the Wild Hunt

[jack_inthegreen]

[ooc: millitimed to October 31st]

The Forbidden Forest smells wild tonight, silvery blue in the darkness, cool and wet.

From . . . somewhere, gather hunters and hounds, and horns trumpet.

It is time to run. The Wild Hunt is on.

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[theravenboy]

Bran paces outside. He has twined the loop of his brass hunting horn in his fingers, and he holds his head in a proud, tense way, as if he is wearing a strange heavy, invisible mask.

He lifts the horn to his lips and blows the avaunt.

[jack_inthegreen]

Herne closes his eyes and inhales the wintery air. "No prey," he murmurs. "For the pleasure of the hunt, is all." He looks at Bran. "Are y' ready, lad?"

[theravenboy]

"Yes." Bran tilts his head to catch the cold wild scent of the wind. "Shall we go, then?"

[jack_inthegreen]

Herne raises his voice in a great cry, and the hounds echo him.

And then they are off, into the trees, swifter than the moonlight.

[theravenboy]

Bran is a strong boy, healthy and athletic. Ordinarily, he can run fairly fast.

The speed at which he runs now would not be possible for anything human. Laughing, Bran keeps easy pace with Herne and with the silvery, red-eared hounds.

[jack_inthegreen]

"We are here," Herne says, not even panting as he runs, "to bring the year to a close. There is no beginning without an end. No spring without winter."

[theravenboy]

"The year must die, to live again," Bran agrees. "This is the Day of the Dead, and of the living, too."

The shadowy trees seem to fly past and behind the two Hunters and all of the hounds.

[gramarye1971]

The Wild Hunt will ride tonight, but it will not ride unobserved. The Oldest of the Old Ones, servant of the Light, will be keeping a watchful eye on the Wild Magic's proceedings.

Not to intrude, though -- the Light knows its place. All things considered, it may even be better this way. Bran Davies will have the opportunity to explore this deeper aspect of himself, in full awareness and under the Hunter's guidance. And in a hunt with no prey, no quarry that must be brought to ground, there is time to learn that there can be pleasure in the chase...not merely blood-lust.

But even so, the Light will follow this Hunt.

A merlion generally has some experience in these matters, after all.

[jack_inthegreen]

"The cycle," says Herne, nodding with approval. "Rebirth, renewal, and life above all."

His feet are swift and sure, and he laughs with the sheer joy of speed. The Green is so sedate nowadays, with home and family.

[theravenboy]

"Life. Yes. Woo!" Bran lifts his head in a shout of wordless laughing joy.

The Wild Magic most often comes to Bran in his anger. He is not used to the warm, benign, joyful power that runs through his limbs now. It is not safe, of course, this power, but what is safe? At least it is nothing to fear.

[jack_inthegreen]

The Green Man would point out that very little that is divine is also safe. Great power rarely is.

Herne, however, just runs, laughing and howling with the hounds.

They are being joined in their run as well--wild spirits from many worlds, drawn to the tiny star that holds Milliways for this night and the chance to run again.

[theravenboy]

Bran lifts a hand to greet the approaching beings: fairies, riders, gods, a horsed knight all in green. "Good evening to you, this Samain!" he calls.

[jack_inthegreen]

They roar in greeting back. The very air is wild and alive.

Herne's eyes are afire with joy. "Do we hunt the evildoer tonight? Or see where our footsteps take us?"

[theravenboy]

Bran lifts and tilts his head, scenting the air. "There is no evil here." The only smell of the Dark comes distantly from the Bar itself, and Bran still holds enough self-control that he will not Hunt there.

[grene-gome.livejournal.com]

agrees the Green Knight, riding beside them on his green horse.

[jack_inthegreen]

Herne whoops and takes off again through the trees, his feet sure in the darkness.

He is strong here.

[theravenboy]

They are all strong here. The Wild Hunt runs, cries, barks, sings, laughs, gallops through a haze of magic tonight. The demon bunnies know to stay away.

[jack_inthegreen]

Hunting the demon bunnies will have to wait for another time.

Woe.

Meantime their feet are swift and their cries fill the night air, and the Forbidden Forest has never seemed so large or thick or welcoming.

[theravenboy]

There is no telling how far the Hunters run, tonight, laughing and barking and howling all the way. At last, though, the faintest sheen of light begins to appear against the horizon.

Bran raises his head, staring.

[jack_inthegreen]

"Sunrise," Herne murmurs. "The hunt is at an end for another year.

"How do you feel, my son?"

[theravenboy]

Bran bends his head. With both hands, he pulls off the invisible mask. He raises his arms in a quick gesture of release. Bran stands straighter, now, as if he is carrying less weight, and his hair waves loosely and lightly around his head. His pale face is rapt and astonished in the dawn light.

"Life," Bran whispers. "Full of life."

[jack_inthegreen]

"Aye," Herne says softly. "We are creation, Bran. We are the dawn of the world.

"And I wish nothing more than to celebrate with my love." He lets out a long breath--and there is Jack again, mild and merry and far more civilized.

He smiles at Bran. "It begins again."

[theravenboy]

The silver hounds are fading into the trees, now, and the riders and wild spirits are disappearing in all directions.

The bar is faintly visible in the distance. Bran turns in that direction and begins to walk. He is not tired, not now, but he cannot run as he did wearing the Hunter's mask.

"Yes."

Bran takes in a long breath and lets it out again slowly.

"Thank you. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you."

[jack_inthegreen]

"Tá fáilte romhat," Jack answers, smiling. "You're most welcome.

"Ahhh . . ." He stretches out his arms as he walks. "I haven't run like that for I-don't-know-how-long."

He turns back for a moment and looks at the forest, the retreating hunters who had joined them, and sighs quietly. "Too long," he murmurs and shakes his head at himself.