"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
05-30-2018, 11:10 AM (This post was last modified: 05-30-2018, 12:17 PM by Karat.)
Karat
Blood is Thicker than Water
Swiftly she leaves the oasis that had been her childhood home. Peeling away from its sandy beaches as Kylin vanishes from sight. There was no purpose to her being there anymore. The one who had promised to cherish her, breaks her heart as he takes to the skies. The gold and cream stallion is nothing more than another memory now. As is the island when her hooves plant along solid ground. The forest was quite strange to her. Only having known tropical climates and vegetation, she wonders what she might come across...
Evening has come quickly and soon creatures begin to stir. Their glowing eyes peer from behind bushes as they watch her walk cautiously in an undetermined direction. Her navigation skills are poor and the only thing she does known is she is alone and scared. The emotions trigger her armor powers to gather nearby foliage. Forming weaved guards of leaf and vine to aid her.
A howl pierces the stagnant air,sending her reeling backwards and into a giant tree. Her rear presses into the rough bark as her lavender eyes look wildly about front legs splayed. Attempts to even her breathing and slow her heart rate were going poorly. Eyes close tightly to focus, there is no place like home, there is no place like home...
This is an attempted escape from Ischia thread as well...
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
Although my softer side had shown as I grovelled to Brennen about the err of my ways in regards to Karat (though truly there was none as at the time of the steal we hadn't been allied), when Klaudius decided to come in like a tropical storm, any abashed I'd had melted away. By Beqannan law, Karat was mine and Ischia's prisoner for a year's term; he had not the power to simply swoop her away.
And when one as I'm patrolling the borders, a grey-and-purple figure crosses the channel, something in my heart hardens.
I'd had a boyish crush, and yes, I'd grossly misused it. But to think that, even after hearing what Brennen had to say about returning him herself, Karat had the audacity to try and escape... It solidified my feelings towards her. And though my public chastisement had burned, hearing the exchange between Tephran and Ischian King had been like a balm upon the wound. Watching her depart ripped it back open, however.
Allowing her time to get quite some ways ahead of me as I coast along the thermals above the main island, I begin to track her from that distance as she meanders rather directionlessly. Hadn't she paid attention when I brought her over? Couldn't she see Tephra in the distance from Ischia? But these questions are idle and though I feel like I may be sick, I know that there's no sense in prolonging this and giving her hope that her escape attempt will be successful.
Dipping down, I land softly in front of her, not meeting her gaze. Blocking her path, I gesture for her to turn around with my horn. "Come on, Karat," I mutter. "Brennen said he'd take you home, and you gotta trust that. Besides. You know we can't just let you slip away." And so, wordless, we return to Ischia.
He remembers her at the kingdom meeting so many moons ago. A quiet observer as she was, he was haunted by the lavender hue of her coat and her piercing hazel eyes. She was gorgeous, enchanting.
The meeting with Warrick and Kromium sent shivers down his spine. It was finally showing itself as true - the once peaceful Beqanna he had known was gone, traded in for one of uncertainty.
He’d been practicing his battling skills, but the fact she was absent was always on his mind. Was she safe, was she hurt? Who was taking care of the princess who’d never been on her own?
It was these thoughts that carried him past the water and here, to the river. With all the evil running rampant, he couldn’t in good conscious allow her to go alone in the common lands...someone would pick her up, someone would find a way to harm her…
Anxiety? Maybe. But it was enough to bring him here. He is glowing (literally), his armor bright and blinding. Surely, if she was around, she’d see this and come...wouldn’t she?
Sometimes you just needed to stretch your wings. I had been trapped beneath Sylva's canopy since the clown had stolen me there, and it was getting a bit old. I would return. We both knew I would. But for now, the sky called me, as it always did. It was in my blood, a lasting gift from my parents before me. Thinking on them threatened to sour my mood. Without another thought, the vast sails of my wings extended and swept me through branches and into free air.
