"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
As she had stepped from the dank cavern, the twist smile upon her lips never dissipated. In fact with each ruffled feather she had caused upon the King of Tephra, it grew even more. His stern words and furrowed brow was pleasing to her eyes and ears. But when all was said and done, she was to be banished. That was all fine and dandy. The only reason she had ever came to the God forsaken island was to see her father but he had abandoned her just as she abandoned her own kin. Perhaps it was a family curse. Selfishness.
Her amber eyes turn to view her keeper through the twisting flames, "Shall we..." It wasn't a question nor permission. It never was. She had no further reason for being here and she wasn't wasting anymore time. She had things to do.
As her body turns towards the far border, she calls to her children, "Kryptic... Follow. Kolera, walk with me my child. I have much to ask..." There is hesitation but soon their muffled steps are heard through the crackle of flame. She turns to the mottled stallion who seemed to be perturbed by something, "I take it you know my daughter... Foolish girl isn't she." Her voice rises a decibel to project across the rolling flames, " Why don't you destroy Tephras beautiful flora for me? Show them why they shouldn't mess with me." Her ebony ears twist back, waiting for her daughter's compliance. It never comes. Only words.
I can't.
Motion halts from the golden mare. Eyes narrowing on the scenery before her in distaste. "What?! You can't or you won't..." Her words hold bite at Koleras resistance. Soon the bay explains that she had the fairies remove her curse in exchange for a gift. A snort flutters from her flared nares as she steps forwards again. The ever present flames surrounding her. Suddenly it was getting very warm within them. "I see. I'm disappointed in you Kolera. You had such potential. Such talent. I guess you are just as useless as your other siblings. You WERE my favorite Kolera." The pitch in her voice stressing the past tense of her statement. Disappointment grows rigged in her muscles and features.
They had nearly reached the channel separating the mainland from the tropical oasis. She hears the stumbling steps of her newest child. Out of her peripheral vision she sees him stagger to remain upright. The wings at his sides weak from lack of use. Ebony tassels whip in agitation. Another weak abomination.
They arrive at the bank of the water. The rushing rapids of a recent snowfall in the mainland feeding it's current. One hoof dips into the water but she retracts it quickly, "Ooo that's bitterly cold... Well I guess this is good bye Levi. We had fun, didn't we." A chuckle emits from her vocals, "I hope you make it across Kryptic. Kolera. Would you be so kind as to bring your brother to Loess. I'm sure Ivar would LOVE to know of his spawn. Or do whatever you want with him... Maybe we will meet again. But I hope not..." With that she shifts into her alter form. Dodging through the tendrils of flame that held her captive...
Karaugh
illicit daughter of nymphetamine and killgore
HTML by Call
@[Levi] Kolera Kryptic... So I'll probably continue a bit with Kryptic trying to get across but maybe Levi and Kolera share a few words...?
The soft velvet of Amore's muzzle trails along his crest reassuringly. He buries himself in her chest as his blue eyes watch his mother in a ball of fire. They're burning her ALIVE! Obvious is his naive knowledge of their magical world...
When the steel eyes of the winged stallion look to him, he shivers against the black legs of his new friend. His face turning to bury into the warm body beside him. He listens still as harsh tones are exchanged. And then...
Kryptic... Follow
He reluctantly turns his blotched face to find his mother turning. His ears fall sadly into his multi-hued fluff. Pulling his tiny body from the dark mares embrace, his tiny hooves bring him to follow behind his momma. He looks back briefly at the horses gathered. Blue gaze finding Amorette, "Bye Amorette." He squeaks out quietly.
His big sister soon follows behind him as well. Listening as her and his mom converse. His thoughts returning to the kind mare. As they wonder his hooves tangle with his wings. Almost sending him head over hoof. Regaining balance just as they stop. His eyes look to the liquid his mother steps into before she is speaking and then gone....
He watches as her tiny form disappears. Gaze trailing back to the massive stallion before him. Mouth gaping as he cranes his neck upwards. He's sooo big and scary... His legs weaken as the brooding face of the spotted stallion turns towards his direction. Wanting to find Amorette and bury his head in her breast. He gulps a mouthful of air as he walks forward. Eyes turning to the moving water. Barely being able to make out the other side, he squints his eyes. Mismatched ears flopping to the sides in uncertainty.
