"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
Her twins are growing, but not so rapidly that Adria can’t hold them close at night and ruffle their manes or get high-pitched I love you’s out of them. Even Luath, her kelpie boy, is still game for calling her ‘ma’ and coming up to shore every night, though she feels that connection growing farther and farther out with each day. He’s much happier when he can spend time with Eva off exploring, and Adria isn’t so foolish to try and keep him grounded.
Not when she has Ionia.
Sweet Ionia, her blue girl that breathes fire.
Ionia who still couldn’t seem to master swimming, but tried because she knew it would please Adria.
Sighing, the Nereid mare had left her twins to their own devices today, fully expecting their guardian father Brennen to keep an eye on them. She and the bay stallion hadn’t grown much closer (as she predicted) but that devolution of affection didn’t necessarily bother her all that much. They loved their children, which was more than she could hope for in this day and age.
She knew, as she swam through the warm summer currents between Ischia and Tephra, that having a relationship like her parent’s was a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing. A lifetime that had belonged to her mother, not her.
So she admired the way Leliana was healing the great kingdom from below the waves, and came to rise from the water and pull herself up onto shore just as the dawn was turning to midday. Not particularly in search of anything or anyone, the seamare wandered through lush flowers and felt her hooves sink into the dark soil underneath as she went. Her scales began to dry in time, fading away to regular fur and her long mane and tail fluttered out from the touching caress of a passing breeze.
Stopping, she turned back to glance at the imposing shadow of the still-smoking Volcano, and that’s when she saw someone - someone unfamiliar - approaching.
Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me
Jakub had watched from a distance as a red figure pulled itself out of the water, seeming to continue on exploring the land. As she went her body shifted under the gentle touch of the tropic air. His ears swiveled in curiosity, following the mare for a moment before deciding it was his duty to welcome the strange horse.
He turned his body away from the oceans salty touch to follow the mare farther inland, his black, sweat beaded body contrasting delightfully against the white, floral covered ground. Leliana's blooms tickled his legs as he went and he was grateful for it because his home was starting to flourish under her touch. Though some places were never touched by the war, a vast majority still suffered under the hardened lava and the volcanoes ashened touch.
Jakub was careful to avoid crushing any of the delicately placed flowers as he closed the distance between himself and the red, sandy mare. Hello, a friendly smile painted his black face, blue eyes laced with curiosity, what brings you from the oceans cooling touch to Tephra on this hot summers day? he said, unsure if this particular mare was a friend of Tephras but knowing from her scent that she was not from the few lands he had visited so far.
Tephra’s activity of late would mean that Adria’s presence couldn’t go unchecked for long. She couldn’t just crawl out from the comfort of the water and hope to be left alone, not after the war and the tension it left behind. So when she spies Jakub approaching her and notices the faint concern around his bright blue eyes, the nereid mare stops and lets him approach. There was very little for her to be worried about. Her home, a herdland under Tephra’s protection, was given over to her via Leliana’s blessing.
She had just as much right to be here as the black stallion did.
“I was hoping to find some company.” The little sea mare replied, shifting around to take a full look at who it was that questioned her intentions. Jakub was young, that much was evident. Pride gave him a robust sense of duty and youthful vigor lent him a charming appearance. Adria’s eyes roamed boldly over the line of his smiling mouth and around to the narrow line of his dark chest. He was tall for his age, whoever he was. “But company seems to have found me.”
The smile she gives in return is luminous and attractive.
“There’s no need for suspicion.” She tells him, rolling her vowels in a heavy accent. Her native language was coming stronger these days, now that everyone she lived with spoke it proudly. Even Brennen - her mate last season - seemed to speak it flawlessly. “I come from Ischia. We are a quiet place, but loyal to Leliana and Tephra.”
The flowers at their heels sway gently when Adria steps through them to inch closer to Jakub. Her feet are small and delicate, easily able to push their way through the growth without breaking the stems. With a heavy forelock drifting casually across her face and honey-gold eyes, she leaned her head out towards him and offered her white-speckled nose. “My name is Adria. And you are?”
Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me
Loyal to Leliana and Tephra, she says. Good, he thinks, because this woman is captivating and he'd hate for her to be any enemy. He watches patiently as her eyes trail his body, her golden gaze stirring his nerves slightly in a most pleasant way.
