[right][sub][color=lightgray][color=darkgray]TIMESTAMP:[/color]  After [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5419391]Poppy's Long Walk, Part 3 Lighthorsemen[/url]
[color=fe6f5e]Penelope James[/color] & [color=b5392e]Forrest Proudstar[/color]
Final Part [/color][/sub]
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[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/brutalbx][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/211015/b5878257bfbd9cdd76a67a003c983966.png[/img][/url]  [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/211015/52f6860b6ef04523593be20b787cf5af.png[/img]  [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/lovelycomplex][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/211015/450efa6a0ce5a6f0235bac836bcc1708.png[/img][/url][/center][b][color=#FE6F5E]_[/color][color=#FC6E5D]_[/color][color=#FB6D5C]_[/color][color=#FA6C5B]_[/color][color=#F96B5B]_[/color][color=#F86B5A]_[/color][color=#F76A59]_[/color][color=#F66959]_[/color][color=#F56858]_[/color][color=#F46757]_[/color][color=#F36756]_[/color][color=#F26656]_[/color][color=#F16555]_[/color][color=#F06454]_[/color][color=#EE6354]_[/color][color=#ED6353]_[/color][color=#EC6252]_[/color][color=#EB6152]_[/color][color=#EA6051]_[/color][color=#E95F50]_[/color][color=#E85F4F]_[/color][color=#E75E4F]_[/color][color=#E65D4E]_[/color][color=#E55C4D]_[/color][color=#E45B4D]_[/color][color=#E35B4C]_[/color][color=#E25A4B]_[/color][color=#E1594A]_[/color][color=#DF584A]_[/color][color=#DE5749]_[/color][color=#DD5748]_[/color][color=#DC5648]_[/color][color=#DB5547]_[/color][color=#DA5446]_[/color][color=#D95346]_[/color][color=#D85345]_[/color][color=#D75244]_[/color][color=#D65143]_[/color][color=#D55043]_[/color][color=#D45042]_[/color][color=#D34F41]_[/color][color=#D14E41]_[/color][color=#D04D40]_[/color][color=#CF4C3F]_[/color][color=#CE4C3E]_[/color][color=#CD4B3E]_[/color][color=#CC4A3D]_[/color][color=#CB493C]_[/color][color=#CA483C]_[/color][color=#C9483B]_[/color][color=#C8473A]_[/color][color=#C7463A]_[/color][color=#C64539]_[/color][color=#C54438]_[/color][color=#C44437]_[/color][color=#C24337]_[/color][color=#C14236]_[/color][color=#C04135]_[/color][color=#BF4035]_[/color][color=#BE4034]_[/color][color=#BD3F33]_[/color][color=#BC3E32]_[/color][color=#BB3D32]_[/color][color=#BA3C31]_[/color][color=#B93C30]_[/color][color=#B83B30]_[/color][color=#B73A2F]_[/color][color=#B6392E]_[/color][/b]

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[color=b3b3b3][indent][indent]In one sensory palette, there were the trees that moved with the gentle breeze, a birdsong, and warmth coming from the beaming sun. Sunshine slipped through the leaves making them glow a bright green. Her steps were quiet, her breathing was light, and her mind was thinking about many things, and nothing at all. 

Her mind was thinking of Mitena, Charlie, Mordechai, Jade, and Natalia but it was also not thinking of the dread that was this morning. She thought of the moments. She thought of where she was presently and she thought of the space in between. She didn’t think of her fears and she didn't think of where she went wrong. She simply thought of how she was happy to be alive. Her mind, in this space of nothing, seeing all the faces that meant so much to her. All the faces that told her there was so much more in store for her. So much more life to live. Her story wasn’t over yet, there was still more to be written. 

As she walked beside her new friend into town, Penelope let her lungs expand. Breathing in and out. In and out. Just like her mantra when she has an anxiety attack but this time, this was solely for her to embrace the beauty of her surroundings. Momentarily, she could say without an ounce of doubt in her mind that she was at peace. That Blue Hill was exactly what she needed. Unresolved issues aside, Blue Hill was amazing. She wished she knew it existed sooner.

Her pale, porcelain skin shimmered and her eyes, those soulful, intense green eyes, looked tenderly at the trees, and the bees, and the dirt on their path. Her gaze had so much love for such a small girl. That kind of love wasn’t meant to be contained. Her inner energy flowed around her, weaving her soul with the land each step she took. As quiet as they were, she could feel Forrest staring. She didn’t mind the quiet. The quiet was nice when it was shared with a companion. It was as if she knew him all her life even if they had only met yesterday. Did he feel the same? She took a moment to turn to him, catching him lost in thought. Her eyes shone in a way that only those that yearned for happiness could bring and her cheeks were kissed pink when they locked eyes. She really hoped they could be friends. She liked him. There was something there… but no words could explain what she felt so she’d just hope for the best, that he would want her in his life just as much as she wanted him in hers. 