Standing at the edge, he spreads his clumsy wings. Attempting to flap them. Up. Down. Up. Down. Uppp... Do..w...n... He closes his eyes to focus extra hard. On his last stroke he rises his front hooves off the ground but his wings folded under him. Sending his toppling over and into the stream.
A squeal echos from his lips. Limbs and wings flail as he tries to get his footing. The frigid waters soak his coat before a grip is felt on his crest. Dragging him back onto dry land. He jerks his head upwards, his knees bringing him back to a stand.
Worn limbs wobble slightly as a shiver radiants from his core, ears press flat to his skull. Water droplets drip from his soaked tail as he whips it against his flank in annoyance. Turning to face his sister, with despair stricken eyes looking to the ground. How could she just leave him? He wants to cry. He can feel the tears rushing to the corners of his eyes but he holds them back. With a tiny snort he pushes the weak emotion away. Anger beginning to boil inside him...
He nods and follows orders as he is apt to do, escorting Karaugh to the channel without a word.
Thoughts of his sister predominately fill his mind as the small group travels south, causing his usually smooth brow to remain twisted in concern. He had never seen her look the way she did just now, and he knew he had to find her as soon as possible before what was bothering had time to fester.
But the crown always asked for more - there was this one more task for Tephra. After this, then he could find Ceara. Harsh words may be coming for him, but he would rather have them spit at him then continue wonder what feeling she was harboring.
Harsh words from all fronts it seemed.
The heavy stallion looks over his shoulder to Kolera then and regrets it the moment he does, his mismatched eyes return forward, to focus on the ocean waters in the distance. He wonders if this duty is just for show, he can hardly imagine Karaugh would want to stay in Tephra after her imprisonment. Maybe Warrick just wanted an opportunity to test his predecessors heir. That thought causes the anger already simmering in his chest flashes unbearably hot.
He towers above the family as the halt along the water's edge. The fire cage surrounding his prisoner slackens and she escapes with the customary smirk plastered across her villainous face. - for now, he is glad to see her go. His attention turns to her floundering offspring.
"Get out of the water," he growls, "Stay here for a minute."
They miserable creature was going to drown himself if he tried to cross. His gaze finally turns to Kolera, and he sighs. Little did he know that Ellyses orders would have him in trouble with every woman in his life.
"Alright, I'm sure you have lot's to say... so let's hear it."
01-05-2018, 11:11 PM (This post was last modified: 01-05-2018, 11:15 PM by Kolera.)
Every ounce of her suddenly questions why she had came here. Why she had bothered to care of her mother's well being, when clearly she cared for no one but herself. Each dragging stride behind the two equines made her regret this even more. She had doubted Warrick, her most trusted friend. Had never expected Levi was capable of such things her mother had spoken of, but perhaps she deserved everything she got.
The disapproval in her mother's voice was obvious. Who the fuck was she to judge?! She bites her tongue though. Briefly explaining why she couldn't destroy the plant life around her anymore. Her mother didn't care to know the details, so she saved her breath.
It wasn't long before they stood in a familiar place beside the stream. Sienna eyes shifting to Levi as her mother takes off. Leaving her, her brother and instructions. Disbelief paints her face as she tries to make sense of what just happened...
The sound of splashing water snaps her back into reality. Finding Levi removing the child from the stream, then watching as he fumbles for footing. He stands and she moves forward. Pulling his cold, wet frame to her chest. She feels him press against her as her head raises to look into the mismatched eyes of the fire wielder.
So let's hear it...
She has so much to say she doesn't even know where to start. You FUCKED MY MOTHER! Was just one of many, but she didn't know what happened truthfully. Everything had been so vague and all the details she had came from her.
Her eyes fell in betrayal as she speaks quietly, "I didn't know you were capable of such things. Please tell me what she said isn't true..." Her eyes raise again to find the truth in the lines of his face. Twisting her ears forwards to hear what he had to say in his defense. Her hope is that there is more to the story but she only knew one side...
He expecting fire and fury but what he gets is a soft request from a hurting woman. But that only makes matter wrose.
Tell me it's not true.
