originally found it, and even searching for other places on the peaks yielded no results. Even if she could convince her village to try to speak again, they had no way of doing so.
Getting more irritated and saddened, she once again thought back to her village but to something else entirely. The few times she went into town, Autumn would take note of her fellow females to see if they showed any sign of difference. Simply put, she constantly looked out to see if any were pregnant, and there never were any. She didn’t have to think why since she already knew. Without emotion, there couldn't be any love between soulmates, and without that love, new offspring can’t be born; in the end the village would soon die out.
“Why couldn't they see this coming?” she groaned with displeasure, moving her hooves away from her face, her irritation and sadness starting to peak.
Suddenly feeling a warmth on the tip of one of her hooves she stopped her thoughts and gasped. There was the main reason for the village’s vow of silence staring back at her; that hellish looking fire that always appeared when emotions started to become out of control and unstable. Those swelling emotions she felt started to come out and she quickly felt her Nirik disposition start to surface. Yet, before it grew out of hand she clenched her eyes shut and gave her head a hard shake.
“It’s okay… it’s okay, Autumn Blaze. You got this, just think happy thoughts, like baby Kirins running around the village, laughing and playing with each other,” she spoke quietly to herself. Her eyes still closed, she took a deep breath and brought her free hoof up to her temple and started to slowly rub circles into it. Slowly calming down, the blackened reddish fire before her started to die down to the point she could blow it out.
“And… we are good again.” She blew out the flame. Fully calm again, Autumn decided it wasn’t in her best interest to think about the village and its situation for the time being. Instead she quickly focused on her own wellbeing and, craning her head up towards the sky, she took note of the sun’s position behind a few clouds.
“Oh, it’s almost time for my afternoon bath!” Autumn chimed cheerfully as she quickly jumped out of her hammock.
Living up on the Peaks of Perils for her whole life, Autumn knew pretty much the entire layout of the upper peaks themselves. Over the months living in her secluded lifestyle she had found many wondrous things. These things varied from where the highest point was, to where the sunrise and sunset looked the most beautiful, along to where nearly all the flowers that bloomed on the peak were located. One day, if able, she would try to brave the steep peaks themselves and venture downward to explore the rest. Even with those things, there was one more thing she discovered; a nearby waterfall flowed from one of the tops of the peaks, pooling into a basin below before continuing down the mountain. Unlike the Stream of Silence near her old village though, this water was pure and untainted by any kind of magic, allowing anyone and everyone to bathe in it without consequences. The even better part was the basin itself was only a few minutes away from her house.
Thinking about standing under the soothing waterfall made her momentarily forget the troubles plaguing her mind, and quickly running into her house, she came out just a few seconds later holding a bright green towel above her head with her magic. Eager to go, she wasted no time and broke into a trot for the forest path. It didn’t take her long either, considering she was the one who cut a path to the waterfall from her home in the first place. A few left turns, right turns, log hops, boulder jumps, and one vine swing was all it took to get her to her destination, and in no time at all, she came up to the large clearing.
As she neared the sound of rushing water filled her ears and a thin mist filled the area, and through the mist itself she could see the large basin. Taking in the scene itself, Autumn felt the brown beaten path slowly change under her and the cold and hard feeling quickly disappeared. The feeling of soft and wet grass replaced it and the sound of hooves clopping against dirt became muffled. She sighed softly with content and looking nearby she could see a few rabbits, birds, and squirrels all over the area doing their own thing before the sound of grass breaking under her hooves got louder. They began to look in her direction and before she could get close enough, they all scurried for the forest. She paused momentarily but thought nothing of it; after all, a girl does enjoy her privacy when it comes to bathing.
Arriving at the edge of the large pool, Autumn trained her eyes on the water and started to circle it in order to find the deeper parts of it. While the basin itself was shallow in most areas, she knew there were spots deep enough to dive in. It wouldn't take her long to find one either: the rocky bottom was easily visible in the shallows, and the telltale sign she found one was the inky shadow obscuring its depths.
