Talori Plot 505: From the Mouths of Babes

Seven | Tenderfoot

If Seven had learned anything here in the temples it was that stories could be fun too. He had never been opposed to reading before - though he had not liked it as much as his brother, Five - but play had been more important. Now he knew that stories brought about imagination too, and he had learned so much from the stories that the temple told.

However, he was still a foal, and one whose hyperactivity had slowly been returning, and he could not resist a game of tag. Not waiting for an answer to his question he bounded forward from Gaelan's side, looking back towards his new friend in invitation. For a few moments he ran around the inner sanctum, his hooves skidding on the stone as he hopped over piles of rubble. Without stopping he tagged Adeline, and skipped away. The game lasted only moments, limited by the room's size and the group's continued movement. As as he skidded past Diana he picked up what she was saying to Belle, and he couldn't help but drop to a walk besides them to listen.

He had come to love learning about all of the gods, not just Cascade. It didn't matter if the stories were good or bad, he had started to feel like there was a place for each of them. And he walked besides her at rapt attention, chest rising quickly as a result of his outburst of energy. The colt loved the way that the Seroran talked about the gods. She viewed them with such reverence... and not just her own goddess, but all of them.

"I bet that's why hippocampi and pegasi used to be friends! Athaliah showed us that here in the temple. So maybe they were friends just like Cascade and Alya!" He followed Diana into the room, barely taking note of his surroundings as he turned this information over in his mind.

"But why..." he started, his smile fading as it was replaced with a quiet sadness, "... why are the Flock attacking us then? Are Alya and Cascade not friends anymore?"


(Post 4: 348 words)

Seven | Tenderfoot

Seven's attention was torn from the statue by another loud outburst from Thadeus. He understood where the colt was coming from. His own father, a guardian, killed by the flock, and his mother still a possibly prisoner of the Flock. But it was the childish level of understanding that came without sympathy. He could only watch again, wide-eyed, as the situation escalated quickly between the other two colts.

The fleabitten foal was not a fighter by instinct. He had never been in a fight any more serious than a scuffle with a sibling. Outside of the house he had largely played with his twin, and so had not even gotten into any tussles with the other foals of Inaria. He wanted to help his new friend Gaelan, but he had no intention of getting in the middle of this fight. It was dumb for them to do this! Fighting was dumb! Thadeus's anger at Gaelan was dumb! The temple had been a blissfully peaceful place, where one could almost forget about the outside war despite the constant reminders. But it took just the sound of the colt's bodies colliding with each other to shatter that months-long illusion. How dare they do this here!

Seven's face grew serious, and tears sprang up in his eyes as well. He stepped towards the two, adding his own voice to the commotion just as Laurens was beginning to step in. "STOP IT! THIS IS CASCADE'S HOME AND YOU SHOULDN'T FIGHT HERE! SHE WON'T LIKE IT!"


(Post 6: 251 words)

Seven | Tenderfoot

Diana's harsh tone, though not truly directed at him, made Seven regret shouting. Mother would have reprimanded him in the same tone. He wiped his eyes quickly on his shoulder, trying not to look at the nasty wound that Gaelan had caused Thadeus. Tail tucked like a dog's he followed the mare to the corner of the room, along with the kirin and the hippocampus foals. He chanced a sideways glance at his new friend, but the camaraderie seemed to have disappeared. Gaelan seemed tense, and when they did make eye contact it was full of distrust. Seven looked away, not sure what to say.

The quiet murmuring of adults checking in on the children now seemed odd in comparison to the easy conversation from just a few moments before. No one was playing or telling stories now. This was how it often was in the temples - the peacefulness and companionship never lasted long. The anger and fear that the war had brought always crept in somehow. Seven leaned against the wall, allowing the cold of the stones to seep into his coat. Blue eyes closed, and he tried to imagine something happier. Like the fins that Gaelan had shown him. He remembered that second of how he had looked. How he had felt. He tried to imagine himself in the ocean, using those same fins to swim effortlessly through the water.

The waves rushed by him in a controlled urgency, and he could so easily hear them. They were so clear. Brow creased, his eyes peeked open. Why was it so clear? Suddenly the wall against his shoulder rumbled, as if fighting a force of water outside. The colt righted himself and took a surprised step away as it just began to disappear. And suddenly he was in the ocean. He could feel the water around him, though there was no sensation of being wet. He wasn't scared. Far from it. He felt as calm as he had in his imagination, because in the water nothing could go wrong. He felt the tear of Cascade against his chest. The Wave Mother was always with him.

Before he could turn and truly admire the sea around him, it began to shrink away. It was as if the tide was going out in fast motion, and he looked up as he grew closer and closer to the surface.

Everything happened so quickly, and yet also seemed to take an eternity. He was one of the hippocampi, listening to his goddess speak. He looked down and realized that the fins he had imagined were real, but were quickly fading to legs again. And though he wished to stay in the hippocampus form, he new what Cascade was calling them to do. He was there, helping the wounded. The devastation was so like many of the injuries he had seen from the flock, and, when thinking back on the vision years later, he would wonder if his mind had consciously planted such similarities, or if history was truly repeating itself so closely. Seven marveled at the willingness of all to help, and began making connections between this vision and those of the peaceful pasts told in the other rooms of the temple. Everyone worked together. Everyone lived together. And their only goal was to help one another. All through the blessing of Cascade.

As the vision ended Seven suddenly gasped, as if he had not drawn a breath since the hippocampi rose from the waters centuries before. His legs shook under the pressure of Cascade's final calling. Do better. The tear suddenly sat heavily, but not uncomfortably, against his chest. It was simply a confident push, a source of motivation. His eyes were drawn upward and he was not surprised to suddenly find the statue restored, tears running down its stony countenance. They matched those on the statue in the main temple, and the tear that he carried with him. His own eyes brimmed once more, and he stepped forward. Gently reaching out, his soft muzzle touched the goddess's hooves before he looked up towards her face with a genuine smile that promised a better tomorrow.


(Post 7: 693 words)

---

    The scaled boy's opened defiance gave insight to his upbringing. Laurens was appalled at the lack of respect and decency he had. Perhaps Seroran children were just like that, though. Laurens didn't dwell on it though. Instead she went to her own charge. Sinclair was offering to make potions to help Thadeus' wounds. Laurens nodded before agreeing. 

   "That would be excellent, Sinclair, but please also see to it that Gaelan is cared for, too, regardless of his behavior." The mare asked the other before turning to Thadeus again,"Are you sure you're okay? I can try to use my blessing to try and repair your ear, but I can't promise it will take..." Nagisa would be devastated to see such a ghastly wound on her son's body. 

    Before any reply could be brought to her ears, a consuming roar sounded. Not one of a lion, but of the ocean. They were too far into the wilds to hear the ocean, much less at this intensity. The world went white and then came back new. She watched the hippocampi bring Aquore to rise. She watched them grow their land and the flow of strangers. She watched them ebb as fire tried to overtake Aquore. She watched it all, and knew all. This was familiar, though. Bits an pieces were strewn on the walls of the ruins, but too much was missing to make any sense of it. Now, though, she had the pieces. 

    As suddenly as the vision erupted, it left. Here and gone like the tide. Laurens took a breath before looking around the room. Seemingly everyone had experienced it. The first words out of her mouth, as always, were out of worry for others: "Is everyone okay?"

290