"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
html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura
Like a flower waiting to bloom.
She had yet to learn of the disappearance of Ischia’s keeper. She probably would have if she had looked for Circinae, but Kylin hadn’t. It had been on her mind, but something about the way the forest green and navy blue mare had shifted in front of her eyes and then left, held her back. Ever since the keeper’s words had been on her mind.
First and foremost: ”Ischia needs you.” The lavender and white mare had yet to figure out how and why. Other than loving her home and living there, what else could she do? But there had been more of what Circinae had said that kept bugging her: ”I don’t plan on staying here long.”
It was something Kylin couldn’t wrap her mind around. She didn’t understand why the keeper would’ve come to Ischia and proclaim herself the leader, only to leave after a short stay. And especially after Circinae had told her that she had come to Ischia to give her family a home. Was Ischia not good enough to be her family’s home?
Kylin doesn’t know what to do with her thoughts and the longer she thinks about it, the more it troubles her. It gets under her skin, like an itch which refuses to go away, constantly on her mind. It had driver her to seek out the outgoing mare that had been there when Circinae had first arrived at Ischia, she seemed to know the keeper well. And hopefully she would be able to help Kylin figure out her thoughts.
Even though she knows Ischia inside out, as long as she doesn’t know where the fire bay mare usually spend her time, it takes some effort to find Jah-Lilah. Kylin whinnies, calling out to the mare, hoping that she would be willing to talk. Hoping for an answer that would help her find the watcher.
Feeling my way through the darkness, guided by a beating heart.
The closer she got to her due date, the more isolated and private she felt. Her windy lover, Spirit-in-the-Sky, had been always present ever since she revealed herself to him, but Wolf-of-the-Water had been harder to find. No matter, when their new foal arrived, she was more than certain Circinae would slow down a bit to be around, this child seemed to mean as much to her as it did Jah-Lilah. Secluded again in her makeshift den, she is putting the final touches on her nest. My little firefly is dumping all of herself into this sanctuary she's created, and it is as much her baby as the one inside of her.
Her daydreaming and singing is interrupted by the faraway sound of hoofbeats on the sand, someone approaches. Quieting almost immediately, my mare shushes her macaw companion, and cocks her head to listen. Yes, definitely an approaching equine. From the sound of it though, a fine, delicate thing. Suddenly a voice in the air, a cautious whinny on the beach. The sound reaches my mare, and she is intrigued. The call seems to be directed to her, someone beckons her forth, but not somebody she really knows. Grunting, she picks up a trot as best she can given the size of her belly, and emerges from the underbrush.
Much to her surprise, it is the young lavender filly that seeks her out. Her brows raise, and she stands tall, whinnying to get the girl's attention. Moving away from her hidden home a few feet, the wytch bobs her head and snortles. "Hallo there, can I help you?" Cocking her head quizzically, she blinks and smiles, wondering why @[Kylin] has sought her out this afternoon.
I can't tell where the journey will end, but I know where to start.
html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura
Like a flower waiting to bloom.
In effort of not missing a reply, or any other sound offered from the fire mare, Kylin holds her breath. Both her lavender ears flick around, but they fail to catch any sound that even partially sounded like an answer. A soft sigh leaves her lips and with a slight shake of her head she turns towards the sea. Perhaps Ischia didn’t need her as much as Circinae had told her, or not at all. She couldn’t even find other habitants, let alone say she knew them. She felt like a stranger in her own home.
Then her answer comes, breaking through her endless thoughts and making her look up. This time both her ears pin forward as her hazel eyes search the bay mare’s form. There she is, just at the end of the jungle and barely onto the beach. Seeing Jah-Lilah heavily pregnant as she was is only just another reminder of how little she knows about the others.
She doesn’t rush to Jah-Lilah’s side, instead it feels more as if she has to drag herself over. Oh, if she’d only paid a little more attention, if she’d only know, then she wouldn’t have called her out. ”I’m sorry..” she offers, shaking her head slightly as she avoids meeting the bay woman’s gaze. ”I didn’t know..” And she wouldn’t even have thought about bothering her if she had known.
