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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    [open]  Of Legends & Myths
    #1
    Demi
    Time

    It is a fickle thing, time.  Ever changing, ever progressing.  It slows for no one thing or place.  This world knows this and yet we try.  We try halting it.  Grasping to what was, or what could have been.  Holding it to our chest like a dear child, never wanting to let it go.

    Demi has frittered it away ever since her birth.  She has accomplished nothing.  Known no one.  She has not loved or hated.  Laughed or cried.  She simply existed here not even in her Equus form.  She has hidden herself away for decades as an avian of the sky.  Away from their knowledge and worldly dramatics.  It wasn’t fear that kept her disguised this way.  Perhaps boredom mostly. 

    It is only now she realizes that she has wasted the time she has been given in this world.  Her body aches with the arthritis in her joints.  Her feathers were not as bright as they had been in her youth.  They are tattered and torn; dulled with the waning of time. Even here as she rests in a giant hickory, burnt by the fires of the last summer, her energy drains.  The tree's charcoal bark chaffs off on her feathers as she sits, the breeze wisping her tail to brush against it.  She notices though that even in this brittle state there is life still.  New leaves are beginning to break free from their tiny capsules, even more vigorously than before.  Her sharp vision shifts to the ground below to see growth on the forest floor, rising beneath the ash the flames turned old vegetation too.  She considers the signs of rebirth and ponders the cause. 

    Could fire create new what has been lost to time?

    Sifting through her mind she finds a fire within.  It is bright and glowing.  Powerful and inviting.  She welcomes it.  Allowing it to fill her heart.  Her soul.  With wings outstretched and skyward, feather gives way to the flame.  She elevates into the sky with not even another movement.  Fire consumes her, making her glow as bright as the sun she has joined in the sky so many times before.  Tendrils of flame swirl around her creating a mini vortex.

    In mere moments of time her body is transformed.  Changed from what it had become to what it once was.  The fire dissipates as the burning sphere transports her back to the ground.  The glow subsides and all that remains is that of a chestnut mare.  Blanketed with the spots of her birth parents and her mismatched colored eyes.  She looks around the land taking in the sights through younger eyes.  Her nostrils flare, drawing in the scent of charred earth and fresh spring growth.  The world around her was beautiful even in its current state and she smiles at the thought of it being reborn from the fires.

    -

    My pause is long, but I do not linger in my thoughts.  It is a new day, a new time, and I am excited to see what the future holds.  I begin my journey with one forward step and I find the feel of the earth beneath my hooves welcoming.  It was much different than the wind beneath my wings.  It was solid, like a hug from someone you hadn’t seen in years.  It embraced me as I trod across it, picking a northern direction.  I would head to the meadow to maybe do something I hadn’t done in ages, socialize.  The thought was a bit daunting and so as I moved across the forested lands I practiced speaking, “H…Hell..o.”  My voice cracks and I cough out the moths that had settled in my throat before trying again.  “H..Hello.  Hell..o.  Hello,” I choke out.  Talking was a lot more work than I remembered.  “Uh hum.  Hello.  My name is Demi,” I smile as I decide I like the sound of my name and my tone wasn’t too horrid.  A tiny spring came to my step at my accomplishment, head rising and eyelids closing in arrogance.  I am quickly reminded of my unfamiliarity with walking as a log comes up and I stumble over it head over heels.  “Ommppf,” I grumble as a collide with earth.  I decided I was much more graceful as a bird as I rose quickly on my feet.  My gaze glances about to see if anyone had seen my tumble but all I hear is the crows laughing from high above.  My gaze narrows on them and my face twists into a scowl.  “Ya. Ya.  Laugh it up…”  I consider shifting into a bird of prey and ripping their heads off, but I continue on.

    My stride lengthens as I try to move quickly from the area.  Embarrassment would do that to someone.  My focus remains on my footwork here where fallen trees are thickly scattered about.  At each cross path I raise my legs high to clear the mass before focusing on the next obstacle. My hope was to reach the unscathed tree line before the sun was at its peak and the travel became too hot.  The terrain was slowing me down, but I did not give in to the urge to shift wings and make life too easy again.  I had to at least experience this journey as a hooved creature to truly appreciate my natural form. 