He appreciated the way her coat was interrupted with patches of white. Her petite stature, and delicate curves stirred a need to protect with in Jakub, but something told him that this woman of sea and land didn't much need his protection.
His ears perked with curiosity as she moved closer to greet him her voice seemed to play a tune of it's own, laced with a mesmerizing accent he had not heard before. Her body seemed to float in delicacy over the new blooms, leaving a minute trace of her existence.
Jakub offered his obsidian nose in turn, breathing her in. The scent of sea salt and flowers rolled from her, he would place her in a special place in his memory. Adria, of Ischia
Adria.. that is a beautiful name he said his voice deep but smooth, not yet roughened with age. I am Jakub, Alpha of Tephra. he replied, softly breathing his sulfuric Tephra scent into her, laced with sweat and determination. It is a pleasure to meet you he added his midnight eyes twinkling in her golden ones.
I am sorry for being suspicious, not long ago visitors for Tephra did not end well. he said pulling back and glancing around his home, a soft sadness caressing his voice. I am glad this time is going much smoother. he said a boyish grin on his face as his attention turned back to the red, sandy mare. Adria
Clashing into one another, the black of Jakub’s nose and the bright red of Adria’s make an uncommon but appealing contrast. She notes that he smells earthy and mostly masculine, and that she was correct in her assumption of his age. It didn’t bother her - outward appearances hardly did - but she liked the way he kind of smelled ashy and sulfuric. Both were agreeable to the Ischian mare.
His eyes were agreeable as well, their potent stare causing her to tilt her head mischievously when they drank up the sight of her. Ever since she was born other horses had been prone to staring at her, staring at her mother, and staring at Eva the way Jakub was looking at her now. Her powers simply demanded that for some reason or another she and her kind would be attractive to both sexes.
The Kelpie could hypnotize but the Nereid didn’t need such skills: for a kiss or two they could lure hopeless lovers into their watery arms.
“Apology accepted, Jakub.” She laughed gently, retracting her head as he glanced off into the area surrounding them. Tephra itself was a Jungle of sorts, humid and covered with thick trees, but there was never any chance of missing the spot where the Volcano lay dormant from her previous eruption. “After all… you’re just doing your job.” Adria grinned playfully, flicking her impossibly long tail aside in a curtain of sand-colored hair.
“Would it be alright if we distracted each other for a little while?” She questioned him, edging closer to the black horse and swinging around so that they could stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Now they looked like a proper pair. Like they belonged together. “I would love to see more of Tephra, and you seem to be the perfect type of guide.”
Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me
06-20-2019, 02:15 PM (This post was last modified: 06-20-2019, 02:17 PM by Jakub.)
He watched her move, it wasn't a sight hed tire of any time soon that was for sure, and fell in beside her as her shoulder touched his. In fact I was doing my job, but I still feel like I need to make up for it. he said with a sheepish grin.
Jakub ducked his head to the ground pulling a single, large petaled flower from the earth. It was pink and red filtering into each other, with yellow, sandy stamen protruding alongside the contrasting green pistil.
He tucked the large hibiscus into her long sandy mane. I'd be honored to show you around, what would the lady like to see first? he asked.
In tandem, the pair silently regard each other with hesitance. Adria’s reservations about the stallion stem from curiosity: who was the boy behind the iron mask? A warrior no doubt. Loyal and bold, certainly. But who was Jakub?
She thinks part of the answer is revealed when he lowers his mouth to the earth and plucks one large flower for her, gently (despite his size and strength) maneuvering to place the object into the thick folds of her tan mane. When he leans in, Adria lowers her mouth and brushes a soft, demure kiss into the topside of his bent neck. A small thank you for his gentleman-like nature.
He’s nearly everything she dreamed of in a suitor when she’d been just a young girl adventuring around Beqanna.
“Your lady would like to see the volcano close up, if that’s possible.” Adria smiled as he leaned away. A flutter of birds gave them soft background music as they began to walk, and the faint swish swish of the Nereid’s long tail kept time to their steps. “Have you been there before?” She wondered, glancing across his withers and noticing the large scar that covered his spine, “Did that injury happen in the war?” The little mare asked him shyly.
Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me
The way she gently kisses his neck in appreciation pulls a gentle smile to his lips and a gleam to his eyes. Her touch did something to him that he couldn't quite pin. His heart seemed to beat an extra beat when she smiled in his direction and his nerves seemed to jump in utter amusement when her eyes locked to his.
When she referred to herself as his lady, it didn't matter in what context she was referring. He found an odd pleasure in thinking she was his to escort through Tephra and anywhere else in Beqanna. If Jakub wasn't so dark, she'd surely see the color pour to his cheeks as the thought crept across his mind.
She told him she wanted to see the volcano up close if that was possible. Asked if he had ever been, and if the scars that looked as if they gripped his back were from the war. If it had been anyone else Jakub probably would have avoided such questions. The war and his failure that night, though it had been months since it's happening, still clung freshly in his mind.
Jakub turned to look towards the volcano. It was hard to miss, the heart of Tephra herself, it stood dormant framed by the vast array of palms and trees they found themselves in now. This part had been untouched by the volcano's magma and the dragon's fire, but the places such as these were far and few between.
The volcano it is. he said as they began to walk out and away from the Tephra that used to be and should still be. As they walked side by side, her vibrancy to his simplicity he began to open up, his voice quiet and deep.I was here when the war started, when the dragons dropped from the sky. There was not much I could do. I tried to gather the young, the weak, and the defenseless to the oceans edge in hopes that the fire would not reach them.
Jakub turned his vision towards the distant shores and his face settled into that night, for a moment it reflected the fear, anger, and confusion of those first few moments. He glanced to Adria, and the simple task of looking into her golden eyes and tracing the white markings of her face, began to settle him. He cleared his throat and continued There was a pegasus who attempted to attack those I had gathered. I tried to intervene. He was not one to brag or try to impress others in his successes or failures as so he refrained from telling her how he had tried to stand up to the pegasus to save the lives of others, or how he had almost died. The only reason he was here talking to her right now was because of the healing bear. I am grateful for those who stood up and helped those who didn't have a chance. A healing bear came to my aid before I went to the volcano. There wasn't much I could do before she erupted but she made sure to let me know I had been lucky to fall away into Leliana's portal that night. he said turning his head to inspect the almost hand print like mark splayed across his back. His attention was soon pulled away by Adrias petite frame. He wanted to get to know the strong woman he suspected her to be beneath her delicate facade.
By the time he had told his story and answered her questions he had realized that the ground they now stood on, half way between where they began and where they were going, was the charred, ashed earth left over from the war. Leliana's flowers and foliage were making their presence known but it was a visual reminder of the loss of that night.
His voice grew louder and lighter, pulling away from the gloom and doom of his words and their surroundings Enough about me. he said with a gentle grin. What about you? Were you here for the war? he was curious of Ischia, but figured they had plenty of time to talk of her homeland later. I don't think I would have forgotten you if I had seen you, even amongst the chaos. You're face would not be easily forgotten. he added his eyes flicking from her to the ground and back, something about her made the words tumble from his mouth, that he would otherwise never say outloud.
JAKUB
and out he came, holding his brothers heel
@[Adria] short... long... you get both from Jakub (: lol
All types of magic cane be found in Beqanna. Some horses have stronger talent than others. Some are elementals like herself, and some deal in shadows and sin. Adria had been taught from a young age that magic here could splinter and re-shape itself. There was virtually a limitless amount of ways it could transform and change the person it infected. She knows that there are mind readers out there, and for the very first time in her life she wishes she could read Jakub’s mind.
He agrees to take her where she wants to go, but when he looks away it’s obvious to her that so much more goes unsaid.
But the Nereid appreciates him indulging her anyways, so she stays close by while they walk. Personally she feels comfortable with the black stranger. Her state of mind is at ease, her shoulder lightly brushing against his own when the path narrows around a bend or forces them closer together. She looks around at the tangle of jungle and delights in the myriad colors that Leliana has used to paint her flowers. Everything here seems to fight against the destruction that had come close to tearing apart.
When her companion begins to talk though, Adria forgets entirely about sightseeing and focuses on his warm, open expression instead. Her senses are lulled by the sound of his pleasant voice; the world around them melts into a blur because Jakub takes her away from it all and transports her, through his descriptions, to that dreadful evening.
