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  • Beqanna

    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


    and this time I'm not leaving without you; Ashley
    #1
    i suddenly feel like a different person
    from the roots of my soul comes a gentle coercion

    As the edge of the meadow turns to sand and dives beneath the chilly waves of water. Marlyn is drawn to it's calming embrace. It had seemed like achingly long ages since she was able to slip between the small waves and become weightless and free from the restraints of the land. Only in the water was she able to shed the responsibilities that lay on her shoulders and truly be able to think clearly.

    On this first day of spring, the spotted mare opens her eyes to the ocean that lay before her in it's blue and green glory. The sun warms her hide like a gently lover's kiss but it is the water that laps against the striped hooves so lovingly that she is beckoned. At first she is slightly doubtful of the fairies words when they gave back her powers. For a fleeting moment, as her head slips beneath the surface, she believes it was all a trick and she will be drowned. A moment passes and then another before the small voice reminds her quietly to relax and just breathe. If the mare were to die today, there is no sweeter way than to slip into the inky darkness of the water's caress.

    One breath.
    Two breathes.

    Marlyn opens her eyes (throbbing slightly with the intensity that she squeezed them) and can feel the way the heaviness of the water circulated within her chest. Her head swims momentarily, drunkenly but she is alive and breathing. A smile curls upon her lips as the slender limbs move her deeper into the water. She floats weightlessly with streaming mane and tail like a radiant mermaid or siren. It felt good to be surrounded by the water, to look up and watch how the sun glints and dances on the surface just above.

    With a little effort, Marlyn pushes herself to the bedrock below. The light still reaches the bottom here and very few creatures bigger than the fish ever really came close. Amber pools watch as the sea life crowd away to make room for her as she soon finds a patch of sand and rock that would accommodate her size. With a little more effort, Marlyn settles on the sandy floor with curled limbs as she rests with a smile on her face, the small touch of her white and brown hair tickling against her. In the next moment, once she has made herself comfortable for much needed rest, she shifts her colors to match the sand and shell world. Her skin responds with a hue of pale yellow sand dotted with white and gray patches at various sizes to mimic broken bits of rock and shell. Some yellow and black accentuate other areas to simulate the shadows, her mane becoming a brownish green as though kelp sprung from her neck. Once she is satisfied with her coat, Marlyn closes her eyes to mediate quietly away from the dry world.
    marlyn
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    #2
    Peace.
     
    Ashley closed his eyes, drawing the oxygen he needed through the gills in self-inflicted gills slits on the sides of his neck. He pounded against the undercurrent, pushing with the world hoping to shove away the weariness he felt. The restless ginger looked about, finally able to center his thoughts and become one with his whole self. He was at home here, in the deep. His tail was a mottled brown; spots running down his tail as he opened his mouth, gaping in the water, taking it in deep. His front legs he traded for fins, and he wove himself in and out of the rock, looking for undergrowth to feast on. He leads with his head, his auburn colored mane flowing behind him like a flag. He is a foreigner to these depths, and yet so at home here. And as he hits the bedrock and sinks into the silt, his tail fins back up against something with a thud.
     
    His eyes go wide open, and he spins with much more agility than he would have on land—even given the tight space—and sets his gaze on another sea-dwelling creature. The blood in his veins quickens, his tail going a deep crimson to demonstrate his leadership—his dominance. He has no ability to talk to her (his mouth is too busy in taking water and turning it into oxygen to keep his massive body going at this depth), and so his mind speaks to her, and he only hopes she has the ability to speak back. His usual gruffness is forgotten down here, and he is as he used to be as a younger man. Open, approachable. And perhaps…nice? “Are you… like me? From above?”
    ashley
    I walked the path, it led me to the end.
    Reply
    #3
    i suddenly feel like a different person
    from the roots of my soul comes a gentle coercion

    Her own thoughts had been drifting. Marlyn loved the way the water pulled and tugged on her weightless form despite being anchored to the ground. Her eyes are closed, meditating quietly while the sounds of the water and her own heart beat seemed to mirror each other. Mar felt herself nodding off while she lay beneath the water's surface in a spotlight of sun when something large and firm bumped against her.

    A flurry of bubbles and a rather surprised 'oh!' later and she is moving to gain whatever traction can be held. Amber eyes are wide with surprise as she is quickly looking this other creature over rapidly for anything that could be threatening but her conclusion is drawn from the equally surprised features. It seems like only a moment later when she feels a voice filling her head. It odd and uncomfortable at first but the woman accepts it as she watches how his eyes are meeting hers as though emphasizing the fluid of speech that echoes in her skull. "I am." The words are made verbally as she does not have the ability to speak telepathically but Marlyn attempts to hinder the smile that threatens to spill over her lips. "But you have fins..." Curiosity takes hold more than caution as she looks at the strangeness of his form as she has never witnessed a creature such as he. "I'm Marlyn." She says in a matter of fact way as she leans a little closer to watch the way his fins move.