Gingerly poking her hoof in the water in order to gauge its temperature, Autumn smiled as it was just perfect. Wasting no time she put her towel on the ground and dove right into the water. As her body became engulfed in the water she opened her eyes and was greeted by a serene scene. While the water wasn't perfectly clear she could see most of the underwater basin from where she was. Plant life thrived near the shallows and smaller creatures like frogs and snakes could be seen swimming between the weeds. She looked on for a few seconds as the animals swim about, ignoring her unlike the animals on the surface and she would have continued to watch them until she felt a heavy feeling building up in her chest.
Coming up to the surface for air, Autumn looked to the waterfall and through the thin water screen she could see an opening into a cave system that flowed deeper into the peaks. There were times she thought about grabbing a log to ride and traversing the caverns themselves. Yet she knew it was too unsafe as the current was too strong. That being said, just inside the waterfall itself was a small area she could sit in and relax, and starting to paddle her legs she made her way for it.
Coming up to the flowing falls, Autumn poked her head through the water and stared into the giant cave before her. Looking in she found her resting spot, and about ten feet further in there was a sudden drop off that went down about twenty more feet. Thankfully the water was shallow enough to walk in and the current itself wasn't strong enough to pull her downwards. It was an ideal resting spot to chill and hide in.
Just as she entered the cavern, Autumn’s ears perked up to the sound of a rather large splash behind her. Wondering if something had fallen from the falls themselves, she quickly turned around and was taken aback by the sight of another Kirin raising out of the water, specifically one of her old friends from the village. The Kirin itself had a light brown mane color and its coat shone a pale amber color and in contrast to those colors, his eyes shined a beautiful cyan blue.
For a second she couldn’t recognize him from behind the water screen, but after sticking her head through the falls Autumn knew it was her old friend Willow Oak. Though for Autumn herself, she had her own nicknames for him, being either ‘Willy’ or...
“Oakley!? Oh my gosh, is that actually you!?” Autumn shouted excitedly as she dove into the water in order to see her old friend.
While she wasn't keen on seeing her old village, she was always excited when she crossed paths with a few villagers whenever she was foraging for food or just taking a stroll through the forest, and in this case seeing one of her longest and oldest friends from her childhood filled her with absolute joy.
Unlike the rest of the villagers Willow Oak himself was one of the few Kirin that wasn't annoyed when Autumn got her voice back, and though he couldn't express it he was happy the once quiet village was given a new burst of energy. Of course that didn't last long before she moved out, and since then he started to miss her more and more. As much as he wanted to visit her, the village leader forbid it, claiming Autumn herself was a bad influence.
Though it could be argued, their leader was right in certain aspects. As cheerful and outgoing as she was, Autumn had her quirks, specifically her tendency to let her emotions influence her more often than should be allowed. This made her more susceptible to 'Nirik outbursts' and it was mainly for that reason he was told to not visit her. Even with that being the case, seeing her now without the other villagers around to judge and bother her filled him with a feeling he couldn't describe even if he had his voice again.
"Long time no see you adorable goofball!" Autumn swam up to him, and before he could properly react she tackled him and both fell under the water. A second later both resurfaced with Autumn hugging his midsection while rubbing her face into his chest. Though her horn was dangerously close to poking him in the face he did not mind it and simply wrapped one foreleg around her body and gave her head a pat with his other hoof.
"Ooooh, it's so nice to finally see someone again after all these quilt, err quiet? Yeah, quiet months," she spoke, almost unable to think of the proper words to speak, burrowing deeper into his chest fluff.
Though he couldn't answer her outright, living the way he was allowed him to communicate more effectively with body language and hoof gestures. Giving her head another pat he then rested his head on hers and gave a deep and relaxing sigh. His foreleg hugged her tighter, causing her to stop and take in the feelings. She settled down, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I missed you as well."
For the moment neither moved nor made any attempt to communicate with each other. Instead they simply basked in each other’s presence, and they floated in place until Autumn broke the silence.
