get out the coffins [ASTRI]

[Lector]

This place is ugly.

The smiling faces of the ones he watched turned his stomach.  What gives them the right to be frolicking like some young love-struck foal?  It makes him want to show just how dark and cruel the world can be.  From where he stands, the world is just waiting to be taken over by the dark entities that lurk in the shadows.

And he is going to make it happen.

Every one has their own agenda.  His is unclear, but he does know that whatever he tries to acomplish, he needs a counterpart.  Someone to share the glory.  A fire is lite in his gut, a burning desire to control and tame a wild spirit.  A woman. Black eyes wandered, staring at the plain mares that lingered through the Meadow.  None of them fit his fancy.  No, he needs something special, something that can't be duplicated.  Something that is a challenge for him.

His intent isn't perverted, though it could be construed that way.  No, he just needs a henchman.  Women are better to look at.  His heart is twisted and black, filled with inky disdain. There is no room for love.  There isn't even room for like.

lector

you better get the coffins out

trust me kid that's where you're sleeping tonight

Art by Dimitri Armand

[Astri]

What Is An Ocean But A Multitude Of Drops

It’s a good thing he’s not looking for love, because that’s not what Astri is out here looking for either. The Chamber doesn’t need love - nor does it thrive on it. It beats to the sound of chaos, of blood. She knows this, so well in fact that she’s been seeking it out as earnestly as she can. But Astri is missing something, a special sort of hate in her heart. It’s this complete lack of emotion that keeps her from becoming something more than she has ever been. She needs someone to show her, to guide her. And that’s why she’s in the meadow today.

The weather is agreeable, summer at her best. Her son, growing at an alarming yet satisfying rate, is off somewhere developing himself in ways that Astri cannot teach him. Kraz, however, is only a flicker of a thought in her mind. The real reason behind her journey here pushes to the forefront of her thoughts, urging her to wander deeper into the crowd. There are some that look promising, others who are completely off mark. She cannot settle on a single creature because she’s not even sure she knows what she’s looking for.

And then, she sees him.

An outlying variable, waiting for something, or someone, just on the edge of the meadow. He’s dark, even with the sun crowding around him. Totally motionless as if he were seeking out prey. Astri smirks and weaves through the crowd, her purpose suddenly clear. “Insects. All of them.” She calls out when she draws near. She stops in front of him, mismatching eyes peering up to the dark stallion with awe. He was perfect. “I know a place where the very earth lives for destruction. Tell me, does that interest you?”

Her neck curves, gaze directed over her shoulder to the rest that linger behind them. Perhaps she was wrong - perhaps he was just like the rest of them. Weak. Thoughtless. Puny. She turns back to the stallion and glances over him again, liking what she sees. No - he was not like the others. Not at all.

astri

yule x astrah

[Lector]

He stood like a glaring statue as he watched the come-goers. Some were stern in their appearance, some almost preppy, but none matched what he desires.  Sure, he could pluck up some stupid mare and twist her until she broke, but where is the fun in that?  Who will fight against him?  Does anyone deserve to be in his company?  That is something that is earned, though he could give out some bites for free.

Then he saw her.

He could spot her from a mile away.  Her emerald coat is polar opposite of the dead looking hides that wander through the meadow.  With white points and mismatched eyes, he is unsure whether she is beautiful or ugly. That depends on her and what she has to offer.  There is more to beauty then the skin that stretches across bones and flesh.

Without moving, he watched her approach and throw out words.  She came close, almost too close, but her perfume kept him from backing his large frame away.  He breathed it in deep, letting it linger in his nostrils.  A smirk played on his lips, head rising to heighten his already staggering height.  She is nothing compared to him.  He let the silence envelope them before finally flicking his ears back and frowning.

"Some insects are helpful.  These things, they are already dead.  Animated bags of bones and blood just waiting to be popped."

Within his gruff voice, there was a touch of madness.  A deep chuckle shook his frame and he stomped a heavy hoof.  Turning to her, he listened to her lyrical words.  A place of total destruction?  The thought was tempting, almost too tempting.  The stallion though, he prefers solitude, his only company being whatever poor soul had wandered into his trap that day.  The potential to make his name land-wide beckoned the stallion to close the gap between him and this strange mare.  He lowered his profile, his breath in her ear.

"You would invite a stranger into your company to travel to a land known for it's destructive power?  Tell me, what makes you think you will be safe with me in your midst?"

lector

you better get the coffins out

trust me kid that's where you're sleeping tonight

Art by Dimitri Armand

[Astri]

What Is An Ocean But A Multitude Of Drops

When he comments about some insects being useful, Astri’s mind reverts back to her son, Kraz. Yes. She agrees, some insects could be useful. The animals behind her though, they’re already too gone. Too enveloped in their own small lives to try and glimpse the bigger picture. Only a few among them were worth converting or ‘popping’, as her companion so eloquently put it. She can see the wheels beginning to turn within him as he contemplates her homeland. It was tempting, but that was because it was true. Sure, there were hooks - Straia to rule over them and the titled horses to sneer down on them, but that’s the way it always worked in this world. Shit rolls downhill, and you either avoided it, got rained on, or climbed above it to shit on someone else.

But if it was solitude that he preferred, he could have that also. Astri was well aware of the stallions that worked within a kingdom but had a private life in a herdland elsewhere. What better place to cover up your dirty, dark secrets than a remote piece of property where no one ever ventured? She thinks on these facts, keeping them as ammunition should he need more convincing. When he finally speaks again Astri laughs, the bitter, petulant sound filling the tense air between them. “What makes you think you’re so safe with me?” She asks, turning his own question against him.

A pawn for a pawn. She makes her move and lets the question settle for a moment, viridian tail slapping against her haunches. “You’re taking as much a chance as I am, so let’s call it even.” Her jaw clenches and her ears flick back, letting the sounds of those behind them filter through. “Come with me to the Chamber and decide for yourself.”

astri

yule x astrah