//------------------------------// // The Nature Of Love // Story: Time and death intertwined // by SilverHoof1 //------------------------------// I felt multiple things, and wasn’t sure which I felt more. I felt… confused, happy, like exploding, all of the normal feelings. It was like someone had told me I was actually a dog and that I had been having a lucid dream this entire time. Before responding I even pinched myself to make sure, but it still hurt just as much as it would normally, and I let out a breath I had been holding out. “What?” was the only word I could say, staring at him in disbelief. His yellow eyes seemed to shimmer and in them I could see the entire world spinning faster then it even normally could before seeming to stop and zoom into a single spot. The entire process only took about two seconds, and I blinked surprised. “Future sight has its perks, plus your supposed to meet him now anyway so grab on you two,” he responded with one of his mysterious smiles, and slowly I grabbed his shoulder. Then I was simply… gone. A feeling of mild disorientation took hold of my body, and for a second I couldn’t tell which direction was up and which was down. Then as if the world was violently being snapped back together. My stomach didn’t feel quite right, and as Inum watched me worriedly I headed over to a bush to squat for a second and make everything stop spinning. I felt like heaving out the dinner I had only recently had. Then everything went away as I saw a red thread attached to my chest and I froze. The thread seemed to be lightly tugging in all directions at once, as if my power was seeking out who too attach too, and I realized that it probably couldn’t connect until I met the person I was meant to be with. A sneaking suspicion told me that was probably because of the fact I myself was a personification, and the pony I was about to meet was also one. Then I saw Morrow crouched next to a tree and he waved me over, and after a second of hesitation I walked over, feelings of sickness gone. My mind tried to rapidly guess what he, or she, would look like. It seemed to flash through every single body type I had seen all at once, but none seemed to fit. As I came within ten yards of Morrow the thread attached to my chest suddenly went taught and stretched to a spot next to the tree morrow was crouched next to, and I saw him. At least, I thought it was a him. He wore no shirt, and his chest and arms rippled with subtle muscle, and he even had a six pack. The strange thing was the seeming softness to his body, which looked almost feminine even on the manly frame. He wore a pair of pants, baggy and a bit torn and as I got closer I saw his body was covered in a slight layer of fur, which was the reason for the “soft” look he had to him. His face was angled, with a subtle jawbone and larger eyes. His tail was like that off a lions, covered in fluff with an even fluffier end. His tail twitched as I got closer, and as I did I got a better look at his colors. He was mostly purple on the sides with orange stripes like the opposite of a tigers along the purple, and a line of white fur covered his chest and went down. His hair was white and long, framing his face with orange tinted edges. Then slowly he opened one eye and looked at me. His eyes were a scarlet color a bit brighter than the color of blood, and he tilted his head curiously. “Well this isn’t how I’m usually woken up, hello there,” he said calmly, tilting his head at me then Morrow. His eyes got especially wide as I was suddenly on his chest smiling wide and running my fingers along the fur of his chest. “Ahhh! He is like a giant kitty!” i squeaked, and nuzzled my head into my chest closing my eyes and hearing the heartbeat. I felt him shift under me, seeming confused but not trying to pull away. Then my eyes widened as I felt a hand grab me by the scruff of my neck before being picked up and lifted off the ground. Inum was holding me and giving me a disapproving look while my feet dangled a few inches off the ground. The markings on her hands had seemed to grow, and she gently bapped me on the nose with one finger. “If you don’t get a hold of yourself I’ll spritz you with water like a cat,” she warned, waving the finger back and forth. “But your not my mother!” I whined softly, trying to squirm out of her grip. I heard Morrow snicker softly behind the two of us, and Inum gently elbowed him in the ribs. “Well then don’t act like a child and I won’t have to be your mother, “ she huffed, then slowly put me on the ground again but kept her hold on my neck. I pouted a bit, but the expression melted off when he looked at me with a small smile. “So, may I know who all of you are?” A few minutes later we sat in a circle around him. Well, most of a circle since I was trying to slowly scoot closer without Inum noticing, but still mostly a circle. He frowned a bit, and looked at his hand as a small squirrel darted down from the tree and rested on the hand. He smiled, and brought the hand to his chest before gently petting the squirrel’s head with a finger. “Personification huh? I had honestly thought everyone could do this,” he mused, and lowered the squirrel to the ground to let it scamper off. I wish he would hold me too his chest… “Nope, most people can’t do