Arwen Evangeline Kavanagh (floodsmyveins) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2014-02-26 22:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | #solo, 2009-10-04, arwen |
this isn't how it goes in the stories
Who: Arwen and... her familiar?!
When: Early afternoon
Where: Arwen's home
It was Arwen's first weekend off in a while, and by Saturday morning she was more or less out of things to do. She'd called every clinic within driving distance, and every place seemed to have their fill of volunteers for the night of the full moon. When her phone rang and the voice on the other end asked if she was willing to come into the hospital on her night off, Arwen could have hugged them. Night shifts were crazy. Full moon night shifts? Were bedlam. Fantastic. Not a sarcastic fantastic, either. A real one.
Despite the rather gloomy weather, Arwen took her lunch on the covered porch overlooking the river. After eating she had leaned back in her patio chair, and had only meant to close her eyes for a minute. Sleep overcame her then, and she was only roused some time later by a strange huffing sound. Opening her eyes, Arwen had trouble making peace with what she was seeing. A dark horse was standing in the riverbed, staring up at her.
Arwen shifted groggily in her chair, attempting to determine whether or not she was dreaming. She blinked a couple times. No, it was really there. For a moment she sat straight and rigid, her mind jumping to the full moon, but no! It was too early for that. She relaxed back into her chair with a yawn, and tried to figure out who she was supposed to call about a stray horse. Animal control? They'd think she was nuts. Arwen sighed. "You were supposed to come with a prince," she accused, staring down at the horse that was practically in her yard. "And white." The horse kept staring at her. "I'm willing to settle," Arwen offered, still feeling a little silly and groggy from her accidental nap. "A knight? Quality of armor is negotiable, shining or otherwise." Still the horse did not move but to blink. "A cop? A fireman?" Nothing. "Well I don't date doctors or politicians-" she began.
"You don't date anyone," objected the horse, via a voice in her head. Arwen almost fell out of her chair. She sat up straight again, moving far too quickly and accidentally knocking her glass of water over. The empty glass rolled off the table and onto the deck, shattering loudly. Arwen barely noticed it.
"I-- what?!" she sputtered, looking around.
"You don't," said the voice. Arwen was absolutely certain the voice was coming from the horse, the same way she always seemed to know Dis and Hatee's voices belonged. "But I'll see what I can do about that cop or the fireman. I don't think you'll find a knight in these parts."
Arwen realized that her cheeks were turning red. "No one was supposed to hear that-" she began to object, and then she felt a wave of amusement as the horse flicked its tail.
"I would have heard it even if you had thought it," said the horse. "I'm yours, Arwen. I'm sorry to make you wait but I had a long way to go."
Mine? Arwen understood its - no, her - her intention immediately. She would have been lying if she hadn't worried about her lack of familiar. She watched her mother and her sister receive their familiars, then practically every other witch or elemental she knew, and all the while she had been wondering when hers would come. It never had. A small part of her had always felt like it was because she was broken, somehow. She'd already had her other half in Alice and lost her, so perhaps she didn't deserve a familiar. Arwen hadn't meant to say this, let alone think it, but the moment she did the voice was in her head again.
"You deserve me, Arwen."
Clumsily, as her foot had fallen asleep, Arwen climbed out of her chair and headed to the edge of the deck. "But..." she began, carefully walking down the steps and heading to the river. To the horse. Dear Lord, she was huge. Where was she going to keep a horse? "I don't know anything about horses," she finally admitted, all the while reaching out a hand to touch for confirmation that she was real.
"That's alright," said the voice. "Lucky for us both, I know all there is to know. What I cannot get myself, I can tell you."
"I... I might have to lease space at the stable," Arwen thought out loud. "I'm not sure my neighbors... ah..."
"That's alright. You can cross that bridge when you come to it." The horse pressed her nose into Arwen's hand. Arwen bit her lip through a smile. She was definitely real.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Fantine."
Arwen squeezed her eyes shut, suddenly fighting back a sob. No, she thought, pleadingly. Please not that name, it's too much, I can't-
"You can," the voice insisted. "You will. I can't help who I am, and you can't run from the past forever. I am who I am." Arwen was overwhelmed with the mental image of Moses and the burning bush. She felt another wave of amusement from the horse - from Fantine. "Don't worry. I'm not here to take you into any responsibility so big as that."
Arwen sighed and opened her eyes. "Can't I just call you Fanny?" she asked.
The horse turned her head to look Arwen in the eye. "Have you ever been bitten by a horse?"
"No..." Arwen admitted.
"Well then, now's a terrible time to start." Arwen sighed. Point taken. They were off to a wonderful start already.