When they entered town, the two kindred spirits came across a wishing well and an older woman sitting on the edge of it, telling a few children a tale of Wenebojo and the Wolves; an Ojibwe oral tradition. The woman’s name was Elizabeth Deere and she was the mother of Winona and Tennessee Deere-Echohawk. Tennessee happened to be sitting on the ground with a kid on his lap, as he looked up at his mother doing what she did best. Tell stories. While she was part Ojibwe, their father, the late Bright Star Echohawk, was full Pawnee. That was part of the beauty of Blue Hill. It was a home for many Native American tribes, all united and strong. Together, like a pack of wolves. 

Approaching the small group, but staying at a distance, Poppy listened to the woman sew her words, like she was creating a quilt, assembling and embellishing the story into something memorable. Her culture, as were other tribes, were all about living off the land and coexisting in harmony with nature. The Ojibwe respected the animals of the land, especially those that lived for their family, like the wolf. According to this myth, it was Wenebojo’s quest to avenge his wolf brother that led to the creation of the modern world. She noticed Kerry again, from earlier, but this time he was with the woman that tended the longhouse last night. He likely fetched her before coming to get the older woman surrounded by kids. Coming to get her for their walk on a trail.

[color=fe6f5e]“I loved someone who told stories,”[/color] she spoke to the boy beside her, breaking the silence between them. [color=fe6f5e]“Tena’s brother. Your cousin. I loved him with all my heart but what he became, I had no control over it.”[/color] She found the tears building in her eyes again, all the while she watched the kids run off and the cowboy help the storyteller up from sitting on the edge of the well. 

[color=fe6f5e]“I,”[/color] she hesitated for a moment, trying to keep the courage and strength she’s built up because of her long walk. [color=fe6f5e]“I didn’t expect this morning to go the way it did. Mitena said things I would’ve wished he said to me instead. I couldn’t…”[/color] she looked away from the well and toward the ground. [color=fe6f5e]“I couldn’t handle it. I thought I could. Why else would I come if I didn’t want to know her truth? I wanted to know but knowing really hurts.”[/color] Wiping the trail of tears that went down her cheeks, she turned to face Resi. [color=fe6f5e]“Sorry, I just thought you deserved to know, especially after what I put you through yesterday.”[/color]

Forrest looked back at the small girl, tightening his grip on the straps of his bag. She was so lost and so broken but the girl that stood before him now was a different one to who he had met the night before. [color=b5392e]“Put me through? Baby girl, the only thing I went through last night was near destitution because I gave away so much free shit.”[/color] He laughed as his gaze turned to Kerry walking away with the Deere-Echohawks. [color=b5392e]“You were a bonafide pleasure to talk to.”[/color] He thought back to their conversation and how sad she seemed. Her meeting with Tena may not have gone as she wanted but it had started the ball rolling, Poppy’s transformation had begun. [color=b5392e]“We need to take a shortcut to get to my van. Terrain can be a bit treacherous.”[/color] He offered out his hand for her to hold. [color=b5392e]“You like stories? I can tell you a real tearjerker.”[/color]

Rather subconsciously and without a second thought, Penelope grabbed onto his hand, letting him lead the way and give her support on their upcoming, rocky journey. She appreciated his kind words dressed in humor. He was cute with how he talked and expressed himself. [color=fe6f5e]“I do love stories. I’m a firm believer that the universe is made of stories, not atoms. Like you and me, we’re a story.”[/color] She smiled up at him before squeezing his hand, signaling he could share his tale with her, if he wanted to. [color=fe6f5e]“Make me cry. It’s not like I haven’t been crying already,”[/color] Poppy humored, intrigued if he really did have a tearjerker in store for her.    

