"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
Golden eyes watching our every move Losing time without the sun or moon
He is exhausted, mentally and physically. But he had kept his promise. A promise made to his sister in desperation, but still he had seen it through. And that oath had not been kind to him.
When finally his powers had returned to him, bleeding black through his limbs, he had felt an immense sense of relief. He had not known before just how much a part of him those shadows had become. Just how integral to his identity they are. And he welcomes them with open arms, letting the blue and white be swallowed by black, clinging pitch.
He is weary though, even now. And it takes him time to rebuild his strength.
When finally he does, he gathers Briella with a tired smile. “It is time to go home now,” he whispers. He calls it home, but it is only a semblance of such. His home will always be the shadows. She could hardly consider a place she had never been home. But it contains his family, and it contains her family. So perhaps home is truly what it is.
He carries them through the shadows, his strength eaten away by illness and over use. Perhaps it takes longer than it normally might have to find the correct place, but eventually he parts those dark curtains to reveal the tropical paradise they had made theirs. His portal brings them to the densest part of the palmy wood, long leaves masking the sunlight shining from above. It is too bright still, but here at least the light does not burn.
He steps onto the sandy beach, turning yellow eyes to peer at the little chestnut filly. Exhaustion etches every line of his dark body, and he does not even have the strength to call those shadows back. Instead he touches her thin neck gently, in the familiar manner their journey together inspired. A way to say she is safe now. And then he turns and finds the darkest corner of the wood beneath a massive palm frond and curls beneath it.
He had done his duty. He had seen her safe. Now he would rest.
your eyes are lined in pain, black tears don't hide in rain
She had met him powerless, without shadow and without a veil: naked and vulnerable just as she was… a creature of dark fur and spattered roaning, of sickly form and figure. Ether had talked of Heartfire, of Dovev- of the others that she recognized as family; but even when he spoke of them, she could not deviate her mind from task: and she had continue. Yet? The mountain and the fairies have ended for now… the cold water no longer soaking her skin and the heart-shaped pond was a memory… both journeys to and from. Ether presented a new challenge to her when the shadows enveloped and covered him, as the darkness returned and he grew wrapped and encompassed in it: in all the black and endless penumbra.
Briella, for all her bravery, fears this… and the inky tendrils do not bode well when suddenly they are seeking to wrap and touch- to take her through and into them.
She screams.
Not wailing misery but panic, terror and true fear: her small body practically skittering suddenly as she bucks and turns- shoots away from him and back towards the Fairies- calling out and begging for them to help.
The darkness is the only thing in the world she hates, and Ether is shrouded in it.
Tired as she is what little energy she has goes into trying to hide herself, trying to shove herself into the thin and almost impossibly narrow entrance of a rock cavern: the bones of her hips just barely making it inside; but fortunately, or unfortunately, she is so sick that barely any fat coats her body and she is able to get in. Able to turn well enough Briella backs herself in and tries to get as low as she can- tries to hide away from the creature whose body seems neither solid nor real.
He promises family, speaks in a way that she recognizes as Heartfire’s accent, and yet she terrified of the grasping darkness and all its inky form. In contradiction, however, she realizes the cavern is dark: she realizes that she has lodged herself in the very black she sought to avoid and frets so desperately as she wiggles free.
In her mind she misses the large silvery Leopard Seal, the battered penguins and how it waited for her as if it knew she would be back. That Seal, she thinks, could easily bite away these shadows.
Home is not what makes her reconsider, instead it is the memory of how he followed her- how he trailed behind and with her: never letting her go far out of sight and how he seemed to console her even with nightmare and exhaustion. Tentative and slow she wanders closer, eyeing the bleak shadows and their master, timidly walking into them with an extension of trust shown.
She recalls the void, the end- the bitter silence and darkness, the expanse of lightless regions she had been trapped in for years. “Please… don’t leave me here.” she whines, walking beside and with: traversing the darkness and guided entirely by Ether.
