"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
After her talk with Warrick in Taiga she had learned Sylva - her birthplace - had been taken over by a dark entity. Also learning her mother was in Tephra safely with Levi. She had more question with each stride of her ivory dipped limbs. Deciding then and there to leave her work fixing the redwood forest in pursuit of answering them.
The journey was long by foot and when she finally broke through the Forest border - standing to look out across the stream that separated the lands - she came to a stop. She had been here so many times. Looking across the rippling waterway to the tropical land on the other side. Last time though - out of respect - she had remained on this side of the channel. Today though she held no mind to being labeled a trespasser, again. So with a careful step forward she waded into the cool waters. After such a long trek the chill was quite pleasant against her sweat soaked hide. The stream in mid-summer wasn't as deep as it had been previously. She hadn't needed to actually swim much of a distance. Soon reaching footing on the far side and climbing up the banks.
Now standing on Tephra soil, sienna eyes scanned the area. Ebony ears flickering to one sound and then another. Where to even begin? Well, her mother was with Levi. Which in her mind was weird but she dismissed it. So maybe start with trying to find him. As she stood in thought, she soon released a whinny through parted lips. Calling to anyone who may be lingering near...
Kolera
Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
@[Ceara] if you want to chat with Kolera about your brother it could be fun. Otherwise this is open to anyone who'd like to help her
let me pick your brain, girl. and tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame.
She had been looking for something to do.
Ever since her conversation with Levi, Ceara had been even more restless—her naturally wild nature could not be quelled, and she had begun doing things that she most certainly knew her mother would not approve of. She was too young to venture into the world of politics... and yet...her time spent with Warrick consumed her mind and made her so aware of the way things could be with "real" adults—of which she considered herself one of, those worldly women, you know. The ones who never leave home. Ever.
She had contemplated leaving. It could be so easy. Except that Reagan would never allow it. The thought of going back through the forest was so against any edict her mother had set that there ws no way she would not get caught. And to cross those parents of hers... She cursed, breathing smoke from her nostrils. She would do it one day.
Just not today.
She paced the borders, walking, wanting. But she did not have to want long. For, when she heard the faintest sound of a twig breaking, she looked, and saw a new face. Not that she had seen many faces.
Her ears are erect and facing forward, focused on the sweet looking mare in front of her. She was the color of tree-bark, and she looked like she was looking for something. And then she gives a call. The black and velvet girl propells herself forward, her rolling red eyes burning into what she was sure was going to be her new friend.
"Hello. You look like you're looking for something. I'm Ceara. Can I help?"
So she was a little over eager. Levi said she was incapable of making friends because she was so annoying. Well, Fuck Levi.
Sienna eyes gaze at the landscape. It was much different here than in Taiga. The forests were dense with broad leafed tropical plants. They seemed to thrive in the damp climate of the volcanic islands. The redwood forest of Taiga seemed so desolate in comparison.
In her admiration of the landscape, she almost missed the swift approach of someone answering her call. It hadn't taken long at all(but did it ever). The island was forever bustling with life. When the mare sidles up to her, she notices the same red eyes that Levi sported on his one side. Curiousity tilts her dished crown at the similarity. The mare is quick to offer assistance so she is also quick in her need here, "Hello! I'm Kolera. I've just come from Taiga where I was speaking with Warrick. He said my mother is here." She offers a smile as if finished with her request but is swift to add, "He said she is with Levi." The statement sounds awkward leaving her lips so she pauses in thought. A slight shift of her weight from one hip to the next. "Do you know where I might find them? I haven't seen my mother in years and Warrick seemed concerned," her translation of the navy bayed stallions words were far different than what he had meant by them.
She remains still aside from the casual flicker of her ebony tassels. Eager to know where her mother is and has been for all these years. Surely it had only been recently that she had came to be on the tropical islands, or with Levi. She'd have heard of or smelt her mother's scent before... Wouldn't she have?
let me pick your brain, girl. and tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame.
The black and velvet mare tilts hear head twice. Not once, but twice. Once at the mention of Warrick--oh, how her heart thundered at the mention of his name, remembering their swims together--and twice at the mention of Levi, her brother. The girl's honey colored eyes looked innocent enough, but she carried a quiet power that set Ceara on edge, and she instinctively turned her hip out to show the length of her body. She was no warrior--something she had said as much to Warrick--but she was not someone to be taken lightly. And nobody--nobody--would hurt her brother as long as Ceara had breath in her body. No matter what he'd done.
And yet, the knot forming in Ceara's gut said that her brother had created some grave sins here.
She blinked, never one to turn away a guest--it would be awful of a diplomat here on a formal visit, whether or not she was from another Kingdom, and settled into her role, pasting a smile on her face. "Oh of course! Welcome to Tephra. We shall go see if we can find Warrick together, shall we?" Her voice was made of whiskey and cigarette smoke, and she sounded much older than her ears. She did not say that Levi was her brother--on purpose--but rather planned to watch and see what this stranger presented to her. What information could be gleaned from her. She had mentioned the forest...And the Taiga.
