"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
keep you like an oath may nothing but death do us part
If only Kirin had hands. He would run them together as a wicked smile twisted up his lips and his eyes narrowed with a glint of mischief overtaking them. If only because then he could truly look the part of the diabolical mischief maker that he was. Once he was a man and though that had not ended particularly well, he could say he enjoyed the way his features took on a life of their own. There was so much more expression in the human face than what he could summon in the lines of his equine one. It was sport really, too bad it always came at the expense of others but who else would it seek payment from? Himself? Ha! Not if he could help it and besides, those pesky fairies had swindled him further than he had ever been duped before.
He’d never say it out loud but inside he knew it very well was true.
It’s marvelous that the paint is so trusting, so kind if not a goofy thing. Was that so bad then, a bit eccentric Kirin might call him but not a deal breaker. He could deal, he could make nice with him long enough to at least exact some revenge. “Oh of course I can find us some fairies,” he began siddling up to Clark and nodding his head in a way to show his confirmation of the sentence. “Of course I want to Clark, why, what if they hurt someone else the way they did me. That wouldn’t be right would it, wouldn’t be fair?” Ah yes, the injustices of the world. Too bad Clark wasn’t aware that Kirin himself had caused many injustices and hadn’t blinked an eye at their consequences.
Not a single tear had been shed in wake of his bidding, not a pause of breath to reconsider or an attempt to make amends. Kirin didn’t really make amends, he didn’t apologize either, not if he could help it. And, if he did, he never really meant it.
“It just so happens that there are some fairies that hang around the adoption Den. The one with all those poor abandoned children,” Poor little souls, their parents should have just put them out of their misery instead. “But the best fairies Clark, they hang around the breeding grounds.” This, this was the marvelous of ideas, they would suffer his displeasure in a most disconcerting way. “I’m sure we could catch one there don’t you think? After all, you did say they weren’t so tough.” Well, he had said just that.
Of course Clark had never met a fairy, so he had no clue whether they were inherently good or bad. He had only what was told to him, and it seemed that those fairies had done his new friend some injustice. He wasn’t a vengeful stallion himself, but Kirin did present a fairly logical point – it would certainly help the public to prevent these fairies from wreaking havoc again.
“That’s a good point,” he responded, his dark pupils following the winged stallion’s every move. “I suppose we have a duty to our community,” he continued, turning his gaze to the surrounding forest. Quickly he glanced about, as if expecting a devilish fairy to appear just then. Finding nothing, he returned his attention to the stallion.
Yet, as the purple stallion spoke of the adoption den, the paint was reminded of his single voyage into the area. It hadn’t been his ideal path. He tended to avoid miniature versions of themselves as one would avoid the plague, but that solitary venture introduced him to the little legless girl he helped. Regardless, the area befuddled the perpetual bachelor (A: why would you have kids? B: why would you then abandon them?), so it was with happiness that he noted Kirin’s second option.
“Let’s try out the breeding grounds,” he suggested, aiming to divert all attention possible away from the adoption den. He had never trekked to the breeding area himself though, so while he had a vague idea of the location, he decided it best to wait for Kirin’s lead.
fate she hears me | fate stand near me | fate state clearly whether there will be another card
keep you like an oath may nothing but death do us part
Well aren’t they all in luck today? Or, maybe not the fairies, you know?
It just so happens that Kirin knew the way to the breeding grounds by heart. He’s been there a lot you see, never one to turn down an opportunity to spread his lineage. You might say it is something that he is good at even, he’s had a fair amount of success. And, at the very least, he had done his fair share of spreading purple throughout Beqanna over the years. More often than not if someone was sporting the color it was likely that they were related to Kirin. It’s handy being able to spot family like that, makes things easier on everyone.
However if he were to exact his revenge on the fae, no matter how much they had attributed to his strong family lines, the breeding fairies were the ones to meddle with. When he thought about it long and hard, or quick and impulsive, whatever, he knew it to be true. This would be the best place to make his displeasure known, not only would the fae see how upset he was but the whole of Beqanna might. That is probably what goaded him most into choosing that particular group, if he was going to do something then he had to do it big. And he had grown over bored as of late too, this, this might be just the thing to ease that boredom. Even if it didn’t he would still take pleasure in the doing and that would have to be enough to soothe the beast, for this day anyways.
“For our community, you’re right Clark. Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Kirin praised the spotted man for his rational thinking. “I can get us there quick enough, won't be any trouble at all,” he assures and with a gesture of wing and tip of his head he offers Clark escort. The lavender stallion would make sure they were there well before the season commenced, or at the very least, just in time for it to start. At this he smiled, he would have his revenge- he could already taste it.
How lucky for wings and uh… invisible wings? Teleportation? Magic?
Regardless, somehow or other, the painted stallion followed the lavender up through brush and canopy and cloud and storm and back down until they were in an eerily deserted clearing. As they came to a halt (much more gracefully than the prior landing Clark had seen from Kirin), the tobiano glanced about nervously. There was a strange foreboding in the atmosphere, a sense that the stillness was just the calm before the hurricane. (If he had ever mentally matured past the mindset of an adolescent, he might have known that the clearing would look far different tomorrow, but alas!)