When the darkness pries itself open she sees the edges of plants she does not recognize, and she hears the serene waves battering the sand and lazy in their ebb and flow. Her eyes widen and for a moment she recognizes that she is not as cold as she had been: that here there is a slight warmth to the breeze and the salty tang in the air is near impossible to miss. “This isn’t home?” she questions- looking back and stepping around the darkness.
Call it luck, or call it bizarre coincidence but something catches her eye: a brown hairy lump on the ground that seems to have fallen from a tree. Curious she approaches it, almost forgetting about Ether and the conundrum of home: her teeth gnawing at the husk and hoof kicking it about the ground as she notes the way it rolls. Her attention of course, does come back and she promptly drags the nut back to Ether- staring at him, tiny ears swiveling and eyes widen.
“Wher go m’home now?” she mangles her words: mouth full.
By the end of day one, he'd been beside himself. By the end of an entire whole second day, he'd been frantic. So it would be no surprise that when he sensed the shadow magic near, his own tugging him toward it, he stopped whatever he had been doing and bolted.
He wasn't even sure how far or near he'd been. Time seemed to stop, his mind numb, until he was there. He was still a little boy but older now, not quite old enough to be a teenager. Not quite old enough not to cry openly either, and tears streamed down his face, his expression broken as he saw Ether lying on the ground in what shade he'd been able to find.
Cimmerian didn't even notice the girl, just a passing sensation of some other presence nearby. All of his attention was on Ether as he threw himself down next to him and buried against him with a soft sob. "Ether!" he whispered, scrubbing his tears against him.
He still wasn't aware of his magic, but it leaked out of his skin, stretching to blanket around his shadow-soul. Once it had covered him, it unloaded, pouring darkness into him as deep as it could reach as if it could fill him up. The drain of it pulled on Merry's energy, and his crying slowly grew quiet. His senses dulled and he blinked, lifting his dark head and peering around at the girl he finally noticed.
A small frown wrinkled his young brows. He hadn't seen her before. She didn't look like the family. His head tilted, then drifted down, down, and his eyelids slid closed all on their own, he was sure of it. He could only manage a breathy whisper before his body sagged.
Golden eyes watching our every move Losing time without the sun or moon
She is terrified of the dark, an odd thing for a creature who had always so easily embraced it. But he has developed patience over his long years alone, and waiting for her to overcome her fears and recognize the trust they had built these last days is no hardship for him. When finally she acquiesces with a fearful plea not to leave her behind, he keeps her close until that veil is parted to reveal the brightness of the tropical island.
She is immediately distracted by the new wonders this place holds, giving Ether the opportunity to curl into deepest shadow he can find. Moments later, however, a black and white blur has flung itself directly into his embrace. Surprise is quickly replaced by a warm hum of recognition, delight bubbling in his veins followed swiftly by concern as the sobs register.
As he pulls little Merry closer, he realizes the boy could not have possibly known what had become of him, stirring clinging tendrils of guilt to life within his breast. He had not meant to make Merry fear for him.
Pressing a tender kiss to the top of the black and white colt’s head, he closes his eyes, exhaling deeply as the world darkens around him. For a long moment, he simply exists, holding Merry close in his embrace, allowing the relief of the darkness to wash over him. Only when the sound of footsteps nearing reaches his ears does he open his golden eyes to peer at little Briella as she returns.
He offers her a faint smile, eyeing the coconut held in her mouth with mild curiosity. He can barely make out the words she mumbles past the hairy fruit, but he blinks when understanding registers. Of course she would not know this is home now. Would not know this is where her family had come when she had slipped away from them on the isle.
“We are home,” he answers softly. “Heartfire is here. And… Dovev.” He frowns at the name. He doesn’t know the man, but Briella felt strongly for him he had learned, though as far as he can tell they are unrelated. Those curiosities are for another time, however. And as Merry’s sudden trailing question, distracts him, he focuses worriedly on the boy as he slumps against him.