    Soon the sun was beginning to reach high in the sky.  At this time, I would have sought shelter in a tree knot to escape the midday heat as one of my many bird forms.  Luckily the trees I reached now had been untouched by the fires and so their leaves provided some shade from the sun's rays.  Every other step or so the light filtered through and touched my skin.  It was warming in a very comforting way.  I decided I should continue practicing, “Hello. My name is Demi.  What is yours?” Eh, needs work.  I clear my throat and try again, “Hello.  I’m Demi.  What’s yours?” Hmm better I guess, less formal.  My ears flicker to a flutter overhead and I pause in my tracks.  I raise my head and gaze to find a sparrow watching me.  I smile as it hops from a high branch to a much lower one just above me.  “Hello,” I say kindly, “I’m Demi.  It is a lovely day today isn’t it Mrs. Sparrow.”  The tawny bird tilts its head before hopping from its tree perch to my mane.  Rummaging about it pulls a loose chestnut strand from the tangled mass and takes off.  I laugh before calling out, “you’re welcome!”

    It isn’t long before I reach the river.  I could hear the waters trickling for a while now, creating a thirst to arise inside me.  My bleached tail flicks at the flies that had begun to gather on my rump.  Being equine sure did have its challenges.  Within a few more strides I am at the water's edge.  I quickly glance around to ensure my safety before lowering my muzzle to the surface.  The cool liquid is refreshing as I gulp down a gallon or so.  Much more than I had ever drank as a bird.  One of my favorite past times was bathing in puddles, the beads of water rolling off my oily feathers.  My head rises as I wonder what would happen if I rolled in the waters now.  Again, I give a few quick glances around the area before folding my legs under me and sinking into the cool aqua. 

    The water did not roll off me but soaked my chestnut and white pelt.  It cooled me as I thrashed about.  Moving such a large body was also interesting and not without great amounts of effort.  I rise and fall into the water again but on the other side, having not mastered the roll just yet.  I snort as I rise once more and involuntarily shake the water off.  My chestnut mane hangs in tangled wet masses along my neck.  I curl my neck around to scratch at an itch I find myself having.  My teeth rake at my thick hide relieving me of said itch.  Satisfied with my horsey antics thus far I begin to wade deeper into the river, my sights set on the other side.

    -

    I begin my crawl up the riverbank, the world plateauing to a land of green rolling hills.  I have been here many times before but never appreciated the earthly view until now.  Various groups of equines were scattered about going about their lives.  I find myself hesitating at the thought of running into another.  The idea is both exhilarating and terrifying.  What if they like me?  What if they DONT like me?  What do I say?  What will THEY say?  Breathe, just breathe.  You can do this.  I give myself a mental pep talk before I take another step into the lands.  My ears flicker at every sound and every movement.  A smile begins to surface on my face as suddenly, fore the first time in a long time, I feel alive!
    Legends & Myths


    So, this is my long, drawn-out way, to get Demi back into the world of ponies from basically having spent life as a bird hermit...  If you do read it, I applaud you!  Otherwise just start from the bottom paragraph cuz that's all that is really relevant to anyone joining her.  But basically, it is for my auto-quest to give her phoenix-type immortality so she can start life anew. Smile
    Reply
    #2
    Ruhr breathes deeply of the spring air, tasting the distant sea as he half-closes his eyes. The sun is warm on his dappled back, newly shed of its winter thickness, and his feathered wings are half-spread to catch as much of the sun’s warmth as possible. The colors of his feathers are those of a sunset, as perfect a match as the sky blue eyes that he now opens fully.

    The sound of hoofbeats has alerted him to the nearing of another. From where he stands in the belly-tall grass, he can see the most commonly walked path through the meadow.

    Ruhr takes a deep breath.
    It is time.

    This is where he’d been standing in the vision, and the season is right, and the sun is almost at the point in the sky that it had been when he’d watched the scene play out in the pool of still water. It had been a brief vision, lasting only a few seconds, but it had come for many nights. Each time it was the same, and he had committed the Divination to memory.

