"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
Gale run away with me-- lost souls and reverie running wild and running free
Gale’s heartbeat hammers in his throat as he lands on the beach. The sand here is as dark as that of his homeland, a reminder of the shared connection between Island Resort and Tephra. It’s a good omen for his journey here, the navy stallion tells himself as he tucks his brilliantly white wings against his sides.
It is hot here, he finds, and incredibly humid as well. He meanders down the beach slowly, keeping the water always at his ankles. A floating bunch of grapples catches his eye, and he reaches for them. Most are past ripe, and he spits them out with distaste.
“Hello?” Gale calls out. His voice is echoed by the shrill cry of the osprey that floats over his head, amplifying the sound. The white haired horse looks up, squinting his blue eyes against the sun. He’d not been aware Erne had come with him across the sea. You crossed the water,’ Gale says to him, marvel in his voice. ’Did you do that for me? I know you’ve never left the Resort before.’ The only reply to his nonverbal query is another screech, and the osprey banking sharply in the late afternoon sun to fish along the shore in the distance.
The stallion shakes his head, which sends a soft shower of saltwater on the dry sand to one side. His thick white mane, growing all the way down his spine, is still wet from his non-time swim. Another swim is starting to sound good about now, Gale thinks to himself. But a cold swim. Maybe he can stop by Icicle Isle on his way home, to cool down after this adventure. The words of the pale stallion echo in his mind as he waits for someone to find him. Gale takes a deep breath, and his racing heart slowly calms.
Although the colder seasons don’t affect Tephra’s tropical climate, Isilya has decorated herself in the season’s colours - lush plumes of white, silver, and blue flowers drape across her pale back from the vines that creep down her spine. When she gets bored of being on her own, which is often, birds weaved out of the petals flutter up and dance around her - chirping happy songs.
At first she thinks that the osprey call is one of these birds getting ambitious (forgetting that they are tied to her magic and don’t have minds of their own). It’s only when Isilya hears it again that she recognized it for what it is - visitors! Her flower-birds twitter with her own excitement as she shifts her movements and heads to the beach. She is just in the middle of thinking how much she’d hopes it someone from Ischia or the Resort when she recognizes the winged stallion standing there.
Now, Isilya breaks out in a smile whenever she sees anyone but it is no less genuine. With her usual cheery enthusiasm, she wastes no time in heading over to say hello. “Hi Blue! It’s so nice to see you again.” She’s completely forgotten that it was an osprey call that had brought her here but that’s okay, because it was just so nice to see a familiar face. “How are you? What brings you to Tephra?”
04-30-2020, 07:54 AM (This post was last modified: 05-06-2020, 04:09 PM by kahzie.
Edit Reason: my spelling errors were too embarrassing
)
Gale run away with me-- lost souls and reverie running wild and running free
The sounds of rustling greenery is little different here than on his island, though even from the water Gale can tell that the plants here are quite like those on the Island Resort. They’re green, after all. A lovely color, to be sure, but to have just one and a few clusters of flowers? Not as eye-catching, the stallion thinks, though his blue eyes do immediately find the vine-bedecked mare as she emerges from the jungle.
He knows her by the flowers alone. Those that flutter about her like birds are new to him, but he watches curiously and does not think to hide the admiring smile that appears at he does.
“Isilya!” He says when she is near enough, responding to her politeness with a shy duck of his head. That she had so quickly turned to flowers in their first conversation had saved Gale from the awkward niceties of introduction, and he is reluctant to make her aware of them now. She seems happy to see him, after all, and he’d rather not wipe away her cheerful expression.
“Ruinam’s gone,” he begins without preamble. “I didn’t want to leave the Resort unprotected but me ’n’ Erne are the only ones there, I think.” His tone is apologetic, because while he has forgotten every word told to him as a child, he’s picked up enough through conversation with Ruinam and Divest to know that Isilya, as the queen in Tephra, is also responsible for the well being of the Island Resort. It seems that is all he has to say, and the silence is almost awkward before he breaks it with another announcement: “Oh. My name is Gale. I’d forgotten it, but I know it now. You can still call me Blue though, if you want.”
At the sight of his smile, some of the flower-woven birds swoop a little closer to the blue stallion. “Gale! I like that. I think I’ll still call you Blue, though. Except on formal occasions.” She says this last addition with a spurt of bright laughter.
But back to the first announcement he had made. The news that Ruinam is gone is a bit of a surprise, but not as big of a surprise as the lack of sadness in the flower-decorated mare. The pale stallion had creeped her out with his choice of favourite flower and she had not quite gotten over it - all flowers are beautiful in their own way, of course, but her attempt at a light-hearted conversation had quickly grown dark with his addition.