With strong beats, I carve the air like a shark through water. This is my element, what I was born to. Half an hour into my cruising, and the river has become a shining ribbon beneath me. It has been so long since I've flown this long, and while I hate to land, I'm rather thirsty. A quick drink won't hurt. In a controlled spiral I descend, watching the waters open beneath me until I could make out details, bodies. One stands out, a lithe form of silver and lavender, slightly obscured with foliage. On a whim, this is where I choose to plant my feet. Like a great hawk, I land mere feet from the girl. My half sister. "Karat. It's been a while." I nicker at her gently.
With her optics sealed tightly and soft chanting filled her ears, she did not hear them approach. The earthy armor that wrapped her tightly soothed her fears somewhat, but it was a voice that cooed her name that renewed her vision. "Kwartz?" she barely whispers at what could be a figment of her imagination before her. She hadn't seen her brother in years. When she realizes he is real, tears begin to fill her eyes. Beginnings of the pooled, salty liquid, trail down her cheek as she nearly lunges forward to embrace her sibling. She had been waiting months for this moment, to feel the touch of her family once again. "I should have never went with him Kwartz. I should have stayed with my family..." She sobs as her vision blurs. With her head at his shoulder, she presses into him. The warmth of his body was even more soothing than the armor she had fashioned. "I wanna go home. Can you take me home please?" she whimpers to him.
Her teary eyes don't stop her from noticing a glow coming towards them. It looked like the lava streams of Tephra and for a brief moment she believes she is home. It is only when another voice, more harsh and demanding, calls her name that she looks from the hypnotizing flicker of flame. The sight she turns to find is one of memory and one she wishes not to relive. Suddenly anger boils within her as she turns to face the golden pinto. "Go away Kori!! You left me remember?! You took me from my home, my family. You promised me lies and then you left ME!," she shouts angrily. Bittered and scorned, her emotions flood her like a giant wave from the sea. More tears, hurt tears, fill her eyes again as she stares at him with a hardened gaze. Even as he approaches, horn lowered to motion her forwards, her limbs remain planted in the mucky soils. "You'll have to drag me back cuz I ain't movein'!" She snorts in protest.
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 screams like the child I finally see she is, and it makes me sad. I'd had a childish love for Karat, but as she stands indignant, crying, and unmoving, I feel nothing, not even remorse for the lies I have told. Although I might be emotionally in the wrong, lawfully, I am in the right.
"I will not harm you," Comes my voice, tired and worn out after this girl's flare for melodrama. "However I will stay with you until you decide to accompany me back. I have lawfully blocked your escape attempt, and you must return with me eventually. For now, I'll remain here, for as long as I am with you, you are a prisoner of Ischia." I take a step away, and then turn my eyes towards her one last time. "The longer you draw this out, the longer it will take Brennen to bring you home. Don't be stupid, Karat. You and your father have made this more of a mess than it needed to be."
Drawing into the shadows, I ignore whatever the others coming to the girl have to say to me. Eventually, Karat will have to give in, and when she does, I will accompany her back to Ischia. Until then, I have naught to say.
They are young, all of them. No matter what they wanted to say, they still needed experience ( your temper will simmer down with age, Phoebus, but remember keeping your cool will get your further in life). So when an angry feminine voice rises from the trees and to his ears, he immediately trots towards it.
The scene he stumbles upon isn’t exactly what he’s expecting. He sees Kwartz (it’s been ages, lord. Had he run from his captors too?), and Karat, and another he does not recognize. But the stale scent of sea foam and salt tells him this is probably someone from the Brotherhood.
Karat is refusing to go with him.
He allows the glow of his armor to die down, and he looks at Karat thoughtfully. She will hate him, but Trekori was right.
“Karat…” I say, sighing. “You have to go. But since Tephra and Ischia are aligned, maybe he will allow me to go with you to drop you off to make you more comfortable. It won’t be long Karat, and then you’ll be home.” he looks over to the golden stallion, who is retreating to the darkness. “Come on, Karat, you have to go…” Ice eyes glance over to Kwartz. “I’ll see you around…?” Phoebus wonders if he ever will.