That was the resounding, unanimous request from the mares in his life. No one wanted to hear the truth, apparently.
"Don't act so surprised," he spits at her - because she is there, she is the face of them all. But Kolera, of them all, should know of the darkness which had never truly left him. Even if he had appeared somewhat reformed.
"You didn't know I was capable of such things?" He laughs, but it is a bitter, sarcastic laugh which holds little humor. "You didn't know the man who burned half a kingdom to the ground - with your help- and for no good reason, was capable of fucking your mother?" Maybe she had felt the stirrings of guilt, but she had still done it - she had still been there, smiling and savoring the high of power it brought them all.
Maybe she felt remorse, but he never had - and the shame was on her if she had never seen that in him, for he had never hidden it (or the lack of it) from anyone. He was still struggling to see how his escapades with Karaugh, their mutual use of each other's bodies during her imprisonment, was so out of character for him. She had been the first (and still only) woman he had been with.
"Keep your expectations for yourself." If they were so surprised and dismayed by his actions, maybe none of them actually knew him at all. His anger and resentment are building and he is beyond the point of explaining himself - if she could believe everything her deviant mother said, then let her believe it.
Levi
so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
@[Kolera] The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Levi and do not necessarily reflect the feelings or position of the author.
The simmering boil had quickly turned to rolling as the bay stallion stood before her. Casting the past in her face with a laugh. Was this all a fucking joke to him?
Her muscles go rigid as she attempts to control the anger rising inside her. Teeth cemented together behind pressed black lips. She feels a shuffle at her breast. A slight movement to her left and rear draws her attention only briefly. The dark figure was semi-familiar from the grouping they had just departed from. Kryptic sees as well and suddenly springs to life, "Amorette!" The mares name exclaimed, as his tiny body bolts to where she has come to rest. Maybe she sensed the tensions building. Let him go to her... I've got words...
Bringing her focus back to Levi, her eyes narrowed in a hard glare. The deep core within her burned in almost a familiar way. In the way her poison had used to creep it's way up and out. Boiling over until everything she had wished to die, laid dry before her hooves. She wanted nothing more than to stomp that arrogant look off his chiseled face.
With a deep exhale from flared nostrils and ears pressed flat to her skull, she boils over, "What do you want to hear Levi?! That I ENJOYED what we did that night! That I liked having the power to kill whatever I pleased! Yes, I DID ok! So stop shoving it down my throat already." Pausing for a breath she tries to gain her composure but it has long left her grasp, "I try to give you a chance to redeem any sort of dignity and you fucking laugh in my face! Oh so you fucked my mom. Congratulations! You've joined the I FUCKED KARAUGH CLUB. Members- I lost fucking count!" She expels a dry chuckle of her own, "You think that makes you a man?! Grow up." He had overlooked what she had really asked him. She didn't care he had shacked up with her mom or anyone else for that matter. She wanted both sides of the story...
Her eyes roll in annoyance at his immaturity. He was past explaining himself and so was she. Her shoulders shift as she begins to turn towards where Amorette and Kryptic had remained, but she had one more thing to get off her chest, "Did I like that feeling of power...yes. But I realized what was important in life. I grew up with THAT as a role model. She doesn't care about anyone but herself. Pushing away anyone that could have MAYBE cared about her, for her own selfish endeavors. She'll die alone. No one will remember her name... If that's the life you want to live than why don't you go fucking join her." With her biting last words she motions to turn and walk away. She had an abandoned child to deal with...
Kolera
Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
@[Levi] you asked for it XD. Sapphire okd me adding Amore into the background of my post.
01-07-2018, 10:45 PM (This post was last modified: 01-07-2018, 10:53 PM by Levi.)
The dam breaks, and he is flooded by a torrent of angry words. The meek mare is nowhere to be seen now. After the years he had known her, the transformation he had witnessed, he should have known it was coming, the change of character could not possibly be so complete as she would have him believe. The Imp is back, and he quells the smile with threaten to make an appearance - that would only make things much worse.
He lets her say her piece, it was what he asked for anyway, and although she almost loses him somewhere between the overstatements and the sarcasm he does his best to read between the lines.
She felt betrayed. She was jealous.
