"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
03-09-2020, 08:00 PM (This post was last modified: 03-11-2020, 06:59 AM by kahzie.)
L E P I S
i hear the voice of rage and ruin
There are fine lines around her eyes, and the dun frosting is no longer the only cause of lightness in her blowing navy hair. Lepis is no longer young, and yet there is an adolescent hopefulness in her chest, the sensation that the world is hers for the taking - if only she will reach for it.
And reach she already has, an action that has placed responsibilities on her shoulders and illuminated an unavoidable trail toward Pangea.
It is at the wasteland’s border she stands, wings freshly folded from flight. Her mane and tail are tangled, and still dance about in the bitter wind that streams across the open desert. This is not her first time at the edge of Pangea, but it is the first time she stands with something to gain.
Something to lose as well, though she steels her mind and replaces the worry with confidence. They will find her soon she is sure; she had not hidden her flight in any way, and a golden pegasus is hard to miss against the cloud-heavy sky. No need to call out too loudly, though she does loose a quiet whicker for the benefit of those who might already be searching for her point of her entry.
Oceane's bright amber eyes are nearly always turned to the skies now that she is here in Pangea. She has not taken to them since her arrival, has not felt the loving embrace of the canyon's wayward thermals, lest Anaxarete and Draco mistake her flight for an attempt at escape. She has been a yielding and well-behaved captive for these last months; the red-eyed stallion had made quite obvious the danger that Alcinder would be in should she cause a fuss. And so she had settled into her role ─ remaining at the outskirts, coming to Kingdom meetings when called (this, admittedly, was due in part to her confusion about what was happening with Loess and Castile), and never quite using the strength behind her voice, though she has come to befriend some of the non-equine wildlife that calls the wasteland home.
It's one of her vulture acquaintances that Oceane seeks today, her molten ambers turned to the clouds, but it's someone much more exciting that her gaze falls upon. Almost certain that she is imagining the airborne gold-and-dun pegasi, the opalescent woman blinks a few extra times and shakes the lavender forelock from her eyes before smiling wide.
Truly, Lepis has arrived.
It's with a wide and warm smile that Oceane greets her friend at the Pangean border, though she halts a bit further away than a typical polite conversation would require, ensuring that she has not breached her contract with Draco by stepping across Pangea's invisible threshold. "Lepis," her greeting is warm and genuine, "It's so nice to see you again." Oceane tries her best not to assume that the Cleric is here to bring her home to the foothills, tries to find happiness in the fact that she is simply being visited by a friend, but curiosity flourishes within her.
She has no doubt that Lepis will see the questions in her honeyed eyes.
"I hadn't expected to see anyone from Loess, and so soon after Castile ventured north. I assume he handled his business and is home safe?" She wishes more than anything that she can speak openly with her friend. Anaxarete had broken news to the opalescent woman on her first day in Pangea that Loess' Dragon had wreaked havoc on a northern territory ─ she, of course, had feigned knowledge of it.
But her unspoken questions have gone unanswered ever since.
""@[Lepis]""
Hath in her veins, to beat and run, the glad indomitable sea, the strong white sun
Looking away from where she has been tracing the peak of the Mountain and the sound of hooves, Lepis expects to find a stranger, and instead finds a friend. Her navy mouth, before pulled thin in frown, turn up. A smile, bright and genuine, flashes across her face.
It would have stayed longer were it not for Oceane's word choice, the way she speaks as though this can only be a visit, the way she seems to have accepted that the two of them should see each other so infrequently. No, says the vanishing smile, only days should pass before they bump into one another. Not weeks, not months. Oceane belongs in Loess where a conversation does not require a trek across Beqanna.
Yet even with the distance between them (Oceane still decidedly inside the border, and Lepis at the edge of it), there is still a visible question in the mare's eyes, and Lepis answers it a moment after her own verbal greeting. [I'm going to get you home. Al misses you. We all do.] She is grateful that this will not be the first time the striped mare will hear Lepis' words within her mind, and also for this ability to speak without danger of being overheard.
