![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skonen_bladesA red horse and a pink turtle met in a field in the middle of winter. They were cold so they sought shelter in the nearby forest. Between the trees of the deep forest they found the Sun. It was dressed as an owl with red and yellow feathers shining like burnished brass that had been soaked in the sun. It radiated brazier heat, turning the trees and ground around them springtime. An albino raven perched on a branch just outside the aura of warmth, almost lost against the snow. Raven was the moon.
“Red horse. Pink turtle. You have found shelter with me but it comes at a price,” said Sun Owl.
“Price” croaked Moon Raven.
“You will have to join us. Become part of the pantheon,” invited Sun Owl.
“Join us” croaked Moon Raven.
“What shall we be?” asked Red Horse.
Turtle stared. He only spoke to add to the conversation. Horse had already asked the question he wanted to ask so he patiently waited for the answer.
“Red Horse, you shall be a new season of fire. You shall be my flare. You shall be my flint. You will walk among the brush and trees, igniting with your aura.” proclaimed Sun Owl.
Red Horse wasn’t so sure he liked this idea. He thought of all the death he could cause if he wasn’t careful. Not just humans but all the forest creatures. But if it meant he would live, he had a hard time refusing.
Sun Owl turned to Pink Turtle, “Turtle, you shall be a new season of winter without snow. A pink, naked season with branches withered, leaves and flowers dead, but no white blanket to tuck them in. A season of desolation without the muffling blizzard. If the clouds must burst, it will be rain. Mud will be plentiful. Erosion will change the face of mountains.”
Turtle, too, didn’t care for being the mascot or patron animal of this new season. But he preferred not to freeze to death as well.
Red Horse and Pink Turtle looked at each other.
“Decide” croaked the Raven.
Red Horse turned back to them and said yes. Turtle slowly nodded his head.
“Very well. You are chosen. Stay still. The raiments of your new office will coalesce around you.” said Sun Owl.
The air shimmered around Red Horse. His mane and tail burst into flame but it didn’t hurt. Fire skated over his torso, snaking and flickering but never going out. His eyes glowed red. The ground under his hooves started to smoke.
The air shimmered around Pink Turtle. He grew in size into an immense turtle as tall as Red Horse. His shell became encrusted with glittering frost that melted and dripped from the new icicle tips around it. He grew a beard of ice. His eyes fluoresced into the blue of sea algae at night.
They left the forest that night, saddened at their new duties but happy to be alive. They knew that they would rarely cross paths from this point forward. Being seasons, they had a lot of work to do. But luckily Sun Owl had said for they were chaotic beasts that could run and traverse the countries of the world with little rhyme or reason.
And roam they do. Valuing the times they meet. Spreading fire and mud everywhere else.
tags
“Red horse. Pink turtle. You have found shelter with me but it comes at a price,” said Sun Owl.
“Price” croaked Moon Raven.
“You will have to join us. Become part of the pantheon,” invited Sun Owl.
“Join us” croaked Moon Raven.
“What shall we be?” asked Red Horse.
Turtle stared. He only spoke to add to the conversation. Horse had already asked the question he wanted to ask so he patiently waited for the answer.
“Red Horse, you shall be a new season of fire. You shall be my flare. You shall be my flint. You will walk among the brush and trees, igniting with your aura.” proclaimed Sun Owl.
Red Horse wasn’t so sure he liked this idea. He thought of all the death he could cause if he wasn’t careful. Not just humans but all the forest creatures. But if it meant he would live, he had a hard time refusing.
Sun Owl turned to Pink Turtle, “Turtle, you shall be a new season of winter without snow. A pink, naked season with branches withered, leaves and flowers dead, but no white blanket to tuck them in. A season of desolation without the muffling blizzard. If the clouds must burst, it will be rain. Mud will be plentiful. Erosion will change the face of mountains.”
Turtle, too, didn’t care for being the mascot or patron animal of this new season. But he preferred not to freeze to death as well.
Red Horse and Pink Turtle looked at each other.
“Decide” croaked the Raven.
Red Horse turned back to them and said yes. Turtle slowly nodded his head.
“Very well. You are chosen. Stay still. The raiments of your new office will coalesce around you.” said Sun Owl.
The air shimmered around Red Horse. His mane and tail burst into flame but it didn’t hurt. Fire skated over his torso, snaking and flickering but never going out. His eyes glowed red. The ground under his hooves started to smoke.
The air shimmered around Pink Turtle. He grew in size into an immense turtle as tall as Red Horse. His shell became encrusted with glittering frost that melted and dripped from the new icicle tips around it. He grew a beard of ice. His eyes fluoresced into the blue of sea algae at night.
They left the forest that night, saddened at their new duties but happy to be alive. They knew that they would rarely cross paths from this point forward. Being seasons, they had a lot of work to do. But luckily Sun Owl had said for they were chaotic beasts that could run and traverse the countries of the world with little rhyme or reason.
And roam they do. Valuing the times they meet. Spreading fire and mud everywhere else.
tags