The unicorns words

A soft rain touched the ground without making any noise. It probably didn’t want to betray to the world that it was trying to escape the dark clouds. There was no wind but still the leaves of the trees were falling down under the weight of the water. The world was utterly dark and was beginning to go colder now that no sunlight had touched it for more than three days. The forested mountainside was lonely as if it had lost its companion in the eyeless hour of the night.

Twinkle Star tried to make no sound whatsoever while she hiked through the mud that was the road that would lead her to the next village. Or so they said. She knew she had made the wrong decision the moment she had set one foot in this forest, but she had been way too stubborn to admit she was wrong and go back. And now she had advanced so far she felt it was useless to go back.

Not that her journey had been very productive so far. She had visited two villages on the trade route now but nobody had seen a girl that even resembled Câlin. She knew the next village would bring her even closer to the Tokowa lands. She had traveled this far south already… Of course she was not traveling on the trade route right now. It would lead her more into the west and it would take her only more time to reach the next village. Still she could see why this particular road was never used by traders. It being in the mountains made it hard to walk on, especially if you had to carry goods. But the ponies in the previous village had assured her that this was the fastest road.

“Maybe I should have taken the trade route after all…” She whispered to the darkness.
Her natural desire to avoid crowded places had of course played a part in her decision to take this road, but maybe she would have found a clue on the trade route. The ponies on the road… they might have seen her. If Câlin had indeed gone this way… Maybe she had gone to the Tokowa Lands. She had wanted to go there, after all. She walked on through the mud while the rain was dripping from the trees on her back and in her hair. If Aline saw her now… she would scold her for not taking a good care of herself.

Ever since she had found out Aline was pregnant she could not help but feel their friendship was getting better again, and even if only for that she regretted that she had had to leave. But once she had Câlin back, they could talk about the children together, and she and Câlin could help Aline… She was sure Aline’s baby would be the prettiest child in the entire country. Well, considering who its parents were…

Not for the first time since she had heard Aline’s news did Twinkle Stars thoughts wander back to Kiyoi. Would the child look like him, in a way? Or… would Kiyoi come and visit when he heard he had a niece or nephew? She didn’t even know if she wanted to see him. So much had changed since she had left him, and it seemed like ages ago. And change… it always hurts in a way. Would she love him still? She didn’t want to find out. It was best if he remained a memory which comforted her, something she could always rely on to be there, something that comforted her if she felt lonely once again.

The breaking of a branch made Twinkle Star almost jump up. Was someone there? She scanned the area between the trees that surrounded her, but she did not see anyone. Everything was silent… but it was dark also. She wouldn’t be surprised if someone was staring at her right now but she could not see him or her simply because it was too dark. She sighed with relief when a bunny crossed her path a moment later. So that had been it…

Those darn clouds in the sky. Every single pony she had met along the road had been annoyed by them.

“Oh, Câlin… Why can’t I find you?” She whispered to the darkness, hoping it would carry her words to the girl.
Now that the weather had turned as strange as it had, she felt only more uncomfortable with Câlin being somewhere out there, alone. Of course, somewhere deep inside she knew searching like this would probably do nothing. How would she be able to find a girl who was so small in a world that was so large?

She had lost count of the times when she saw a pony she thought was Câlin, but ended up disappointed. There were so many little pink ponies on the trade route and in the villages, Twinkle Star had almost begun to wonder why she had never noticed this before. They all looked alike, and yet none of them really looked like Câlin. But she had to keep on looking. She could not just sit around and do nothing, even though the chance of her ever finding Câlin was getting slimmer by the day. Back at home… no, she could not have stayed there, simply sitting around, waiting for Câlin to show up. But the ponies there at least had been able to distract her when she felt depressed or sad. She had to do that all alone now, and she wasn’t doing a very good job.

Lost in her thoughts, Twinkle Star had not paid any attention to the road. The ground was getting muddier with each step she took and without even realizing what happened Twinkle Star slipped and fell off the road. But what she had not seen in the darkness was that the slope next to her had gotten steeper along the way, and with the wet leaves on the ground it had become extremely slippery. So she slid down the slope, with nothing to hold on to and nothing to do but wait until she would hit the ground. She was moving so fast she didn’t even have time to think about what was happening, all she cared about was to avoid hitting trees and other hard material.

When she hit the ground after what seemed like forever, Twinkle Star lay down in the mud, paralyzed. Her heart was pounding heavily and she noticed she was shivering all over, even though she didn’t even feel it. She was breathing heavily, focusing on her body while trying to remain calm. It had just been an accident, she told herself over and over. How far had she fallen down? It had to be quite far, even though she couldn’t even picture how long. When she opened her eyes she did not see the road above her. Her bag was covered in mud and she feared the inside would be like that, too, so all her food and her items were ruined.

