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Description

You could have told me.

The whole truth.

Perhaps fate wouldn't have played out this way.

Perhaps then you could have loved me, Selora.

I was born broken but, Selora, I would have--

An unfinished letter hidden among Gianna's leftover belongings. Her eyes may never find it.

+2 AP (shaded headshot) for Skel/Gentle Step
(claiming full ap since I did the art part and she did the writing part, two stand alone pieces.)

My part of a written/art collab with
She did her part way long time ago and I managed this between commissions since then. ;v; It was used as a warm up before I'd start comm work but before I knew it, it was finished!
Wish I could have done more but his animation has 25 frames already! That's the most I've done yet xOx
Hope you like it <3 A proper end to this love story. :')

Bodies Broken

With lovers lost in a star-crossed tangle
Of flesh and bones prayed to be purified
In the Wave Mother’s star-kissed
Waters, watch as the Waves break the
Heavy stares, while blood paints the merciful Sea.

She stood by the water on that crystal clear night, the waves rolling in and casting out agonizingly slow. What had she done? Earlier that evening, Gianna had begged her to run away with him… and Selora had refused. And for what? For the second chance that grew within her womb? She was sure the father was a winged rogue she had a rather drunken encounter with, however brief. If his genes were as strong as the stench of liquor on his tongue, she knew the child that grew within her would not have an easy life… That child had the chance to be sacrificed in front of thousands, all for the sake of ridiculous old-fashioned rituals dating back to the ages fresh after the God’s War. That child not only would not have an easy life, but they would be pressed to prejudiced standards for the rest of their miserable feathered life. She didn't want that kind of world for her child to grow up in. She could not bare to see her child ripped away from her, even for the Wave Mother’s glory.

And that was what brought her here tonight, standing in the froth of the waves in the middle of that dreadful night. Selora had just barely begun to show signs of pregnancy, her belly was slightly enlarged on either side of her. She had only been pregnant a month, yet already she loved that child with all of her being. It was ingrained in her brain that the unborn foal was a girl - her little princess, her little mockingbird. When she pressed her muzzle to her belly, she felt something within attempt to nuzzle her through flesh and bone. The roan mare had already named the child - Julianna Taline, after her adopted little sister back in Sedo. If it would be male, she could only wonder what she would name him. Perhaps Abram, after her adoptive father who had so recently passed? Or Hagan, meaning strength? Yet what did it matter, if what her gut was telling her was true?

These thoughts occupied her mind as she stepped further into the brisk waters - summer had not quite caught up to the sea yet. The froth bubbled around her hooves, making them glisten in iridescent tones - as of her hooves were like that of a unicorn’s. She smiled solemnly down at the way the stars reflected in the bubbles. Gianna would have made some sort of remark about the way her styled curls glistened in the moonlight by now, or would've commented about how pretty she looked when she was sad. He always had a way of making her smile when she was upset - and she had been upset quite a bit in the last few months, with her demotion and branding, to name the least.

She raised her eyes, bringing a deep sigh from her lungs and releasing it slowly, looking out over the waters again before she thought to turn and walk away. She wouldn’t magically find Gianna here, it was trivial to wait for what would never come.

A dark mass suddenly appeared in the calm waves, what looked to be perhaps a dead shark or dolphin. It's body glistened, yet it was too dark to tell what exactly it was. At first, Selora thought nothing of it, turning to step out of the dark waters and begin the short walk home. Yet something pulled her to investigate the mass - perhaps curiosity, or a spiritual inclination? She slowly turned back, stepping back into the water, the waves quickly reaching her belly, yet she was still a good twenty feet from the mass. Her curls were now a limp mess, and she shivered with the chill of the night water, but she pressed on. Squinting her eyes to somehow gain better vision of the mass, she stopped short of the body when she reached ten feet. It wasn't a dead fish floating on those waves, it was a horse. She saw white markings, a dark mane. It's face was covered by a wet mop of hair. Only now did Selora notice the water around it, and now around her, was red with blood. The stench of blood was nothing new to her, yet it still sickened her hormonal senses. A wave bounced the body on the surface, the face being revealed to her.

Selora froze, an icy chill running over her entire body. No. No!! She pushed herself closer to the body in a frantic attempt at reaching it. She was nearly up to her chin in salt water now, she sputtered and her chest heaved with every exertion. When she reached it, tears had already tangled her forelock in her long eyelashes, her makeup from the day running down her cheeks. She sobbed aloud without heed to who may here her, pressing her cheek to the lifeless mass’s cold neck, her heart pounding in her chest. This couldn't be happening. What had she done?

