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  • Beqanna

    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


    [open]  From the ashes a fire shall be woken; Pteron, any
    #1

    Aodhán
    little fire
    All that is gold does not glitter; not all who wander are lost
    The moment Pteron dares him for a race, the spotted baroque male’s mind already picks a familiar form. It was just a few months ago that he’d chosen the cheetah to tackle his yearling son, and he doesn’t think long before his legs become more muscled, his body elongated for a sprint. Pteron takes flight, but the pegasus needs to exit the trees first, and by the time he’s reached the tree’s crowns, Aodhán-the-cheetah, white and marked with golden flecks, is already racing straight through Loess and nearing the Sylvan border, as the three lands aren’t very far apart.

    But the shifter isn’t planning on sifting through the trees. Mid-jump, he gains wings, climbing up in the free air before the treeline, and soon the eagle races the pegasus.

    However, the shifter is kind of a cheater. He only uses the eagle’s strength and cheetah’s momentum for the climb; a peregrine falcon is then gaining on the winged horse and a small wren nestles himself in the ice-coloured male’s mane for the long ride. ”Gotcha” he chirps.

    Aodhán rides his friend’s mane easily, until they start the descent. From there, he changes form and the falcon dives, to land roughly on the beach.

    A colour change follows until he matches the parrots on the beach, as this talks easier. ”I think I smell something bad here, do you?” he turns to the pegasus, his colourful head tilted and his emerald eyes blinking innocently.


    @[Pteron]
    @[Eva] @[Aquaria] @[Adria] they’re here to see the nereids, so join in if you want
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    #2
    finger trips across my cheek----------------
    ----------------kiss me until i can't speak

    Pteron loses sight of Aodhan as soon as he takes off, though the streaking golden shape that he’d seen from the corner of his eye suggests that his companion will be taking an alternate route. The thrill of flight sends a shiver down his blue spine, as does the pull and strain of his wing beats as he quickly gains altitude. The clearing where dragon-Aodhan had landed makes for easy take-off; far better than if he’d been in the heart of the woods.

    An eagle joins him just after he crosses the Sylvan border, soaring up from the earth and toward him in a way that makes him suspect it might be Aodhan in another form. Pteron is sure of that when the eagle becomes a falcon, one that catches up with him easily, and then transforms into a little bird that tucks itself into his mane. Pteron laughs, though the sound is carried away by the whipping wind, and is still laughing when he touches down in the soft white sand beside the parrot that is Aodhan.

    “I do,” he chuckles, using one front hoof to playfully toss a light shower of sand in the birds’ direction as he teases, “A cheater!”

    The beach where they’d landed is not one that Pteron has been to before. He usually circles overhead until he finds Aquaria, and it is almost odd to stand on the white shore and not have her in sight. The nereids keep close watch on their shores though, and the tobiano stallion is sure that they will not be alone for long. In the meantime, he glances back toward the emerald green bird, and asks with a gleam in his olive eye and mock sobriety in his voice:

    “Is that the shape you wore when you wooed Eva?” He grins, adding with false concern“What would that make your children? Puffins? Seagulls?”

    @[Aodhan]

    -- pteron --

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    #3
    The deep blue sea, it filled her. Warm and bright, it was home. Aquaria's shell white hooves sank into the sand at her feet, mane and tail fins drifting in the lazy current. She paced through the shallows with eyes wide, scanning the rippling sand for treasures. Broken shells and sand smoothed stones dotted the white expanse, bits of seaweed floated past her nose. 

    Aquaria's jewel bright eyes lit on her treasure, a perfect striped crown conch half buried. She nosed it gently free, clasped it between her teeth with utmost care. A cheerful burst of bubbles jetted from her nostrils, the aquatic version of laughter. Her dancing gait increased in speed, pushed along by the water until her head broke the surface. One long fin clung to the side of her face as the nereid flowed onto the beach. 

    With a flick of her head, she spun the weighty shell into the air and caught it again. Salty liquid coated her tongue as she carried her prize up the shoreline, tail a jaunty banner streaming in the air behind her. The translucency of her mane obscured her vision as she waltzed up the beach. Waltzed right past the stallion and parrot chatting together. 

