"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
something has been taken from deep inside of me; the secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see.
As he spares a glance towards the mirror image of himself (though smaller, weaker than he – she was youthful, after all, and naïve), with a trickling of blood traversing the long plane of his broad face, his searing eyes burn into her. The fire inside of him is burning brightly, attempting to seep out through his skin (and it does, but only slightly – a flicker of flame, illuminating the feathering at the base of his thick, heavily muscled legs with fire), and it leaves his chest with a deep, dark ache – so deep, it may as well be his heart bleeding out from within, pouring hot, blistering magma – or so it felt.
The surge of heat exerted to aid in the healing of her would does not come without a price, however – and he is tired, weary, and worn. The fire is something he so often suppresses, and it is both mentally and physically wearing on him to wield it – though it is mostly the mental back-and-forth that stirs fatigue within. When the unusual creature beside him begins to weep, his heart clenches, wanting to comfort or console her, but not knowing how – after all, it had been he who caused the blistering welt along her side, where soon her wound would heal – even though it had not been him who had caused the wound to begin with.
And then, Jinju moves forward, placing herself in between he and her mother, snarling at him. His gaze darkens, boring into her own with indiscernible emotion, but he is too tired for the fire to flare up within – and he is grateful for it, because the rolling sensation of bitterness is nearly too difficult to contain, and he knew that if it were not for the fatigue, he would burn her very flesh in that moment.
”If it were not for me, your mother would be little else but a bleeding, dying pile of bones on the forest floor,” he growls through bared, yellowed teeth, his upper lip curled. ”do not mistake the power my bloodline has given you for strength, Jinju. You stood by and did nothing when you could have helped her yourself. Do not be so mistrusting.”
There is a stillness of silence as the antlers seemingly vanish, drawing back into her body as if they had been constructed from her own tissue and tender bone, and though blood is still splayed across her ashen skin, she is some semblance of herself – though he knew little of what she was, or much of who she was before falling into a delirium of heartache and sorrow. For a moment, his eye catches her – a searing red, with a deep green, and she breathes a few gasping words of gratitude, before pressing into her daughter’s embrace.
I owe you a life debt, she murmurs, but he says nothing at all – she owes him nothing, and perhaps she already knows that, but he knew too well how magic might become useful – as would an alliance.
He does not say another word – only a brief nod, and a wayward glance towards his estranged daughter (by blood alone, it seemed – she was nothing like him), before his dark figure immerses itself within the shadow of the thicket, disappearing – and then he is gone.
wounds so deep they never show; they never go away. like moving pictures in my head, for years and years they've played.
Offspring
Grumpy Offy - blame the whole fire consuming him thing. :| Bad temper right now.
He's no longer active in the thread. Carry on.
She couldn’t say he wasn’t entirely right, he had helped her mother out on Reagan’s own request, but Jinju just had wanted to be the one to do it. Okay, maybe she had hesitated a little too long, perhaps she had made her sire feel obligated to do it.
”I would’ve done it” she answers, voice softer than she had wanted it to be. The fire still burns within her, showing in her eyes, but less bright. Hurt. Though there was a truth in his words, it still hurt. He had accused her of standing by when she really didn’t had a chance to step in and help her mother. That was what the stallion had done, yes, he’d hurt her too, but only to help her.
Then he leaves them, allowing her to reconnect with her mother. It was definitely not how she had imagined getting to know her sire – not that she had ever had any thoughts of meeting him with her dam out of the picture – and the whole thing couldn’t have been more strange. But what matters now is the doe like creature that presses against her side. ”Mom” she can only murmur back softly.
Her first touch is hesitant, unsure of what she would discover, but soon her muzzle is pressed against Reagan’s strange coat. Tears cloud her eyes, both happy and sad tears. It hurts to see her mother like this, but she’s so relieved and just happy that she finally could hold her mother close again. ”Thank you” she softly says, pulling back slightly to look her mother in the eyes. ”Thank you for coming back to me.” All other things instantly forgiven.
