10-07-2017, 05:57 PM
 i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take
Castile’s presence inspires memories, or racing along the shore of Nerine, of sneaking into the valley of Hyaline at midnight and sneaking back to Sylva with Castile as some sort of childish, elaborate prank. He remembers standing beside the river, looking out over the land and feeling as though he was invincible. It seems so long ago. So much has changed. Its good, then, that Castile’s admission is a complete distraction from those thoughts. Ivar’s jesting grin slips a little as a frown settles across his pale face. Castile without a home? What had happened to Hyaline? The questions scurry quickly across his mind, but there is something in the way his old friend speaks, something that suggests that perhaps he might not be ready to answer those questions yet. Ivar, who knows all too well of tender subjects, decides to probe no further. It’s easy enough to do, as Castile asks about Loess, and Ivar can occupy himself with the answer. “It’s big,” he says, “Quiet for the most part, but I like to think of it as an empty slate.” That reference to their youth is less painful, back to the time when it seemed that the two piebald colts truly could have done anything they set their minds too. “I joined the army,” he adds, “I might even be promoted soon.” It feels a bit strange, to be excited over such a thing, but that is Ivar’s life now. There are other interesting things about Loess, but it would feel odd to describe exactly why he finds the Loean monarch so appealing, so he leaves that be. “I think you’d like it,” Ivar finishes, “But you could always come and see for yourself before you decide. I was thinking of heading up to Nerine to see about training with the Gladiators, and could give you a tour on the way there?” He spends most of his time on the move, after all, and he recent decision to try his hand at a real spar has given him a reason to head back up to the coastal land of Castile’s birth. |