[open] Shadows for Skin [ANY]

[Aela]

Obscene at least begins to speculate about what might have happened to Oceane and Ledger, and that was better for Aela than his brooding silence. It offered nothing; she understood he was in a foul mood, but weren’t they all? Hers made her want to strike out and lash at something, and unfortunately for the former Prince, that something was him.

Aela pressed at him in a way that she had never done before because she had no other alternatives. The repeated journeys to the Ruins, searching through the throngs of displaced equines in the Common Lands had yielded nothing more than what she already knew. And the rest of what she gathered was what Obscene was doing now. It was mere speculation. Perhaps the South sank because of the Dark God. Perhaps the kingdom was weighed down by too much pride. Perhaps the Faeries themselves doomed the fallen land.

Perhaps this was another Reckoning.

But whatever it was, it was done.

Cheri (as much as Aela was chagrined to admit this) was right.

The South was sunk and even if Aela eventually discovered the whole truth (which if Fyr was harmed, she would and there would be hell to pay), it wouldn’t undo what had been done. Her gold-tipped ears flicked back but the small-framed mare grew quiet as the appaloosa continued to speak. She would have to accept the explanation that Cheri gave her. Her only other option was to remain distrustful, but that did nothing for their newborn alliance. It would only doom it before they even reached the waters edge of Loess.

And even though much had changed, this had not: Aela could not abide by wasted time or effort.

So she acquiesced and told them of the Beqanna that they had returned to. The East was still ruled by Mazikeen, a name they should both know. The West had been taken over by a roosting pair of dragons. Many of the lands were quiet but inhabited (so far as she knew but Aela had always been a well-connected mare), save for two. There was Islandres, the former home of their favorite Cursed relation, Gale. A place best avoided for obvious reasons. And then Aela closed her eyes, because if the idea of aligning with Obscene and Cheri wasn’t ridiculous enough, what she was about to say next was.

”Taiga has been empty,” she said tersely, fighting back the contempt that wanted to so badly come out. Her pale lips curled at how easily this could all come together, that it would be in Taiga of all places. ”And Reave is now King of the North. If we wanted to re-group, that could be… a possibility.”

@Cheri

[Cheri]

Cheri knew that her excuse would fall flat. Aela should be used to that sort of a disappointment by now, where the crystal pegasus was concerned. Hadn’t they always had a special way of dancing around the obvious? Don’t worry, Cheri thought as her attention rested briefly on their guide, surprised at how much the expression of annoyance suited her pretty face, I won’t make a habit of asking for favors.

In due time, the golden empath would come to understand.

The knowledge she and Obscene were keeping wouldn’t be a secret for much longer, and wherever they went - whatever they decided to do - Aela would hear the words fall right out Cheri’s mouth. Maybe then she would appreciate the craft of perfect timing.

There was nothing left to follow but Obscene’s recommendation and Aela’s news, which quickly drew all of Cheri’s focus toward their shared train of thought. If they were teaming up, (and it looked to be the case) then it was necessary to regroup in a safe, established location. From what Aela told them, it seemed like their options were limited. Islandres or Taiga? The emaciated pegasus cringed, just as uncomfortable with the idea as Aela seemed to be, but it stood to reason: the potential there was greater than any other place they might inhabit.

It just had to be the redwoods, didn’t it?

“Talk about walking in circles.” Cheri shook her head, gently. “I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.”

That was all she would say on the matter. If they went there with the intention of taking over, she certainly wouldn’t be casting her own lot to lead the foggy woodlands. Cheri had spent enough of her time in those trees already; more than enough for one lifetime. She’d go if that was what they decided, but it would strictly be in support of a greater cause. That she promised herself.

Her eyes lifted, though. Distracted by his sudden departure, Cheri wanted to question Obscene about where he needed to be getting off to so quickly, right after they’d started putting things into motion, but she stopped herself from speaking up. His focus was on Aela, not her; Cheri smothered her concern like the Seneschal had done to the smoldering flower, and like the dark prince she turned her focus to other plans and schemes. More specifically, she decided to do something about Aela’s demand that they help locate Fyr and Wherewolf.

“Be safe out there.” She warned the Fae stallion, and then to Aela: “You mentioned finding your kin earlier.”

Lifting her brow, Cheri slowly began to smile.

“Have you ever heard of a ‘clairvoyant’ before?” She asked.

@Aela @Obscene

[Obscene]

Don't look back, nothing left to see
I can feel you though, wake me from this dreamin

Taiga. The look he gives to Aela is a pointed one, if he is surprised by her suggestion it doesn’t show. He is no stranger to her hatred of the North and Taiga held a special place, one filled with venom, specifically. For a moment he arches his neck, his muzzle brushing against the raised golden stars scattered across his glitter flecked chest. Tephra had been taken over by dragons had it? There was still a faint dream, one planted by Aela herself if he truly thought back on it, to be something more. While he had not been the named Heir, that title had been placed on his older half-brother, he had still been a Tephran Prince. There would always be a claim, if he wanted to pursue it.

But did he? The volcano and it’s jungles begged to recall things better left forgotten, every step into the ashen beaches would be like salt rubbing ever deeper into old wounds. No, not today. There were other priorities first. “Alright. Taiga it is.” He says gruffly. “I’ll be there soon.”

He doesn’t wait for another response, turning his back without another word. He pauses only slightly in step at Cheri’s warning but it doesn’t falter again as he heads to what was left of the South.

obscene

@Aela @Cheri
Ob out

[Aela]

Aela would never consider herself a beggar. She would never beg for anything. She would take. But the thought of taking Taiga caused her pretty mouth to remain pursed in a thin line. Taiga was her past. Taiga was where she had been hidden in the mighty shadows of the Sequoias  and the damp fog. She had spent the entirety of her youth and adolescence there, never understanding why Kota didn’t simply take them to a place where the sun actually shined.

Until the day she did come to understand. Until she learned that they were forced to remain there, thanks to a bargain struck between the then-Guardian, Lilliana and her grandmother, Heartfire. It was some time before Aela realized the relationship between the three mares: that Kota was her milk-mother, the blue-eyed mare her birth-mother, and Heartfire had been the link to seal the deal between them.

The thought of returning to a place that forced her to do anything caused sparks to flicker in that reluctant gaze, a shade so similar to her ancestors. Aela watched Obscene go, no more eager to pursue the claiming of Taiga than she was to follow him. It was Cheri who had a message of warning; it was Aela who thought wryly to the departing stallion Don’t get lost in the fog.

That left her with the slow-forming smile on the dark face of the Loessian Queen. Aela’s golden head tilted skeptically. What was there to smile about?

”I have,” she said tentatively. In her pursuit of the magically gifted for the Pampas, Aela had done her best to educate herself about the reputations of certain powers and abilities. Perhaps it was her own personal bias, but she had always gravitated towards the mental ones as stronger and therefore, sought them out more. She always found pleasure in being underestimated and then watching as realization of exactly how gifted she was dawn on another’s face. Surprisingly, it had been something that she enjoyed teaching others as well.

Was this one of Cheri’s abilities then? It piqued her curiosity, and despite wanting to leave as Obscene had, she stayed. ”Do you know of any?” She asked before adding, ”I heard of a soul summoner to the East.” Like Fyr was. But that would be to accept that her son was lost beneath the waves.

But as skilled and gifted as he was?

He was her son, afterall.

And Wherewolf was too obstinate to simply drown.

”But I haven’t yet ventured that way.”

@Cheri

[Cheri]

Continued HERE