It was the loneliness, in the end, that had driven her away.

Like the tumbleweeds that skipped across the flat lands of the south, Lilith felt herself pulled from the realm she had called home for more than a year now.

It wasn't much of a home in the first place.

The dark mare had grown up alone, no stranger to the feeling. When she had settled in Redgrave Canyon, she had been so certain that it would become a place she could feel accepted, feel secure. But eventually, the others too did vanish, leaving her to fend for herself in the dirt and sagebrush. She should have known it wouldn't have lasted, shouldn't have let herself believe that what she had was something the least bit sustainable - but then again, she wouldn't know sustainable if it were presented to her. For a moment she even considered the prairies, offering only a brief glance to the lands she had once encountered a strange, but friendly mare, only to find that she too had disappeared. With what little dignity she had left, Lilith ultimately chose to set back out on her own.

Drawn by her hunger and thirst, she defeatedly retreated to the free lands. Knowing that while she might not be able to avoid other equines, she could at least avoid being chased in territoral qualms.

She came upon the river, and she eyed the current, wondering if its' strength would be enough to simply carry her away. Sure, she feared for the future even more so now, but it wasn't enough to encourage her to test the waters. With an overwhelmed sigh, the mare trudged to the river's edge, peacefully lowering her head to drink. The water was cool, soothing of the fire in her cheeks and chest.

If she could freeze time, this would be the moment.

summer year 2, #309, hazel , for ghazal xoxo

★fai

all of the sharp things i've kept in my mouth i am always bleeding out

The desert sprawled before Ghazal, its arid embrace welcoming him back to his nascent home. The Inlus River glistened beside him, a sliver of life cutting through the vast expanse of the southlands. The early summer sun blazed overhead, casting a relentless heat upon the unforgiving terrain.

Colors shifted and blended in his vision, and the world seemed to ripple like a mirage.

Mescaline.

One thing he'd truly missed about his southerly home were the tall, prickly pillars of the huachuma, standing proud wherever they could find a little chink in the arid landscape's dusty armor, sometimes adorned in feathery white blossoms but more often than not simply bare, apart from the little sand-spur spikes which dotted their lengths.

If one was careful to avoid those little needles, one could consume the moist, stringy flesh within and feel —

— well. And feel.

And the moment he'd seen one, something tugged at the pit of his stomach and of course he'd fucking devoured it.

That had been early this morning, after he had left Persephone somewhere not too far behind, nursing her injuries in the shadow of his cruelty. Her twisted infatuation haunted him like a specter.

The taste of his own brutality lingered in his mouth, something acid and vile, and he chewed and chewed and swallowed the huachuma until only its taste remained.

His senses were heightened, and every detail of the landscape stood out in vivid clarity. The desert, usually harsh and unforgiving, took on an eerie beauty in his altered state.

The air hung heavy with the scent of dry earth, and the only sound was the occasional whisper of a breeze stirring the grains of sand. There was a raw, unfiltered beauty to this desolation, a beauty that Ghazal had once been blind to, but now, it seemed almost fitting.

He saw omens everywhere.

These desert badlands, with their unforgiving vastness, seemed like an appropriate backdrop for his inner turmoil. Here, in this desolation, he could confront the jumble of thoughts and feelings with their little barbs stuck so deep into him, and do it free from distraction by anything corporeal.

Or so he thought.

As if summoned by fate or perhaps by some cruel twist of destiny, he saw her.

A slender black mare stood by the banks of the Inlus River, her coat glistening like fresh-cut obsidian in the harsh summer sunlight. Her silhouette seemed almost fragile against the rugged backdrop of the badlands beyond, and yet there was an undeniable grace to her presence.

The urge to retreat, to continue his journey without engaging with her, was strong. But something held him back. Perhaps it was the relentless pull of time, each grain of sand beneath his hooves a memory vying for his attention, or maybe it was the curiosity that gnawed at the edges of his thoughts.

Maybe it's mescaline.™

Suddenly, Ghazal couldn't resist the urge to make himself known. He approached her, his footsteps surprisingly silent on the sandy ground. The cactus had heightened his instincts, and he moved with an eerie grace not suiting his battered appearance. Had his singular functioning eye not been solid black already, one could probably have seen his pupil blown-wide from a remarkable distance, dark as a shadow in the desert night.

He watched her swallow, eyes tracking the movement of her elegant throat.

He'd have sworn to you in that moment that he could feel the blood rushing through his veins as though he were there, drowning, caught in its merciless current.

His voice slung the words at her almost languidly, a raspy growl reverberating across the river.

"Would that I were water —"

— to feel your lips around me —






notes: he took the drugs, and the drugs are working (u have no idea how hard it was to come up with an appropriate greeting after my monkey brain decided on "what else dat mouf do")

An Adonis in her own right, the mare stood uknowingly before him, the picture of supremacy.

Reality, however, weighed heavily on Lilith's shoulders. It was the weight of an uncaring world that put these pressures on her, and the bitter truths of her own mortality come to claim her with starvation and exhaustion. It would only take her a moment to lower her head, and yet she could not bring herself to drink here. Just as her own thoughts tainted her judgement, so it seemed her own pride tainted her desire to drink.

She believed herself to be someone once - an important piece of a puzzle, but now, the pieces had been lost. And so she was left to try to pick them back up, but in the end, even she knew she was incapable of such things.

Falling deeper and deeper into her own thoughts, the mare hadn't really even noticed the deformed beast in his approach until he allowed his voice to taint the air - it was just as well.

She could not shake the chill that slithered down her spine at the sound of his voice, full of clear intent, though as she laid her eyes upon Ghazal, it was clear to her that they were not as clear. Clouded even, and unlike anything she had ever seen before. As the mare's gaze continued along the battered stallion's frame, the discomfort began to overwhelm her. That chill once again wrapped itself snugly around her throat; Lilith could not call out, could not even scream for help if she so wanted. She was not sure if he was even equine at this point, a discernable monster of a creature.

Eyes frantically searched for some other means of escape, but it was inane. There would be nothing to sweep her away from here . . . except perhaps the river.

If it comes to it.

Finding herself unable to respond, the mare pushed herself as far as she could within their small space; his massive size was plain to see, and even if she were to run he would have easily been able to make up the strides. With the sun beating down upon them as an overseer, Lilith's fear of this unknown still managed to leave her frozen in place.

summer year 2, #379, hazel , ba da ba ba ba (i'm lovin' it)

★fai

all of the sharp things i've kept in my mouth i am always bleeding out