"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
So it's been a while since the dark palomino had been in Beqanna. Had he really missed all that much? From the looks of the meadows current thawing condition...eh, not really so much. Limbs bring the tall male easily over the crusted ground, long silvery tresses falling across those deep turquoise pools. His winter coat growing itchy but it was a secret blessing. That meant that soon the spring would arrive and followed by his favorite season of summer.
A little toss sends the mane flicking backwards to settle over a single ear as he stood to observe the land. There were many faces in the meadow and none were familiar but that did not deter our simple vagabond. The need for freedom, to be nomadic, to drift where the wind blew him was attractive in his eyes. Bound to no one (well not yet at least). It wasn't so much as to be avoid responsibility but the lack of any other to share his simple life with mutual interests. It seems like most mares were so snarky that Van preferred his bachelorhood.
Well enough of that.
It was a new day and the sun was shining and the waters that thawed in the once frozen stream. He inhales deeply, high on the crisp bite of the fresh morning. A smirk touches the stallion's lips before the long forelock flops abruptly across his blue-green eyes.
So much for an entrance.
Van
come away, sweet girl, strum your guitar while we lay on the beach
The birth of her niece had been the confirmation of that what she had already known. She felt both the burden and the relief. Vlinder had yet to meet her mother since Gyps’ birth, but she knew that would take another while. She was not ready for it and therefor she had left the Gates behind her. Temporary that was, because the already knew she would find her way back to the kingdom. The Gates was her home and unlike Besra she couldn’t leave the place behind. It was all she had known, and only there they knew of her pathetic being. That they knew was already enough and it wasn’t hard to imagine what Ellyse would say when the truth would surface.
She had just happened to find the meadow, never really having had the intention to go here. But she wouldn’t know any other place to go either. It was only the third time for Vlinder to leave the Gates. The first and second time had been to visit her sister Besra and to meet her sister’s newborn daughter. Gyps had been able to show them how well her wings worked, crushing the last bit of hope for Vlinder’s own wings. Although she had knew better, a small part of her had hope that she just had to train them. Now she knew for sure that her wings were no good. Once again a child of her parents – both bird shifters – was grounded.
A sighs escapes past her lips and Vlinder lowers her head. The winter hadn’t been too harsh in the Gates, but nonetheless she found her thick coat uncomfortable. It was meant to protect her from the cold, the warmth she experienced now because of her trip caused something completely else. Her breath still hung in the air as she breathed out, but at the same time her chest and flanks showed wet patches if she had travelled from the Gates to the meadow.
It is during the first moments of the new day that she lies her eyes upon him. He smelled different, almost exotic even, and she just couldn’t tell what it was. Sure every equine in Beqanna had his – or her – own scent, but there was always something in common, something familiar. His scent was different. It was carried towards her with the same breeze that had caused his forelock to flop ungallantly in front of his eyes. Vlinder simply couldn’t help but to giggle, grinning widely as she watched the golden male, before dipping her head slightly in an apology.
The giggle catches his attention from beneath the thick plume of a forelock currently blocking his vision. Lobes twitch and the poll follows suit to see the keeper of the tinkling sound. Who was watching him and providing themselves amusement on his behalf?
As he looks over a shoulder, the turquoise pools find a blue mare clearly watching him. If he were able to blush he would have but instead his own laughter churns from his belly and he looks away briefly. The male swings wide to move to clearly see his new company. The heavy skull sends his mane finally up and way, mindful of the horn the sprouts from the center of his forehead.
The mare is beautiful, to say the least. She reminds him of the sky, clouded with tufts of gray all spung together by the hands of the gods. And from her spine, Van notices, are a pair of delicate wings. She is an angel in his eyes and he grows a bit dreamy.
Stop it, Van. The cautious whisper strokes him, gentle and timid and Van slams his eyes shut. Bearing the hurt from a previous woman, he breaths slowly before lifting the lids to look to the blue girl. She had not hurt him, if fact, as far as he knew she could just be someone passing through and just having a little giggle at him but it was best to not be rude. "Hello there-" the vocals are deep, masculine, "I'm Van. What's your name?" He hoped she wouldn't mind him asking but he tended to not look before he leaped. It was that very thing that often contributed to his own stress and pain.