Mustering up enough time in between wretched sobs, Selora managed to pull the body with her back to shore, careful not to somehow damage him. Pulling him upon the sand, unable to get it out of the surf, Selora fell to her knees before the body, draping herself over him and mourning profusely, her loud sobs could easily be heard for miles if it had not been for the trees that were behind her. She kissed its neck and face, pressing her forehead and sobbing out, “What have I done?! Oh gods, what have I done…” Her sobbing only grew more desperate as she pushed her nose against his chest, nudging it hard in hopes she could revive him. Dearest Cascade, bring him back to me! Oh gods, bring him back to me… She prayed in a flurry of rampant words, her lips moving, her voice unable to choke out the words without breaking under the strain. Yet nothing was working. He was gone… Her beloved Gianna had been stolen from her, once again.

She awoke the next morning with her body still pressed to the cold, wet body of her drowned lover. Her coat was stained with blood, her makeup smeared across her cheeks and her eyes bloodshot from crying nearly all night, only able to sleep with the horribly hopeless thought that perhaps Gianna would wake up with her in the morning. How terribly wrong she had been. He was dead, gone. There was no explanation to how he had died, and she couldn't bare the thought of the possibilities in that moment - it was all too painful. She pressed her cracked lips to his breathless ones, lifting herself shakily to walk about, gathering seaweed as she cried aloud, unable to control her continued sobs. When she had gathered enough, with one little extra piece - a small rose that had somehow been growing wild just within the line of Palm trees, she returned to the cold body of her love, placing carefully on his sides and neck the seaweed, and over his closed heart the red rose. She bowed her head, sobbing as she prayed aloud,

“Wave Mother, I beg you hear me now. Bring this soul to your embrace, bless his lives to come, may he return to me in another life.”

She could find no more words to say. She had loved him without any hesitation, yet she had never truly been able to tell him so. Things between them romantically had crumbled once she had told him of her branding, and she regretted in that moment, every moment she had spent gathering unnecessary knowledge that she had no right knowing. She had truly paid for what she had done, if only she knew how much more of a price there was to pay.

Using all of her remaining strength to push his body back into the choppy surf, just far enough that he could float into the open ocean in peace, Selora returned to the shore to watch as he bobbled away on the frothy surface, tears in her eyes yet a small, mournful smile on her lips. He was finally free of the Talorian tyranny. If only she could follow in his hoof steps.

“Until another life, my beloved.”

Description

You could have told me.

The whole truth.

Perhaps fate wouldn't have played out this way.

Perhaps then you could have loved me, Selora.

I was born broken but, Selora, I would have--

An unfinished letter hidden among Gianna's leftover belongings. Her eyes may never find it.

+2 AP (shaded headshot) for Skel/Gentle Step
(claiming full ap since I did the art part and she did the writing part, two stand alone pieces.)

My part of a written/art collab with
She did her part way long time ago and I managed this between commissions since then. ;v; It was used as a warm up before I'd start comm work but before I knew it, it was finished!
Wish I could have done more but his animation has 25 frames already! That's the most I've done yet xOx
Hope you like it <3 A proper end to this love story. :')

Bodies Broken

With lovers lost in a star-crossed tangle
Of flesh and bones prayed to be purified
In the Wave Mother’s star-kissed
Waters, watch as the Waves break the
Heavy stares, while blood paints the merciful Sea.

She stood by the water on that crystal clear night, the waves rolling in and casting out agonizingly slow. What had she done? Earlier that evening, Gianna had begged her to run away with him… and Selora had refused. And for what? For the second chance that grew within her womb? She was sure the father was a winged rogue she had a rather drunken encounter with, however brief. If his genes were as strong as the stench of liquor on his tongue, she knew the child that grew within her would not have an easy life… That child had the chance to be sacrificed in front of thousands, all for the sake of ridiculous old-fashioned rituals dating back to the ages fresh after the God’s War. That child not only would not have an easy life, but they would be pressed to prejudiced standards for the rest of their miserable feathered life. She didn't want that kind of world for her child to grow up in. She could not bare to see her child ripped away from her, even for the Wave Mother’s glory.

And that was what brought her here tonight, standing in the froth of the waves in the middle of that dreadful night. Selora had just barely begun to show signs of pregnancy, her belly was slightly enlarged on either side of her. She had only been pregnant a month, yet already she loved that child with all of her being. It was ingrained in her brain that the unborn foal was a girl - her little princess, her little mockingbird. When she pressed her muzzle to her belly, she felt something within attempt to nuzzle her through flesh and bone. The roan mare had already named the child - Julianna Taline, after her adopted little sister back in Sedo. If it would be male, she could only wonder what she would name him. Perhaps Abram, after her adoptive father who had so recently passed? Or Hagan, meaning strength? Yet what did it matter, if what her gut was telling her was true?

