"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
Even though she’s lived in the Deserts since Ironfire’s birth four years ago, the place has yet to feel like home to her.
She lives here, but she’s an outsider. A stranger to the many other horses that do call this place home. The only ones that ever do pay her any attention are her own children, but even they tend to avoid her in the end.
She knows why. Despite the years that have grown between her and her time with Lena, the girl still continues to weigh heavily on her mind. She thinks of the girl everyday, hoping beyond hope that Lena, wherever she is (was she even real?) is doing alright, that she's happy, that she and her mom managed to find a new home. There’s no way that she’ll ever know of course, but she can’t help but hope. Even though she knows how bleak their situation had been …
She’s tried to find distractions, in her children, in the embrace of lustful stallions … but even now, with her belly ripe and fat from the child within, she thinks of Lena and feels … lost.
The faerie’s trial had broken her in ways that she still can’t even hope to understand.
When the time comes for birth, she hides herself away in shade of a tree at the tiniest oasis, just as she had with her other three Desert children (Ironfire, Rosalee, Skyy … where are they now?). The process itself is quick and easy - she’s used to it by now - and in under an hour a damp little bundle lies in the sand at her side. She stands and moves to the child, a faint smile crossing her face when she sees that it’s a girl, and her coat is a beautiful, dark shade of green. She cleans off the mess then nuzzles at the child, trying to encourage her to stand. “Circinae. Come on sweetie, up on your feet.” She has no doubt that, in the end, Circinae will abandon her too. But she might as well enjoy this time while she can.
He can’t really put a finger on what he’s doing here. It was madness for him, to be this close to the Jungle. The lion tattoo that Prague had given him during the war was already fading from blue to purple, sending a sharp pain through his shoulder and he was only just inside the borders of the golden kingdom. But he can’t help him himself. For some strange reason he’s growing a sentimental bone and there’s something lying in wait among the desert sands that piques his interest and dulls the ache in his shoulder.
A child lies in wait. One of his own blood but more importantly, mothered by a mare he’d seen more times than Zojja. Of course, his pale companion was paramount over any other coupling he’d engaged in, but she was gone and the fruits of their labor had scattered with her. His son Wyrm was the only one that occasionally crept back from time to time and even then, Lupei was never quite sure if his intentions were good or bad. The green colt worried him sometimes. So, alone and without much more reason than base instinct, he’d sought out an old haunt and decided to revert to the old ways - if only for a night.
But Syl, soon to be the mother of their third foal, had never really left him. She kept floating into his consciousness even when he wasn’t prompted, bringing with her the memories of them entangled. Helping raise the twins must have broken something inside of him, or else he simply would have no other reason to explain why he was cantering easily over the dunes, flaming mane and tail buffeted by the dry winds. It would be easier to find her as a wolf, but the thought of a thick, black coat in this heat is unbearable, so he makes his way to the most obvious destination, a nearby oasis, and extinguishes his gift as he slows to a halt just outside the protective cover of the shade.
“Syl?” He calls out, head lowering to peer into the darkness. There’s a flicker of movement near the back, a flash of green. The stallion eases inward, trying not to encroach too much into their small alcove, but his curiosity is overwhelming. His youngest has just risen, body displaying dark yet unusual colors. Lupei’s head tilts, brow rising with interest. “A girl?” He questions, surprise expressed in his tone. His bright eyes turn to the amethyst mare, wondering (for once) what was on her mind.
07-04-2016, 01:28 AM (This post was last modified: 07-04-2016, 01:30 AM by Syl.)
She’s tending to the girl when the oh-so-familiar scent hits her nostrils. Her head flies up immediately, instant nerves twisting her gut in a tight vice. Lupei …
The scent is quickly followed by a voice, and Syl forces a nervous smile onto her lips as the colourful stallion appears from behind their tree. “Lupei …” She tries to keep the anxiety from her voice, but she knows she’s failing. She’s more than a little surprised to come across him here - from what she remembers, Lupei has a herd land somewhere to the northeast. Quite a distance away for him to just randomly appear here.
She follows his eyes to the girl, and she forces herself to smile wider. “Yes, a girl.” She hadn’t exactly expected to have to interact with the stallion beyond their … liaisons. And while she’s sure he’s a nice fellow she just … doesn’t know what to say. “I’ve named her Circinae.” That, at least, seems like a safe place to start.
Circinae shifts, rising up to her feet and Syl leans forward to give the girl a little nudge towards her father. “Go on Circinae, love. This is your father.”
Then she can help herself no longer. In spite of her nerves, she asks “what brings you to the Deserts, Lupei?” It’s a fair question, really. Little Circinae is their third child, and Lupei has never bothered to visit her in the ‘off’ season before, not even when their sons Kaladin and Ironfire had been born.
An iron fist suddenly clenches at her heart. What if … what if he wants to take Circinae and raise her himself? Her breathe catches in her throat, and she fights the urge to draw the girl back towards herself. That would make no sense … no sense at all. Lupei’s never shown any inclination towards wanting to take their children away from her.
But it still begs the question - what is he doing here?
syl
when you think of love do you think of pain?
@[Lupei]
Aaaand the award for making people wait the longest for posts goes to ... myself. I'm so sorry. D:
