"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
08-31-2015, 04:16 PM (This post was last modified: 08-31-2015, 04:16 PM by Tantalize.)
tantalize
infinity overhead
and i whisper, are you listening?
It was crazy how quickly change could come and sweep you off your feet. One day you were one of the crowd and then a figure of power. Or vice-versa, everyone forgetting who you were and what you were capable of. It was the latter state that she was in but the winds of change were close again, her skin itched with anticipation. The tension in the jungle was palpable and this time she knows her role will be much subdued when that change comes. This is something she has accepted and is for the most part ok with. She is still not herself, still searching for answers and trying to piece herself back together. Back to the former strong mare she had once been, the reason she had been chosen and respected to begin with. There were more flare ups of recognition, of feeling almost normal. Yet she still hung in this balance between being a wisp of herself or a shell of a horse. There was much to overcome.
The winter called her out of the humid warmth of her home. More and more she seeked the cold which was so unlike her. The short fur that came with living in the jungle gave her no protection from this environment but she had longed stopped caring. The chill made her feel alive, gave her feeling. That thing she kept grasping for but was always just out of reach. Bare tree branches scrape against her flesh but she’s numb to it. The jaguar mare moves out into the open just as a stallion falls from the sky. This is starting to become a normal thing, men hurtling from the sky. First Carnage and now this dude. However her golden eyes can’t rip away from the winged man, she stares blankly for a moment as something sparks in her mind. Glowing jaguar spots. Jaguar spots… Like hers. The only other creature she had ever known to have those spots was her mother and of course the big cats that she shared her home with. While hers didn’t have the orange glow about them, they were still similar enough.
Quietly , although her hoofs crunch over particles of snow and ice, she follows the stallion from a distance. Tracing his steps as he moves towards the almost frozen waters of the river. When she finally approaches him, not wanting to ambush him as he drank, his eyes are closed and a look of peace is etched in the features of his face. That must be nice, it’s been so long since she had felt anything resembling peace. Envy fills her heart as her golden eyes narrow at him however her faint smile tugs at the corner of her lips. Quietly addressing him and not upset in the least to disturb his tranquility. ”And how is it that we have never met before?” No word of the Valley disruption has reached her ears, she has been quite out of the loop when it came to politics and other kingdoms. Nor was there much desire to find out, not until she had rediscovered herself. So this spotted man was a stranger, a stranger who had her spots.
09-03-2015, 06:46 AM (This post was last modified: 09-03-2015, 06:48 AM by demian.)
" you say I'm crazy, but I think I'm freaking amazing. "
Maybe I was more like my father than I knew. It seemed I was starting to be compared to him in small ways, even if so small those things were nearly insignificant to most. I had never met my father though. I had lived for twenty five years and not once made a step towards trying to do so. Why? I'm not entirely sure. You could say I got swept up by my constant travels. Or you could say my mother had been enough of a parent. Who knows really. I guess you could say the important thing was that I did not dislike my father in any way. For even though he head not been around when I was a child, he had done nothing to harm my mother or myself. And sometimes... Sometimes that was the best you could hope for in the situation of an absent father.
The stars were what danced in my dreams. Swirling and turning like pretty little ballets. Somehow I knew that the star children coming like small waves had something to do with my father. And he had met others who had known just like him, without being told, that the amount of children my father had was beyond the average norms. There was nowhere you could go in Beqanna without occasionally meeting someone who could say that the God-like stallion was their father, and a sibling of one another. To know you came from such a large family was almost comforting. If you ever felt alone you somehow knew you could just go out for a day and you may find someone you didn't know even existed but could call family. Which was something. And I guess that's why I dreamed of the stars. Dreamed of my father.
I even dreamed of my own existence in a world filled with stars. Maybe one day I'd have the encouragement to go and try to find as many as I could. Until that day though, I would continue to live my life the way I wanted and follow through with the responsibilities I had taken on. I would also continue to take my times to relax, like now. My dozing was simply the most peace I had had in the last few days. The constant conversation between others and taking the throne had been a tiring scene, even though it was a decent victory of a first step to helping the Valley gain the fire it once had. I was excited. Ready to see what the fire kingdom could do but before I could do anything I needed a breather. A break. A distraction. I needed my mind to be clear in order to see the right steps I needed to take in order for my efforts to be a success.
You could say that's why I was here. Standing at the river side and dozing despite the cold weather. Back home it was even colder. Being surrounded by mountains brought inches of thick snowfall and windy conditions through the red and orange canopies of the forest. I had done my best to get as far away as possible from the layers of snow that coated the mountains and surrounded the forests. And I refused to allow myself to move until I heard her voice break the silence of the still but chill filled air. Quickly I opened one eye to look at her before blinking and turning my head to look at her.