11-20-2018, 11:28 PM (This post was last modified: 11-20-2018, 11:28 PM by Briella.)
Briella
your eyes are lined in pain, black tears don't hide in rain
She cannot, as they do, feel the movement in the shadows: feel the pull and the tension- the fluidlike sensation that oppresses and flood everything. Therefore she cannot, at first, understand how or where Cimmerian has come to be and she can only find herself blinking with wide eyes and ears forward at the strange colt. Reason tells her that he is similar to Ether, to Heartfire; but she cannot know for certain and instead Briella is left to drop the very large coconut and turn her head down as it loudly ‘thunks’ in the air against sand and rock. Tentative she presses a hoof and kicks at it enough to force it forward; but acquiesces to the former situation- the strange boy.
“Magic…” she thinks, speaks softly- and for a moment she forgets that there is something growing in her… something new, a gift. Forget she does not, and rather suddenly the weanling darts to the side- boldly dives into brush and darkness before returning some minutes later with a brittle… icy leaf.
Suddenly, the world around them changes.
The air grows thick and cold, bitter: the leaf in her mouth crackling and slowly turning into little more than frost that fades. Yet, the change- the reaction, it comes to fruition when her body begins to steady and from the slightest pulse of cold and winter: the bloodied wounds on her legs are gone… the blood washed away and no scar left behind.
Instead there is something of a horrendous reality: where the wounds once existed now there was perfectly healed skin and bone- younger and softer… flawless.
This makes her tilt her head, those dark hazel eyes staring at Cimmerian and Ether, her ears flickering and swiveling as she snorts and shivers- the cold slowly dying down. “Dovev.” she confirms, looking around curiously and with sudden attention: sniffling and rifling through leaf and brush before trekking back an staring at the shadowy pair. “Heartfire.” more names, and its with this that Briella begins to recall her vision and memories: the terrors the ice had brought forth and truths in her mind.
“I have magic, but,” and she pauses to consider her words. “I don’t need magic to fix this: it helps, but- we have to have hope too. Yeah.” the latter is met with a sigh and she glances around, looking at the coconut and its bizarre mysteries.
As if eager to continue whatever study she had- she kicks the brown nut very hard and suddenly- sending it into rocks with a snapping and pop- and after a short jog she retrieves the two halves and chews idly… aware of the new taste and feeling on her tongue. “Okay, this is good. Yeah, eat-able.”
He was held and it was so right. This embrace made him feel whole again, being here with Ether. He could take deeper breaths, could sink into the shadows that were so a part of them. This was home, with Momma and Ether. Maybe his attachment was too strong, though. Maybe he shouldn't have worried so deeply, or ached so completely. But how could he not?
Curled up tight against his shadow-soul, he peeked his eyes open at the girl. She darted away so quickly, her energy level so bright like lightning. Then she returned with a frosty-coated leaf. He frowned and looked up to Ether for an answer.
Everything got colder though, and his worried gaze turned to her again. Winter found its way to this summer island all around her, covering her and making her whole again. Somehow she seemed to heal herself with this frost and ice, and his faded blue eyes slowly grew more interested. She did have a magic! A good one.
He shifted a little against Ether, unwilling to leave his side but turning so he could see the girl better. Hope, she said. They should hope.
"Momma hopes," he offered in a soft murmur. He glanced up at Ether and back again. "Momma hopes with her light. So much that it leaves her." His voice fell and his eyes darkened with sadness. He hoped, too. He hoped her light would return to her and make her whole again. Make her happy again.
The girl kicked at the coconut again, sending it forward hard enough to bust open on a rock. He jerked with a soft startle, burying in closer to Ether and peering out with one blue eye.
Golden eyes watching our every move Losing time without the sun or moon
He had so rarely considered the wonders that they call magic, truth be told. To him, magic had always been the norm, and so those without it seem vastly more intriguing. He had always had the shadows, ever since he was a child. And those he had known had always boasted one thing or another, something that made them different and powerful. Even the disastrous events that had turned his life upside down (stealing him from all he’d known and enveloping him in a world of madness and monsters) had been filled with magic. Still, it is with curious eyes that he watches their discussion.