    Ruhr has no idea why he will be meeting the red and white mare, but he knows that he must. The Moon wishes it, and so he complies.

    “Hello.” He says when Demi arrives. Her eyes are bi-colored - he’d not seen that in the vision. Ruhr wears a friendly and genuine smile, his expression open and curious, with no sign of the obvious limp as he moves a little closer to speak. “I’m Ruhr.”

    @Demi
    Reply
    #3
    Demi
    It has been ages since I have walked the earth.  The feeling is strange beneath my hooves, and I find myself looking down as I place each step.  My eyes are wide with fascination, the scents of the grass tickle my senses.  Achoo!  Or perhaps it is the pollen.  

    My steps are light and airy as I progress into the lands.  Distracted by the many sights, sounds and smells I hardly notice someone approaching.  It is the greeting that has my head turning and my footsteps halting.  My expression may have been shocked, startled or both, but seeing him smiling causes me to mimic it, even if wearily. "Oh hello!" I reply kindly.  He didn't look threatening, so I offer my name as well, "I'm Demi."  The words flowed more fluently than I expected, given the disaster of my previous practicing.  My crimson ears flicker as I hear fluttering overhead.  My muzzle lifts to inspect the source of the noise, finding a sparrow flittering about catching bugs.  I half wonder if it is the same one I had seen earlier and it has followed me here.  I smile at the thought then remember I am in the midst of a conversation with a stranger.  My focus returns to the colorful stranger with an awkward smile, "Sorry, I'm new to this."
    Legends & Myths


    @Ruhr
    Reply
    #4
    Though he knows her face well, it is clear from the pied mare’s expression that she had not been expecting to see him at all.

    That is often the way of the Moon, Ruhr has learned, to bless him alone with Her foresight and knowledge.

    Demi, as she introduces herself, seems startled, but not especially wary. Ruhr returns her smile, and leans his weight to his left side, a move that both relieves the ache of his right leg and gives the impression of casual repose. He is not a threat, the gesture confirms.

    When her attention is drawn by a sparrow, the feathered stallion gives the bird a quick glance, then returns his attention to Demi. She remains enamored with the little bird, and he takes in the bright blaze across her face, and the smattering of red spots along her rump. That is what had caught his attention in the vision, he remembers, the whirls and dots reminiscent of the pattern of the Moon.

    Had that been why the Moon had shown this mare to him, he wonders, just so that he might see the myriad of ways that Her face exists in the world? Or is there more to it, to her? The vision had been a short one, just this meeting, and the moment he’d approached her, Ruhr had stepped into a future that he’d not yet been shown.

    Ruhr’s gaze returns to Demi’s jewel-toned eyes just before she remembers him, and to her apology he responds with a faint and slightly puzzled smile and a question. “New to what, exactly?”

    @Demi
    Reply
    #5
    Demi
    Thoughts of my previous life play within my mind and all the ways I'm new.  The transformation between them was only moments and yet it feels like two lifetimes.  I guess in a way they were...

    As my focus returns, I notice something about the colored stallion that escaped my notice before.  He was feathered, with wings much like a bird.  The thought causes a quickening of my heart, an excitement that I share something with this stranger.  Things became more clear when one focused.

    He looks to me with a puzzled expression and the question to elaborate is asked.  I smile shyly, not knowing exactly how to express my thoughts.  "Umm this life...  No.  This form...?" My answer becomes a jumbled mess, an equal look of confusion on my face that I am sure reflects his.  My head shakes away the stammering thoughts that cloud my mind.  My eyes close as I draw in a deep breath.  I hold it briefly as my mind clears. I see a mythical form, a melding of both worlds.  My mismatched eyes snap open, the excitement before returning and echoing in my voice, "Here!  I will show you!"  I lean back on my hunches and lift my forelimbs from the dirt below my hooves.  My shift is effortless as I mimic his look of half bird, half horse.  My natural equine colors hold strong within this unknown shifted form.  Rusty red feathers cloak my avian face and neck, blending into creamy white feathers along my shoulders.  My wings, large and outstretched, are a blending of both hues.  

