"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
They were settling into their new home. It wasn't so different than Ischia. Same climate, similar plants, beaches... Main difference was the bitter taste on the breeze that came from the pluming mountain. All in all they were getting along ok.
Karat often thought about the day they left the island. Remembering the golden pegasus they had been chatting with, @[Trekori]. He seemed nice enough but her parents had their reasons for them leaving she was sure. Tephra has plenty of others their age and younger to play with. They had yet to meet them all.
Krom was off a ways practicing with his powers that had consumed his body. His fuzzy pelt was replaced by a cool, smooth surface. Hardened by the metals inside him. She decided to venture a little farther from him and explore the beaches. It reminded her of the isle and the sound of the ocean soothed her worries. Ironically from the beach, you could almost make out the tropical island just on the horizon. Often she wonders what was going on over there, but she didn't dare leave the volcanic islands...
04-23-2018, 11:17 PM (This post was last modified: 04-23-2018, 11:17 PM by Trekori.)
Trekori
i'm freezing, it's not winter yet but my fingers and toes are shivering beneath these sheets and i feel so alone i don't want to die, i want to sleep
She might be too scared to leave her home, but I sure as hell am not.
The journey from Ischia to Tephra is a short one, at least for me. With the thermals beneath my golden wings, I whisk from island to coastal kingdom in no time, the daunting, mesmerizing water beneath me flowing past without pause. Although some days I might play with gliding low over the waters and dragging my hooves through them, today I travel with an intent, the glow of my horn strong despite the full daylight.
When I find her with my too-keen dragon eyes, I breathe a sigh of relief - she stands near enough to the border that, if one of their representatives caught us, I could play it off as something other than it is. Swallowing back the nerves that suddenly decide to erupt in my stomach when I realize that now's the time to swoop down and see her again face to face, I descend from the heavens and land quietly not far from where she stands, eyes caught on where Ischia lays just beyond the horizon...
"Karat!" Her name is a shout-whisper, and I trot to close the distance between us, feeling that same feeling as the first - and last - time I'd seen her. Gods she is pretty - and she smells like Wishbone had when I'd been barely months old, like ash and sea-squirrels and temptation. Without thinking, I'm pressing my cool, sooty nose to her lavender one, and then sliding the touch up the length of her face, nostrils shaking as the nerves overcome me; I'm here, touching her, in a kingdom I'm trespassing in. It's almost too much for me - but I push on.
"Karat," I say again, not whispering, but low enough that her twin who I trust to be not far off will not hear. "I've stolen you to Ischia, for a year." A split second passes when I try to lie so blatantly - but as I stare into her dark eyes, a tremor makes me shake out my mane - and shake out the truth, too. "Or at least, I've tried, and I'm waiting to see if it's a success - but even if it's not, I'm taking you back to Ischia with me."
It's a demanding statement, but I say it with the most earnest, heartfelt smile I've ever known upon my own lips. I'm stepping closer to her again, shuffling my wings, hoping against hope that she'll accompany me home.
"You were a princess there once... And you can be one again. My princess. My jewel..."
The sun hangs high in the sky like some jewel. Cherished by all, for it gives them life. Maybe that is why she fails to see him land upon the Tephran beaches. He was the color of the golden sun after all.
It is her name shouted under breath that causes her to turn her chiseled head slightly. Amethyst and silver eyes find the familiar form of her thoughts, come to life. She is stunned and in her shock stands unmoved. Allowing him to approach at a fast trot as again he says her name. Wide eyed and unsure of how he had come to be, her head rises as his name slips through lavender lips, "Trekori! When did you..." In her surprise at his forward gesture of touching his nose to hers, words cease. Eyes shuttering only briefly to feel the warmth of his touch. A touch she has only known to come from her family.
Then he is informing her of what he had done. Stealing her away for his own. A part of her holds reservations as to what would happen if she left. Her father and brother would never allow it. Voicing her concerns in a whispered breath, her eyes dart over to where Krom was practicing to see if he noticed her company, "I... I cant leave Trekori. My father would be furious. And...and Krom...," her words trail as her eyes find the reflecting purple of the golden pinto again. He is moving slightly the wings at his sides before he is wooing her with sweet words.
My princess. My jewel...
Worry was quickly replaced by a girlish smile. The once outgoing filly had turned to a more cautious youth because of what Morty had done to her, and though she had thought that carefree girl to be long gone, it was beginning to surface as she looked into Trekori's face. She was practically a woman now and could feel a rebellious streak coming on. His sweet words endeared her, convincing her that he had nothing but good intentions. Looking quickly to her twin and finding him still engaged in his training, she hops forward into a trot. "Come..." She whispers. Lavender dipped limbs bring her to the underneath of a nearby palm. Turning to see if the colt followed as instructed. They needed to take cover. Surely her father would be flying overhead on patrol and if he found them, their reunion would be short lived.