    She would take her new shell, add it to the growing collection she had secreted away in a little cove by the tide pools. They were arranged in intricate mandalas, scallops and mussels shining alongside bits of coral and pearls. Her treasure was her ever changing artwork. She had made it several meters away before the voices sank in and drew her mind away from the plans that swirled within. Those were voices she knew. 

    Her feet spun her around, surprised. The conch fell from her lips to land between her feet as her head cocked to one side. "Pteron, Aodhán. Well this is a nice surprise. What brings you here?" She asked with a note of consternation, eyeing Aodhán uncertainly. She knew it was him, recognized the brilliantly feathered body he seemingly favored. And Pteron, as beautiful as ever. Something sharp pricked her chest at the sight of him.

    This was their first meeting since that trip she'd taken in the winter, time enough had passed to let the events of that meeting process in her mind. What had taken place between them was complicated in ways she'd been trying so hard to avoid. A regret.

    He didn't love her. She knew that, and she'd let him in anyway. And maybe she'd do it again, knowning that the moment love did find him, she'd fall back to the wayside. It was bittersweet, leaning bitter. He was her friend, something she wouldn't trade for the world. She only wished she was worth more than that. Someday, someday... For now, her heart was a fragile thing, to be hidden behind shells and tumultuous waters. 

    @[Pteron] @[Aohdan]
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    #4

    -Adria-

    Perhaps she shouldn’t have gathered up her foal and made her way out toward the beach. Maybe Adria could’ve relaxed and enjoyed her peace - let Aquaria have her own since, as it would shortly become obvious to her sister, the visitors hadn’t distinctly come for the eldest of sea mares. But as a family-oriented character herself, the previous Dame can’t help but gather up the leggy little colt napping quietly under the shelter of an elephant-ear leaf. Together, mother and son walk pleasantly over moss-carpeted trails, stepping only where the path had been worn to a well-known shade of brown by so many other hooves.

    Her boy - named Osiriis to match the strength of his father - is the first to break out from the jungle’s grasp, making plenty of noise and stirring up a cacophony on the beach as he raced to send a flock of gulls on their way. A few meters downshore stands her younger sister, Aquaria, and the object of Adria’s long-studied expertise: a handsome stallion flanked by a local parrot. Narrowing her eyes, the reclusive seahorse called out to her child, beckoning the black colt with scarlet markings back to her side before sending out another, more pleasant tone towards the two equines she sees.

    She has no idea that the parrot is actually a falcon, or that it lives under the disguise of many other shapes… though she will soon come to understand who inhabits the body. Aodhan isn’t exactly a stranger, though Adria does consider Eva’s recurring mate strange from what little she’s heard.

    “Ah hello, hello! Mwen rantre nan, do not mind me if I intrude. I just thought,” Adria spoke as she approached, suddenly interrupted by the tangle of a babe underhoof. Osiriis pushed his way forward, ears and tail flicking in time to the nervous stomp of his still-unsteady hooves. “we could use some company, wi?” She laughed apologetically about the boy, turning her attention and a pair of vibrantly yellow eyes on Pteron.

    “I am Adria and this -” Osiriis paused to look at his mother, “is Aquaria’s newest little manm fanmi an; her nephew Osiriis.” Adria sighed happily, still as young and fresh-looking as a first-time dam. “Won’t you introduce yourself?” She smiled to the pegasus, then glanced aside at the odd parrot situated nearby. “And your - ehm - companion creature?”

    Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me



    @[Aodhan] @[Pteron] @[Aquaria]
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    #5

    Aodhán
    little fire
    All that is gold does not glitter; not all who wander are lost
    Aodhán-the-parrot ruffles his wings and casually adjusts his feathers when Pteron arrives, not bothered at all. It was not the first time he’d used shifting to his advantage and be named cheater for it, and he had bigger fish to fry in his life than be upset by a friend who didn’t really mean it - of course, he had his own remark. ”Oh, I thought I smelled a rotten egg. One that can’t take his losses perhaps.” If he could smirk, he certainly would, but there was something else that was more disturbing.