Like she noticed my own, I noticed her own cat like spots first and quirked a brow in silent curiosity. The last person I had seen with such markings had been my own mother. She too had been decorated with the neon glow and I had always wondered if there was anyone else like me out there besides her. I guess my question on that had been answered, though it took twenty five years. "Well, I spent twenty years just wandering around in the darkest corners of Beqanna only to emerge from my period of hibernation about a year ago..." Smiling slightly in amusement I chuckle dryly before continuing, "You could say that might be why." He watches as the smile that danced across her lips tugs at the corners before offering her his name out of polite conversation. He was never one to consider himself a stranger to anyone.
"I'm Demian, and you are?" Like her he didn't know who she was. He didn't know she had once ruled the Amazons. All he knew that she was a mare who looked in similar ways to him and had a boldness that was enough to pull him out of his light nap.
09-08-2015, 03:22 PM (This post was last modified: 09-14-2015, 01:59 PM by Tantalize.)
tantalize
infinity overhead
and i whisper, are you listening?
Boldness. Nobody had thought her as bold in quite awhile. If only she could read his mind, she would have liked him even more. For now she simply likes him enough because he hasn’t told her off and they look vaguely similar. Minus the wings (but that was about to change thanks to Lagertha). Demian was gonna start thinking she was a stalker out to copy him. His scent is strange to her, the Valley had never been a destination she got to reach even as Khaleesi. It’s enticing, a stranger that she she can’t read or tell anything about. She nods in agreement as he states he’s been wandering and hibernating. A brief grin stretches on her facial features. ”Ah. I can relate.” And she can, having retreated to the darkest corners of the jungle and not returning until recently.…Like him.
His name is unfamiliar to her but she offers hers in exchange. ”I’m Tantalize.” Moving closer to him so that the conversation can become a little more private, golden eyes take in the glowing spots with a closer inspection. ”I should probably ask if we are related some how.” She says with a soft laugh, her gaze meeting his with good humor. It wouldn’t be surprising, Beqanna had a way of bringing unsuspecting siblings or relatives together when they least suspected it. Plus both her parents hadn't exactly been considered chaste. Of course they are related. Carnage was her great grandfather and this one’s Dad. Big surprise there. But she still has no idea that she’s related to Carnage even though she’s met the guy after he hurtled out of the atmosphere and landed right before her. Probably a good thing she’s unaware of all this for she can’t help the way she’s drawn to this stallion. The man who is familiar to her only because they share the same spots.
i scrounge in the dark, digging up old memories of you and me
Demian had always been surprised when he found those who had never been to the valley. Especially when they had been or were a part of kingdoms that had close related ties or histories with the valley. Though Tantalize being queen at one point could certainly make things much more understandable. He had grown quickly to understand how the responsibilities of a ruling could take up ones time in ways that prevented one from traveling to all the corners of Beqanna. Ever since the leopard spotted man had taken on the role as the valley's king his days had been filled with teaching and encouraging the valley's newest flock to be a success.
It had become such a time consuming task that his wishes for travel to the other kingdoms had been forced to be put on hold and left to his keepers of the peace... As much as he knew it was their jobs, he sometimes wished he could go along with them. He enjoyed nothing more than traveling to new and unseen places. There was always so much to learn, so many new things to see and discover and his free spirit constantly craved for it all. "Can you now?" his voice is full of amusement but is serious all at once. He hadn't met many others like him who had chosen the life of shadows for a good time. "What made you come out of your hiding place?"
He watches as she moves closer, barely shifting just enough to lean away from her slightly as his wings rustled slightly at his sides. He was still not fully used to being in close proximity of others. He watched as she inspected the markings, so similar to her own before nodding slightly. "It's nice to meet you Tantalize." It's her laugh that pulls him out of his unblinking stare as he watched her. The way it danced in the air with soft wisps of humour made his lips curl upwards in a smile and he contagiously chuckles in slight amusement. He couldn't say though if he knew if they were related. He knew nothing of Carnage and barely anything about his family line.
"I wouldn't know. My father's name is Carnage, and my mother's name is Adalind. But And my aunt is Lea. Most of my family is very closely connected to the Tundra and the Dale. And I have an amazing amount of half siblings, but I couldn't possibly list them all." He rolls his shoulders in a slight shrug before smiling with a slight look of embarrassment. He knew it wasn't every day that one came across someone who hadn't cared enough to learn more about their family. You could say he hadn't cared, but really it just had never crossed his mind. He had always assumed he knew what he he needed to know and so there had never been any desire to delve further into the subject. "Do any of them sound familiar?"
