"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
01-23-2020, 02:49 AM (This post was last modified: 01-23-2020, 02:50 AM by Eurwen.)
Eurwen
the secret of walking on water is knowing where the rocks lie
Neverwhere does not always frequent Nerine’s greens, Eurwen has deduced - not that the scowly-faced mare ever hides from anything or anyone, but if she’s in a cave, it is decidedly harder. The spotted mare has debated attempting to find her queen with her rock-attunement, but she doesn’t need it today. Rounding a corner, they can easily spot the mare and make their way over.
The knabstrup hybrid doesn’t phase when Neverwhere doesn’t greet them pleasantly, already assuming that when Neverwhere’s scowl doesn’t run mile-deep across her forehead, she is in a good mood. Eurwen then, replies with a small smile. ”Brine is not the type to easily befriend another. I’m sure you can relate, and would appreciate her more over time.” Nodding to Aten instead, she continues with a small introduction. ”I thought you might want to talk to our territory’s protector.” She can’t call him former leader without the word former, but she feels that it is in practice Aten who leads most of Taiga’s residents; he is who they look up to for guidance - with the exception of course, of the one family that had taken official leadership of the land.
But protector seems to have been his role regardless of his title, if she estimated him well.
02-01-2020, 09:35 PM (This post was last modified: 02-01-2020, 09:38 PM by Neverwhere.)
"I do not have a problem with her, Eurwen." Her voice is rough in spite of the cool water she has been drinking. Pale eyes flicker over the tall stallion and then fall to Eurwen as they introduce him as protector. He smells of Taiga. "Our territory's protector," she muses, "Hmm. Quite a lot of trouble over a bit of trees and fog."
Aside from their need to access the common lands, she is almost inclined to let Loess have the place, if only to end the drama that picks at her every hour like an oxpecker nipping holes into her hide. Another such bird lands on her back and her shoulder twitches when the imaginary claws sting her skin like needles. He has come to hear the state of things? There are so many little pieces to keep together, bits of sand and stone and salt she grasps in her teeth until she chokes and Aten has come for a state of the union address. Well, the state of things is poor, and he must know it. Things are...
Up in the air, she thinks, vaguely. So many balls aloft, and Heartfire threw them all at once so Neverwhere is left to catch them or let them fall.
She snorts sharply at him when he says Eurwen has spoken well of her, "I am sure she has done no such thing. If she has, she's lying," and nothing about her suggests she is being anything other than serious, standing there peering upwards at him, her tone dry and no hint of a smile to her lips or eyes. Let him take it as he will, she continues, "Yes, Heartfire has gone, but nothing she started went with her, unfortunately. I wonder, Aten, do you think you would like to be a Loessian?"
A smirk has grown in the corner of her lips as she asks the question of him. He may well have little choice in the matter one way or the other.
"You may have a fight ahead of you if not. You and your family." She glances again at Eurwen, remembering the history imparted to her on their first meeting. Taiga asked to be left alone, and so, it was, "Would you fight to stay a part of a kingdom that has given you nothing?"
So Neverwhere didn't seem to be a big fan of compliments... if that snort was anything to tell him. But Aten wouldn't judge the book just yet. He stares right back at her, but his eyes hold no malice or hatred, very different from the look he often gained when Wolfbane was the topic of discussion.
"You caught me it seems," he jokes. "Eurwen has not spoken much of you, if anything. But what she has told me so far doesn't give me any reason to harshly judge your words or character, and in my opinion, that is enough to say she has spoken well."
The mare has little else to say outside Loess, a topic change that had Aten startled. He did hear what she had to say about Heartfire, and though Aten was sad to hear his friend had disappeared so suddenly, leaving what seems to be a mess in her wake, he knew he had to focus on the more serious matters at hoof.
The mare then asks Aten a funny question to which the stallion stomps a hoof at the notion. He grumbles his answer, "I would never call myself one. Castile has not proven himself to be a leader I can trust, and neither has Lepis. I know who Wolfbane works for too; he and Castile are on the same side of the coin rock I am trying to stop from rolling over. I only wish for Taiga to be kept out of their hooves so Nerine and the Isle are not left vulnerable. I do not doubt he will come for them next if he gets what he wants.
"And that last point is where you are very wrong," his voice grows stern, "Even if it was before destruction, Taiga has given more than I could ask for. Not only a home, but a family, good friends, good horses who I would be honored to protect. Friends in Nerine, the Isle, Taiga... whether the kingdoms are involved in war or not, I will fight to defend them. I will protect my loved ones, and my friends. I will never be able to repay what they've given me, but making sure they do not fall prey to Castile's dark wishes is a damn good start."
the secret of walking on water is knowing where the rocks lie
The spotted mare smirks a bit when the queen states how she doesn’t have anything against Brine; surely someone should immediately tell the roan woman about this. And someone…
It might be her. She looks to Aten as he rectifies his statement that Wen spoke well of the bald-faced mare, and a small knowing grin emerges on the knabstrup hybrid’s features. ”I would say our queen isn’t easily described with words,” she shrugs a bit, knowing full well that one look towards the scowling mare would do more than a thousand words.
But Neverwhere isn’t really in a bad mood. As Aten explains his trip though, and his need to stand for Taiga, she doesn’t interject until he is at the very end. ”I think she meant Nerine not doing anything for you, Aten. But you see, Neverwhere. Nerine was here to oversee that Taiga was free, and not overrun by those seeking power. And it failed. I’m sorry we failed, Aten. If there’s anything I can do to fix it, tell me… in the meantime, you and your family are welcome in Nerine for shelter if it comes to that.” She doesn’t have to ask Neverwhere for permission for that; if anyone would stand between her and her friends, they’d finally find out how a little fragile girl survived her quests to find the Plague’s Cure.
02-18-2020, 10:55 PM (This post was last modified: 02-18-2020, 10:56 PM by Neverwhere.)
His mention of Wolfbane is unexpected and makes her ears twist back. Of course Aten must know him, given the nature of the power transfers that have occurred in the woodland territory. Another thing up in the air, it remains to be seen how the skin-walker will affect the future. One might hope that he would leave them alone, but so many things tie him to the inhabitants of Nerine and Taiga and Loess, so many little hurts and insults.
But he was not the only one that had been hurt. There was a kind of failure in the inaction that Nerine had chosen when Aten was overthrown, though it might not be one of protection. Certainly no harm had come to the redwood forest under Lepis' direction, and if Castile were to be successful in his bid to take it, there is no reason to assume any would come to its residents, either. But perhaps it is time to move on from the failures of Nerine's past.
"I'm sure your loyalty does you credit, Aten, but don't let it blind you to what happened," she glances at Eurwen, nodding to imply that that is indeed what she meant, "Taiga was stolen from you, and Nerine could have bolstered your bid as the leader, but it didn't, for all the promises it made after the fact. If it comes to it again, we will do the best we can, but Castile is a formidable enemy to have, and you may have a difficult choice to make very soon; protect Taiga as part of Loess, run, or rebel."
She does not know yet how things will play out, but it's hard to imagine the outcome she would like. Her nature has never been an optimistic one, and it is unfortunate that he and his family have gotten stuck in the middle. Her face is grim while Eurwen offers shelter within Nerine. What decision would he make? What decision would she make in his place? There are no good answers.
"Or maybe it will all come to nothing. Dragons are hardly predictable creatures."
Neverwhere
...
@[Aten] @[Eurwen] maybe we should wrap this up and move things into the current timeline where Aten is actually in charge of Taiga again?
