"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
Momma had left him with his sister, she said she would return but he hasn't seen her since. Mary was nice, mostly, but she just let him do whatever he wanted. Sylva did not have any foals, so he got pretty bored playing with himself, Mary said the Pampas would have foals for him to meet and so the obvious choice was to find them.
Mary did not have time to show him to the Pampas, he tried his best to find his way and after what seemed like hours he thinks he stumbled on the right area. The green and white colt pranced around, finally excited to meet someone his own age. His sister told him that Loess and Sylva were friendly kingdoms and that he did not have to fear anyone.
He didn't have a reason to not trust her, he just hoped he would stumble upon someone his own age rather than an adult. Helloooooo he rang out, almost singing it, hoping another would hear his eager greeting an come out to play with him.
those bright crooked stars, man they're howlin’ out thought you read them all right, had them all figured out
He already hated it here. It looked nice, sure. The people weren't that great, though. People anywhere weren't really that great. The only ones he really seemed to care for were his twin, his mom, his sister. Fine, maybe his dad. Some. He was more attached to Brazen than he was to his father. She often seemed distracted though, and he began feeling like he might be smothering her. Like she might prefer space from him.
Maybe he was wrong.
There was a lot of green here, but a different shade caught his eye and he turned his head to look. Green and white and prancing a bit like he'd just been freed. Dagen didn't know the taste of freedom. Nor did he feel trapped. He was just here where his family was.
His mouth twisted in a grimace as the boy called out, and he resettled his wings along his back. Why should he bother to answer? He shouldn't. There wasn't much for him to do but watch over his sisters or see Dad looking so miserable, so he rolled his eyes and stood from his patch of shade. He sighed and walked into the sunlight, let it set fires across his skin the way that it tended to. Deep blue eyes held on the other boy and he made his leisure approach, stopping nearby.
"You weren't here before," he commented flatly. He'd seen others. He hadn't seen this one. Ugh, fine. He could be civil, he supposed. "My name is Dagen."
learned every constellation, just to find where you're at
@[Brazen] @[Briella] in case any sisters are near him <3
cold in the violence after the war hope is a fire to keep us warm
She’s not entirely certain she likes it here. Dad didn’t like it, that much is clear. And, well, if Dad doesn’t like it she’s not sure she should either. But she has Dagen here, and Lio is talking to her, so it’s really not that boring at least.
She’s been sticking close to Dad, but when Dagen decides to sneak off, of course she notices. She’d been distracted for only like, a minute when he wanders off. ’Wait! Where’d he go, Lio?’ As if her head friend would know that. But maybe he’d been paying more attention than she had been.
Honestly, it was really rude of him to go exploring without telling her. With a huff, she drops her nose to the dusty ground. Sniffs. Sneezes rather violently when the dust tickles her nose. With a scowl, she lifts her head again and looks around. ‘Maybe he went this way?’
It seems as good as any other, so she trots forward, determination fueling her buoyant step. Perhaps it was luck or that weird connection twins have, but somehow she had managed to go the right way. Moments later she tops a little hill and nearly stumbles right into him. “Dagen!” she yelps in mixed surprise and excitement. She’d done it though! ‘Lookit that Lio! Just like Dad!’
Suddenly remembering her irritation with him for disappearing on her, she butts his hip with her head. “You left me!’ she accuses, blue gaze glowering as she pushes forward. She can’t seem to hold onto her upset for long though, especially when she notices the boy who had apparently drawn Dagen’s attention. To show her forgiveness, she nips him affectionately on the shoulder before turning her attention to the green and white colt. Her eyes are bright with curiosity, ears perked sharply forward. The very opposite of her brother’s flat disinterest.
“I’m Brazen,” she adds in a chipper voice, lips stretching into a grin as she introduces herself without prompting. “Hi!”
He eagerly seeked out others, and hopefully they would be his age. He called out, why was no one responding? Mary said there was foals here!! He paces around, impatient, but just when he was about to give up and head back home some rustling in the foliage made his head turn.
A roan colt similar to his own age appears from hiding, he had wings that sat upon his back, the first he had ever seen in person. You weren't here before the colt states, Corban looks around nervously, how does he respond? My name is Dagen he says introducing himself. Just as Corban was going to respond another broke out from the foliage, this time a filly similar to his own age and matching Dagens looks minus the wings.
She yells out his name, excited to see him, but her attitude quickly shifts You left me! She yells out butting his hip, she finally seems to notice Corban but she seems much more interested and excited to see him than Dagen did. I' Brazen She introduces herself with a greeting.