"Castile is...home," she replies, and if there is emphasis on not using safe as a descriptor, at least she does not use another. "He is not himself. He named me regent before leaving, and Loess has left you here overlong." She is here to amend that mistake, Lepis implies without saying as much directly. She has come to Pangea the dawn after calling the kingdom together. The theft of a soldier or minor diplomat is forgivable - even understandable, for kingdoms must hone such skills. But Oceane is important to Loess for more than the child she'd borne Castile, and Lepis is here in the land of monsters to prove it
with tremulous cadence slow, and bring the eternal note of sadness in
The brief, fleeting moment between the Loessian Cleric and Lady that consists only of genuine smiles and happiness to see the other is all that the winged Oceane needs to feel ─ to know ─ that everything will turn out okay... eventually. Though she knows she must continue to be patient, she is flooded with relief at the arrival of Lepis despite the wasteland ─ her temporary home ─ that sprawls out behind her.
The urge to bridge the obvious gap between them, to coil her neck over Lepis' in gratitude, is strong. But still she remains planted firmly within the border of Pangea, softly cradling the ache for affection in her chest.
Lepis' smile falters, and Oceane's follows, but only briefly, as her friend's voice rings clear in her head and draws that smile out again. Her amber eyes well and tears of appreciation, fatigue, homesickness, and loss threaten to spill forth across her face. But she knows the pair will not be alone for long and does not wish for any of her current herd-mates to happen upon her in a moment of vulnerability, so the tears are suppressed and the tightness of her throat is ushered away with a seemingly casual toss of her lavender forelock.
A gentle nod is all that is given in response to Lepis' thought projection ─ it's all that can be given, when they are surrounded by predators.
Oceane's breath catches as the Cleric Regent begins to tell her what news she is able, in regards to Castile. The pegasi had, of course, wondered at his draconic form and how it had, apparently, decided to actively frequent Loess' foothills, but to hear Lepis say that Castile is not himself ─ and to avoid saying that he is safe ─ draws cold fear into her belly.
Her fears, though, are not for Castile ─ but for Loess.
"Well, he certainly could not have elected a better Regent. I hope Alcinder hasn't been too much of a handful, considering your new responsibilities," she says carefully and with warmth, in case they are not alone in this conversation, "But you know I will happily spend my time here if it is for his benefit, and Loess'."
03-18-2020, 06:57 AM (This post was last modified: 03-28-2020, 09:22 AM by Lepis.)
spice up that quote
One dark hoof lifts as though she might step across the border. Lepis’ pale gaze meet’s Oceane’s amber one, and the winged mare sighs, and places the limb firmly on the ground. For all that she wants to eliminate the space between them, this is neither the time nor the place. Not yet. Soon though, she promises herself, and then Oceane. [Soon.]
"It seems fair turnabout," she replies, with nothing in her tone to suggest the two of them are having this conversation under less-than-ideal circumstances. "He was my regent while I was young, and now I can return the favor." Some might see it as less of a favor and more of a grab for power, but they are likely to be those already disinclined to trust Lepis’ motivations. The dun mare is honest about few things with fewer individuals, but she would argue her rightness in this (and in most other decisions she has made) until she were hoarse. If only there were someone to argue with.
What little Lepis knows of Pangea are tales from others, borne back from a diplomatic mission or brief forays. A land of monsters, it is said, and perhaps she should be grateful that none have yet interrupted their reunion. Alcinder had returned unharmed, at least, and as if the thought of him had been shared between them, Oceane mentions him as well.
"He’s been spending time with Aquaria’s boy," Lepis tells her. She does not know the name of the pale, finned colt, but there is no doubting that he is the child of the nereid that has been visiting Loess these past few months. "But he will be happy to see you home. There are better ways to benefit Loess and your son than remaining captive in Pangea." The dun mare does not soften her voice as she speaks, nor when she asks: "I don't intend for you to stay here for long. I came to ensure you were unharmed,"[and now that I know it is so, I will do my best to ensure that you are brought home before the year is up.]
The definitive words are silent, sent only to her striped companion, but she ends with a firm: "I will be seeing you again soon," before bidding the other mare farewell and returning to Loess.
