Liliana Castle | Sunna (solsken) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2011-10-10 08:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | mani, sunna |
If I Stumble
Who: Mani and Sunna
What: The arrival of the wolves and the development of the sun and moon circling the earth.
Where: The heavens
When: A bajillion years ago.
“Come on brother, you can push your horses faster than that!” Sunna cried into the air as she flicked the reigns of Allsvinn and Arvak, urging them forward through the air with a spark of light trailing behind her. She waved her shield in the air, urging her brother to follow and the temporary movement of her shield caused her bright light to spill forth from her body and scorch parts of the earth below.
“Have I not taught you how to properly give chase?” She laughed as she looked over her shoulder at the disappearing figure of her brother as she rode away. Her glowing curls rippled in the air, her long skirts flowing in the sky that had brightened all because of her glow. Mani chased after his sister’s chariot; he’d claim that his was lagging because he had only one horse, but then again, it was rarely good form to complain and prove oneself a poor sport at the game.
“Ya, Alsvider! Let’s show them what we can really do!” Snapping at the reigns, the large black horse surged forward, eating up the sky between them. Far below sat the earth, and surely the people there were deeply confounded as to why the daytime was flickering when it should be static; the planetary siblings gave no care for the task Odin had set them. No, instead they were far too content with their own games, and Mani urged his horse even faster. It seemed that the boy and the animal shared their enthusiasm, and quickly they had gained on the brilliantly lit young woman who had previously been winning.
“Ha! See, I can catch when properly given to task! Now you follow me!” He shouted jubilantly, snapping his reigns again and turning Alsvider to slant, slowly making his chariot turn clockwise around that of his sister’s, until he was driving just above Sunna. Looking down to where she was, he laughed, snapped the reigns again, and took the lead, finishing his spin to land on the same aerial plane as his sibling.
“Not so fast, Mani!” Sunna cried as she snapped her reigns and quickly darted after her brother, zigzags through the open sky brought her beside her brother. She laughed, smiling at him as she slowed Allsvinn and Arvak to trot beside her brother. “Alsvider, I have never seen you ride so well,” Sunna called to her brothers horse. Giving a shake of her shinning hair, Sunna reached forward and patted the flanks of her horses lovingly. “I wish we could do this continuously. Why should we have to adhere to rules?” As if to prove her point Sunna pushed forward, riding away from Mani with quick speed and leaving him very much in her cosmic dust.
“What rules?” Her brother joked back, and then abruptly turned his horse to go racing back toward the earth. There was so much lovely space in the sky, why did they need to stick to one path going around and around in circles, moving through the atmosphere of this ridiculously small marble of a planet? He snapped his reigns again, pushing Alsvider into a roar before the horse surged forward again. Mani laughed, happy in their games.
“Race you to the ocean!” Tugging on the regins, he pulled his black horse into a spin, just enjoying the feel of freedom.
“Not fair, you have a head start,” Sunna called after her brother. She snapped her reigns and her beloved horses darted forward. The ocean was such a large body, sparkling and dark blue, yet the closest she came to the water the brighter the color became. She always enjoyed that, the ever changing color of things when she would play the distance between herself and the objects. Her brother had the same gift of sorts, everything became a strange glow when he was near while her light was more bright.
She could have caught up to her brother rather easily with her two steeds rather than one. But still she allowed him to lead the way, giving him an opportunity to win. He would be happy and she was still finding the chase enjoyable. They were growing closer to the water, still hanging in the heavens and being mixed with the sound of the horses and the sibling’s laughter. But there wasn’t only that noise within the air, a steady, low growl was releasing to the space around them that caused Sunna to pause.
She slowed her horses and craned her neck to listen. “Mani, what’s that noise?”
Mani was still racing ahead, unheeding of the noise his sister had presumably heard. Snapping his reins once again, he urges Alsvider forward - just as something intercepted the path of his horse. A large, furred body streaked past, pulling the black horse up short and causing him to roar in fright; Mani did his best to keep the chariot from upending, curious as to what they’d seen.
“Sunna?” The word was almost called out timidly; his urge to speed ahead had put a huge distance between them, leaving the orbiting bodies far apart.
Her horses, forever capable of sensing Sunna’s own will, began to nervously shift on their hooves. Sunna whipped her head around and tried to trace the path of the dark shape. She saw the darkened shape approaching quickly and to Sunna’s terror it split in two. One shape dodged towards her brother and the other continued to barrel on towards her.
“Mani! Please Mani, ride on!” Without glancing back at her brother, only hoping he listened to her, she snapped her reigns and urged her horses forward. The animal continued to charge forward with the snapping of fanged jaws and Sunna let out a loud crack of her riding whip. “Go, Allsvinn! Go, Arvak!”
“Alsvider, run!” Rather than a joyous command, Mani’s voice cried out in fear and his horse echoed the sentiment - together they moved forward, streaking away from the object that came hurtling toward them. No longer was this a game, a fun outing where the siblings were free to do as they liked - now they were the prey, and whatever it was that gave chase was much too eager to catch.
“Sunna!” He called out for his sister again, afraid and feeling alone as they streaked in opposite directions. He was going eastward around the small blue planet, this time curving an arc through its atmosphere, instead of racing inward to its pretty blue shores; his sister was headed in the opposing westward direction, her light growing fainter to Mani’s eyes.
Attempting to turn and glance over his shoulder, a pair of wicked looking jaws snapped near his face. Quite clearly Mani could see a dark wolf, not quite as dark as Alsvider, but far more cruel looking than his beloved chariot horse. Pushing himself forward, Mani snapped the reigns again and drove Alsvider harder than he’d ever done before; the earth was turning, and soon he could see Sunna again.
“Sister! They’re wolves!”
Sunna pushed her horses forward but had a moment of pause when Mani passed her by again. She couldn’t quite turn to see what was following her but she could see the creature following Mani. A large dark wolf that seemed thirsty for Mani’s blood. Sunna didn’t mistrust what her brother said, surely that was what followed her as well.
Then she felt the snip of teeth against her flowing skirt and for the briefest of moments her light dimmed. Sunna turned and saw her own wolf, a dark and fierce figure that had its white teeth clinging to the edges of her gown. Ripping the garment back from the jaws of the wolf, Sunna took off again with a snap of her reigns.
“Keep riding, Mani, keep going before they catch us!” She had no other advice, she knew not what to say, only that they could not allow themselves to be captured.
Following his sister’s advice (for what else could he do? They had no weapons to defend themselves!), he snapped Alsvider’s reins again, urging the horse forward. The animal shared in the sibling’s sentiment, having no desire to become the second course once the wolves had had their fill of the sun and the moon.
Behind him, almost like a chant by which the wolves raised their steps, Mani could hear an utterance: found you, going to EAT you, delicious, found you, found you, found you you you you.... It wasn’t even spoken words, mere thoughts, thoughts transmitted through the air and by the carving of claws in the atmosphere, the snapping of great daggered fangs in the air as with each passing moment they drew a little closer - and then the siblings would leap ahead, gaining ground and escaping for another few precious moments.
The distance between Mani and Sunna grew and there was a ripping sorrow forming in Sunna’s chest. She knew with certainty that all their play had come to a screeching halt. She had lost her brother in this moment when the wolves appeared. Ignoring the chanting of the wolves, Sunna focused on driving her steeds onward. With a sorrowful look she reached a hand towards her brother as she passed him by once more, the closest she would be able to come to him from now on. She had no playful jibs or comforting words, only the advice she had given him earlier.
“Keep riding, Mani,” she called. “Never let him catch you.”