"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
It had been some time since I had last seen my daughter or her beau. But at the kingdom meeting I had not missed the way Roan's eyes had lingered on the smaller, unscarred version of her. I had a grandchild, that I had yet to meet. My ears had flickered backwards into my mane at this thought, but really who's fault was that? It was not Igni's or Bryn's or Roan's. No, it was utterly mine for being here and there and no where really all the time.
I had felt my scars fade from my skin, the magic pulling it from me as the Fairy's warning had echoed through my ears and my mind. I had cringed from it, and felt a darkness in my spirit in response. We were vulnerable, as were the rest of the lands. We had lost our magic...but I do laugh when I think of the Amazon's without their tattoos. It was going to be interesting to see how this all went down.
Anyways, I shake my head, take to the skies until I see my granddaughter bouncing around on the ground below me. I smile, dive and land in a pile of snow in front of her, peeking my head out and shaking the snow from my body. "Hello little beauty. What's your name?" I tilt my head, lowering it slightly to look at her and then inhale her scent. "I think I might be your granddad." My voice rumbles in my chest and I peer at her with deep brown eyes.
After I take her in a minute I turn to look around. No doubt her father or mother would be around some where watching her. So while I wait to see how she responds I take a look around, my ears flickering back and forth.
How many years I know I'll bear I found something in the woods somewhere
Since the sickness, she has thought of her father and has missed him dearly. She has been a poor daughter and has no idea of what is even going on in his life. Never once has she asked him if love keeps him strong or if she has siblings out there that she has never been introduced to. That leads her then to thinking of how he ought to meet his granddaughter…
It is time to amend that gross error and she leaves the cave that she has inhabited for a year or more in search of her daughter. Igni was rarely still and she expects to find the almost grown girl out in the snow somewhere. She tracks her easily by scent and is almost beside her when someone lands nearby and she knows that it can only be Brynmor or Ianto. The scent and spray of snow tells her it is her father as she bites back the chuckle that crowds her mouth. She remembers how playful he had been when she was that little and even smaller still, and misses the days of playing beneath his barrel and hiding behind his tail only to poke her nose out between the long coarse strands of it.
“No need to think,” she corrects him with a smiling face turned up towards the only other stallion she wholeheartedly adored besides her lover. “She is your granddaughter and I am so sorry it has taken this long for you to meet her.” The happiness on her face wavers and grows watery; dare she tell him that Igni’s birth had nearly killed her and left her sick for so very long? Did he know that already? She keeps her mouth shut tight against these questions because she does not want him to worry for her - she is better now, slower than usual and out of breath at times, but on the mend no less.
“Igni, this is your grandfather Ianto.” she introduces him and moves to stand beside him, her small shoulder brushing his rather companionably as she tucks her face in his neck for a long moment. Breathing him in roots her more firmly in this moment - even in this place, and she pulls back from his neck after having left a kiss there, tucked away in the coarseness of his winter-thick fur. “What have you been up to dad, any adventures that Igni and I might like to hear about?” she prompts him with a smile, knowing full well that her father hasn’t dwelt much in the Tundra as of late.
Neither of her parents had ever spoken of their parents. Not that she could really blame them for it. Roan had been sick and tired for a long time and Brynmor didn’t know his parents, as he had grown up without. She hadn’t given it a thought too, if there had been a family member to meet – aside from uncle Offspring, aunt Isle and their children – she surely would’ve met him or her by now, right? But honestly, Igni didn’t really keep herself busy with those things. Her world spun around the things she knew, and that was still very little.
She had grown old enough to play without parental supervision, as she had already turned two. Nonetheless her mother lingered close by a lot lately, which probably was due to the fact that Roan was finally able to leave the cave she had been hospitalized in. Igni couldn’t really blame her mother for seeking contact and although she was now old enough to watch out for herself – or she thought so – she secretly liked to spend time with the bay roan mare. After all, it was never too late for mother and daughter to bond?
Igni nickers to her mother, already turning around to offer her nose to the blind mare, when the flapping of wings and a thud is heard. Curiously the young mare turns around, ears perked forward and a twinkle in her eyes. She had seen winged horses before, but she also knew that her father no longer had his wings. She blinks, hear head tilting and her look grows slight confused. Granddad? With a frown she turns towards her mother. ”Mom?” But neither of them has to wait long for the revealing answer.
This time she turns to look at the winged male more interested. Igni’s head turns to the side again, studying her grandfather. She hadn’t seen him around, or maybe during the kingdom meeting, but she honestly didn’t pay much attention to the other horses back then. Offspring had stood in the center of her attention as he revealed that she too could now be a part of the Tundra’s ranks. ”Hello. It’s nice to meet you.. grandpa.” The sound is still somewhat unfamiliar on her tongue, but nevertheless she’s eager to learn more about him. He surely seemed less stern than her dad and not old at all, so maybe he could show her some of the adventures of the world her dad refused to. Hearing Roan’s suggestion the blue roan girl’s lips curl up and she eagerly nods. ”Oh yes, please. I’d love to hear them!” She’s bouncing like a child, youthful as ever.
... and fire is the burning passion within.
OOC: Just sticking with Igni here. Posting them together doesn't really work and replying to my own posts is kinda... weird xD. So Bryn won't be joining ^^
