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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


    I'm breathing in the smoke of my mental illness's cigarette // Kylin
    #1

    Trekori

    i'm freezing, it's not winter yet
    but my fingers and toes
    are shivering beneath these sheets
    and i feel so alone
    i don't want to die, i want to sleep


    Summer has set in, and if I thought it could get any warmer on these islands, I was wrong. For all of the fuss Brennen made about this being a paradise compared to his old home, I can't help but grumble about the heat. My wings constantly leave sweat-stains on my barrel, and I can't very well walk around with them outstretched like a buffoon now can I?

    Grumble grumble grumble.

    Huffing, I decide to take action against the wetness beneath my appendages. Shaking out my mane, I shove off from the lagoon I'd been resting near at a trot. When the trees thin out, I stretch my wings and leap into the air. Ah, to fly. My sour mood lifts almost immediately when the sharp wind cools my sides, and for some time, I am content to frequent the clouds, surveying Ischia and occasionally glancing to the border to ensure no trespassers are lurking. Might as well do my duty while I'm up here playing around, right?

    But then, someone does catch my gaze, and my curiosity peaks. I have yet to meet any of the Ischians (brothers or not) except for Brennen, Takei, and Andulvar. Perhaps the little ant-like figure I have spotted down below is one of them; and as my body has more than cooled, I figure, why not get acquainted.

    I settle on to the earth easily, folding my wings into my sides. My eyes study the horse - a beautiful and small-framed lavender mare; my curiosity spikes. Had not the Purple Family fled from Ischia (without due cause)? What was this one doing straggling behind? My little heart squeezes at the memory of Karat's quick evacuation after our meeting... Hopefully this interaction won't have the same fate.

    Despite my troubled thoughts, I don't wait long before piping out a greeting. "Hey." My voice cracks at the word, and I die a thousand internal deaths; but no sense in accentuating the curse of teenagehood with a prolonged silence in its wake. "I'm Trekori, are you from here?"



    @[Kylin]
    Reply
    #2
    Summer, autumn, winter or spring, it honestly does not matter much which season is currently active, the difference is hardly noticeable in Ischia. The changes are subtle, though more noticeable during days when the wind comes from the mainland. Carrying wind or rain or heat or sometimes even ashes. Today is an early summer day in all of its meaning. Hot, but with a clear sky and a soft breeze. Exactly how Kylin likes it.

    During her recent trip to Hyaline she had missed Ischia’s weather. Hyaline had been too cold for her liking, but in all honestly, Kylin hadn’t been prepared for it. Her coat too thin, too little flesh upon her bones, she simply hadn’t been able to keep herself warm. In Ischia she does not need her energy to keep herself warm, and neither to make sure she isn’t too hot. Taking a dive sufficed just fine.

    Droplets of water drip down her frame as she comes from the sea. The water tickles her sides, and make her sensitive fins tremble. A quick shake sends the droplets away, followed by a shake of her boy. Water is send around her in her spray, but unrelenting sun makes sure nothing stays wet for long. By the time she is half way across the beach towards the shade, offered by the tropical foliage, her eyes notice the moving shade on the ground. Klaudius! With a jerk Kylin looks up, her head tilting back as her eyes – squinting to be able to look towards the sun – scan the sky. She whinnies, her heart fluttering with the hope of another reunion. And the opportunity to tell him the happy news, or perhaps not, and let him guess it on his own. Reality hits her like a slap in the face. It not Kharon who's possible return makes her heart leap. She does not have time to ponder over it, because instead of purple, her eyes follow a golden figure that descends and approaching her.

    It is not the equine himself that suddenly makes her nervous, but the prospect of coming face to face with a so called Brother. Ever since she had gotten back to Ischia, since she had learned of Brennen’s mutiny, she had yet to speak to anybody from the new order. The idea scares her, but they couldn’t kick her out of her home, right? Ischia is Kylin’s birth home after all. And so she has to swallow the dry lump in her throat as the winged palomino and cream colt greets her. “Hi” she offers softly in return, hear ears flicking back and forth once.