When she tried to get back upon her legs her entire body hurt, but she did not think she had broken anything. At least she could move everything without it being too painful. She had a few scratches here and there and she was sure some bruises and bumps would follow soon, but she had no serious injuries. “Well, that’s at least something…” She whispered to no one but the darkness around her. The slope leading back to the road was steep, way too steep and too slippery to climb. She tried several times but never did she get any higher than one or two meters before falling back again.

She tried to see what surrounded her but through the darkness and the trees there wasn’t that much to see. “I should get back on the road…” She muttered while she made her wings appear. As she had expected, they had gotten dirty, too. She never knew how it happened but even though they disappeared, they were still there, in a way, so if she got in touch with something so did they. She had to flap them quite a few times to get most of the mud of so she could actually get up in the air.

Twinkle Star bumped her head against several branches before she was finally above the trees. She had hoped the darkness would not be so penetrating over there, without the shadows of the trees, but it was not so. Above the trees in the sky it was just as dark as below them. She couldn’t even see the road, that was definitely swirling somewhere, but she had no idea where to go. “This is just hopeless…” sighed Twinkle Star. The rain was still falling softly and was slowly drenching her wings. She wasn’t going to be able to stay in the air much longer. She let her gaze flow from the dark mountain to the world beyond. She could see some little points of light in the distance, no doubt of inns and little houses along the trade route, and a lost farm here and there. Little points of hope lost in so much despair… but she felt like no matter how far she travelled, she would never reach them.

Her eye was drawn to a little point of light that did not seem to be too far away from where she was flying. It was so much smaller than all the others, but it was also a lot closer… was someone down there? The orange glow had to be from a torch or something, or maybe a campfire, though both seemed completely impossible in this weather. Twinkle Star went back to the ground, once again hitting the branches several times, and once she had landed (and slipped again) she walked in the direction of the light, even though she didn’t see it anymore now that she was on the ground.

She had to be careful as the ground was still going down and the leaves on the ground were only getting wetter. She looked horrible, she knew that much. She could not help but grin when she thought of what Aline would say. If there were indeed ponies… well, they would probably understand. She walked on for several minutes and at some point she was sure she should see at least something. She was still going in the right direction, she was sure. But there was no light coming.

When she was about to give up, a little spark on her left side caught her attention. When she turned around to look it was gone, but she was absolutely sure it had been there. “Hello?” She whispered. She knew whispering was no use now, but she didn’t want to disturb the sleep of the forest. “Anyone there?” She slowly walked to the point where she had seen the light, but it was hard as she had to climb up the hill that was slippery in these parts as well.

“Hello?” She whispered once again, only this time a response came in the form of another flash of light. Strengthened by this sign of life Twinkle Star began to climb faster up the hill. When she reached the spot where she was sure she had seen the light, though, there was no one there. There wasn’t even a sign that anyone had been there, recently.
“Is anyone here?” whispered Twinkle Star even softer now.

“Twinkle Star…” The wind whispered in her ear.
“Hello?” Twinkle Star was shocked that someone knew her name.
 But through the darkness and the rain she couldn’t see who said it.
“Who are you?”
“You know me, Twinkle Star… You have strayed too far from what I have requested of you.” The voice answered.
It was as if she wasn’t there, as if the voice was created by the invisible wind.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Replied Twinkle Star. Had she hit her head harder than she had thought at first? Was she just imagining things? But the voice returned.
 “You do know, Twinkle Star. What you are looking for you will not find here. Go where the clouds come from. You will find her there. Remember what I told you, Twinkle Star…”

Twinkle Star still didn’t understand. Obviously the voice was talking about Câlin, but who knew that she was looking for her…
“ Chifre!” She yelled.
 Of course, that had to be it. Chifre was the only one who had ever requested anything of her.
“Are you there, Chifre?” Twinkle Star shouted, but there was no response, only silence in the night.
When there was no reply, even when Twinkle Star had called her name several times, Twinkle Star began to wonder if Chifre had ever been there. She was a unicorn, after all…

Go where the clouds come from… Would she find Câlin there? Twinkle Star made her wings reappear and she made her way to the top of the trees. When she looked up and inspected the clouds, she could see they were moving southwards. Her gaze returned to the north. What could possibly be there that would produce these clouds? The only thing that she knew there was Kin, but that seemed to be too far away. And there was only one country that was closer…

An eerie feeling forced itself upon Twinkle Star. These clouds… they were not normal clouds. She should have realized sooner, but they were not made by the forces of nature. She had been too caught up in her search for Câlin… It had dulled all her senses. These clouds were made by someone. And whoever it was, he or she had been headed towards her home… and she had ran away from it. Realizing she had made a grave mistake, Twinkle Star flapped her wings and headed to the new Friendship Lands.