United, We Can Take on the World {Leliana}

[Kotton+Kandi]

In the Dark, there is some Light; In the Wrong, there is some Right

They were an oddity.  Unnatural to this world, their existence is both unique and unlawful.  In any other place, their death would have been swift.  Perhaps merciful.  The burdens they will share throughout their lives will threaten to break them.  Both physically and mentally, but now, now they lay nestled in a bed of sea grasses.  Their birth mother having fled after knowing their fate and their father, well they would never know eithers name nor face.  

Tephra fall is warm, even as the other lands begin to fall into colder temps.  It is their saving grace.  The sun warms them, drying their sky blue and periwinkle body.  Wings lay across their backs like a security blanket, assuring that the damp winds would not soak their dried pelt.  One head rises to blink into the bright light, while the other sleeps peacefully.  They are oblivious to the dangers that may find them.  A feral canine could make an easy meal out of something so uncoordinated.  Without instruction, they simply hunker down and wait.  For what, they are unsure... 

Kotton & Kandi

@[leliana] Something quick for you :)  Their avatar hasn't been updated but they are Ice Blue tobianos with lavender as the white

[leliana]

I know what it is but I'm hoping that all is well
no harvest of green but it's still my heart to sell

It is strange that this world still feels like home, that the sulphuric air is comforting and not bitter. But, in many ways, it is the only home that she has ever known. It is the only land that has ever pulled her close and embraced her in the darkness. It is the only place where she has ever been able to find herself calm and quiet and alone—and it is where, most often, she reunites with Exist, standing with cheek to back, their breathing slowly morphing as one. Is is that thought that springs to mind when she sees the pair, that feeling of wholeness when her sister is pressed into her side, the apricot meeting the crimson.

They are nothing that she has ever seen before—nothing she knows—but she recognizes them all the same. There is something in them that makes her think of Exist, of that feeling of closeness that can only come from sharing the same blood. From the very beginning, her sister has been the other half of her, and so while perhaps some may find their existence unfortunate, she can only see the bond between them.

It is enough to stir her from where she has been resting, enough to push her into motion, her feathered feet finding their way through the lush vegetation of the land. The wings next to her flicker, turning into the same lavender and periwinkle of their coat without thought as she moves toward them, her lovely head dipped low, hazel eyes soft as she considers them. “Hello there,” her voice is melodic, carrying lightly on the breeze. When she is several feet from them, she pauses, the a kind smile curving the edges of her lips. “My name is Leliana,” a pause, wings ruffling as they settle across her back. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

I put everything I had into something that didn't grow
like going on a wild hunt, shooting arrows without a bow

[Kotton+Kandi]

In the Dark, there is some Light; In the Wrong, there is some Right

For a singular moment it is only the soft chatter of sea birds that disrupt them.  Kotton watches the flighty creatures with curious eyes.  Following them as they glide upon the winds, then dive from the azure skies.  She ponders what would prompt them to do such aerial stunts.  Lost in thought, she hardly realizes they are being watched from a distance.  Kottons baby blue ear twitch at the sounds of hoofbeats gently nearing.  Eyes opening wide in panic, she whimpers to her sister, "Kandi... someone is coming..."   Instinctively, her crown lowers beside her sleeping siblings.

crunch, Crunch. CRUNCH 

The noise grows with each pound of her heart ringing in her ears.  Snapping her eyelids closed the moment the sounds quiets, she waits for death to find them.  The call of gulls is now distant and almost silenced, and she is sure this is the end, when a sweet sounding voice rises from the thrumming of her own heartbeat...

Hello there,

One eye unshutters to find a winged equine looking directly at them.  Slowly the other eyelid lifts to allow her topaz gaze to examine the crimson painted lady.  Considering her spoken words and tone pleasant, Kotton lifts her crown slightly.  A sideways whisper given to her sister -coupled with a nudge- to arouse her from the slumber she has kept the whole time, "Kandi! Wake. Up. Now."

Lazily, the lavender crowned filly stirs.  Lifting her head somberly with a gaping yawn and stretched words, "What?"   Her eyes -barely opened- don't notice the mare standing near them.  She however does notice Kottons absent gaze after so rudely waking her.  A small snort huffs from her nostrils in protest but unexplained noises distract her...

My name is Leilana. It's lovely to meet you 

Kandi's eyes dart about to land upon the same place as Kottons, but where Kotton shows concern, Kandis lips turn up into a smile.  "Hello!" She yips excitedly, "I am Kandi... and this is my sister Kotton."  Quite satisfied with her introduction, she nods her head before looking to her sister.  The expressionless face of her twin causes her to frown slightly, "Kotton, what's wrong?"  She asks with concern laced words.  Had she said something wrong? 

Kotton turns to her sisters question, while keeping one eye trained on the stranger, "We don't know her... What if she wants to eat us?" She would admit the mare didn't seem hostile but maybe it was just a rouse.  Just when they didn't expect it, their heads would get chomped off...

Kandi rolls her eyes to Kottons ridiculous assumptions and looks up to the mare, "Are you gonna eat us?"... 

