Ageing Beauty (open)

[nala]

The murmurers of little girls were often heard around the oasis of the desert. It had become a sort of nesting spot for the sands herd, where they took the young for safety and resources. The sands herd wasn't one about comfort entirely, but raising young was important, crucial in fact. Nakita knew that even in her feeble mind state. For this reason, and this reason alone, she kept her daughters here. Juno was no longer a shape-able youth, often wandering from her mothers eye, but Lacey, still only just past a year, was one to stick around. Today however, as many days were becoming, the child mare wandered to the edges of Bridonna and the edges of her mind.

A humming was all she could hear, drowning out the growing voices in her head. She didn't give this explanation when people asked why she was always humming. But then again, hardly ever did people protest to the dark little angelic voice of the sweet younger child. Today the tune was softer, the recesses of her mind abandoning her momentarily, and her head clear of the demons. She hummed today out of habit rather then necessity. 

Velvet, white marked lips were coated in sand, as the small mare lipped at the ground absentmindedly. She bore the thin body type of her kind, but almost identical to the mare she called mother, her ribs poked through her small muscle mass. She didn't look sickly like her half-brother, resembling her mothers striking beauty rather. Lacey was growing up, and with that responsibility on her mind the voices began their cackling in the far recesses of her mind. The blazed youth looked over her shoulder at her resting mother and took a few more steps further, the intensity of her humming growing with each hoof print. 


ooc: so shes gonna be a tad crazy. possibly a "see-er" of sorts?

[Silver]

Juno paced restlessly on the edges of the oasis. Her mind was full of thoughts, tormenting the youth and her newly realized adulthood. She had grown into a shapely thing, lean in all of the right places, with curves and muscles flowing underneath her coat. Her mane - now fully grown in and long enough to hang over her eyes if she let it - tickled her neck. She tossed her head in annoyance and snorted her opinion at the sand. It moved little, but only because of the small breeze that blew through the desert. It was autumn, and that meant for colder nights and hot days, rather than scorching. It was a relief if she had to give her honest opinion - the hot sun warmed her coat more than that of Antonella and her son Leander. Juno’s fondness for the little colt had grown slowly, but she didn’t see him as much as she had her younger sister. There was far too much in her life to worry about, and Antonella kept a close eye on her son. He was sickly and small, but Juno was still curious. His love for life was encouraging to say the least.

Days had gone by since she’d last seen her father, and since she’d last seen any of her family. She’d been haunting the canyon ever since her fateful meeting with Tonto, hoping that he’d somehow decide that he did love her. She knew that she’d be seeing him soon for the coming-of-age ceremony, but somehow the fact that he wasn’t attracted to her like she was to him dampened the mood.

She committed herself to finding her mother and her younger sister, if not to spend some time with them, then to simply show that she was indeed alive. The young mare didn’t want to be confined to her angst-ridden family. She wanted to be free...to be with him.

ooc: i have so little muse...
word count: 320+
tag: lacey
muse: nada...

[nala]

By the time Juno reached a noticeable distance, Lacey was humming nearly at full capacity. The sickeningly sweet tones of her deep voice ringing out to far beyond the radius of her sister. Lacey mouthed the ground again nervously before turning her sand covered lips towards her older sister. Juno had played mother to Lacey since she was born, Nakita being unable to provide what was needed for a stable sense of life. Still, no matter how hard Juno tried, Lacey's life was always far from stable.


"Hi." She mumbled out between lines, immediately returning to the drowning humming, although its intensity lessened as the mare got closer. Lacey hadn't seen Juno for days, but that didn't necessarily mean she missed her or anything. Since she'd aged to an independent age, Lacey understood the ways on which their family operated. She still had sickly Leander if she needed to talk to anyone, but even he didn't interest her much anymore. "Have you seen ma yet?" Lacey's words where clear, but slightly forced as she paused in her humming. The voices waned as she began to focus on her sister's striking black body. She looked most like father then any of the desert children. Lacey considered this as one trait that would make her the favorite. If only she could tell Angelus of her vision, that would surely gain some attention. Lacey turned so that her body faced the mare. Nakita was behind her, but her eyes were dazed onto something else, completely unaware that her lost daughter was once again home.


"She's still not well." Lacey's tail twitched as she remarked on her mother, the voice intensifying momentarily as she started to hum once more.

"You tell me I'm too young to understand...
So wake me up when its all over."

[Silver]

The black mare moved her hooves through the rough shrubbery and lifted her eyes when the other equine moved within her sights. Her sister, a once happy and yet quiet foal, looked up to face Juno with sand-covered lips. Juno’s eyes narrowed, gauging the mind and the tempo of her younger sister’s mood. Concern, mixed with a quiet frustration and a wish to be anywhere, anywhere but in this place, snaked into her heart. She flicked her tail, unable to help a hint of irritation from coloring her body language. The humming reached her ears and buzzed through her brain. What now, she sighed. Her desire to leave grew stronger as the loud humming continued. Juno danced to the side with antsy steps.

“Lacey,” she said tersely. What was her sister doing out here anyway? “No, I haven’t seen her yet. What are you doing out here?” Juno studied the light in Lacey’s eyes, hoping that it wasn’t the onset of madness hidden there. Was her whole family destined to fall apart at the mental seams? Her father was growing more and more distant and harsh, finding what she supposed was a new authority now that he’d had three daughters and a son. Her mother was... Well her mother was a different story. Black locks fell down over her eyes and she rose up over her sister as she approached.

Countless hours of wondering whether or not coming home was a good idea were shattered as the humming restarted and it was asserted that Nakita was still as much of a wreck as she’d been previously. Juno sighed in frustration. “Lacey, stop. You’re driving me mad with that humming.” It was really her entire family that was driving her mad, but Lacey was the closest target. “Has father been here lately? Does he know about her...condition?”

ooc: ---
word count: 310+
tag: lacey
muse: ---

[nala]

Juno's words had always been harsh when Lacey was younger, but at least they were words. Nakita often went days without speaking to anyone. When the young mare heard her name come from the same harsh lips she was so familiar with, her humming quieted momentarily. That is at least enough for Lacey to notice. Juno, on the other hand, seemed to be fuming more and more as the moments passed. Her eyes made Lacey nervous, and she licked her sand dusted lips anxiously before the humming returned. This time an octave lower, with a more intense mood. "I'm just..." She was drowned in her humming, the voices beginning to hiss in her ears awful things about disappointment and abandonment. "You're always out!" She said a little too loud, her eyes widening as she watched Juno's mood deteriorate, mirroring her own sanity.

The harshness in her voice when she told Lacey to stop was a straw best left unbroken. Lacey shrunk considerably as each word left Juno's tempered lips. The humming ceased however, leaving Lacey plagued with the voices that bounced around in her head like shadows. It was almost too much for the little mare, her eyes clenched shut as she tried to remain conscious. "Shh. Lacey. I am here with you." The voice was calm, but it didn't come from her sister. It was coming from inside her, from the place where the others came, but deeper yet. Lacey's eyes opened to fall on her sister's ebony face. The voice continued: "You've nothing to fear, child." Lacey had never heard this voice before, calm and warm, like her fathers almost, but female.

Juno yanked Lacey back into the world with her questions. "I haven't seen him." She whispered half heartedly. "But they've spoken." Lace took a step back from Juno, her mind searching frantically for the warmth that had just been there. Instead she found nothing. Not even the voices resided in her mind. For once in the young mare's life, she was no longer humming but was increasingly aware of a new-found sharpness to the world around her. "They've talked." Another whisper. Barely audible, as Lacey ventured off into her mind.

"You tell me I'm too young to understand...
So wake me up when its all over."