This was were he was supposed to respond, but he does not know how to react, he has never been around other foals! He awkwardly glances between the two H..Hello, my name is Corban he says, finally mustering up the courage to respond. I live in Sylva, but there are no foals there...my sister told my some live here....and I guess they do! He perks up at the end of the conversation, he small tail shakes in excitement. Are you two related? He tilts his head, there resemblance is undeniable, they had to be siblings.
those bright crooked stars, man they're howlin’ out thought you read them all right, had them all figured out
"Dagen!"
He watched the boy a moment longer, suspecting he'd been about to say something and observing his reaction to Dagen's sister. Nothing alarmed him, so he turned his head to her.
"You left me!" she accused, headbutting his hip and glaring with those brilliant blue eyes of hers. He remained indifferent, watching as her wrath dissipated and she gave him a loving bite on his shoulder before turning her attention to the new boy. He reached out and brushed his muzzle against the muscle in her neck, absently listening to her introduce herself.
After the green boy spoke again, he finally allowed his attention to be pulled from her, standing at her side and looking nearly identical. "She's my sister," he offered the boy in answer, suspecting that he'd likely already come to the conclusion. He'd said he had a sister too, though, and Dagen glanced around for someone that looked as green and white as he.
"Where is yours?"
But he'd said something else that interested the red boy. "Sylva? Where is that?" Near enough for them to sneak away and explore, maybe? Surely, Dad wouldn't notice if they slipped away just for a minute, just to look. "We don't live here," he added evenly. Or at least, he didn't think they did. Dad wouldn't have moved them without bringing Mom too. Obviously, he would never allow that.
"We're here with our father. He doesn't want to be here, so I don't think we'll be staying." Because since when did Dad ever do something he didn't want to do?
learned every constellation, just to find where you're at
cold in the violence after the war hope is a fire to keep us warm
The green colt seems a little nervous at first. He doesn’t seem quite sure how to respond to their sudden appearance. Which is probably good since Brazen gets briefly distracted as she realizes Lio hadn’t responded to her yet. ‘Lio?’ She pokes a little, wondering why he was so quiet. He’s never quiet. After a moment, she can hear the faint whispers of his thoughts. Dreams. Oh. He’s sleeping. Well. She huffs a little at that, but the newly discovered colt stammering out an introduction pulls her from her disgruntled thoughts.
She straightens when he says he is from Sylva, her curiosity getting the better of her. She’d only ever been on the island and here. And Ischia, she supposes, but that hardly counts since they hadn’t gotten to spend any time there. “Sylva?” she asks, echoing her brother. Even Dagen seems a little interested by the thought of Sylva, which says something. She continues then, asking the things her brother hadn’t. “Is it close? Could we see it?”
She steps a little closer to Corban in her eagerness, blue eyes bright with a surprising intensity as she stares at him. Perhaps her enthusiasm could be a little intimidating, though she hasn’t quite realized that yet. Even so, she probably wouldn’t temper it even if she did know. She is a product of her parents, after all.
“Would your sister come with us?” she asks almost as an afterthought. She glances around briefly, but sees no one else. But who knows, maybe his sister is like Lio. Or maybe she is old. She probably wouldn’t want to come if she is old. Old people are no fun anway.
The colt, Dagen, appeared to have a much softer side with what appeared to be his sister. It made Corban's body relax, putting him at ease that they were not here to start trouble with him. After Brazen introduced herself and Corban mustered up the courage to respond, Dagen piped up again.
Sylva? Where is that? the colts green and white head tilted slightly, how did they not know about Sylva? Have they never left Pampas? Brazen was almost like an Echo, also questioning what exactly Sylva was, Is it close, can we see it? The spotted filly asks, stepping closer to Corban, her gaze made him uncomfortable, mainly because he didn't know how to react.
He chuckles in hopes they would detect his awkwardness, he slowly nods his head as his eyes shift between the two. Yes, Sylva is very close....our kingdoms are all tied together. He was curious how they did not know this, but his attention shifts back to Brazen as she inquires if his sister would come with them. A soft chuckle parts his lips, this time it was genuine, Mary? Well she is always in Sylva, she is older though....I think she is the Queen. He tilts his head, he never really questioned it, but he knew Sinner was the King, and she was always with him.
