"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
She inhales slowly, taking in the scent of the dwindling fall season. Soon snow will likely be falling and coating the world in a soft, white blanket to sleep away until Spring brings life back. Starbry has never particularly had a favorite season. There is something about all of them that she is fond of. Fall smells crisp and cool, the rustling of dry leaves as they fall is soothing white noise. The white silence of an empty plain in the winter as snow falls softly is one of the most peaceful moments she could possibly imagine. Everything whitewashed under a night sky, glowing beneath the moon and sparkling stars. Just perfect. Spring is beautiful as the grayscale of winter gives way to color and rebirth of the world. If she had to pick a least favorite, it would be Summer. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with summer, it just doesn't have the standout features she finds in the other seasons.
Starbry drifts through the thick grass of the meadow, admiring how it keeps its green color despite the fiery hues of fall enveloping the rest of the land. It has always filled her with wonder, the changing of the seasons. The leaves gradually exchange their lively green colors for reds and oranges as the grass grows less and less. Then the leaves fall, coating the ground with their fire bright colors. As the leaves fall and the temperature drops, snow trades places with the rain until the fiery autumn colors are washed away by white. Snow is replaced with rain that melts the earth, softening it to allow green grass and brightly colored flowers to spring forth. Then the heat of summer blazes away the rain, and autumn comes again. Rinse and repeat.
A rock under her hoof causes a misstep and pulls her from her daydreaming and back into reality. She catches her balance, gathering her blue legs underneath her dark brown body and reorienting herself. She didn't know how long she had been aimlessly wandering and pondering the seasons, but she was quite far into the meadow now. There is a stranger not too far off, and Starbry begins in that direction.
As she nears, she notices that this mare is rather interesting. She has never quite seen anything like her before. Starbry slows as she approaches and gently reaches out to the stranger's mind to see if she can get a feel for her. "Hello," she said softly with a gentle smile, "I'm Starbry." As she introduces herself, she remembers what a mare she met recently had told her - it's not the monsters you can't see that you should worry about. It's the monsters in pretty wrappers that will eat you whole. And with that memory, her smile falters slightly.
10-30-2025, 12:28 AM (This post was last modified: 10-30-2025, 12:36 AM by Fazia.)
FAZIA
Fazia began this quest of hers in winter and it would feel incredibly satisfying to finish it before another winter passes. The first step in her goal to become like her mother, a fierce water demon. Someone to haunt both land and sea in Beqanna and carry on the red general’s legacy.
Her mom isn’t dead or anything but no harm in preparing.
So she’s on the lookout once more, back on the hunt for someone new to try possessing and maybe a new reaction. Maybe someone who would appreciate what she was trying to do! That would be nice.
The translucent mare doesn’t need to hunt hard today to find some prey — it simply walks right up. Surprise and intrigue fill her mind and that is what the blue-accented stranger will find there. This feels a little too easy, but then Fazia had never doubted her capabilities. Not even when it came to having a simple conversation. “Hello Starbry.” There’s a faint smile on her face too, though the fact that her skull can be seen does add a little bit of a sharper edge than she needs for this moment. She won’t try to compensate for that, though. Fazia is what she is, she cannot control how she is interpreted. Yet, anyway.
“I’m Fazia — I’m on a quest, would you be willing to help me out with a quick little task?” Of course she could just go for it — that had proven to be a fun, if occasionally disastrous, way to start conversations but there is just something so gentle about this mare. Some instinct telling her to try to sweeten things a little first before going in with the sting.
This strange new mare replies with a smile. Her smile makes Starbry feel something odd. It isn't exactly fear or disgust, not even really unease. But there is certainly something off about the way she smiles at Starbry with her skull and all fully visible under her slightly moving skin. She has seen bones before, but they always belonged to the dead, and this stranger did not appear dead. Although in Beqanna all was possible. She could be dead.
She had recently discovered, in a rather traumatizing way, that when the sun sets and the moon and stars come out, her body fades away to a skeleton. This, she is certain, has something to do with that terrifying day she thought her end was going to come in the form of a rancid ooze floating on the River. She had survived the ordeal completely intact; no harm had come to her. But she had felt different following, and that night her skin melted away to reveal only bones. Despite that, she was alive, and so she knew seeing a skeleton did not necessarily mean death. At least, not anymore.
Fazia. A quest. Starbry had heard of quests before. Journeys and tasks set upon the residents of beqanna by fairies and magical beings to provide them with gifts, remove curses, and gods only knew what else. "It's nice to meet you, Fazia." she said kindly in reply. Pondering whether or not she really felt up to helping with another's task. Fazia said a quick task. Perhaps it was something as simple as finding a certain plant or stone. Solving a riddle? Surely no harm in helping a kind stranger. Starbry glanced around before answering, checking over the area with her special vision in case there was anything waiting to ambush her. Nothing lit up, nobody in hiding. Just her and Fazia. She smiles again and states simply "I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I can try" she shifts her weight side to side "What can I do to help?"