Van
come away, sweet girl, strum your guitar while we lay on the beach
She simply couldn’t help it, which didn’t mean she didn’t feel flustered by her sudden outburst. Although her body was close to maturing now, she still had the heart of a child. Somehow buried underneath the pressure of her defected wings that was. It was during times at these that Vlinder could momentarily forget about the burden, to forget the harsh words and eyes full of pity that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. With the simple and not so graceful move of this golden stranger he had made her forget about her own flaws.
It is through her own forelock that she peeks at him, hiding herself behind the dark dot of hair upon her head. Compared to him she feels small, immature even. If Vlinder had to guess she would say he would be around her sister’s age, making him at least twice as old as herself. Not that it should matter, it wouldn’t hurt to have a small talk with this stranger? As long as he wouldn’t taunt her like the others, yet at the same time he didn’t know about her failure being.
With a soft and greeting smile on her lips she approaches him, a bit hesitant in her steps and with her wings carefully folded against her side. When she stops, close enough for a comfortable talk but also far enough to flee if she would have to. Vlinder dips her head in a response to his greeting, eyes cast down a bit flustered and hesitantly. ”Vlinder. My name is Vlinder.” It is only then that she dares to look up, smiling shyly when she meet his turquoise gaze.
”I.. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have … lau.. done that..” she mumbles, her voice much softer than before and clearly more hesitant and hold back too. Her throat feels thick and she isn’t able to swallow the lump that had formed, afraid that he would snap at her like the others. It wasn’t like her lowly life was worth it, after all.
Vlinder
Zeik x Felinae
OOC: Her pixel pony is a bit deceiving. Vlinder is a black roan, not cobalt blue like Feli, but her wings are like those of a blue heron, so the ends of her wings are blue .
As they stand there, frozen in time, he allows himself to look upon her as his lips whisper a smile. She is small, delicate to the touch and it makes his heart hammer a little more hard inside the bone cage of his chest. He wants to hold her and protect her against dangers unknown.
She watches him from beneath the cluster of coarse hair like a child peeking from behind a tree and this makes his smile spread over his lips. Lobes flicker when she chooses to speak. He is eager to hear her words as she speaks so soft and gentle like that of a summer breeze. Van finds himself inclining towards her.
"Vlinder." He says is slowly...softly. Van loves the fact their names are similar but he internalizes the thought. The blue green of his eyes dance with a bit of a laugh when she begins to apologize. "No, no sweet girl. It is okay." The smile crooks on his lips as his tilts his skull slightly, the fluff of his forelock hooked on the horn that is centered on his brow.
"What brings you to the meadow? A stroll?" He asks her while drawing a pace closer. Van is homeless himself as he had never settled down in one place in all his years. The stallion is a lover more than a fighter. He follows his heart and so far it had only lead him to being left broken, damaged. He swallows it back and stays proud. Bitterness and jadedness has swelled inside for far too long...consuming him. But he tosses those thoughts away. It was unfair to harbor negativity.
Van
come away, sweet girl, strum your guitar while we lay on the beach
Hearing her name spoken so softly and slowly, like he was testing the sounds himself and memorising it at the same time, she looks up at him, somewhat baffled. She blinks her eyes a few times from underneath her forelock, but the way their gaze meet is more direct than before. Oh yes, she’s flustered, totally flustered, but not in a bad way. Vlinder feels giggly as something flutters inside her.
He tells her it’s okay with that charming voice of his she casts her gaze down, nibbling her lip a little at the same time. However, she doesn’t back away as he comes closer, but his movement do make her look up again. At the same time she studies him for his motives and let his presence calm her. This Van gave off the same feeling as her father, no not the same, but quite a like. It’s not fatherly love and paternal protectiveness. Something else drives him and causes the feeling, but he gives her the same sheltered and safe feeling nonetheless.
So she offers him a small smile and a nod of the head, confirming his question with the simple gesture. ”I.. I needed to leave home for a while” her voice still isn’t as loud as it should be, but surely less hesitant and soft than her apology before. She isn’t sure if she should tell her why she had fled her home, why she had hidden herself in the meadow – well she surely didn’t want him to know about her defect wings, then he would probably just be like all the others and show his true colors – but a part of the truth should be okay to tell, right? Well, she hoped it would be, because she would end up telling him everything if he would ask.
.