The Academy: my version of the story

but my dreams, they aren’t as empty, as my conscious seems to be

It was not the first time she had stepped foot in the academy and it would probably not be the last. Her storm-gaze looked at the land that made up the academy. She had never really thought about it before. She had never really had the chance to look. Her business here had always distracted her from the scene. It was really a beautiful place, unusual even. She moved, quietly, but surely. The sun bounced off her white lightning-scar pattern. She moved towards the ruins, not understanding them and yet she felt like there was something more to them. Something she could never say she understood before. At least not until now.

Her muzzle brushed the rough crumbly surface of the stone. It had decayed, but there were some parts still smooth and cool. She could only imagine what it would have looked like before its fall. She formed a picture in her mind, trying to see it. Something came to her, but she wasn't entirely sure it was coming from her mind alone. The elements power was strong here after all.

***

It seemed the age of an era. Something had broken, shattered, been destroyed. Something dark and black. It was ether. It was the old element - long before Legend was around. She didn't know the horses' faces as she looked around, but they seemed important. Strong even. Their elements buzzed within her own. The field was empty and the air seemed dead. They were still there though. Weren't they? She watched her memory as if it played out before her. A memory that was not even hers. Their voices were blurry and indistinguishable, but she heard them speak of the stone. Her own memory interrupted a moment. Is that where the shards came from? They spoke of its destruction and its devastation to the element.

More words she could not understand, but they moved now. There were so few of them left. Forming around each other looking at the dead blank space of the field. She quickly looked down as her hooves felt tremors. The earth shook. She could feel heat from fire and an electric buzz from lightning. The air was much stronger here. She saw the horses earth and water, focusing their energy. Creating something together. In her memory she took a few steps forward, trying to see. She saw rough stones form from their concentration. The air came in now to move them where it wished. As each was laid down she felt the heat of the fire dry them and strengthen them. But where was lightning? She felt it in her water before she noticed it in the gathering. It coursed through the blocks, turning them smooth and white. It wasn't after long that a temple was built. From their elements. The last remaining from an element long forgotten. It was a shining beacon in the once dead field. She knew what it was even before they spoke in hazy tones. A monument for those lost by the stone. Lost to corruption. A temple to stand and show that the stone would not take any more.

The memory tingled and the horses slowly began to vanish. The landscape moved up and down, it was the clouds that gave it away though. They rushed across her vision. All types of vines began to spin and raise against the temple's pillars. Rain formed pools around it. The elements were reclaiming it. It seemed to crumble to the forces of the wind. At the same time she saw ghost battles blurred into the temple grounds. The stone had not disappeared like the creators had hoped. It raged on still and fire and lightning burned and broke what nature had failed to reclaim. But it still moved forward. The white of its gleaming walls faded and grew darker until only bits were left original.

It slowed down and began to look more familiar to Oceantree. She had seen this place before. She recognized it. It was nearer to the present than the other memories. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. It startled her, but she had a strange feeling that the horses she saw in these visions could not see her. It was quiet as they approached. A genderless figure watching the stone as if it already knew what it was. What had happened here. Why it was created. The power of the elements was so strong here in the heart of the academy. Even though hundreds of years seemed to pass the original founders still held power here. It was their elements trapped inside those stones. The horse touched the decaying stone much like she had done. Learning what it was. Embracing its past as their own. She knew they were the first ones to see it in Legend. The first one to see the memories as she had. They were not a warrior or a thief. She just knew. They were something else. Someone concerned deeply with the teachings of the element. They had made this place the academy because it was a constant heart in the history of the element.

It seemed a fitting place really. With the history and power locked away in those sun-bleached walls. A place to teach others of the history and the elements and the destructive powers of what was now the shards.

***

The horse faded from her sight and the ruins remained at the tip of her muzzle. She stepped back not fully understanding what she just felt. Knowing it was important. Knowing that is what made this place. The place where she advanced and grew with her elements. She sighed softly into the stony surface. A soft voice, eerie and unfamiliar, spoke from somewhere in the bushes that surrounded the ruins. "You have seen it now. I can tell." It was in her ears and her mind. She searched for the source, but couldn't find one.

A rustle and then all she saw was red. A large figure, covered in red and black fur. A wolfish grin creased their lips. But it was not as if she were looking in a mirror. It was not a wolf like her or her sister. It was of a different kind. She pulled her head back slightly, unsure of this new creature. It's voice, smooth as honey, came again. "Do not fear me. I am here for you." She relaxed slightly remembering the other Seers. Remembering the various animals that stood by their side. "Are you mine?" It was the only thing she could mutter out of stammering lips and the maned wolf chuckled. "In a since yes, but you do not own me." The scar-painted mare blushed beneath her dark cheeks. That wasn't exactly how she meant it, but she could formulate anything better to say. "My name is Cain. And yes, in a way, I am yours." Oceantree moved forward, still slightly unsure. She dipped her muzzle to his long red fur. It tickled her nostrils, but she took in a deep breath. Remembering him for all time. She felt the warmth of his tongue against the side of her neck as she did this. A smile was lost in his fur, but it was there. She did not introduce herself, because he already knew.

He was hers after all. Just as she was his.

(eee! that was a really fun one!!! hopefully i did it right XD lol)

O C E A N T R E E
earth and sea; I I I
Apprentice|Illusionist|Fury