[private] i had a feeling so peculiar

[Islay]

Why would she leave Islandres?

It isn’t for good. She may no longer be Chieftain, but the recent rumors of how Beqanna has reached even the isolated shores of her tropical home and the piebald mare couldn’t ignore the curiosity (nor the worry) that began to rise up within her. Islay knew very little of the geography of this world, it extended only to Tephra and then a little beyond that to the Brilliant Pampas where she had once been a captive.

But the Brilliant Pampas was no more. So what, then, of Tephra? It was home to Aestas, and though Islay hadn’t seen her sole friend in months, the whispers of the tide rising enough to swallow an entire kingdom prompted her to make sure that she was alright. But there was little to learn in the volcanic country and so Islay had wandered past the volcano, traveled over what little remained of Loess, and eventually passed into the Forest.

An ocean was at her back, when before had been the Pampas and Sylva, and it felt eerie. Islay kept turning her two-toned head over her shoulder, as if to make sure that the sea didn’t creep any closer. There were stories of strangers that had washed up, of horses that had no ears and had eyes that glimmer like Death. She knew about Kelpies - Gale had warned her about the ways that they would drag an unsuspecting equine under to a watery grave - and she couldn’t help but wonder if they might be one and the same. 

With the afternoon sun beaming across Beqanna, Islay didn’t have the benefit of her shadows or darkness to conceal her. Darkness wouldn't come for some time yet. Though she had made it to the wooded grounds, there was a part of her that felt uneasy. Was she being watched? Had something followed her from the landbridge? There were more trees ahead where the Forest grew more dense, and perhaps there she might be able to camouflage herself until she could determine that she wasn’t being followed by a… what were they called again?

A Baltian.

Certain that someone (or something) was following her, Islay froze in the thicker part of the Forest. She shouldn’t have left Islandres, she thought in a panic. Islay's heart began to beat wildly, a tempo that surely would lead one of those sea creatures straight to her. She should have stayed back with Aedan on their island, where no monsters lurked or creeped or crawled, and then closed her eyes against a fear that threatened to swallow her whole, praying that her shadows would be enough to hide her.

@Colby for whoever you want to throw at her <3

[Eadoin]

He was used to the many changes of Beqanna, and this was no exception.

He has seen her destroyed and rebuilt too many times—the catastrophe that had leveled the previous kingdoms and raised a twisted melding of them in its place, and then the reformation that turned them entirely to ash and brought forth the current set of lands. He has seen her magic stripped away only later to be poured back seemingly tenfold, paving the way for the kaleidoscope of colors and myriad of powers that existed now.

But he is not apart of that world.

Gray like mist and just as apt to suddenly disappear, he is remarkably plain in comparison to those around him. He had never fit in very well even in the times before, back when he would not have been such an anomaly, but to witness what a stark contrast he is to the rest of the world now was enough to keep him confined still to the outskirts.

When the earth had shook he had waited for change.
He had stood, still and listening, waiting for the rolling feeling of magic being dispersed or stripped away, waited to see what kingdom fell and what might thrust threw the earth in its place.
It was a more subtle change this time around, though. Or at least, near as he could tell. He learned soon that the south was flooded by the sea, but he had not heard yet of the ocean kingdom that had been roused awake. Once it had become clear nothing drastic was about to happen he had receded back to the protection of the forest, venturing out only with the foolish hope of catching a glimpse of a particular painted mare.

It's why when he first saw her, there was a moment that something trips inside of his chest.

The flash of white had caught his eye first, but when he turned his silver head it was then that he realized she was also painted with a pale blue, and if there is any disappointment at all the feeling dies before it has a chance to reach his eyes. He could never deny the fact that he was easily drawn to lovely things, and she was no exception, but the tension that grips her body keeps him rooted where he stands.

He does not have any special kind of gift or magic that allows him to tap into her fear, but he senses it all the same. He has spent enough time in the forest to learn how the deer freeze at the sound of a twig snapping under his feet, has learned to recognize the apprehension and fear that rings their large eyes with white before they bound away. She is similar to the deer, the way she stands rigid and tense, and though he can see her eyes are closed he is sure they would mirror the fear in the deer’s should they open. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he tells her by way of greeting, and while there is nothing especially soothing about his voice—it is not soft, but instead rough and still hoarse from hardly ever being used—it is clear he means what he says. Eadoin, for all his stoicness, had never harmed anyone in his many long years. “Are you lost?”

— LEND ME YOUR HAND AND WE'LL CONQUER THEM ALL,
BUT LEND ME YOUR HEART AND I'LL JUST LET YOU FALL —

@Islay

[Islay]

For a moment, Islay thinks of Aedan.

She thinks of Islandres - her island - and she thinks (knows) she is a fool for leaving it behind. As a filly, the mainland had never intimidated her. It had never seemed as daunting as it does now; there is a whole plethora of memories associated with this place that bring about despair and cruelty. It nearly drowns out the happier ones, the bright moments spent with Aestas learning about the gardens in Tephra and the soothing warmth of the sun.

Being back on the continent brings back her fear. Islay remembers the monsters, both supernatural and equine. Her heart races when it should be her hooves, and the only darkness that exists is behind her eyes, something that she can’t manipulate (though she tries tugging at the shadows, and perhaps it might make them longer but they do nothing to conceal her). I’m not going to hurt you, a voice calls out and it nearly paralyzes her with fear.

While it does not sound gentle, there is a quietness about it. Like a midnight breeze, and that thought begins to settle her mind.

Her blue eyes are large when she first opens them, as are her flared nostrils, but it all settles. Islay still keeps to the shadows, unable to completely abandon the comfort of her preferred element, but the two-toned mare can feel some of the tightness leaving her chest. The gray stallion doesn’t approach her and so Islay relaxes a little more, feeling safe with the distance between them. "No,” she murmurs, realizing that she has stared at him instead of answering his question. "I came to see what had happened…” Her pied face looks to the direction of the jagged coast.

Islay then glances to the strange, churning sea.

"Maybe I am.” she admits, sounding like the lost she had claimed not to be a heartbeat before. So much had changed, and drastically. "This is all so different.”

@Eadoin