    When she is satisfied inspecting the unusual intricacies of his half fish/half equine form, Marlyn gives a little shimmy shake of her own and changes herself to a tiny seadragon, blue and green and much like how she sees the other. Unfortunately, a shift in the current sends her tiny form flicking up and away, upside and out before she manages to snag a tuft of his forelock in her tiny tail and floating out in front of him. The round eyes rotate and watch as she drifts and brushes the bridge of his nose. Marlyn would smile if she could so instead she warms her thoughts and visualizes a smile so that perhaps the other would be able to sense it. It was rather pleasant to have found another similar to herself.
    marlyn
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    #4
    She had transformed before his eyes in such a way that he couldn’t help himself. He laughed. And Ashley laughing is almost as monumental as what had happened during the Reckoning. It was something that absolutely, positively never happened. And yet,  here he was, a shadow of his former self, under the water, laughing with a near perfect stranger who was now dangling from his hair like some little lemming, looking to him to keep her safe from the currents that were swooping around them. Trusting a stranger to shelter her.
     
    The audacity that she felt she could trust him…she must not know who he was.
     
    Ashley moved himself into a the lee of the stone structures that were anchored to the bottom of the ocean, and as his eyes went from amber to green, he flexed his pectoral fins, and colored himself to match her; except that down his dorsal, he was spotted with bright yellow. Being able to use his magic away from the fairies eyes; it was glorious. He had not felt so free as the last time he had gone into the Amazons to take it over—and had succeeded.
     
    He continued swimming, slowly so as not to dislodge the perfect little thing that was clinging to him with everything she had. When he came to an opening in the bedrock, he swam right through into an underwater cave, that came up to a patch of dry land—his home just off the shores of the island of Ischia. It was where he congregated, and kept himself apart from the rest of them. He floated to the surface, allowing his gills to sew themselves shut while he depressurized from the sealevel, and found a patch of kelp for Marlyn to reattach to, should she choose to stay in the form as she was. Here the waters were calm, and the cave was entirely surrounded in water. This last airbubble—held together by Ashley’s magic—was all that he could find that remained of the old Forbidden Dale. The part of the land that he could not—would not—let go of.
    His head comes ashore, and he looks back at the little seadragon, speaking into her head once more since she be still underwater. “I do not know why I brought you here. But you’re probably the only other one who could venture here.”
    ashley
    I walked the path, it led me to the end.
    Reply
    #5
    The way his eyes change.

    The way he shelters her with such gentleness.
    He holds her like a secret before gently placing her amongst the kelp.

    The little sea dragon can not help but to rotate her bubble eyes, the tiny pistol mouth unable to smile but it opens and closes in the excitement to see such interesting things. Her paper thing fins wiggle excitement as she still clings to him...loving the feeling of the water as it rushes around her.

    It is not till he has placed her securely that she decides to change back to her. The mare wanted to be able to converse with him, learn about him and his home. This place was unlike most of Beqanna and she would surely take advantage of why he had decided to share his little slice of the world with her. "It is absolutely beautiful." Amber eyes are moving to lap up the images hungrily as a smile spreads over her masked features. Marlyn makes a full circle before her attention returns to the stallion as she grins broadly with dancing eyes. "Such a magical place to have. Are you alone here?" Marlyn asks plainly as she has taken noticed of his previous comment of her being the only one able to travel there. "Do you ever get lonely?" Okay, perhaps not the best question to ask but the spotted woman is open and honest as a bit of concern furrows her brown. She does not believe she could live in such solitude (though she has never tried)
    MARLYN
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    #6
    Do you ever get lonely

    Truth was, he did. At times, he looked upon them all with a sneer in his voice, believing them to be below him. Ashley let his face fall, for here in his quiet space, he allowed himself to be as he was. The quiet waves lapped at the cave, and he drank in the moist air peacefully. He did something he never did in the company of another—he laid down. Resting, he looked upon Marlyn, feeling the need to conversate with someone on a level that had nothing to do with impressing them, or remind them of his own self-centered ego.

    “I do at times find myself wishing for more company…but that is not something that I have the luxury to feel. When people look at you and want you to lead them… you are not granted the luxury to feel much of anything at all. What you are is what they perceive you to be, and not much more. I have a tendency to forget that that burden is no longer mine.”

    Where these calm words were coming from, and why he was divulging so much of himself, he had no idea. There was something about this witch that entranced him. His red hair was plastered to his face, and he was a wet mess. But he was at peace. His thickly muscled chest rose and fell, and he let the moment fall quiet. He normally would have looked at Marlyn and been able to tell her entire lifestory, and yet he granted her the privacy of her mind.. He wanted her to be a surprise.

    He wanted to be surprised by her, and that was the biggest surprise to him of all.
    ashley
    I walked the path, it led me to the end.
    Reply
    #7
    He does not know of her, her family, who she may be. She is just another face, another name and in that thin veil is a comforting relief. Marlyn could be the simple spotted mare that was before him. She was not the daughter of a king and queen, she was not the leader of Sylva. She is Marlyn, true and whole.

    Amber eyes observe the way the ginger male allows himself to find some comfort, the strong legs collapsing under his heavy form as the damp salt air clings to their skin and tongues. Marlyn waits a few moments as he speaks, telling of past that she does not know instead she watches the way the red hair curls and traces along the tributaries of his body, dripping the few remaining droplets to be drank up in the thirsty sand.