    His question does not do anything to ease her nerves, neither make it better or worse. But at least she isn’t summoned to leave right away. “I am.. or I was, at least..” she offers in a reply, her answer vague as Kylin genuinely does not know what to expect. Though she does not think Brennen the type of man to banish one from her home just because of her gender. “My name is Kylin.. I called Ischia home before Brennen set foot on the island.” An awkward pause follows, her heart beating loudly in her chest as she awaits the young male’s reply to her words. “And you? Did you came to Ischia with Brennen?”


    @[Trekori]
    523 words
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    #3

    Trekori

    i'm freezing, it's not winter yet
    but my fingers and toes
    are shivering beneath these sheets
    and i feel so alone
    i don't want to die, i want to sleep


    I watch curiously as the girl I approach moves through an array of emotions quickly enough that it nearly gives me whiplash. Excitement, then disappointment, then fear; do I have something in my teeth? I run my tongue over said bones, but, no grass stuck there. All I know is that she'd whinnied in greeting, and I'd liked the sound of it coming from her lavender mouth - but now she's all demure and flicking-ears, soft and worried.

    Her words come slowly and stutteringly, so I do not press her for any more information than she's willing to give. Eventually, all of it does come out, and though the Brother in me balks at the way she's so possessive of Ischia when clearly it belongs to all of us, I hear her out and don't lash out as I might have with someone more stolid.

    My wings flutter at my side, and then press to me like a blanket the same way that hers do. "You're as purple as my eyes," I mutter absent-mindedly, tilting my head to gaze at her with a little smile on my lips. Catching myself being bird-ish and weird, I cough and shake my head. "Ahem. My name is Trekori, and Brennen recruited me, though he has lived here for many many years if I am not mistaken." I can't say for sure whether this mare is right or if she is mistaken, but I decide not to argue the point, as it's too arbitrary to really matter.

    "I'm a part of the Brotherhood now, and it feels good to belong." I tilt my head towards her and offer her another smile, more genuine and extroverted this time. "You could too, if you find that you don't mind us men. We accept female Brothers. And you clearly have a strong devotion to Ischia - it's only a leap step and a bound away to being devoted to those who live here."

    And, as I gaze upon her, my smile lessens some. This is one thing that I cannot help but to say to her. "I mean no offense, but you obviously aren't devoted to those who used to live here; or else you would have left with them. It's just a thought."



    @[Kylin]
    Reply
    #4
    How could she not worry? It is not like she expects the Brotherhood to send her away, but that does not mean her heart does not fear it. Feelings don’t have to be wise. Feelings just are. And right now, Kylin’s are all over the place. The idea of losing Ischia is scarier than she would ever have thought before.

    His muttered words are met with silence, and a pair of surprised widening hazel eyes. Yes he is young, and yes she might feel so nervous that she is too serious about this, but his words are something she had not expected. Then slowly a smile starts to tug at the corners of her lips, until she offers Trekori a smile in return. “I guess I am..” she murmurs back, somewhat recovered from her initial shock.

    She finds herself nodding slightly. “He has..” she agrees, there simply was no way that she could deny the truth. Brennen has lived on Ischia for quite a couple of years, first under Circinae’s lead, then Krone’s. When he had first arrived on the island Kylin had only been two years old.

    What happens next is very much the opposite of what she feared. Her dished head tilts a little to the side and her fins are pulled tightly against her sides as Trekori tells her that she – as a female – could very much be part of the Brotherhood. She blinks her hazel eyes at him, surprised and speechless, and not even attempting to interrupt him.

    It is impossible to stop her eyes from tearing up. Her heart aches, not because his words offend her, but simply because Kylin knows it is true. With difficulty she looks away, and scrapes he left foreleg through the sand. Something she does unconsciously, and gives away how uncomfortable she feels. Not because of his presence, but because of the inner tumult his words caused. “I.. I miss them..” she confesses, murmuring softly. “But they.. they left..” Like Kharon, like Ivar, and everybody else. The difference was that they, or Klaudius to be more specific, had asked her to come along. Asked her to leave Ischia, the only stable thing in her life. Ever.

    A few deep breaths, and a couple of self-curses later, she turns back to look at the colt. For a moment her eyes linger on his wings. Wings, like Klaudius’, like Kharon’s. But no, focus on something else. His horn, glowing and pretty, and nothing that reminds her of those she does not have. “Is there truly a place for me?” Among your rank? Though Kylin would simply be content to be allowed to live there too.