His life was a balancing act between self-loathing and narcissism, and today the later was winning.
"If you want to hear my side, then listen. I spent months guarding Karaugh, who by the way, I had no idea was your mother until an hour ago. Yes, we found ways to pass the time which are, apparently, repulsive to everyone else. But I was happy to watch her go, and unless she foolishly finds her way back here I will probably never see her again."
Was that the whole problem? That she thought he had -feelings- for her mother? His voice is low but the flames along his crested neck lash angrily. There is steel in his mismatched eyes, but they are not altogether hardened. Kolera had been with him from his adolescence on, she was one of the few who knew his whole story. Relentlessly over the years, she had carved herself a niche in his affections.
"Don't compare me to her," his voice is tempered with sincerity below the smoke, "I've never claimed to be a hero, but I'm not selfish as that. I would never abandon my child, my family."
If she couldn't see that, if she would leave him standing there talking to himself, he would let her go.
Levi
so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
Ok sorry! I'm ignoring the Amore comment because he is focused on Kolera atm and I'm not exactly sure where Amore is. I'm just thinking that he was pretty much ignoring Kryptic and didn't notice his comment, but feel free to have Amore walk up or whatever you had planned.
01-08-2018, 12:47 PM (This post was last modified: 01-08-2018, 12:56 PM by Kolera.)
She is far above seething as she makes her turn. Ready to leave it all behind her. But something stops her. Something alit on his face almost. A subtle hint of satisfaction, but the smirk she is sure will christen his face never appears. Though she is sure it is there.
Her black ears rise slightly from the grave they had been dug so deeply in. His explanation of events was brief and just as vague as her mother's, but she hadn't wanted in depth details. No, spare me those please. Perhaps all she wanted was a hint of remorse. An apology she knows she'll never hear. She knew Levi too well to expect much more than what she got out of him. It was something at least. Ever the brooding gaurd of Tephra, that was Levi.
The two-toned fauna looks to where the mare and child stand, just at the brink of ear shot. Her voice is low as to only carry to the stallion, "You did what you did... It's in the past. I'm not one to dwell on what HAS happened." The rise on has clearly refers to Hyaline. She regains control of her anger, "I never compared you to her. I simply pointed out where her choices have led her in life." Softened sienna eyes find him once again with a turn of her dished profile, "Life is all about choices... The ones we make and the ones we don't." Ivory dipped limbs move her forwards. A gentle smile forming on her lips as she looks to the child nestled happily against his friend.
Choices were the epitome of her life. Creation instead of destruction. Selflessness over self-serving. Right versus wrong. She wonders if he will ever understand what she did was necessary. For so many reasons. She fears though that he may never understand fully. That he may never reach his own true potential. Remaining a lost boy forever...
Kolera
Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
@[Levi] it's ok I just wrote her in the background so Kryptic had someplace to be. I figured she will join them and start a new thread. So Levi can be on his way. I'm sure he will be busy XD
Her eyes soften as she seems to come to terms with something - his actions, her mother's actions, the past- whatever it is he isn't quite sure. Along with her eyes, her tone also softens, allowing him to lower his guard just slightly. Kolera was not Karaugh, she was not just out to get him or seeking only her self-interest, and he knows she means well with her short lecture.
As her gaze drifts his own follows hers to Amorette, where it lingers. He should go and speak to his smokey friend, and find out if he could still even call her that. But that meeting will have to wait, for weeks perhaps. He had probably already wasted too much time here, his quarry was quick and stubborn and if he was every to catch Ceara he needed to leave now. If Amore looks to him he offers a nod before turning to wade into the channel.
Choices.
Pausing, as the surf rushes around his knees, his mismatched gaze is still turned out to the world beyond Tephra, but his ears are turned back towards Kolera. Instead of a goodbye, he offers her a short explanation "I need to go find my sister."
With strong and sure strokes his large frame reaches the other side of the waterway with ease, but he can only guess if Kolera will be here when he returns - it's too late to ask now.
Levi
so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
@[Amorette] @[Kolera] I know this is done, but I'm just tagging because it slightly steps into the next thread you have going on
![[Image: BQLevipagedoll-DONE.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/25n6rx5J/BQLevipagedoll-DONE.png)