the phoenix [icarus&bailey]

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The ground beneath her hooves was smooth and artificial. Even ice had it's imperfections; despite the crystalline sheen of it's surface, there were bound to be small discrepancies on the frigid surface. This was different; it absorbed what little warmth Stormstime had to offer and recreated it on it's surface. She didn't trust the stuff; the petite mare made a large dispaly of carefully raising and placing down each individual hoof, wary of the polished stone.

Back on Earth, Hayyel had always preferred to remain inconspicuous. Drawing attention to oneself wasn't a selective process; there would be good attention, and there would be bad attention. No attention was always better than bad attention; the absolute last thing she wanted was for somebody to disrupt her routine-based life. Make sure her brother got fed. Make sure he was in good health. Make sure he wasn't too cold when he was sleeping. Make sure he stayed alive -- Hayyel's train of thought broke off abruptly as she shook herself back into the present. Being inconspicuous in Aeon was an impossibility. Passing through the Rift had left her with a rather gaudy colour scheme, strangely similar to that of a blue bird. With a serpentine twist of her neck, she gingerly plucked at one of the loose, azure feathers that coated her wings, as if this would somehow transform her back into her old self. She had no such luck.

Feeling comfortable enough with the new surface to risk a slightly faster pace, Hayyel sprung into a trot. The loud noise of her hooves clattering against the stone made her cringe; she was so incredibly used to being quiet and furtive that any sound above a certain level made her anxious. She passed under an archway laced with white roses, and stepped into a fairytale. Flowers of a million different colours were dotted artistically around the gardens; lemon yellows, creams, pastel blues, bright scarlets, blushing pinks... You could think of any colour in the spectrum and be met by a matching flower. Tree boughs were laden almost to breaking point with some of the most delicious looking fruits, even in the depth of Stormstime. Intricately shaped bushes completed the look, and many were adorned with blossoming petals in more reserved shades of off-white and peach.

Hayyel looked around with wild eyes, slightly overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. Involuntarily, she let out a soft whinny - it wasn't often that she was taken aback by something like this. Usually, the only thing that could sweep her off her feet was a particularly strong gale, but the gardens of Babylon had changed that. Hayyel tutted at her sentimentality - how on Earth could she possibly feel moved by flowers? - and continued down the slope and a gentle amble. As she passed through another archway, the petals of the roses that were intertwined with the mesh-like structure became dislodged from their position and floated down with a rocking horse motion. One by one, they began to collect in Hayyel's mane, in between her feathers and across her back; little flecks of pink against the mish mash of blues and whites that made up her coat. With a sigh, the mare twisted her neck and began to pick off what she could reach of the diminutive petals.


ooc: achievement unlocked: waffled on about flowers for a whole freaking post

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