She can clearly picture him crashing through the surf as the chaos went on in the background, trying his best to guard those less fortunate. Inside of her chest, the bright vermilion mare can feel her heart begin to constrict against her will. She’s usually not so taken by first appearances but somehow Jakub keeps drawing her closer. When he tells her about the pegasus Adria is leaning in towards him, her nose inches away from his face and her full, round eyes turned up to gaze at him totally fixed.
They both tilt their heads to look at the marking, and that’s when Adria notices how far they’ve come.
“Oh, I was nearby.” She tells him in good humor, stepping away from his side and immediately feeling a bit colder because of it. She was in a daze before, now she needed to clear her head, get his wild blue eyes out of her mind and the soft, inviting smell of his skin out of her nose for a minute. “Ironically I helped a few of the horses you gathered from Tephra and transported them safely to Ischia. It was the least I could do… ”
Suddenly, she looked away from the nearly bare earth and back to him. The volcano’s rocky base rose up behind her and made her skin stand out. “I can’t speak for your thoughts, but what you did that night was incredibly brave Jakub. That kind of power - the power to have good win out over evil - is stronger than any magic ever could be.” She gasped passionately.
The little mare slunk back to him, feeling as if she could hardly contain herself from wanting to hold him close to her. Her head bent out, searching, but she pulled it back as if doubting herself and her actions. “I wouldn’t have forgotten you either.” The water mare smiled, a bit bashful. “But I’m pretty glad we’ve met each other now, aren’t you?”
Smoldering, the honey-gold color of her eyes rose and fell into the watery blue of his. Adria stepped closer. Her voice, which had been confident before, sounded borderline seductive when she asked, “Is there anywhere else you’d like to take me? Some place that you consider your own personal hideaway?”
Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me
The way she stuck close to him, her attention shifting from their surroundings to him and only him set his nerves on fire in the best possible way. When her face lingered close to his he couldn't help but soak her in. She made him feel soft almost. Her golden eyes seemed to break down his roughed edges, that had formed over the last year.
Jakub had never spent alot of time thinking about women. Before Beqanna he had struggled with his father, always trying to please and always falling short. He was to young to care about such things.
Since arriving in Beqanna he had had goals of becoming someone who was worthy to lead. Magnus had told him in order to lead you need to learn to serve and so his goals had moved to serving Tephra and his Queen.
But this woman walking beside him sparked an emotion he had not quite felt yet. She made him feel like smiling for no reason other than for the fact that she was looking at him. Her petite body moved in fluid, soothing motions beside his. Every brief touch shared between them set the silver and bright blue flecks in his dark midnight eyes in motion and set his heart beating quicker then normal.
Jakub's ears perked as she moved away from him and talked about how she transported the group of horses on the beach to Ischia. He watched as she closed the space once again but pulled back slightly as if unsure. He dipped his head slightly towards her, almost closing the space she had made between them. The lights and darks of his eyes moved in tandem with the golds of hers in amusement and delight Well, how ironic that even before we met we worked well together. Nothing makes me more happy in this moment than the fact that I got to meet you. he teased with a smile. I am glad we were both there to help. This land is so diverse in traits, gifts and curses alike.
Jakub tilted his head up looking towards the volcanoes peek as she asks about a spot that is his, a hide away. I want to be able to protect to the best of my abilities, against those who chose to use their abilities to hurt. His attention moves to hers again when he finally decides that he wanted, with every once of his being, to show her his place. There is a place I go to think on things, a place practically untouched by the volcano. I think you'd really enjoy it.
He turned leading them along the base of the volcano east towards the border of Taiga. Jakub had found his spot next to her again, realizing how perfectly she fit next to him. For the first time in months did his plans falter in his mind. Soon he would return to the mountain and receive a gift of his own. He knew it would change him, in what ways he did not know, but he hoped that when the time came Adria would fit along side of him just as perfectly. He hoped for the first time in his life for the approval of a woman and not a "father".
Tell me about Ishcia? his said turning his head to look down at Adria. He found himself wanting to watch her golden eyes sparkle as she talked of her homeland, and he didn't mind at all to watch the way her lips moved as she spoke. One day he would feel those lips against his.