With a quick shake of his head (apparently, his default move), the paint rid himself of any apprehension and looked back at his purple friend.
Luckily, his gaze fell not only on his winged companion but the glittery, sparkling, miniature form hovering disconcertedly behind Kirin. Of course two stallions arriving during the “off season”, so to speak, would most likely bring attention.
Clark’s eyes widened.
Not knowing what else to do on such short notice, he immediately froze the fairy.
“Kirin,” he whispered, along with an almost indiscernible beckoning of his muzzle. His voice was no more than a hiss, lest any louder would scare the fairy off. A smarter stallion would have realized such a scenario was now impossible given his prior move, but a smarter stallion would probably have seen through Kirin’s sweet words as well.
So instead, now they were, two stallions, the wrong season, and a hovering, immobilized breeding fairy.
fate she hears me | fate stand near me | fate state clearly whether there will be another card
keep you like an oath may nothing but death do us part
Magic was sure something and Kirin was glad they didn’t have to walk all the way there. Walking was over rated if you asked him, why would you simply meander across the ground when you could fly? Luckily he doesn’t have to know because Clark is able to bippity-boppity-boo himself to keep up and it makes Kirin’s offer of escort less taxing.
When they do touch ground in the deserted breeding commons it is quiet, far more quiet than Kirin had ever witnessed it. Actually, now that he has a moment to consider it, he has never been to the breeding commons out of season. He supposed it was to be expected, that eerie silence, but it still brought him enough concern to try to keep an eye about himself.
“Here it is,” Kirin gave a lackluster presentation, standing before the painted Magician as he shook his head. He seemed to do that a lot, maybe it was a Magician thing- Kirin wouldn’t know. The lavender did not often, or ever, find himself in their presence- perhaps for good reason. Usually when things were being tinkered with around him it was because he was somehow or other at the helm of it all. For example, the common agelessness that would sprout up amongst the Valley folk, it was more often or not due to the borrowing of his daughter, Potion. All for a price though, all for a price.
As Kirin was contemplating things he watched as Clark’s eyes grew and then the splashed man whispered. He himself narrowed his own silvery gaze and ever so slowly turned himself about. Oh, and what a prize to greet him when he had made a full turn.
A very small fairy hung suspended in the air. For a moment, Kirin jerked, the sudden realness of it all taking him off guard, but what else would he have expected to be there? He closed his eyes a moment to steady himself, waiting to rid his body of the unwanted reactions that sizzled across him all because of a fairy. (Nevermind that it was a quest fairy) When he did open them once more they were hard, angry and unforgiving.
“Well then, here you have one Clark- a fairy,” he seethed, nothing about the glittery or Magicial properties pleased him at this moment. It could have been little more than vermin in Kirin’s eyes today and he would not bat an eye at the difference. “I wonder if Fairies like their heads messed with? All discombobbled and nonsense like mine has been. Clark, my good bestest pal, do you think you could oblige this one in such a way? Just, you know, stir up it’s brain a bit. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too painful right, but then again I won’t judge a friend if any pain is involved.” A feigned look of sympathy crossed his thistle colored face, as if he was some sort of understanding and all forgiving companion.
The tobiano kept the suspended fairy in his gaze, but his peripheral vision easily caught the stress within his lavender friend’s eyes. He was incredulous at the coldness that had overtaken the other’s words, and he could almost feel the bitterness and suffering that must have caused such emotion. Greatly pained by the PTSD visible in his buddy’s words and actions, his own agony quickly masked any apprehension that he normally would have had.
“Yes…” he murmured, almost more to himself than to anyone else. His mind raced though, for the normally good-hearted stallion did not know of any punishment methods. In fact, he had never even entertained the idea of using his powers to harm another, and now, he had to pull something from thin air (and fast!) lest he embarrass himself and disappoint Kirin.
His mind started spinning as he thought, completely at a loss. He hadn’t a clue what to do! He shut his eyes in embarrassment, although from an outsider’s perspective, he might have well looked to be in full concentration.
That is, until his whirling mind gave him the idea!
Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open. He glared at the fairy. How dare she hurt his friend! He would teach her!
Without any other warning, her head began to grow and spin. And grow. And spin. And grow. And spin. And it continued to enlarge as it rotated around her tiny sliver of a neck, much like an elastic band that had been stretched too close to its breaking point.
Then all of a sudden, he let go.
With a whoosh, her head quickly deflated and spun countless times back until it looked more or less how they initially found her.
Snapping out of his angry trance, the painted stallion suddenly grasped the horrific implication of what he’d done. Fairies had magic, and certainly more powerful than his. “Kirin, we gotta go!” he exclaimed, and without waiting for a response, transported them both back to the forest from which they had just left.
Out of breath (more from the realization than the travel), he managed to squeak out a chuckle. “She’s gotta be pissed… and we did not want to be in her line of fire for that!” He glanced about quickly, and after confirming that there was no angry fairy following them, he let out another chuckle of relief.
fate she hears me | fate stand near me | fate state clearly whether there will be another card