    My head twists as I inspect this new form I have created.  My forelegs, now taloned, grip the earth with razor sharp claws.  I gently and carefully fold my wings to my sides, noting that my equine rump remains unchanged.  My bi-colored tail swishes as if I am testing it out for the first time.  The dark beak, that replaces my soft nose, parts in awestruck wonder.  My head twists again, my mismatched eyes looking to the stranger wide eyed.  My expression is bright and smiling, though the hardness of my beak prevents it.

    I bid my wings to unfold again, testing the air beneath them with a flap or two.  It feels similar to when I shift into my other forms, though the walking on four legs, two taloned two hooved, is awkward.  I turn 180 degrees, walk a few paces before leaping into the sky.  It is more effort to lift my larger form, but I manage.  I soar above the treetops, circling around before returning to where I had started.  As I land, I morph into my full equine form again, a smile painted on my lips.  "Did you see that?!"  I ask him though I'm not sure if it was actually a question.  I prance about in my excitement of my discovery.  "I'm not sure what that was but it was awesome!"  I laugh as I stop before him, tossing my head to the sky.
    Legends & Myths


    Shifted bird form- hippogriff

    @Ruhr  Used it as an opportunity for her to discover the hippogriff Smile
    Reply
    #6
    The mare smiles shyly, telling him she is new to life, or rather, to this form. The form of a horse, he wonders? What else might she have been? Ruhr is no stranger to shifting; he’d been born with the gift himself. The Moon had stripped him of it, a fitting punishment for his future crime, but the justice of it does not lesson the quiet longing for his other form.

    Her shyness turns to confusion and Rhuhr watches with a frown, furrowing his feathered brow as she closes her eyes. Demi seems flustered, and he wonders if perhaps she’d prefer to be left alone.

    But the Moon had shown them meeting, and surely She would not want him to give up so quickly. As he decides this, her eyes open and the confusion from moments earlier, has been replaced with a bright and infectious excitement. Ruhr’s sky-colored eyes (now darkening with the coming dusk) meet hers, widening with expectation and paired with a small smile at her proclamation that she’ll show him what she means.

    The creature she becomes is one that Ruhr knows well, and his warrior’s eye immediately finds the beak and claws appealing. Is she the type to use them? he wonders, weighing his options as he watches her circle overhead with genuine admiration on his handsome face.

    She lands with ease, and remains delighted with her transformation. Demi shares that she is a shifter of many shapes, especially blessed by the Moon in her gifts. She is special, Ruhr realizes.

    Special like the dark lady of the Chamber had been, before the shadows and the ravens had spirited her away. This is why he’d seen Demi in his vision, that is why the Moon had shown her to him. With a smile that is no small part relieved, Ruhr answers honestly:

    “That was incredible. I know a lot of shifters, but few who could master the hippogriff like that.” He pauses, hesitating just for a moment before adding: “I’m guessing that one was a new form for you too? Do you have others?”

    Ruhr is certain that he knows the answer. The Moon had shown him Demi as a way to guide him toward one of Her favorites. She is forever granting him opportunities to redeem himself, and this time is no different.

    @Demi
    Reply
    #7
    Demi
    The word he speaks is foreign to me, though many are.  "Hippogriff," I echo as if saying the word myself makes it less unknown.  My smile does not faulter even in my mild confusion.  He speaks of shifters, and I am even more intrigued.  "Oh yes I come from a long line of shifters!  My twin is also a shifter," I pause briefly, "but I am the only avian shifter I know."  My ears flicker as he asks if I have other forms.  My smile grows larger as I think of all the birds I have come to know in my travels within their world.  I shake my head, "Oh yes lots!  But mostly things I have seen..." My thoughts trail for a moment, "Well, sometimes, if I close my eyes and clear my mind, I can feel them inside me.  The ones I haven't seen.  Like the Hippogriff!"  I add excitedly, "You should have seen the one I discovered earlier last week!  It was on fire!"  I didn't know the name of the things that had renewed me in a ball of flames.  "Do you want to see my favorite?!"  He doesn't get a chance to answer before I am morphing to a thing of the night.  My silver laced, tawny feathers sheen brilliantly.  Something of the coloring reflective of the moon that hangs in the night sky.  My eyes, still of mismatched hues of fire and water are all that cling onto my equine form.  I hover only briefly before I transition once more.  The wings of the owl were not made to hover, but to glide silently through the darkness...
    Legends & Myths


