Solis has a minion!

Torne the Puck

premade profile by Chen
story by Foxe

How long would you wait for the one you love?

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Part 1

It had been so long. All she knew was that she was trapped, trapped in some hellish world, surrounded by nightmarish creatures of every variety. She didn't belong. They ignored her, for the most part, for which she was grateful. There were a few others like her, others who had long since given up, who spent their days staring at the walls and sobbing. She didn't know exactly why she was there. Someone had said something about contracts, and how she was trapped there until something was fulfilled, but they had also said that she would never escape because they would have forgotten about her. Once the contract was up, only the ones who remembered why they were there came to get the ones they swore themselves into servitude for, and being in this place made them forgot everything.

She knew who had done it for her. Sol had long since figured out she was dead, but she didn't know what had happened to make her that way. She had to assume something had happened, but she could only wait for him to tell her why or how. It was him, she knew that. They said it was a terrible contract, one that warped who you were until you were nothing more than a corrupted husk of your former self. They had also said that only the most love-filled, bravest pets did it, because it required one thousand years of servitude just to bring your loved one back to life. Despite the cries of those around her, she remained hopeful. Her Torne would never forget her. Would he? It had been around one hundred years, and she felt crushed that such an eternity was still only a fraction of the time she would have to wait. It wouldn't be hard to forget her, with all that time left to wait.

Time passed, so much time that she had lost count of the years. She grew confused and tired, exhausted from the daily visits from the nightmare pets who gloated at them and stared hungrily at the lost souls waiting for their freedom. She still smiled, but her happiness was fragile, and her smile often faltered when she thought of Torne becoming one of the empty creatures that she saw every day. Sol tried every day to make the others around her hopeful, but all of them had been trapped for so long that even they were forgetting why they were there or who was coming to help them.

Sol didn't need to sleep or eat, but she often took long naps just so she could dream of the world above her and of Torne. Dreaming was her only escape, and so she slept as often as she could, wishing sometimes she could just slip away into her dreams for the rest of time. It was during one of these naps that one of the other spirits nudged her, frantically whispering about how she had a visitor.

Sol blearily rose to her feet, yawning. Who would be visiting her? Her mind swam with distant images, but she was having a hard time remembering who she had been waiting for. Still she rose, and trotted gently to the pathway where a nightmare creature stood, shrouded in shadow. Her heart leapt, and a memory, hazy but powerful, swam to the front of her mind. A twilight Neela, stepping out of the shadows, his mane waving wildly in the wind as if it had a mind of its own. Although there was no wind, this Neela's mane, composed of shadows, blew gently as if being tousled by the breeze.

Sol froze, her eyes narrowing. This Neela was nightmare, not twilight. Her Torne was not nightmare. Was this some cruel trick? Was this one more way to torture her in this hellish land? Even so, she took another step forward, no longer afraid of the denizens of this dismal place. Her eyes locked with his, and she gasped, before running forward and nuzzling the nightmarish beast. "Torne!" She exclaimed, tears dripping down her face. His eyes still sparkled with life and love, unlike the other nightmare pets. He hadn't forgotten her. "Sol." He whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "Sol." He repeated, nuzzling her and breathing in her sweet scent. Sol rested her head on his shoulder, breathing out happily. "I've missed you so much." She whispered, and he pulled her even closer, his eyes squeezed shut. "I've missed you too."

Sol inhaled deeply, longing to smell his familiar scent once again, but instead the pollen that dusted his shoulders from the darkside dreamers filled her nostrils, and she took a step back, sneezing wildly. After a few moments, she straightened up again, and smiled at him, overjoyed to be with him again. He looked shocked. "You... didn't suffer any ill effects." He nuzzled her, and then beamed. "It must have something to do with the underworld! You being here... maybe it's changed you, a little bit." When she looked horrified, he shook his head quickly, and said, "No, what I mean is, maybe they won't cause you nightmares anymore. I've changed being down here, I know. But I'm still the same Neela, I'm still your Torne. And you're still my Sol."

Sol took a step forward once again and rubbed her cheek against his. "I want to go home, Torne." She whispered. "I'm so sick of this place." Torne looked conflicted for a moment, and then nodded. "I have something I need to do first." Sol shot him a questioning look, but she followed, happier than she had ever been in her life despite the fact that they were still trapped in this hell. The years seemed to have melted away when she saw him, and now she felt as young and as happy as ever, as if it was just yesterday that they had been curled in a clearing together, fast asleep.

He led her to the patch of darkside dreamers, and she at first jumped back, before remembering what he had said. She took a few hesitant steps forward, walking past Torne, amidst the beautifully glowing flowers. When she turned back around, Torne had plucked the largest and was carrying it in his mouth, cradling it gently so as not to crush the stem. "Come on." He mumbled around the flower, before leading her away, towards a gathering of nightmare pets. For a moment she froze, icy fear filling her, but then she thought of Torne, and how he was one of them as well, and she followed from a distance.

Torne dropped the flower in the middle of the ground, and Sol watched as he said something too quiet for her to hear to all of them. One by one, they stepped forward and sniffed the flower, the pollen coating their muzzles and noses, before they gasped and ran off in the direction Torne had led her from. She felt her heart soar as understanding filled her. "Was that how you remembered me?" She asked quietly, and he nodded. "I was hoping it would do the same for them. I couldn't just leave the rest of those spirits here to wait forever." He smiled softly at her, and then nuzzled her. "Are you ready for this? I'm not sure what will happen when we come back to life. We might be forever changed." Sol nuzzled him, and then smiled. "I'm ready."

The squeals of playing Neela foals filled the grove as the newly born babies ran through the clearing. Two of them, although they were just born, were exceptionally close, stopping every few moments to frolick by themselves, away from the rest of the herd. "I've never seen a foal like that one before." One of the elders rasped, eyeing the male suspiciously. A nightmare foal was rare, but not completely unheard of, although they had only ever been born to nightmare parents. "Perhaps it's an omen!" A younger Neela kicked him gently, snorting. "I've never seen a happier foal. If it's any kind of omen, it's one of prosperity." She smiled as she watched the two of them, a nightmare and a cream, whispering to each other as if they had a great secret to keep. The two foals had been found wandering in the woods, coated in earth as if they had been born straight from the ground. The female had a faint glow to her, as if she wasn't fully there. The male was an extremely rare colouration, one usually seen as evil, and yet he was the happiest Neela she had ever seen when he was with her. They looked completely different, so she doubted they were siblings, and yet they shared a bond she hadn't seen even in the oldest of friends. She smiled and turned away. Some mysteries not even she could explain, despite being the leader of the herd.

Sol sighed happily and curled up with Torne, breathing in his sweet scent. "Do you find it strange that you were reborn into the same clan you were exiled from?" She asked, resting her head on his side. He shook his head, smiling. "It seems to fit. I feel like this lifetime, I have the chance to live my life over again. With you at my side, I wouldn't have it any other way." Sol sighed happily, and snuggled closer to him, her eyes sinking shut of their own accord. "I agree, Torne." She murmured, smiling as she remembered all the adventures they had had together in a past life. "I can't wait to live my life with you."

Sol - meaning sun in latin.
Lactis - meaning cream in latin.