Peering to make sure Krom didn't notice her leave, she turns to Trekori, "How am I going to get from Tephra to Ischia without being caught?! You think i'll be able to swim that far?" She had never traveled such a distance swimming and by land it would take a day, at least, for her to get there. In the common lands, she was sure to be caught and dragged back home, stolen or not...
i'm freezing, it's not winter yet but my fingers and toes are shivering beneath these sheets and i feel so alone i don't want to die, i want to sleep
She is taken aback by my arrival, and frankly, she ought to be. What I am doing is less than expected - moreover, it's almost illegal. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice screams ISCHIA AND TEPHRA HAVE AN ALLIANCE YOU IDIOT, but I ignore it dutifully, convincing myself instead that this is an act of chivalry and love, and not of war - her parents and kingdom will understand that! Right?
But suddenly, as I speak my part, her shuddering breath is withdrawn. Concern washes out all my other expressions as I burr quietly, trying wordless to convince her as she states that she cannot leave, because of her family. Father, brother - the names she speaks mean nothing to me. I have my own family, brothers and parents, and while I love them - I somehow expect her to pick me, over hers, though I'm not convinced I would do the same.
But young love is brave: or wait, is it foolhardy?
I watch eagerly as she softens upon hearing my charming words, a girlish smile coming upon her lips to match my boyish one. In truth, we are closer now to man and woman than to boy and girl - but I don't let the impure thoughts of the man inside of me mar this blissfully youthful moment, as I wait with baited breath for her answer to my desperate, longing plea. The tension in my spine visibly releases, as she speaks the only word I need to hear from those supple purple lips:
Come...
I do so without hesitation, keeping infinitely close to her as she leads us beneath a palm tree. My eyes catch on the sight of her twin, Krom, not far off from us, training it would appear, though I don't have enough time to get a really good look. Nostrils shuddering, I shuffle my hooves uneasily, feeding off of Karat's nervous energy. What on earth are we doing!
When she asks about swimming the bay, I drop my mouth open in aghast horror and shake my head vehemently. "No Karat, I would never put you in that kind of danger!" Ruminating, my mouth falls into a hard line, the glow of my horn dimming with the concentration. I think so hard that even my anxious movements stop, and for a minute I am staring at the ashen Tephran ground, giving this - us - her - everything I have.
Then, as if the answer had been there all along, I look up to her. "It's easy," I say quietly; and without warning, I stride from beneath the safety of the palm tree until her brother catches sight of me.
"Krominium," I call, not with an hostility, but with the authoritative tone of a diplomat - as opposed to one of a love struck teenager. "I have successfully stolen Karat from Tephra to Ischia, and I am here to escort her to that land. Please inform any who wish to know - and good day to you." Turning, I look to his sister with a look of sympathy. Gesturing to her twin, I turn my back and trot off some ways, that they might have a proper farewell.
When she returns, I touch my nose tentatively to the base of her neck, and we begin the long roundabout trek back to Ischia. But in her company, I truly do not mind the journey.
@[Neo.n] Let me know if this is what you had in mind!! If you want to post in Ischia?? We could continue this thread there?
There is a moment in her that thinks of the thrill of rebellion. Running off to explore the very edges of this world together. Without rules of family or kingdoms. How freeing it would be. I wanted freedom, right...?
Suddenly his thoughts turn to action as I watch a spark of idea brighten his horn. He was so cute when it lit up like a magic little light bulb. She is smiling at him as he says its easy. Excited anticipation of his brilliance turns to almost sheer panic as his feet begin to move him away from her and out from under their hiding spot. "Wha.. Trekori, wa.....it," before she has time to object to this brilliant plan, he is gone and she slowly follows. Head slightly hung in shame, or sadness. Maybe both. She isn't quite sure how to feel.
Hearing Kori address her brother in such a way, stuns her into looking up. Krom has turned to face the golden pinto, ears flicked forward as he listens. A look of surprise as pronounced on his features as mine had been upon seeing the winged colt. Krom simply looks from Kori(as he turns to retreat back to where they had come from) to his sister. She has come to a rest not far from him and allows the Ischian to pass her by without a glance. Lavender eyes remain softened to her brother and he sees this. Krom had always been the more sensitive one, and even with all they had been through he remained true to himself. Knowing his purpose was to protect his family, his sister. She was uncertain of hers though. Never truly finding her niche in the world, but she was young still.
He steps towards her. The smooth touch of his muzzle slides along her cheek. It nearly tears her heart from her chest to say what she is about to, "I've got to go Krom... Just for a little bit. I need some time to find myself...without you, or Father." She can feel him tense at her words and pulls away from her slightly. Emerald eyes trying to search for the sense in her words. He shifts his weight before she begins to speak again. This time a request, "Please don't tell Father.." Her lavender-hazel eyes stare into his, noticing how they turn from their usual gentleness to rigid, as they look from her to where Kori had gone. In a stern, almost threatening tone, he speaks at her but directs his words loud enough that Trekori would hear, "If this is what you want...need, then I will let you have your space. BUT if ANYONE harms you, Karat, they will pay!" Standing his ground firmly he nudges her one last time before she turns to disappear from sight. He does not guarantee he would not go straight to their father with word of her disappearance but eventually question would rise and he would not lie for her.
Before turning to leave she presses into his touch and whispers a remorseful farewell, "I love you Krommie... Goodbye."
@[Trekori] We can start a new thread in Ischia if you want or if they want to visit someplace along the way would be fine by me... she hasn't been anywhere except Ischia and Tephra. I made the twins each separate accounts too