    Shifted form- barn owl

    @Ruhr
    Reply
    #8
    Ruhr listens with clear interest, his long feathered ears pricked and his eyes as bright and blue as the cloudless sky. She is from a family of shifters, with a twin. An avian shifter?

    His head tilts, reassessing. A similar gift existed among the Stratosians, but he had never met one that was anything at all like Demi. Those he’d met were trained from childhood as weapons, deadly and dangerous, always somber and nearly silent. Not at all like the moon-spotted mare, who chatters excitedly about her gift.

    Her smile is broad and genuine, and Ruhr is drawn in closer by the warmth of it, and the tale of her shifting into a phoenix. He names that one aloud, thinking as he does of the burning creature that was near-myth even in Stratos.

    Demi asks if he wants to see her favorite, and though Ruhr is nodding immediately she is already shifting. An owl, the bird most favored by the Moon. Ruhr is more certain now than ever. When she once again becomes equine, the dappled grey stallion is watching her with the same wonder with which he watches the Moon.

    “Where are you going after this, Demi?” He asks. That answer doesn’t really matter, he realizes in the moment after he speaks. What matter is the answer to: “And would you let me come with you?”

    @Demi
    Reply
    #9
    Demi
    The feathered man seems just an enthralled with my gift as I am.  When he asks his first question the childlike smile on my face fades to a more thoughtful expression.  "I-I guess I hadn't really thought about it," the last word trails as if now I am pondering just where I was to go from here.  What I would do?  Who else I would meet?  "Quite honestly, I didn't think I'd get this far," I laugh lightly.  It is his next question though that I do not expect but the answer seems to come more easily, "Of course!"  My old life had been one of solitude.  Everyone I had ever known had slipped away like the sands of time.  It would be a welcomed change to have company.

    It is now that I wonder about the company I keep.  I had been so engulfed in myself that I knew nothing about him.  My expression changes to curiosity as I begin to speak, "And what about you.  Where do you live?  Are you a shifter too?!  Did you have someplace in mind you want to go check out?"  The questions whirl about my mind.
    Legends & Myths


    @Ruhr
    Reply
    #10
    She hadn’t thought about where she is going.

    The Moon had put Demi in this form very recently, he realizes. That is what She had shown him. Demi, her chosen, taking to an equine form.

    ‘Quite honestly, I didn’t think I’d get this far’.

    It is clear She meant for Ruhr to meet her. He was needed somehow, as he had once been needed in the Chamber. That path had been easy to follow from the beginning. That Chosen had commanded as easily as she breathed.

    As Ruhr’s blue eyes travel down the line of Demi’s ruby face, he wonders if that command is somewhere beneath the childlike wonder, or if the chosen of the Moon are as varied as Her faces.

    “Thank you,” Ruhr replies, offering her a nod of his head. It feels too informal, but he reminds himself that it is better than nothing. She’s agreed to let him come along with her, and he’s silently sworn himself to her service as long as she has need of him.

    “I live wherever the Moon shines,” He answers, but to the rest he is less abstract in his reply: “I was a shifter once, but my Moon’s gifts are different now. They showed me you.” He explains, thinking of her face in the moonlit pool. The Moon had showed her to him, had brought about this meeting. Perhaps Demi does not fully understand that, new to this form and uninitiated as she is, but that is unimportant. Ruhr knows, and he carries out Her will.

    “I will go where you go,” he adds, “For as long as you will have me, or until She commands otherwise.” There is certainty in his tone, and a steadiness in his oft-shifting eyes. He would have followed her even if she’d declined, says that steadiness, if that is what the Moon wanted. But she’d acquiesced, and so Ruhr’s often somber expression is tilted up now in a smile. 

    @Demi
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