    The colourful bird squawks when Pteron somewhat-insults his children; though honestly Aodhán would not mind a seagull or puffin shifter, he can’t let this winged rotten egg hurt his or his kids’ honour. He puffs his feathers and chest, ”Oh I’ll show you puffin alright!” he changes form only for a heartbeat, making a quick lunge for the light-coloured horseleges with his puffin-sharp beak; if he draws a small cut then Pteron can surely handle.

    Distracted with the arrival of the younger nereid, he assumes the pre-existing form of the parrot once more, flapping towards her a little (better get away from any repercussions by Pteron) - but lands far enough away not to get eaten by Aquaria, just to be safe. He greets her nonetheless, spreading his wings in a bow and happily flying up to sit on Pteron’s head. ”We discovered we both had a liking for Ischians. Might as well say hi. I just hope you’ve had breakfast.” he tells her. Blinking happily at her, the arrival of a colt and his mother gives a little more pause, any jests forgotten in the moment.

    The dam and colt arrive the way any mother and child would; the colt reminds him of the way Aeolus had burst out of the Ischian jungle as soon as he bad been called, to meet his sister, though he certainly had been more mouthy in his older age. Still, it makes him smile, and, as Adria obviously didn’t know he wasn't just any parrot at all, decide that a change of form would benefit all.

    A quick hop off Pteron’s head into an empty space of sand, he simultaneously shifts. Not into a horse, as that would be a rough landing on his hind and possibly gain him a broken leg, but a white fossa, another animal native to Ischia. His cat-like head moves to smile disarmingly in the direction of the other horses; he knew it was a predator’s shape, but he felt like staying with the island theme; besides, he could make a fossa look cuter than it was, eyes slightly larger, head a bit rounder - minor adjustments that appeal to a mother’s eye.

    He’s not here to eat anyone, after all.

    @[Pteron] you’re up next I suppose
    Shelbi, still welcome to join whenever you want to, of course
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    #6
    finger trips across my cheek----------------
    ----------------kiss me until i can't speak

    Laughing, Pteron lifts his leg out of the reach of the squawking bird, and he is still laughing when he realizes that Aodhan has seen something behind them on the beach. Pteron turns to see what it might be and finds Aquaria. A shell is at her feet, suggesting she’d been carrying it before spotting them. The flutter of wings has him ducking his head, but Aodhan manages to secure a place in Pteron’s mane with his parrot-feet, and the tobiano laughs softly for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and allowing him the place.

    That Aquaria recognizes Aodhan as a parrot brings a brief flicker of surprise to Pteron’s face, but he supposes that she’d heard them talking, and surmises that perhaps this shape might be one that he has worn with Aquaria in the past. Still, she eyes the bird carefully, uncertainty marring her pretty face, and Pteron has taken half a step forward to attempt to brush it away when they are joined by another mare. She is as bright as a sunset, he thinks, and there is more than a passing resemblance to Aquaria in her refined features. It is more than the inexplicable nereid beauty (though they share that as well) and Pteron decides that this must be Adria.

    Lowering his nose curiously to the little colt he assumes must be his frien’s nephew, Pteron blows out a breath in greeting, grinning widely at the bold but nervous stamping of his little hooves.

    “You’re not intruding at all,” he says to the mare, who introduces herself and her son in a confirmation of his suspicions. So he has met some of Aquaria’s family now, just as she has met of his. He glances to the side, to where she stands against the backdrop of sea and sand. There is more than fondness in the way that he meets her eye, and he wonders if perhaps she would let him embrace her here in front of others. Best not though, he decides; she can make that move if she is comfortable enough. Pteron knows that not everyone is as free with affection as he is, and so he settles for a bright smile and glances back in time to see Aodhan shift into an unfamiliar animal at Adria’s request for an introduction.

    “I’m Pteron,” he tells her, looking down at the odd blend between lion and squirrel that his companion seems to have become. A bit of a strange reaction to having been asked for an introduction, but perhaps the customs of shifters are unlike those he knows. “And that is Aodhan. He came to see me in Taiga, and I suggested we come here to get away from the cold for a bit. ”

    @[Aquaria] @[Aodhan] @[Adria]

    -- pteron --

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