There seems to be a little bit of hesitation with Starbry but she still says the words Fazia was hoping to hear. The red-touched mare doesn't explain to the other what's about to happen or how she could help. Why waste words when it will become clear enough in a matter of moments. The grin that grows is more genuine, a little warmer, for what it's worth because her skull is still visible and with her black-and-silver eyes and lack of external ears she is very much a strange creature.
About to get stranger still.
She pushes her mind into Starbry's, unpracticed enough to not know how to do it gently and Fazia had always been willing to put her whole self into whatever she did. And to her, this is temporary so she does not consider what it will feel like for this other mare. That thought doesn't even cross her mind. Consequences rarely did.
One day, maybe she'll learn how to do this with more subtlety. One day when she's completed her quest she'll know how to thread the needle and slip herself into someone else's body to command control. Right now, it is all force and clumsiness. Fazia just wants to be in there, however it happens.
To see if it works, she tries to make Starbry bow to her. She had missed out on the life where she would've been a princess so there's certainly no harm in seeing how it feels to get some of the perks.
Starbry waits patiently for Fazia to answer her on how she could possibly help. When the strange mare's smile grew, Starbry tipped her head slightly in anticipation. She was certainly not expecting what was going to come next.
Suddenly she felt a clawing, digging, push into her mind. She recoiled at the feeling, tossing her head back to try and get away from the pressure but it did not let up. She closed her eyes, tossing her head side to side, ears pinned back against the feeling of something, someone, invading. Topsail's telepathy felt nothing like this. That felt more like a soft tickle in her thoughts, this was an uncomfortable pushing.
She felt afraid and opened her eyes, frantically looking to the mare to beg for help. When her panic-stricken eyes landed on Fazia, she was standing as if nothing was happening. Starbry opened her mouth to scream when suddenly it felt as if her body was no longer hers and her consciousness was gripped and yanked to the back of her mind, caged there.
It felt as if she was in a dark abyss, locked inside her body and mind but in control of nothing. The mare's muscles relaxed and the panic left her eyes, leaving behind an empty stare from behind a blue forelock.
At the will of Fazia, Starbry's blue foreleg curled beneath her, the other holding strong as her body collapsed to a bow before the red creature. Her consciousness rattled at the cage in her mind, trying to claw its way back out and regain control.
Had Fazia been capable of clapping hands, she would have dones so when Starbry made the most beautiful bow. It was a real shame she hadn't gotten to be a true princess — she could have definitely gotten used to this feeling. A proud, delighted smile spreads wide across her translucent features — wild in its intensity and yet completely genuine.
Having accomplished exactly what she wanted, Fazia's connection with Starbry's body abruptly severed. A wave of exhaustion passes through the Baltian mare which she promptly ignores. There will be time to rest later, for now she'd like to enjoy this little triumph for what it is.
There's a lingering sense of fear, one she thinks she must have borrowed from the other mare, and that too is something Fazia wrestles to the back of her mind. She has no need to fear herself, after all.
It was probably shocking, having someone else inside your brain, that had to be all the fear was inspired from. So Fazia speaks in a bright voice, utterly sure she has done nothing wrong. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Which, of course, Starbry will agree to. Over in a flash and Fazia learned so much!
12-01-2025, 10:45 AM (This post was last modified: 12-01-2025, 10:46 AM by Starbry.)
look how they shine for you
look at the stars
While Starbry struggled against the place in her mind she had become "trapped", she felt her muscles suddenly release to her control as her conscious came back to the front. The quick release and shock left her unable to regain control fast enough and her brown and blue body dropped to the ground in a heap.
Thud.
Starbry let out a yelp and scrambled to get her legs under her and back off the ground. She wobbled on her hooves, staring wildly in shock at Fazia. That wasn't so bad, was it? Starbry let out a strangled laugh that melded with a small sob. "You can't just do that to someone!!" She shrieked, her brown eyes searching Fazia frantically as she fought back tears. She felt violated. Her mind had been tampered with only by telepaths, her mother and Topsail, never whatever that was. "What is wrong with you!" she demanded, her voice wavering and cracking as she continued to fight back the urge to cry.
Completely appalled at the bright way Fazia spoke to her, like all was well and she hadn't just grabbed hold of Starbry's mind and body like she was a stuffed toy doll, Stabry just stared at her while trying to grab hold of her emotions. Her body quivered and she sniffed, "That's not okay." she said meekly, looking away as she continued to fight back tears while trying to decide if she should turn and run - if her body would even allow her to.