[color=b5392e]“As you wish.”[/color] Forrest curtsied with her hand in his before leading her into the nearby wood with a firm, reassuring grip. [color=b5392e]“Our tale begins with three beautiful sisters, Cheryl, Dakota and Leah Silverheel, legend has it that their family were descendants of the original Blue Hill Chief. Cheryl was a strong woman. Powerful. The youngest sister. Dakota was the smartest and Leah was the princess and the oldest. Watch your step.”[/color] He said as he guided Poppy over a small creek. Resi placed his free hand on her tiny waist as he guided her over the water and onto a steady rock perch. [color=b5392e]“Dakota went off to college, got herself a white man’s education and returned home to run the clinic. Then she met a boy, a man with darkness in his veins. Their passion was brief as death claimed the man as his own shortly thereafter.”[/color]

Still with a hold on Penelope’s hand, Forrest led her out of the short woods and onto a sloped dirt road. [color=b5392e]“Dakota was left with a child, a baby girl. Born under a bad sign. It wasn’t long after the birth of her baby that Kota got sick. She fought for ten years but eventually the sickness claimed her and death stole another soul, leaving her baby alone. You know her as Mitena. Her father James Strongbow, your Charlie’s father too.”[/color] Resi had no connection to the man who held such meaning to everyone. They may share some blood but beyond that, he was a stranger. [color=b5392e]“Cheryl was the next one claimed by the infinite. The same sickness that took her younger sister, it stole her away as well. She had a daughter too, Jadyn. When she was twenty one, Jay who had never known her own father, lost her mother and gained custody of Tena. Can you imagine? Twenty one and looking after a child?”[/color]

Resi stopped for a minute as a car passed them by. [color=b5392e]“Leah was the most beautiful of the sisters but always had the worst luck. She got hooked on hard stuff very quickly and fell in with a bad crowd, especially one guy. The tribe called him Craven, do you know what that means?”[/color]

[color=fe6f5e]“Coward?”[/color] Poppy searched Resi’s face as they stood in place; the car passing them by. She didn’t know this part of Charlie’s history. She wondered how much he knew. If she was on the right track with his story, with Dakota being Mitena’s mother, Cheryl being Jaydn’s mother, that would mean Leah was… Forrest’s mother. She understood the struggle of watching someone you loved gain a dependency on drugs just like Decky did, and in time, Charlie. She also understood what it meant to love a man with darkness in his veins. She loved Charlie and Charlie took the lives of many innocent people, some adults, most teens. Quite a few faces she knew and held dear, like Danny Boaz. What did Craven do? She watched Resi with curiosity. 

[color=b5392e]“That’s the proper definition, yeah but here it means something else as well. Come on.”[/color] He helped her across the dirt road and up a small winding path through a more sparse set of trees. [color=b5392e]“When someone is labeled Craven in Blue Hill, they are excommunicated. Their birth name, never said, their family? Persona non grata. They can live here but they might as well be ghosts. Leah fell in love with Craven or at least his connection to heroin. They lived in a little shack in the woods with their two kids until one bad night. Craven thought that the little people, not what you think, were trying to harm him and that they lived inside of Leah. So he took a hammer and beat her to death in front of their kids. The little girl ran into town, covered in blood whilst the little boy held his dad down. The lighthorsemen arrived and they carried Craven away. The kids wound up on the Silverheel farm but despite being children, they were still the kids of Craven and certain members of the tribe refused to even acknowledge that they exist, some still do and with that, the Silverheel sisters are no more.”[/color]

He was right. This was a tearjerker. Like Charlie’s dad committing suicide and being rumored to burn a church down with orphans and people in it, Craven too was a man stuck in the dark. One moment set things in stone, put fate on its course, to the inevitable day where Charlie would let the darkness overtake him and shoot up a school. Penelope knew that was only the start but he still had time to save himself. He still had so much potential and light to offer. But then Allison died and he got blamed for it. From that point on, she knew, deep down, her Charlie would never be the same. No matter how badly he pretended to be okay. He wasn’t and he would never. 

Forrest understood that isolation. That pain. That fear of succumbing to everything that people saw you becoming. He understood how Charlie felt. Resi was judged and seen as a walking curse because he was the child of a man who murdered his mother. Poppy could feel the pain in her chest condense into a deluge of rain. She stopped in her tracks and held her chest with her free hand. Her grip tightened on his hand. 

What could she say? 

What could she do? 

She didn’t want to repeat things. She didn’t want her foundation with her new friend to be codependency. That was her and that was Charlie. So fiercely codependent on each other. She wanted something different. She wanted to be something positive in Resi’s life. As she cried and tried to gather her thoughts, she didn’t say anything. There were no words left to say because that was his truth and he shared it with her.

Instead Poppy turned him to her and pulled him into a tight and loving embrace. She wanted their souls to meet and for him to see that she saw him. She [i]saw[/i] him and he was so strong, and so brave. Her hug told him everything that she was, and everything she wished to be. To feel every ounce of a person. To feel their breath and their warmth. To know that they, he and her, were alive. They were here. Together. And this, this  feeling was real. They were real. That’s what mattered. Not their past that chases them and haunts them like ghosts and not the unanswered questions of their future. In this world, a hug was gold, food, and pure rain. A hug made the space around you slow down and showed that you were cherished. A hug connected two people and made you feel— yes, this is what home is.