    @[Trekori] Sorry the wait! My muse has been really tricky..
    Reply
    #5

    Trekori

    i'm freezing, it's not winter yet
    but my fingers and toes
    are shivering beneath these sheets
    and i feel so alone
    i don't want to die, i want to sleep


    In truth, I am not nearly as worried about losing Ischia as Kylin is. Like my entire family, I am nomadic at heart, preferring no kind of land over another. But like my family, it is the pull of belonging that decides where we live - all of my brothers have chosen the Brotherhood, if that's any indicator as to the truth of my words. It's an interesting perspective that Kylin has -  but I can only speculate, for as of yet she has offered no concrete evidence as to her thought processes at all.

    But she is smiling as soon as she recovers from the shock of my abrasive appearance, and I find myself smiling politely in return. She reaffirms my guesstimation of Brennen's years here, and I store away the information for later use. By how she knows this, I must assume that she too has lived here for years - making her not only my elder, but one with a more rightful claim to this land than I. Still, I hold to what I said - I claim not the land, but the Brotherhood. It just so happens that the Brotherhood claimed Ischia.

    Without warning however, tears are pooling in her eyes, and I step forward with a look of concern. I've offended her! But no... She murmurs that she misses them, her family, and my heart aches some for her. Not as powerfully as perhaps one with more connection to family would; but enough that I can sympathize, even just surface level.

    "I'm sorry," I offer lamely, not knowing whether to reach out and touch her or to just let her mourn on her own. I've always been clumsy when it comes to emotions, and with a perfect stranger, it's even worse. But I do smile at her in an attempt of comfort, nodding my head as if to say you got this! Because she does - she's here still, isn't she? She's got this, implicitly, through and through.

    As she collects herself, her eyes wander over my figure, to my wings and settling on my horn. I shiver under the scrutiny, but try to hide the shudder so as not to make her think I'm uncomfortable. I'm not, I'm just not used to be looked at like that. Still, my horn glows even brighter under the attention, and I smile at her question encouragingly.

    "There truly is, Kylin, I promise you that... You are one of the eldest dwellers of Ischia left, and if anyone has a claim to living here, it is you. The Brotherhood would be blessed to have one as loyal as you within its ranks..."



    @[Kylin]
    Reply
    #6
    As she breaks, he moves closer, like he wants to comfort her, but doesn’t know how to. The act alone makes Kylin smile weakly (due to the tears still pooling in her eyes), and in return she extends her neck to close a little more of the distance between them, an invitation to come closer. Oh, how much she longs for him to drape one of those golden wings across her back, and pull her in close. It would allow her to let her heart pretend, only for a short moment, that he is someone else. But he is not. And Klaudius isn’t here. And realising just that cause a couple of tears to roll down her cheek. So instead of wishing for his wings, Kylin offers Trekori her nose.

    “Thank you.. but.. but don’t be..” she murmurs softly, voice thick with emotion. It is followed by a quick shake of her dished head, her eyes closing as she wills the tears away. She does not want to be the sad lady dweller any longer. Kylin has enough of her tears, of her weak heart, even though it does not seem to be reigned or ruled. “They chose to leave.. not me.” In other words: it was all their mistake, not hers.

    Did she just imagine it or did his horn seem to glow a little brighter now, than before? Curiously Kylin blinks her hazel eyes, head tipping to the side ever so slightly, and she cannot stop the corners of her lips from curling up. What a sight! Amazing. But Trekori does not allow her to focus on it a little longer.

    The words settle in slowly, and all the time she is looking at him, but not really at the same time. Is it really true. Would they have her, simply because she has lived her long before them? That wouldn’t be a very solid foundation, would it? After all, her loyalty is to Ischia, and not the Brotherhood, or any other leadership – since her father and queen Ea. “I.. I really want to stay.. Trekori.. Ischia is my home.” Perhaps not the right reasoning to join the ranks, but if that would mean she could stay, well, it wasn’t a big sacrifice to make. And perhaps, in due time, she would feel at home within the Brotherhood too.

    Insecurity is all in her eyes as her eyes search his, tongue slipping past her lips to wet them, in a nervous gesture.


    @[Trekori]
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