Kotton & Kandi

@[leliana] I am stopping this here cuz otherwise their crazy is gonna get out of control XD

[leliana]

I know what it is but I'm hoping that all is well
no harvest of green but it's still my heart to sell

It is amusing to watch the pair of them interact, those closeness clear in the way that the communicate, but their independent souls obvious. What a strange, wonderful life they must lead—what a strange, wonderful future lies before them. Still, she keeps such amusement from her face, not wanting it to be mistaken for anything else; instead, she watches them with quiet, solemn eyes, her gaze studious.

It’s not until they assert their fears that she lets laughter escape, the sound bubbling to the surface.

“Ah, no,” her laughter is gentle, tinkering like church bells in her mouth. She shakes her head, sending the knotted ends of her mane flying. “I am not here to eat you.” One corner of her velvet lip curls up in the corner, soft and kind, and she continues to watch them—keeping a respectful distance. “I rather prefer things that are easier on my stomach.” She lifts her head and gestures to the middle of Tephra. “Over there is actually my favorite place. The grass grows sweet and lush.” She had spent many afternoons lazily grazing there, the sun warm on her back, and some of the grass growing tall enough to tickle her belly.

She returns her gaze to the twins, wondering at the youthful imagination that warps her into something that could feasibly do any harm. “I am sorry for frightening you though.” She remembers what it is to be young—to have your mind plays tricks on you, turning innocent things into painful things, turning the light into dark. “I was just so happy at the idea of making another friend.”

Her smile turns slightly shy here, her wings still lavender and blue across her back.

“Have you always lived here in Tephra?”

I put everything I had into something that didn't grow
like going on a wild hunt, shooting arrows without a bow

[Kotton+Kandi]

In the Dark, there is some Light; In the Wrong, there is some Right

Kotton is all bubbly smiles, awaiting the answer she is sure will be nothing as her sisters mind has made it to be.  A horse eating another horse was just silly, she thinks...

Ah no. I am not here to eat you

The scarlet mare finds humor in Kottons suspicion.  Kandi allows a giggle to rise from her core, "See, I told you Kotton.  Don't be such a worry wart..." Her lavender eyes look to her sister briefly and then back to the mare as she begins speaking again.  Her reasonings seemed valid and Kandi questions nothing more.  Though the mares quick glance to the center of Tephra has her wondering just where the most delicious foods are, so she shifts their body, digging hooves into soil so they may see also.

Kotton cooperates with no more than a roll of her ice blue eyes.  Together they stand, shaking the floor debris from their coat and giving their wings a stretch.

I am sorry for frightening you though 

Kotton reacts with denial, "You didn't scare me... I...I was just worried... For Kandi." Her eyes shift slightly before giving a nod of her crown to reaffirm her story.

Have you always lived here in Tephra? 

Kottons brow wrinkles in confusion, uncertain at what a Tephra was.  Her thoughts are interrupted by the sweet voice of Kandi, "I think so..."  Her eyes flicker back to where they had been laying as if that spot was named Tephra, "Where do you live?" She asks in mimicry, a bright smile upon her pale purple lips...

The question a mere afterthought as Kandi notices the color of the mares wings is identical to theirs.  "I love the color of your wings!  It matches us..." Ideas spin through the neurons of her mind, "Are you... are you our mother!?"  She is maybe a tad too excited that their mother had returned for them.

For a brief moment, Kottons eyes brighten at Kandi's question...

Kotton & Kandi

@[leilana]

[leliana]

I see a ghost out on the water; I swear it has my face
I bend and drink the lonely down, the lonely down

There is something in their youthful excitement that touches her heart, and she finds herself calming as the fear drips from their eyes to be replaced with curiosity and joy. The ease with which they feel their emotions, letting them race through their young bodies is enough to cause her to ache with nostalgia, wishing for the days when such feelings were so easy to feel—so easy to let go. Back then, emotions were simple to comprehend and simple to control. They did not warp her entire being. They did not drown her.

She doesn’t place such a heaviness on their interaction though.

Instead, she gives them an easy smile—her hazel eyes soft and kind. “It is a kind thing to worry for your sibling,” she thinks of Exist and the ways that they have worried for each other over the years—the way that they have fretted over their decisions and their lives, the ways that they have watched from afar. “You should hold that close,” a curl of her crimson velvet lips. “It is the most precious gift you can ask for.”

Their question is almost enough to drag out the ghosts, but she refuses them entry—refuses to give them access to such a precious, soft moment with the twins. “Mostly,” she hedges her answer, not wanting to be dishonest with the foals but not seeing any reason to burden them with her past. “Some of my favorite memories are here with my sister and my uncle.” Magnus is not quite her uncle, but it is close enough.

Her wings ruffle as they notice and her face visibly breaks for a second—the sorrow clear as she latches onto their meaning. It is short-lived though, she makes it so, instead quickly tucking it away so that they do not bear witness to the orphan within her reacting. “My wings have a mind of their own,” she simply answers, glancing back to the whimsically colored feathers. “Watch.” With a quick shake, they spread from her and morph—turning first to red leather and ivory claw, dragon wings massive in scope. With another quick shake, they turn to frost, the ice crystallizing on the hard edges, and then to fire, the flames licking up them. Finally, she brings them back to her sides in their typical red down.

“I’m not your mother,” she forces herself to answer when the silence draws out.

“But I would very much like to be your friend.”

I’m gonna stand here in the ache until the levee on my heart breaks