Ceara was Reagan's daughter.
"Ah. The Taiga you said. I heard there was some trouble there a while ago. What were you doing in that wasteland?" Reagan's time away was visibly felt here in Tephra as she had known that her mother had slunk away in shadow to visit her old trees. Ceara did not have a measure of her mother's power, and thus did not know Kolera's intent, but she did know one thing--knowledge was power.
They continued on, through the exotic bushes and trees and flowers, Ceara knowing every square inch of this land by heart, until she caught a whiff off Warrick on the wind. "Ah, there he is..."
Ceara whinnied, getting her King's attention, and when he lands, she cannot help but keep her heart from her eyes, or the velvet red from crawling up her body in a blush. But she tries to put it away in favor of business. Because there was much to attend to.
"Warrick, this girl says you spoke with her in the forest? About her mother?"
Shortly after arriving in Taiga, the winged-stallion had quickly taken to the skies once again - but his path had changed direction. No longer did he fly west towards Hyaline (despite how much his heart begged him to), but took the familiar northeastern thermals back home, the now-king distraught for the first time in a long while. His great wings - broad, powerful things at his sides - carry him quickly and swiftly over the rebirthing Taiga and then the neutral lands, the tips of his feathers twitching expertly in the warm breath of the summer wind.
How his conversation ended with Kolera in Taiga quickly began to gnaw at his insides, roiling terribly and knotting uncomfortably in his throat - the gentle spirit of the young bay woman had captured his heart, and since she was only a filly he had found a piece of himself wanted to care for her, to protect her, and to nurture her where her family could not. He felt responsible for her then, and he feels responsible for her now.
It does not take her long to arrive; it is only a few hours after he has landed back in Tephra that hears her voice on the humidity, calling to him (or to anyone, but Warrick felt his heartstrings twist at the sound of her call). He begins to move, navy limbs carrying him through the thick foliage that covers the inner parts of the volcanic peninsula, towards where the border between Tephra and the forest meet. His large wings expand and stretch, bending the lithe bone at his sides a few times before beating them outwards, large gusts carrying him upwards into the air.
His heart is heavy and it seems to pull at his wings, feeling as if he is sifting away back into the ground.
As he travels closer to the rushing stream that is their border, a distinct whinny reaches him that is all too familiar but not at all expected. Brilliant blue eyes widen slightly at the sight of not only Kolera, but her companion by her side. Ebony and red velvet flood his mind and he knows immediately it is her, it is Ceara. His chest flutters and then subsides, as he lands smoothly, the smell of the summer wind and sun on his skin. He swallows hard as the women come forward to meet him, most likely wondering why he held such solemnity in his eyes.
“Ceara,” he greets her, bumping his indigo muzzle with hers, lingering there a moment before slowly turning his gaze to Kolera. “She is correct,” he answers, wondering if Ceara was hoping that Kolera had been misinformed. “Kolera, welcome,” he begins, eyes softening as he takes a step towards her, unsure how to put his thoughts into words. “Your mother is in a cave near the volcano.” He knows that at his words she would become flighty, and even begin to run towards the place he had told her, so he quickly puts his muzzle against her forehead, his wings outstretching beside him slightly just in case she would decide to take off. “She was becoming a threat to Tephra, and still may be, so to keep her here is imperative - for the time being. She is unharmed, trust me.”
Of course, Warrick does not speak lies. He is incapable of anything but the truth, and when he speaks to Kolera, he does not know of the happenings between Karaugh’s captor and herself, or that currently Amorette is being used as leverage for her mother’s daring escape. One thing is for certain, however, and that was that Kolera would not be visiting her mother’s cave (prison) anytime soon.
Warrick
@[Kolera] @[Ceara]
he does not want her a part of whatever her mother is doing D:
Her sienna eyes can't help but wander to the scenery they transversed through. She had been here many times and each it captivated her. The billowing mountain, streams of molted lava flowing from it's heart. The ocean cooling the land, creating more of it as it tries to expand. The forests though drew her closer. Broad leafed brush soaking up the morning sun as dew collected into drops of water falling from their tips. It brought a smile to her maw as they began their search.
Looking to the ruby eyed mare she questioned why they were looking for Warrick. She specifically asked for Levi and her mother. Lips pressing into a thin line she was about to inquire but the mares description of Taiga caught her attention. Wasteland, her brow furrows in thought. She had never seen it as such, even in ruins the kingdom was majestic. When Ceara asks of her purpose their she interjects, "I have spent the last couple years fixing the kingdom. It's almost returned to it's former glory." She assumed the mare knew of the destruction it had fallen victim to. The thought of the giant redwoods causes her to smile again. Content on sharing stories like they were old friends.