She does not consider that she should have been checking up on the islands more often than she does - she had been honest about her intentions to allow them to self-govern and only offer assistance when or if it was required.
Isilya thinks she understands the reason for his apologetic tone, though she hasn’t become as practised in the art of conversation as she probably should have. She assumes that he is apologetic for the low population, though she can only think that the beaches and other animals that call the Resort home must not mind the lack of horses. “Oh that’s okay! Populations rise and fall all the time in lands. Can I do anything to help?” She’s not sure what she can do, aside from maybe encouraging a few more bodies to go there.
It may come as a surprise, but Isilya does not have a mind for strategy or defense.
“Does this mean you’ve stepped up in Ruinam’s place?” She smiles as she says this - hopefully making it obvious that she would not be opposed to that situation in the least.
Gale run away with me-- lost souls and reverie running wild and running free
When the flutter-flowers come closer, Gale is delighted. He reaches out his curious nose to tap at them gently, finding they smell and feel no different than true flowers. Would they taste as good, he wonders? He’d had a good breakfast though, and does not wish to offend Isilya by snacking on her lovely creations. He rather likes the fact that she is so bright and cheerful, and the idea that he might take the smile from her face is enough for him to swear off nibbling on the floral birds. They do smell very good though, so he takes his attention from them and returns it to the pale mare herself.
“You can call me that anytime you’d like,” he tells her, and then looks away, rather bashful.
Isilya tells him that populations rise and fall, and Gale nods agreeably. He believes her, and the Island Resort has surely fallen. If she says it will rise though, Gale trusts her. When she asks if there is anything she can do to help, Gale stares back at her with a rather startled expression. Is there? Is there something he should be doing? The responsibility of leadership had not seemed so heavy before, but nor has Gale ever considered these concerns. The brindle stallion has assumed that being a leader isn’t much different than being a resident. Except, well, that he’s also the leader. He is, quite suddenly, not sure of this at all.
“Yes?” he replies, drawing the word out hesitantly. Gale is reluctant to disappoint her, and she does seem pleased. He’d harbored some thoughts of just asking her to find a new leader for the Resort, but that seems silly now. Especially when she’d seemed happy for him to do it “Yes.” He says, more firmly this time. “That’s what I’m doing. Stepping up.”
05-13-2020, 03:09 PM (This post was last modified: 05-13-2020, 03:10 PM by Isilya.)
She does not push or even show a flicker of hesitation as he seems to question his resolve over the matter of stepping into the resort’s leadership role. She would have helped him find someone else if he really did not want it, but she is so glad when that final yes is decisive. It makes her happy to see someone young and full of promise. Even if the island is not bustling with faces at the moment, at least there is one soul there who cares for it. When he finally states that yes, he is stepping up, her already bright grin blossoms a little more. “I am glad to hear it, Blue.” She likes using the nickname, it makes her feel as though they are really and truly friends - having this little piece of extra information about him.
Truthfully, she doesn’t understand much of how the whole ‘governing’ thing works still. Maybe she and Gale can figure that out together.
She wonders if this is why he had come to visit, or whether he just wished to see the kingdom, but instead of asking outright she asks something else. “Do you have any concerns about your home I can help with? Some of my bird friends can accompany you and help keep an eye on the borders.” She nods to the flower-woven creatures that are swooping around them like swallows. “And of course you’re welcome in Tephra any time at all. Our homes are woven together and I will be happy to do whatever I can to help the islands.”
Gale run away with me-- lost souls and reverie running wild and running free
She calls him Blue again, and Gale smiles. This is not a formal occasion then, if she is calling him that. The brindle stallion had begun to worry it might be, this meeting between the new leader of the Island Resort and its ruling queen. The relief feels as sweet as spring water. Gale feels much better now, much more relaxed. He is no better at conversstion, of course, but nor does he hesitate so much when speaking, or when moving. He extends one white wing and then refolds it after a little shake, listening as she speaks.
He is already shaking his head before she finishes asking about concerns, though he stops short when she speaks of the flowers that still spin around them.
“They could come to the island?” He repeats, his dark ears pricked forward curiously. “I would like that, even if just for their beauty. Erne does a good job of keeping an eye out.” The osprey had done so long before Gale came along, the birds reminds him; he does not feed any pretty flutters to help him do so. He is distracted by them for a while again, until Isilya speaks again, promising aid and welcome. The relief that he had felt earlier melds now with an unanticipated sense of security for his home.
“I would like to be friends.” Gale announces, nodding just a little to himself as he comes to the decision. “Not just Tephra and Island Resort friends, but Isilya and Ga…Blue friends. Would you like that?” Eyas had commented on his solitude, and it has troubled him since. He needs friends, he’d decided, and Isilya seems like a wonderful candidate.
Gale