These thoughts occupied her mind as she stepped further into the brisk waters - summer had not quite caught up to the sea yet. The froth bubbled around her hooves, making them glisten in iridescent tones - as of her hooves were like that of a unicorn’s. She smiled solemnly down at the way the stars reflected in the bubbles. Gianna would have made some sort of remark about the way her styled curls glistened in the moonlight by now, or would've commented about how pretty she looked when she was sad. He always had a way of making her smile when she was upset - and she had been upset quite a bit in the last few months, with her demotion and branding, to name the least.

She raised her eyes, bringing a deep sigh from her lungs and releasing it slowly, looking out over the waters again before she thought to turn and walk away. She wouldn’t magically find Gianna here, it was trivial to wait for what would never come.

A dark mass suddenly appeared in the calm waves, what looked to be perhaps a dead shark or dolphin. It's body glistened, yet it was too dark to tell what exactly it was. At first, Selora thought nothing of it, turning to step out of the dark waters and begin the short walk home. Yet something pulled her to investigate the mass - perhaps curiosity, or a spiritual inclination? She slowly turned back, stepping back into the water, the waves quickly reaching her belly, yet she was still a good twenty feet from the mass. Her curls were now a limp mess, and she shivered with the chill of the night water, but she pressed on. Squinting her eyes to somehow gain better vision of the mass, she stopped short of the body when she reached ten feet. It wasn't a dead fish floating on those waves, it was a horse. She saw white markings, a dark mane. It's face was covered by a wet mop of hair. Only now did Selora notice the water around it, and now around her, was red with blood. The stench of blood was nothing new to her, yet it still sickened her hormonal senses. A wave bounced the body on the surface, the face being revealed to her.

Selora froze, an icy chill running over her entire body. No. No!! She pushed herself closer to the body in a frantic attempt at reaching it. She was nearly up to her chin in salt water now, she sputtered and her chest heaved with every exertion. When she reached it, tears had already tangled her forelock in her long eyelashes, her makeup from the day running down her cheeks. She sobbed aloud without heed to who may here her, pressing her cheek to the lifeless mass’s cold neck, her heart pounding in her chest. This couldn't be happening. What had she done?

Mustering up enough time in between wretched sobs, Selora managed to pull the body with her back to shore, careful not to somehow damage him. Pulling him upon the sand, unable to get it out of the surf, Selora fell to her knees before the body, draping herself over him and mourning profusely, her loud sobs could easily be heard for miles if it had not been for the trees that were behind her. She kissed its neck and face, pressing her forehead and sobbing out, “What have I done?! Oh gods, what have I done…” Her sobbing only grew more desperate as she pushed her nose against his chest, nudging it hard in hopes she could revive him. Dearest Cascade, bring him back to me! Oh gods, bring him back to me… She prayed in a flurry of rampant words, her lips moving, her voice unable to choke out the words without breaking under the strain. Yet nothing was working. He was gone… Her beloved Gianna had been stolen from her, once again.

She awoke the next morning with her body still pressed to the cold, wet body of her drowned lover. Her coat was stained with blood, her makeup smeared across her cheeks and her eyes bloodshot from crying nearly all night, only able to sleep with the horribly hopeless thought that perhaps Gianna would wake up with her in the morning. How terribly wrong she had been. He was dead, gone. There was no explanation to how he had died, and she couldn't bare the thought of the possibilities in that moment - it was all too painful. She pressed her cracked lips to his breathless ones, lifting herself shakily to walk about, gathering seaweed as she cried aloud, unable to control her continued sobs. When she had gathered enough, with one little extra piece - a small rose that had somehow been growing wild just within the line of Palm trees, she returned to the cold body of her love, placing carefully on his sides and neck the seaweed, and over his closed heart the red rose. She bowed her head, sobbing as she prayed aloud,

“Wave Mother, I beg you hear me now. Bring this soul to your embrace, bless his lives to come, may he return to me in another life.”

She could find no more words to say. She had loved him without any hesitation, yet she had never truly been able to tell him so. Things between them romantically had crumbled once she had told him of her branding, and she regretted in that moment, every moment she had spent gathering unnecessary knowledge that she had no right knowing. She had truly paid for what she had done, if only she knew how much more of a price there was to pay.

Using all of her remaining strength to push his body back into the choppy surf, just far enough that he could float into the open ocean in peace, Selora returned to the shore to watch as he bobbled away on the frothy surface, tears in her eyes yet a small, mournful smile on her lips. He was finally free of the Talorian tyranny. If only she could follow in his hoof steps.

“Until another life, my beloved.”