He shrug but his attention is shifted once more, this time back to Dagen. The colt mentions that they do not live in Pampas. His heart sunk slightly at the news, he hoped they would all be friends, but they don't even live here. A small sigh escaped his maw, his ears flicked towards Dagen as the colt went on, noting that they were here with there father, and that there father did not stay, so neither would they.
That is a shame... his gaze shifts to the ground, did you want to visit Sylva before you leave? His last attempt to spend more time with his new found friends. Equines are always changing there kingdoms, at least that is what Mary told him, so it did not come as much of a shock when they mentioned there father did not like it here. Should he ask why? How far should he dig into there reasonings?
those bright crooked stars, man they're howlin’ out thought you read them all right, had them all figured out
He was almost gentled with Brazen here, touching her lightly as she spoke to the boy and then pulling away easily as she slipped closer to question Corban about his homeland and his sister. His muzzle dragged along her as she stepped closer, and then he straightened and watched on in steady silence, eyes firmly on the green and white boy.
So Sylva was a kingdom nearby, and his sister was older and possibly ruling it. Odd that Corban wouldn't know for sure, but then maybe he simply hadn't questioned it. He seemed to handle Brazen's forward nature fairly smoothly, almost dismissing her intensity as if it were nothing new.
"That is a shame..." Corban told them, his eyes falling to the ground at his feet for a moment. "Did you want to visit Sylva before you leave?"
Dagen stepped forward so he could be at his sister's hip again, brushing his shoulder against her because it felt more comfortable to be closer to his twin. The breeze swept his red hair aside and he bent his head to nibble at her spine, nipping a little too hard because he was a boy and not aware of his own strength.
"We should stay here," he told Corban evenly, though a visit sounded fun and adventurous and he was so sure his sister would want to go. "We'll come visit another time though. But with Father probably leaving soon, we need to stay close so we don't get left behind." Mom would kill him if he left the twins behind after leaving them in his care.
"We could play here though? Unless you need to leave.."
learned every constellation, just to find where you're at
cold in the violence after the war hope is a fire to keep us warm
She stares at the green colt keenly, curious to hear his reply. It sounded like such a great adventure, this Sylva. Even though she knows nothing about it and has never seen it, she’s certain it would be quite fun. And it’s close too! According to Corban at least. And, well, he’s no bigger than they, so it must be closer than Ischia, because that had definitely not been close (truthfully it probably wasn’t that far, but to an easily bored young child, it had seemed to take forever).
She leans into Dagen almost unconsciously as he nibbles his way along her spine, barely noticing when he might nip a little too hard. It’s their language, after all.
When he mentions that he thinks his sister is the Queen, she perks up a little more, though her brow furrows faintly in confusion. Only might be Queen? That didn’t sound very promising. But it could be very interesting to meet a queen, even if she is only a might be queen. So when he asks if they would like to go, her head snaps up, a grin stealing almost instantly over her lips.
“Yes!” she exclaims, even as Dagen says they should stay here. She deflates a little at that, scowl replacing the smile as she turns her glare to Dagen. She sighs when Dagen continues, making far more sense than a colt his age should. But even she has to admit it would be foolish to leave the kingdom when they might leave at any time. Besides, she’s not so sure she wanted to see Momma truly mad. She could be intimidating even when she wasn’t.
Bumping into Dagen, she nips at his nose to make him hush. “Of course he can stay!” she declares rather boldly, uncaring that maybe he really did need to leave. Besides, why would his sister leave him here by himself if he couldn’t stay at least a little bit?
“What kind of games do you like?” she continues brightly, brushing off any protest that might have been made.
The sorrow in his eyes quickly faded as his gaze flicked to Brazen. She ecstatically said yes to visiting Sylva, his ears perked forward staring intently. His eyes shifting to Dagen as he speaks, noting a visit sounded nice but they should stay in Pampas.
He is slightly disappointed, but it may not be appropriate to take two children away from there kingdom with no notice. He promises a visit another time and he nods his head, fully expecting both of them to visit in a later time.
Dagen says they could play here, so long as he didn't have to leave. Of course he didn't have to leave, Mary would barely notice his lack of presence, he could be gone a week before she went looking. He opened his maw to respond but Brazen answered for him, Of course he can stay! She yells at her brother and a soft giggle escapes the green and white colt.
What kind of games do you like? she asks him and he tilts his head, not only has this never been an option for him, he has only played one other time. He met that dingo in the playground, they briefly played tag....but he didn't know the Pampas like they did... Uhh...I don't care, we can play tag? Or you can show me your home! he perks up once again, excitement ringing through his body at the idea of seeing more of there kingdom.