It’s not hard to imagine that the fire mare wouldn’t want to speak about her disappeared friend, lover, or whatever their relationship had been like. Kylin doesn’t judge, she had once loved her brother more deeply than a sister should. Her barrel is huge, and there must be other things than being reminded of Circinae’s disappearance.
Kylin is about to turn away when she realises she should offer Jah-Lilah some sort of explanation. She halts, carefully glancing up to meet Jah-Lilah’s gaze, then soon casting it down again. ”I.. wanted to..” she pauses, though realises there is no way to avoid what she was about to say. ”to ask you about Circinae.”
They tell me I'm too young to understand, they say I'm caught up in a dream.
The girl is clearly frightened and distraught, she's gone through so many rulers in such a short amount of time that Jah-Lilah can't blame her. Confusion clouds her gaze, and it is obvious to my firefly that this child will be no threat to her or her unborn. Softening noticeably, Jah relaxes her posture and body language. With an encouraging cluck like a mother to a baby, she reaches out to sniff the girl. She takes in the gentle smell of hibiscus and the salt water of the sea, and commits it to memory. Kylin smells like the island herself, clearly as much a part of Ischia as the trees or the macaws.
A fumbled apology escapes the girl's lips, and Jah-Lilah stifles a chuckle. Grunting and arching her neck, my mare shakes herself. "There's no need to apologize. You've done nothing wrong. I am she, the red wytch." @[Kylin] shuffles about awkwardly, apparently speaking of the obvious load my mare is carrying. This time, there is no use hiding the sing-song laughter that escapes Jah's throat. "I love this, this load I bear. If I'm not sorry about it, neither should you be, Grows-in-Silence."
It seems the girl is in a rush to leave, and Jah-Lilah is not one to stand in the way of progress. As she watches her leave curiously, the purple mare halts, turning back around and making a face. That's when the hard question comes. At the mention of Wolf-of-the-Water, a pang shoots through Jah's heart. She hadn't seen her lover and friend in ages. Her vision had been of them giggling and sharing pregnancy stories, but it seems that was nothing more than a foolish dream. Swallowing hard, she forces a sad smile and proceeds with the conversation as if nothing is wrong. "Wolf-of-the-Water? Certainly. What is it you would like to know?"
Life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes, and that's fine by me
html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura
Like a flower waiting to bloom.
Now, that wasn’t how she would ever have thought of addressed the mare, but Jah-Lilah refers to herself as the red wytch without even batting an eye. There is something comfortable and comforting about her presence, it is rather motherly. Something Kylin hadn’t felt for quite a while. She was lost, with no parents to take her under their figurative wings or her twin brother to lean on. Here in Ischia she had nobody to guide her.
And with the pained look upon Jah-Lilah’s face it was clear that the lavender and white had been wrong to mention Circinae. Just more proof that she needed someone to tell and teach her. Kylin drops her gaze in guilt. But there is no way that she can leave now, not when she had been the cause of Jah-Lilah’s grief. Another apology lies on her lips, but the red wytch beats her to it.
She nods her head silently, as to confirm that she indeed meant the former keeper of Ischia. Kylin stays silent for a while, her hazel eyes uncertainly studying Jah-Lilah. She is hesitant to continue, it would be better if she just left so she couldn’t cause any more heartbreak, but secretly the tobiano mare doesn’t want to. Kylin wants to be in the comforting presence of the red bay mare a little longer, even if that would make her selfish. ”I.. hoped you could help me understand..” she eventually answers softly, hazel eyes looking up to meet Jah-Lilah’s gaze for a short second.
Her gaze focusses on the waves that roll onto the sand. The sight calms her and the sound is like music to her ears. ”Before..”she disappeared, a pause. ”She said something to me..” Another pause and Kylin wills herself to look up to the red mare. Uncertainty swirls in her hazel eyes, but this time she doesn’t attempt to hide it. ”She told me that Ischia needs me..” But she never told Kylin why, or how.
Wake me up when it's all over, when I'm wiser and I'm older.