Forrest was somewhat taken aback by Poppy’s sudden outburst of emotion. He held her close, realizing quickly that in her mind, she was hugging him because of the sad story of his life but the reality of it was that she was hugging him because she needed it. She needed to feel something. Resi let her stay in his embrace for a few moments more, her tiny frame enveloped by his lankiness. When he finally let her go, he took a step back, wrapping his fingers around his bag straps again. [color=b5392e]“That was…that…thanks.”[/color] Forrest had a really bright smile beneath his wild mane of hair. [color=b5392e]“The point of that story, Poppy? Truth always hurts. It always does but it also heals. More so when it’s massively uncomfortable to hear.”[/color]

Forcing the pair to move to the top of the winding path, Resi stopped at the apex with Poppy by his side. Before them sat a small shack-like house with Resi’s food truck parked outside. [color=b5392e]“This is where my family lived. Illara stays in town now or occasionally up at the Silverheel ranch just up that path.”[/color] He pointed to a nearby trek. [color=b5392e]“Tena lives there with our aunt Jadyn. I stay here so that I can be reminded every day of the truth. To remind myself of who I was, where I came from and what I’m trying to avoid.”[/color]

He made his way over to his truck and pulled open the door. Resi took off his bag and began to empty its contents into the truck for him to prepare some delicious treats. [color=b5392e]“I never met Charlie. To me, he was just a name on the screen. Mitena, she knew him or at least the part of him he would let her know. She never knew her Dad but she knew what he did. She lost her Mom and she lost her brother. She lost her aunties and she lost her home. But she never lost her truth. That’s a truth she wants to share with you. That’s a mighty gift to want to give to someone. She knows it will hurt you, the same way, I imagine, your truth will hurt her. Charlie is what bonds you but you’re not hearing his truth. What’s between you and Tena isn’t his, it’s yours.”[/color]

Penelope didn’t know how to respond to that. All she could do was keep silent, wipe her tears, and listen. Forrest was incredibly wise. So delicate with her. Kind, persistent, and thoughtful. He was a survivor. Everyone on the Reservation, she was realizing, knew their identity. She was only starting to find her’s; the person she was before she became Charlie’s Poppy. Poppy was taking baby steps. That’s all she had the strength to do at the moment. Still, baby steps were positive steps where she was moving, moving forward. All she wanted to be, needed to be, was Poppy. Just Poppy. She hoped she would get there. She hoped she would be able to keep going, to keep fighting. She hoped she would love herself just as much as she loved Charlie. She hoped.

Poppy, like the flower, with her own fragrance, her own thorns, and her own shade of petals, was beautiful and uniquely her own. She had her own truth and all she wanted to do, truly and deeply do, was sprout love to those who needed it, just like Maxine would’ve done, and grow a garden in her mind. If her smile could be the sun in someone’s life, she would mark that down as her truth. Her pain was meant to build her up and although she was a small part of the world, she could still do big things. Her truth was found in who she was, not the girl that gave too many pieces of what made her beautiful to a boy she loved. She was more than the girl that loved Charlie. She was a girl and her truth was whatever she wanted it to be. 

[color=fe6f5e]“Thank you,”[/color] Poppy whispered and strolled to the door of the truck. Raising her voice a little but only speaking loud enough for him to hear her, she continued, [color=fe6f5e]“I really needed to hear that.”[/color] Peering in, she watched him unpack his groceries. Her eyes twinkled in appreciation and her face brightened. Poppy was in the moment and not trapped inside her dark place. She was here with him and she was radiating hope, peace, and joy. [color=fe6f5e]“I like you, Resi,”[/color] she forwardly admitted. [color=fe6f5e]“I hope we can become good friends and that this isn’t just one-sided. You’ve helped me so much in such a short time. I want to return the favor. I want to be there for you.”[/color]

[color=b5392e]“I like you too, Poppy.”[/color] Resi could feel his burnt caramel cheeks flushing with heat and not because of the swiftly warming summer sun. It was because he was crushing hard for this strange spirit girl. Her ghostly white features had left a mark on his mind the moment he first saw them illuminating the dark outside the longhouse. [color=b5392e]“You have my number.”[/color] He said as he now began to place his unpackaged ingredients into their rightful homes in his truck. [color=b5392e]“I come through Eden at least once or twice a week. If you ever wanna hang out or just want some decent grub for you and your friends, hit me up.”[/color] Forrest rested his phone on the counter top before washing some of his fresh fruit under a tap. [color=b5392e]“Speaking of, you want me to speak to Tena? Arrange another talk? I think you might be ready but only you can say for sure.”[/color]