    Before Marlyn replies, she too, fancies a place near her host and drops to pull her own lightly feathered limbs close to her. It had felt like ages since the painted woman had allowed herself the ability to rest. The pleasantly surprised smile that curls over her lips gives away her delight in such a simply small practice. "Well this does seem much better." A small laugh can not be contained as she lets it flow over her lips. "I am all too well acquainted with the worries, though sometimes I wished I was not." Marlyn is unaware that the red buckskin is a god amongst horses and in this moment she is she and he is he.  "I do as well." Her gaze shifts to drink in this place of solitude. It never fails to amaze the woman that so many places exist like this in Beqanna, whether discovered or coveted secretly, and yet others squabble and fight for what was only on the 'surface' of Beqanna.

    Silently, the mare is elated that this place was only for them. She gives thanks to have found a little sliver of the world in which she can be at peace, no titles, no courtesies, no formal conversations of war. Dark eyes can rest upon her spiced host with a playful smile, enjoying their conversation, connecting in a way others could not understand. There was so much more to living than blood wars over scraps of lands or false prophets with gnashing teeth. This, sitting in secret with sopping hair and salty skin, is living. This is what all those other animals are missing out on.
    MARLYN
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    #8
    He looked at her, feeling in his ember colored eyes. It seemed that they were glowing, their look mirroring the waves that lazily lapped at the cave. It seemed that she too was hiding parts of herself; not out of secrecy, but perhaps from a wish to just be known for who and what she was. He knew that she had the ability to transform into fish—but not much else. She was a grown woman. But in age—he was old enough surely to be her great great grandfather, and yet here they stood—or lay, in this case—as equals, reminiscent of the same responsibilities that do not go away, no matter how many times the world seems to rotate around the son. He breathes; a slow, purposeful exhale, flipping his tail upward, whipping the rest of the moisture onto the cave wall. He makes no move to get up. Instead, he wills the water to rise up, each drop making a musical sound as it rose and then dropped back down into the water, changing color as it rotated and shifted in ribbons and musical notes around them. A show for them both—a test of her ability to discern him.

    He turns to her, his voice warm like honey. “Have you ever thought of just, giving it all up, and walking away?” He does not tell her his story; that his daughter had usurped him, and then been the cause of his death. That stone statue, and its rigidity. That he felt so at home in something so fluid and freeing was no wonder to him. He took his pride in being his own man. He knew that family was aboard in the land. His mother—he had yet to see her again. And yet, he stayed as far from them as possible. He had been betrayed by that power. Honor had been the death of him, and yet it was to his honor that he held true. Never again King, but always a leader. Always a warrior.

    Always Ashley.
    ashley
    I walked the path, it led me to the end.
    Reply
    #9
    The man was an interesting creature. Marlyn watches him beneath the white tipped brow, a small but curious smile attempting to hide behind the white of her mask but she fails and allows it to openly touch her lips. He was fascinating, that was not secret on his behalf as he makes the water rise, the sounds soothing and comforting to her ears. Marlyn finds herself liking the way his red hair dries on his skin, the way he looks distantly around them even though she knows he has memorized every inch of this quiet place,

    Amber pools drop as she shifts her legs so she may nestle more comfortable. For now, in this very scared place, Marlyn is exactly who she is in front of him. A vulnerable, simple mare. She replaces the steel mask of queenship and exposes the delicate porcelain beneath. Pricked ears rotate back to Ashely and away from his music to gather his words, her eyes following when the question if asked. The mare can not help but laugh loudly, a pure and honest tinkle of silver bells. "Get out of my head." The mare teases with a smile once she has quieted herself. The stallion is smart and would know what she means without her speaking the words.(The guilt of admitting her desire to leave Sylva would have buried her).

    "I'm Marlyn, by the way." The little smile grows a bit crooked as she realizes she hasn't introduced herself and does not know his name either. Funny how things just happen. The mare wonders silently of what force or Beqanna god put the ginger male in her path and where he would lead her.
    MARLYN
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    #10

    He stood then, and, tossing his head, looked at Marlyn with deep amber eyes. They almost resembled warm honey, and his voice was such when he spoke to her. “I’m Ashley,” he says, falling silent. Unsure of what to say, or why he feels this way about someone he barely knows—it’s uncanny.

    He has loved before. He has had moments of heart-fluttering, mind stopping, brain freezing, blood pumping love. He has had children before, and known partners for a time, never to see them again after his children were born. But never before has Ashley experienced the kind of relationship that could potentially last forever. Because, to make a case in his defense; he would outlive them all. He could not die, and thus, every love he has ever known has tasted the earth until the ash fell from their mouths; death claims them all.

    Muscles ripple as he takes a step back—breath caught in his throat, hesitant to say anything. This was not the way this was supposed to go. He had only gone for a swim. He had never meant to fall for her. Or anyone. “This is not the way this was supposed to go. I’m sorry, I…” He falters.. voice choking, unsure of what to say…

    Unsure of where to go next.

    ashley
    I walked the path, it led me to the end.
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