Reagan’s question brings a small smile to her lips and she leans in to nuzzle her mother’s strange deer nose. ”I.. I think they’re okay. Dad is.. coping, but it’s hard on him too. Iasan.. I think he left to make sure Terra’s fine..” she tells her mother, hoping that it wouldn’t do any more wrong, but she just so desperately wanted to connect with her mother. ”Heda has left.. to.. to set her own path” she tells after a short pause, clearly still struggling with the way things had go. Not that she couldn’t understand Heda wanted to build her own life, but just.. the way how.
And then last, but not least, Enfys. The mention of her sister’s name pulled a smile on her face. Jinju had grown really fond of her little sister and it had meant a lot to her that Reagan had trusted her in her care. ”I’m happy to have Enfys around. It’s.. strange to her I think, from being with you to all of us in the Taiga. But I do hope she’s happy too..” She’s honest. She doesn’t know exactly how Enfys is doing, but she guessed she should soon spend some more time with her little sister.
”But mom..” she starts, pulling back a little so her ruby eyes can find her mother’s emerald ones. Her breath hitches, eyes searching for something more, but then she just casts her gaze down, almost making her flustered. ”She soon won’t be the youngest in our family.. You..” Another pause and a deep breath, now looking up again. ”You’ll become a grandmother.”
The recovering magician watched Offspring walk away from them then--a silent shadow just as easily as if he'd slipped off into silence like an oncoming storm. What was left was a mother and her child walking toward the family den--what little there was left of her family--leaning into the weight of her very pregnant daughter.
"I saw evidence of your baby when I first came through the trees, Jinju. I am happy for you. Was he... good for you?" She does not comment on the baby's father. Jinju was raised with enough sense that she would not have gone off looking in the dark for a moment that she was not ready for. She was too hot-headed to let anything happen to her that was not specifically to her own calling. If any man laid a hoof on her, she'd set them ablaze. Reagan chuckles to herself at the thought of such. Blood or not, she was definitely Reagan's child.
"Iasan always had a softspot for Terra. I hope they are happy. Wherever they are. Heda too, though I believe I will be seeing her much sooner than I will see them."
And as to Enfys. Her baby. Her precious little icicle. "She will understand. I will come to her after I am settled once again. Or I will send for her."
A cold look settles upon her face as she looks off across the river, toward the home she once ruled. "I cannot go back to the Taiga, Jinju. I hope you can understand."
She should’ve known that her mother would know, but even so, it was nice to be able to say those words out loud. And she could only hope that her mother didn’t object it, and even would be happy for her. Even if they no longer shared a home, Jinju wanted and needed her mothers approval and guidance. The mention of Terran brings a smile to her face and she lightly nods her head. ”He was” she answers honestly. She had been sad to go home after the wonderful days they had spent together.
The memory brings something else to her mind, and she has to correct herself. ”He still is, actually. He agreed to be involved with the baby, to be part of its life.” For a moment Jinju had been afraid he wouldn’t, she wasn’t delusional after all. It was not like they were together, even though they surely had some kind of connection.
Jinju nods, eyes on the Taiga for a short moment before finding Reagan’s emerald gaze again. ”Me too.. I hope they are doing well. All of them” she agrees, though avoids to speak names. Especially Heda’s caused her a lot of grief. Not really that her sister had left, a part of living meant moving forward. But that didn’t make the loss any less.
”I know, mom. And I do. I’m not asking that of you either, but a daughter can want her mother in her life, right?” her voice is soft. This time she doesn’t follow her mother’s gaze and keeps watching her mother’s features instead, or, not really Reagan’s real features, but this temporary face that’s harder to read. ”Please help me..”
With every day that passed, her barrel getting larger, the more worried Jinju got. What if she wouldn’t be a good mother, what if she wouldn’t be able to deal with the extra pressure of life? She no longer had to care for herself only, but there would be a small being completely depended on her.