what we can either,” morrow responded with a kind smile, before he pointed to me and said simply “She has a crush on you already, I can tell,” This gained Morrow a look of daggers of the most hot flame he could imagine shooting from my eyeballs at him, but he didn’t seem to notice smirking just a bit. Byron, which was what he had said his name was, blinked in surprise and turned to me. “You want to… crush me?” he asked confused, and I blinked right back at him. I had never encountered someone so unused to figurative speech I myself was left speechless, and Inum stepped in shaking her head. “It means she likes you, Byron,” she explained patiently, looking between me and him. He made a soft “ahh” sound, then looked at me tilting his head. “So you want to mate with me?” My jaw simply decided not to stay closed anymore, and I was left gapping at him as Morrow began to laugh, loud heartfelt belly laughs. Inum even heard a small smirk behind her hand as she waved her hand at me and him as if saying “explain”. “U-uh well ye - I mean no, no,” I stammered, blushing profusely. I poked his hand gently, and he opened it looking confused. I took it with my own, and tried to explain, my power letting my feelings be felt by him so he could understand without me having to speak as much. He seemed surprised, then looked into the air as if observing the north pole lights before looking back to me. “So.. its more a wanting to love me then mate?” he said slowly, as if testing new words he wasn’t used to. I nodded, and slowly tilted my head back looking to the sky. The nature of love was a very, very complicated thing. It was feelings all mixed into one strong cord that wanted to connect and fuse with another, but it could happen in many ways. Love couldn’t simply be described as an emotion or mix of chemicals causing a certain reaction. It couldn’t really be described as just wanting to experience the pleasures of the body either. Love could be many things, which is why it was complicated. It was different for everyone and everyone's emotions put into that cord change and shift based on who it connects to, what the person has gone through and the personality of the person. That's what the thread between soulmates represented, the perfect combination to make a seamless rope. But when one really thinks about it, they can’t think of love as a general thing. Instead it had to be asked to themselves, a very simple question. “What is love to me?” I looked back to him, and slowly squeezed his hand and got a bit closer. I nodded, and gave him a small smile. After a moment he returned it, and I slowly stood up, him standing up with me. We didn’t love each other, not yet. To love someone you had to know what love was to them, and what it was too you. Once you do that, then nothing can ever, ever separate you. Inum looked between the two of us, then nodded to Morrow who grabbed her hand. She grabbed mine, and I gripped Byron’s tighter. Then just before we transported and Inum wasn’t looking I quickly petted the top of Byron’s head, leaving his face surprised as we went back to the house. We ended back up at the house, and Morrow frowned looking down the hallway that I guessed linked to the two bedrooms. “Hmm.. i’m not sure where you two can stay, since that’s Inum’s room down the - “ “Just give them the room, “ Inum said simply, cutting him off before he could finish. He looked at her and she smiled, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “I would just go to your bed anyway, and we haven’t even gotten to properly go to bed together,” she teased, and he sighed as if he minded. The hand slowly wrapping around her waist said otherwise, but I didn’t mention it too busy petting Byron’s head. The big cat seemed interested by the feeling, his tail flicking back and forth questioningly while he looked to me with a raised an eyebrow. I simply shrugged and smiled, and he rolled his eyes smiling a bit back before turning to watch Morrow and Inum share a gentle kiss. His eyes widened a bit, and his tail flicked again, his expression awed. He had said when we first met he usually lived in the forest and didn’t see many people, but I hadn’t realised that meant he had never seen a couple kiss before. I slowly began to play with his fingers distracted by the fur there too, and his fingers started to wiggle on instinct as if he were scratching under the chin of an animal. I smiled and didn’t quite hear everything Morrow said, so I just said “Yup!” and nodded while still watching his hand. Morrow seemed amused by this, then shrugged. “Alright, enjoy sleeping together then,” he called over his shoulder and holding Inum to him the two of them walked into their room leaving me to gawk at their backs. Byron smirked at me playfully, emotion starting to show through his stoic shell and he winked. I blushed, considered my options and looked at the couch. It was a bit older and beat up, and didn’t look particularly comfortable. The kitchen table didn’t look any more comfy either, and I didn’t like sleeping sitting up. As my eyes turned up no possible places to sleep, I looked to the bedroom down the hall to the bedroom and sighed. Recalling a word I had once heard, I took a deep breath and when let it out, spoke the word in the middle of the exhale. “scheisse,”