"Mhmmm, there's so many things I wanna ask you," she said as she pulled her face away from his chest in order to look up at his face. "Like seriously, how have you been? How's everyone in the village? Oh, did Winter Flame and Spring Ember hook up yet? Is Rain Shine still playing leader? Anyone make any good silent plays while I've been gone? Oh! Oh! Or how about—" Before she could go on a tangent, Willow’s content smile turned into an unamused frown before he moved one of his hooves and put it to her lips, quickly shushing her up.
Stopping herself, Autumn smiled sheepishly before looking to the nearby forest out of embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry. I forgot only yes and no questions when talking with you guys."
Willow’s expression turned around and he smiled back at her. Smiling back at him she started to think about questions to ask him. With her now limited, it greatly reduced the number of questions she wanted to ask him. She began to ponder deeply before turning her head slightly and resting her ear against his heart. She thought for a few seconds until she remembered the previous questions she asked in her excited state.
"So… how have you been, Oakley? How you doing mentally and physically? Wait, that's not a yes and no question. Uhh, wait I know! Are you doing okay? Is life in the village enjoyable at all?" she asked, pulling her face away from his chest, trying to get her thoughts in order.
Willow gave his head a nod of approval.
"Good to know life is enjoyable over there… somehow," she replied cheerfully before mumbling the last word.
He gave her a puzzled look and tilted his head slightly, unable to catch her last word.
"Sorry, something in my throat," she replied quickly before clearing her throat. "So what about Winter Flame and Spring Ember? Those two gals ever hook up after I left the village?"
He thought for a second before he smiled and nodded.
"Eeeeeeeee! I'm so happy those two finally managed to connect." Autumn couldn't control her excitement and bounced up and down in the water. Thankfully she quickly calmed down when she realized she was still hugging him.
"Sorry, just excited those two are finally a couple. I remember Ember was always interested in being a… surf gate? Shiro gate? Surrogate! Was looking for that word. Anyway, I remember Ember was always interested in being a surrogate parent if Winter Flame ever wanted to have foals," Autumn chimed excitedly.
Before he could give a reaction, Autumn instantly calmed down and her expression went neutral. It was with that question that she remembered her previous thought process from earlier.
"Heyyyy, here's a slightly different question for you; is anyone pregnant in the village by any chance?" she asked, knowing very well the question plagued her earlier. "Sorry, seems kinda random to ask that but like, it was on my mind earlier today and I kinda came here to get my mind off of it and I was kinda like—"
Willow brought his hoof up to her mouth and hushed her again. For a second it calmed her down but just as it did he shook his head no.
"Ohh," she replied, her voice and mind starting to fill with sadness. "Well… um, has anyone actually given birth since we took that ridiculous vow of silence?”
This time is was Willow's expression that worsened as he slowly shook his head again.
"Greaaaaat," she groaned with displeasure before resting her head against his chest again. "I knew I was right to go and worry about this earlier."
Unsure of how to comfort her, he opted to hug as a sort of reassurance. It didn't help much but it was enough for her.
"I mean, I know your guy's emotions are suppressed and all but seriously? Is there no form of love or emotion in the village?" she asked out loud.
Willow didn't reply, instead he just stared blankly ahead, almost like he was trying to process his thoughts. Finally, after a few seconds of awkward silence, he looked at her… and shrugged.
"Wait… you actually don't know?"
He shrugged again.
"You… really don't feel love or any kind of emotion? Do you feel anything? At all?”
This time he opened his mouth like he really wanted to answer, but as quickly as it opened it closed and was followed by an annoyed sigh.
Becoming much more worried, Autumn took a breath as a new question came into her mind. However, this question made her stop in her tracks and made her think ahead to a possible outcome. Thinking on it, she went quiet and stared up at Willow's eyes with worry. Dreading the possible answer she almost didn't want to ask it in the first place, yet she couldn't ignore it.
"Okay, let me reword that…" she took a deep breath and prepared herself mentally. "Do you feel any kind of love or emotion… for me?"