It was when the mare announced the sight of the navy dipped stallion that her smile gave way. Thoughts fill her mind of how the stallion had returned from Hyaline so quickly. Not knowing that he hadn't gone after all. That he had returned here, expecting her to cross the borders in search of her mother. Her concern rises even more as he approaches somberly. Ebony ears flicking back as he begins to explain. His wings released from their usual confines at his sides. Two-toned profile tilts at his mention of her being confined to a cave. Quickly her timid demeanor turns rigid. Agitation building in her stance and expression. He finishes and she starts, "Warrick. I am NOT leaving until I see her. Bring me to her now?" She demands from him, a friend. She knows not or cares he is King here. Nares flare as her tail whips at her sides. "If she is safe than there is no reason I can't see her," she argues, "Unless you have something to hide Warrick." Her eyes narrow on his face in suspicion. Almost forgetting the dark mare was even still present. Something weird was going on and she wasn't having any of it.
Kolera
Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
@[Ceara] @[Warrick] if she still had blight Tephra would be a wasteland right now lol
let me pick your brain, girl. and tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame.
Ceara could not stand by and let this girl speak to him that way. Though she knew that Warrick would have the situation well in hand, the daughter of Offspring and Reagan could not help herself. She was the would-be princess with a chip on her shoulder.
"I am sorry, but you will NOT talk like that to Warrick and be allowed to remain inside these borders." Her red eyes are burning with fire, her anger eminent as she pulls herself between Warrick and Kolera. She had brought the girl here, she would be the one to take her out if she presented a problem of security to her home.
To Warrick.
"If you know this man at all, then you know he is honorable. If he speaks, it is truth," she snorts. "So I suggest you change your tune if you wish to remain within our borders. Any further outbursts I might percieve to be a threat, and believe me, you do not want to see me angry. Not when we've only just become friends." Ceara drags out that last word lazily, swinging her tail, but her eyes never leaving the honey-eyed girl.
Though, inside her head, Ceara's head was running a million miles a minute, trying to figure out what her brother had to do with this girls mother, and why she had constantly been hearing voices in the cave at the mountains base.
The youthfulness of Kolera becomes evident as love (and fear) for her mother rushes into the expression of her face, unable to hide the worriedness and anger that begins to rise above the surface. Her voice starts with a quiver of fear, uncertainty (an emotion he understands far too well) and his eyes soften with empathy, reaching forward to attempt to brush her auburn cheek with his muzzle, to soothe the fire that shimmers unfamiliarly in the sweet girl’s eyes. But her face becomes rigid as ice seeps from her throat, poison laced on her words as they reach his ears, accusing him, suspecting him of hiding something more. The stallion’s face falls momentarily, a look of disappointment crossing the hardened angles of his handsome face; a look that is most unbecoming on him. He would never...she, most of all, would know that he would not hide something from her.
All the thoughts in his mind come to the forefront as Ceara intervenes, her words fiery and flaming as they left her lips, colliding with the ice and frigidity of Kolera’s. She defends him, rushing to his side and putting Kolera’s attention on herself, and he could nearly feel the heat rising in her skin as anger swells beneath the surface, boiling at the idea of such an accusation.
“Peace, Ceara,” he says gently, gratefully, his indigo muzzle touching the sleekness of her neck, pressing into the delicate flesh behind her throat where her burning words had just flown. She is the fire that is at the heart of Tephra, the very volcano lives inside her. His touch lingers on her ebony skin, her ferocity fueling him as his vibrant blue gaze slips to Kolera. “Kolera, you know your mother’s ways. I cannot allow you to be tangled up in the mess she has created for herself. I have watched you grow and you have come so far - please understand why I ask you to trust me, and to let your mother work this out for herself. Tephra is a merciful country, but it is also a just country. My fondness for you cannot outweigh the needs of my people.”
“If I take you to your mother, I cannot promise what you will see nor can I guarantee that you will return beyond Tephra’s borders.”
His face is hard as glass, unbreaking and unbending beneath the harshness of the words that alight from his lips; Kolera’s mother has changed, and if it took Kolera seeing it for her own eyes than to believe the word of a friend, then he would oblige.
Warrick inhales deeply, his eyes firmly on Kolera while he quietly (though not secretly) tells Ceara with a quick press of his lips against her ebony cheek: “Bring me Levi.” A demand, yet said so gently, the words feel like a suggestion as it leaves him.
With Ellyse being the one to sentence Karaugh to her captivity, and with Ellyse being in Sylva, the blue-bay stallion had no choice but to find the son of Offspring, the brother of Ceara - and to use the stallion’s relationship with Kolera to ease the tension and to keep her from a fate similar to Karaugh’s in the darkness of the volcanic cave.
There was something about him that caused the boiling inside her simmer just the slightest. She understood his position as she listened to his words carefully. Dismissing entirely the fact that she clearly pissed her new acquaintance off. Watch her tone...pfft whatever. She could have tone for the situation at hand.
She stops to process all he says. A hard stare on his navy dipped face. He turns to whisper something to the crimson and ebony mare. Who soon departs. Watching from her peripheral vision as the firey mare becomes distant. Fuck that!
Swiftly she ducks and dodges any protest from the stallion. Her direction straight and true, wherever Ceara was going...
Kolera
Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
Not sure if we are ending this here but Kolera takes off after Ceara who goes to get Levi... Drama thread
@[Warrick] @[Ceara]