The girl darts away suddenly, returning with an ice-coated leaf. That ice expands, crawling over the filly’s battered skin before melting away, leaving only uninjured flesh in its wake. A shiver shudders along Ether’s spine as he watches, yellow eyes intent. When they’d ended on that icy isle, he’d been as battered as she. But the shadows had swallowed him once again, leaving him mostly whole, except for the weakness that had settled into his bones and the rattle that refused to leave his chest (though he does not require breath, one can hear it in the brief inhale and exhale required for speech).
Merry too seems to grow curious next him, shifting so that he might more easily peer at Briella. But there is a sadness coloring his words when he responds. Though Ether had noticed the heavy emotions dwelling in his sister’s eyes in the brief time they’d spent together, he had not pried. Merry too, had noticed it seems, even as young as he is. There must be much more to this story than he might have guessed.
He does not say anything however, instead merely pressing his muzzle comfortingly against Merry’s neck.
When Briella kick’s the coconut, harder this time, enough to break it against a rock, it startles Merry. He presses closer once more, burying himself against the darkness of Ether’s larger frame. Ether blinks at the wayward girl with mild bafflement. After a moment, he nudges Merry reassuringly, lipping the stray strands of his dark mane as though to say he needn’t fear.
His gaze turns curiously back to the little chestnut filly as she tastes the pale meat of the fruit, yellow eyes beginning to droop faintly with his weariness. A part of him wonders if he should prevent her from eating unknown substances. The coconut looks edible enough however. Though, as a creature who no longer gains sustenance from food, he supposes he isn’t the best judge of such things. Still, Briella has her magic if she needs it, and Ether is far more interested in sleep at this particular moment. “You should rest, Briella,” he suggests instead. “We have had a long journey.”
11-29-2018, 02:34 AM (This post was last modified: 11-29-2018, 02:48 AM by Briella.)
Briella
your eyes are lined in pain, black tears don't hide in rain
He speaks of rest, and Merry demonstrates an excitement for her abilities that Briella is unfamiliar with: still her focus lays on the strange food- the sweet but oily interior and all the flavor it presents. Hunger wracks her stomach, and she listens: but lifts her head to slowly stalk forward towards Cimmerian and Ether. They wrap around one another like serpents, like wolves, and like great cats: skin to skin and shadow to shadow- their darkness one in the same and perhaps in a way she is envious; but only of their companionship.
Without explaining what she seeks to do: Briella closes her pale blue eyes, focuses and thinks- allows the glimmering ice in her mane and the frost on her body to suddenly sparkle and glow. The air around her is a vacuum that removes all heat and warmth, and her breath becomes a steamy cloud that billows around her face. At her feet ice itself grows from the sudden draining of energy and as she opens her eyes, Briella steps forward with grace and newfound energy.
Rather than draw back from the darkness she seizes an chance to press her nose against Ether: focusing and fixating as she tries to press the very frigid power into the darkness. Across his skin and through her body- without remorse or hesitation. “I’m going to find a way.” she states, calm and cold- detached from emotion and somehow older; but in an imperceptible way.
Ether’s form is still there but, when she steps back she looks to him and Merry with her ears pressing back as if to observe the reaction. “I asked the Fairies for help, for a way to help people- this is what I was given, and more than ever I know I have to do this. I can’t lose anyone, no one, I watched the Valley and the Chamber crumble into ash and the people I cared for all went into darkness. I’ve spent years, hundreds of years, trapped; but I can help now.”
Pleading in a way, she takes a breath, looking around. “You rest, I’ll go find Dovev.” she sighs, mulling over the moment.
@[Ether] @[Cimmerian] @[Officials]
She tried healing Ether of the Plague.
![[Image: Leah.png]](http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l113/jack212_2006/Leah.png)