He wanted to spend time with her. There was a flash of heat inside her that she didn’t quite understand but she buried it quickly and nodded in agreement. Her cheeks betrayed her, unable to hide the blossoming sensation inside her. She eagerly replied, [color=fe6f5e]“I’d like that! To both.”[/color] She put her hands behind her, intertwining her fingers together and looked away. [color=fe6f5e]“Seeing you again and talking to Tena, I mean. I’d like that.”[/color] There was a genuine sweetness to the vulnerability she was displaying that not many people got to see. Honestly, only one person saw this Poppy. And that was Charlie. [color=fe6f5e]“I think I’m ready!”[/color] She turned back to meet Resi’s gaze, hoping she wasn’t making a fool of herself.

[color=b5392e]“I’ll message her now.”[/color] Resi dried off his hands, not taking his eyes off of the spectral beauty that stood by him and offered her a quiet smile. She really was something special. Picking up his phone, he quickly typed out a message to his younger cousin asking if she was willing to go through everything again with Penelope. [color=b5392e]“You got this Poppy. I believe in you.”[/color] His words were sincere. He could see the change in her stunning green eyes from the night before and could tell she was ready for more. [color=b5392e]“Now, while we wait, you want something to eat? I can whip you something up real fast.”[/color]

[color=fe6f5e]“Oh, I was just going to eat what you already made when I got back to Adora’s,”[/color] Penelope replied, admittedly feeling bad she didn’t eat anything he labored over. [color=fe6f5e]“You really don’t have to. I feel really bad because I kind of…”[/color] Her blush turned a different shade, showing that she wasn’t too proud about this. Ashamed of her own personal struggle. [color=fe6f5e]“My therapist tells me I need to change my relationship with food. Only recently I’ve started recovering from…”[/color] She cleared her throat, looking toward the ground. [color=fe6f5e]“… I have a hard time eating.”[/color] Not just that. She had a hard time looking at herself in mirrors. There was a lot of self loathing she was still recovering from that only escalated after Charlie died. [color=fe6f5e]“I can nibble here and there.”[/color] She glanced up, strands of her hair having fallen in front of her pretty face. Her voice shook a little because of how sensitive this topic was to her. [color=fe6f5e]“But I still can’t eat a full meal.”[/color]

[color=b5392e]“Hm. Well.”[/color] Forrest raised his finger to pause the moment. He pulled his shutter down from his truck so that Poppy could only hear him banging around in his tiny kitchen. After a few brief moments, he emerged from the door with a big grin and his hands behind his back. He took one hand and used it to brush the hair away from her face and then with the other, presented a small plate with half a bagel on it with cream cheese and some chives. [color=b5392e]“Here you go. Half a meal. Everyone has to start somewhere and it takes as long as it takes.”[/color]

When he presented her a bagel, of all things, Poppy stared at it, the feeling of melancholy washing over her. Charlie liked salmon with his bagel and it looked like Resi preferred chives. This might’ve been silly of her to think but part of her felt Charlie’s presence near her. Part of her could hear him tell her that it was okay to feel joy, experience love, and live fully again. She didn’t want to hear the words: let go. She knew she would always love Charlie. But maybe moving on  didn’t mean to let go or to forget. Maybe all it meant was to accept what happened, happened, and live. 

Up until recently, all she could think about was the bagel with cream cheese and salmon. All she could think about was Charlie, her Charlie, and what he loved, what he was, what he could’ve been, and their time shared together. Today she saw a bagel with cream cheese and chives. A small shift but still the same. Maybe the right word wasn’t to move on or let go. That felt like an unscalable wall between what you knew and what was your new reality. Maybe a better way of looking at this was like Resi carrying his sack all the way to the place he had so many memories at — good and bad. His home, which reminded him of his pain and also told him every single day he was alive. There was so much more in store for him. He had so much life to live, so much love to give. Maybe grief was all about carrying on your love, your life, forward. She will be whole again, in time. Not the same, but she would certainly be whole again. Just like how you can change a bagel. She was used to salmon, now it was time to get used to chives.

Grabbing the small plate from him, she took a bigger bite than usual. She chewed silently while watching him with her appreciative green eyes. After she swallowed, she licked her lips to clean any cream cheese that might’ve gotten on it. Her eyes, her lips, and her soul, all at once smiled at Forrest. 

[color=fe6f5e]“Thank you.”[/color]

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