everybody sails alone (but we can travel side by side)
It had snowed. Snowed so hard and so long that Edmund couldn't ignore it. It had snowed before when he'd been on the island. It had snowed every year in Narnia and nearly every year in England. It wasn't the snow itself that made Edmund uncomfortable. Yes, the glint of light on ice could make him flinch, sometimes, and there always seemed to be a chill in his bones around these times that had little to do with the temperature. But this time, it wasn't natural. He couldn't just accept that this was the way the world worked, that every environment had its own set of seasons. Snow came in winter, when ice had claimed the ground and the plants had gone to sleep. Snow did not come in spring and summer, when everything green burst with life. And yet it had here.
The snow had been more or less pushed from the paths, those most frequented beaten to a damp, dirty mess by the feet of the inhabitants. But it still hung to the boughs of trees, piled up on the ground like white bushes and weighted down those plants too weak to stand against it. Edmund had found one flower -- some bright red thing he couldn't recognize -- just frozen from the cold. The sun beat down on it now, melted the ice, but a slick and shining film still covered the weakened petals. He left it as it was.
He couldn't have explained the tangle of emotions in his chest, not even to himself if he had tried. He just knew that every crushed and withering plant on the sidelines broke his heart a little.
"You don't mind though, do you?" he asked the direwolf as he bounded to the boy's side, his thick coat laced with traces of ice. Even though he didn't want to, Edmund had to wonder again if Honour was really meant for him. A wolf, a massive wolf at that, that lived for the winter. Maybe that was the truth of it, and Honour fit Edmund better than Shadow fit to Susan. Susan had gained her wolf through love, through marriage to Jon she became part of the Stark family. Maybe Edmund had just been meant for Honour for his once cold heart.
Lost in his thoughts again, Ed nearly fell over when the wolf nudged him in the gut. "What are you on about?" he asked, giving the wolf a bit of a glare. Edmund knew full well he was being stupidly melancholy and the feelings would melt away with the snow. He was being indulgent, but he didn't need a direwolf to mother him. Honour thought differently, however, and dove at Edmund's legs this time. Dancing out of the way, nearly slipping on a bit of ice, Edmund felt a grin start to grow on his face.
"You think you can take me, do you?"
Honour barked, a deep and full thing in the quiet of the icy jungle.
"We'll just see about that," Edmund decided, stripping off his jacket and gloves. Wagging his tail, Honour tensed and crouched closer to the ground, ready for the attack he could smell coming.
And come it did. Before long, both direwolf and boy were a mess of dirt and snow, rolling madly within the clearing as they tried to best each other.
[[Find them relatively anywhere and any time. ST and LT all welcome. Will be slow myself, honestly.]]
The snow had been more or less pushed from the paths, those most frequented beaten to a damp, dirty mess by the feet of the inhabitants. But it still hung to the boughs of trees, piled up on the ground like white bushes and weighted down those plants too weak to stand against it. Edmund had found one flower -- some bright red thing he couldn't recognize -- just frozen from the cold. The sun beat down on it now, melted the ice, but a slick and shining film still covered the weakened petals. He left it as it was.
He couldn't have explained the tangle of emotions in his chest, not even to himself if he had tried. He just knew that every crushed and withering plant on the sidelines broke his heart a little.
"You don't mind though, do you?" he asked the direwolf as he bounded to the boy's side, his thick coat laced with traces of ice. Even though he didn't want to, Edmund had to wonder again if Honour was really meant for him. A wolf, a massive wolf at that, that lived for the winter. Maybe that was the truth of it, and Honour fit Edmund better than Shadow fit to Susan. Susan had gained her wolf through love, through marriage to Jon she became part of the Stark family. Maybe Edmund had just been meant for Honour for his once cold heart.
Lost in his thoughts again, Ed nearly fell over when the wolf nudged him in the gut. "What are you on about?" he asked, giving the wolf a bit of a glare. Edmund knew full well he was being stupidly melancholy and the feelings would melt away with the snow. He was being indulgent, but he didn't need a direwolf to mother him. Honour thought differently, however, and dove at Edmund's legs this time. Dancing out of the way, nearly slipping on a bit of ice, Edmund felt a grin start to grow on his face.
"You think you can take me, do you?"
Honour barked, a deep and full thing in the quiet of the icy jungle.
"We'll just see about that," Edmund decided, stripping off his jacket and gloves. Wagging his tail, Honour tensed and crouched closer to the ground, ready for the attack he could smell coming.
And come it did. Before long, both direwolf and boy were a mess of dirt and snow, rolling madly within the clearing as they tried to best each other.
[[Find them relatively anywhere and any time. ST and LT all welcome. Will be slow myself, honestly.]]