The violet female is alone, literally and figuratively, and the notion seems comfortable to her. It is very clear to Jah-Lilah that although @[Kylin] was a bit lost, and quite nervous, she was home. The island seemed to open up and welcome the little thing into it, and this makes my mare smile. Visible relaxation comes over the youth, and this puts Jah at ease. She is glad that she can bring some center and balance to the apparently lost and struggling mare.
They exchange a few apologies and curtsies for etiquette and show, and soon Kylin gets to the point. She, like nearly all others who have sought Jah-Lilah out during the final moments of her pregnancy, is wondering about Wolf-of-the-Water. Jah can't blame them. In the short amount of time she had with the evergreen mare, they had been inseparable. At first she had believed the mare to be a part of her, but then she saw Circinae's true purpose. Some come into your life for a reason, some come into your life for a season. Circy had only been meant to lead Jah-Lilah to her truelove, Canaan. With a gentle sigh my firefly smiles, weary of the endless questioning. Nosing at the pied filly, she motions for her to follow to the beach, where they could talk.
Grunting as she picks the easiest way down to the water, she waits when her hooves hit soft, damp sand. When Kylin has joined by her side, she finally collects her thoughts and answers, choosing each word carefully. "I don't know if I will give you answers or more questions, but I will be honest, and I will do my best to help, Grows-in-Silence." Plucking a palm leaf from the ground near her hooves, she chews slowly. "My Wolf...she was restless. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with restless. Goddess knows that my soul-mate, Wind, is the king of the vagabonds. He rides the wind, always changing, always fluid, but even he could be satiated. The emerald mare you seek could not..."
"Even with two lovers and three children, it wasn't enough. She needed the whole wide world to quench her thirst. Her departure is random and sudden, but I believe she just no longer wanted to be contained. You must carry on protecting your island in her absence. She won't be back."Your island does need you, little one. You have been the one constant throughout all the change in rulers, and you know this place better than anyone. Perhaps you should seek the new leader. I haven't met her yet, but I've seen her. The new caretaker seems to love and value this place as much as you, and to be honest a strange presence still lingers here. There are those who want to take this paradise and teach it to hate. You can't let that go down." Eyeing the girl sideways, she purses her lips and makes a bold suggestion. "Perhaps you should leave and find a mate who lacks the erm, purple pigment you all seem to like so much. The variety may do you good." Returning her gaze to the horizon, she swallows her food and shifts her weight, feet aching.
All this time I've been finding myself and I didn't know I was lost.
html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura
There is my mind, there is my heart.
Kylin had yet to get to know the forest green and navy blue mare as the red woman in front of her did. She hadn’t yet learned the lesson Circinae had wanted her to learn, but perhaps the former keeper wasn’t meant to be her tutor. The realisation has the lavender and white woman tilt her head, suddenly seeing Jah-Lilah in a whole different light.
It is easy to follow her lead and before she knows it, they find themselves on the beach. She doesn’t hesitate to step onto the water, only a couple of steps in, so she wouldn’t be too far away from Jah-Lilah, but with the comfort the sea offered as the waves gently rolled over and underneath her hooves. Her eyes are locked on Jah-Lilah, waiting for what the pregnant mare has to say.
The red witch offers her more words than Circinae had ever spoken to her. Kylin listens carefully, her ears sometimes flicking around as if she’s trying to process the new insights and information that’s offered to her. She doesn’t interrupt Jah-Lilah, and instead offers as much time as she needs. Kylin knows very well what it is like to lose a very close companion. And thus she allows Jah-Lilah to speak about her loved ones, interested to learn about them, but she also doesn’t really know what to do with the information.
Jah-Lilah speaks her mind, which, indeed, bring up more questions. Top of doubts on top of that too. What good could she do? She didn’t match up to the others’ strength, nor was she as clever as them. Kylin is about to ask ”How can I do that? How can I stop them?” Because it only seems logical to ask Jah-Lilah. But the words that follow next are in big contrast with that what Circinae had told her.
Kylin is speechless. Leave Ischia? There had only been one before who had put that thought in her mind. Ivar had asked her to come live in Loess. She had asked for time, and time she’d taken. And yet she’d failed to make a decision. So things stayed like they were. Kylin residing in Ischia and Ivar the king of Loess.
