"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
03-04-2017, 01:31 PM (This post was last modified: 03-04-2017, 01:36 PM by Epithet.)
Under the water's surface, the hippocampus mare moves through the liquid, gliding. Turquoise, gold, teal. She flashes as the reflection of the sun cuts through the water in winking sparks The length of her fish tail is pushing water in a leisurely flick, the fins that line her crest, large and spiny. She needs a change from the land.
Epi had plunged herself into the still warm waters as winter ravaged the Beqanna. Easily she could have been a bear...an ox...hell, anything but instead she moves to escape the cold even if only for a short period.
Tephra had been her home before but was it still? It had seemed long since she had been in the warm, arid lands. 'No time like the present.' The mare muses quietly to herself as she pushes through the water, stretching for the sandy land. Blue eyes note how the waters change, the sandy bottom growing finer and white her.
She must be close.
In the bat of a lash, the blue hooves run aground and dig into the silky grains of Tephra as she beaches, changing in an instant back to the ivory porcelain of her normal wear. Dark blue eyes watch for any threat as she moves, dripping, ashore. Bits of sea grass and kelp stick in the pale mane and tail, forgotten as she looks for a face of familiarity.
Nostrils expand, scorched momentarily by the sulfuric atmosphere but it brings a soft smile to her dark lips. She had navigated back successfully to the sleeping volcano and all his dwellers. The scent of equine float along the warm breeze. None seemed familiar to the slightly downtrodden woman but she would not let it deter her. "Hello there." Sooty lips offer with a soft sing-song tone as she spies a mottled buckskin man, his dark hair caught by the wind along the length of his next. The alabaster mare moves forward with large blue eyes full of curiosity as well as caution. She made sure to protect herself despite the changes she had endured to her magic. In an act of reassurance, scales of the Longma ripple over her body and a short horn sprouts from her brow. How was she to know if the male is friend or foe? Best to not learn the hard way.
Large eyes watch him carefully as she nears on tentative steps. Sadness seem to highlight the depths of her eyes like a glowing blue ember. "This is Tephra, yes?" She know the answer to this question but it was a good way to strike up a conversation.
It was not altogether surprising to see someone approach who he had never seen before, but it still caused his gold-flecked eyes to widen just slightly, for the corner of his scarred lips to twitch into a charming smile. His eyes caught on the armor as it warped around her, crawling up her sides and claiming her, and he thought on it for a moment. Was she uncomfortable here? Uncomfortable coming up to him? A frown crossed his expression for a moment, but he chased it away, his crooked smile replacing it easily.
“This is indeed a Tephra,” his voice was whiskey and smoke as he regarded her, nodding his head. “My name is Magnus.” She looked like she knew her way around the land, but that didn’t necessarily mean that she knew everyone who lived within it. After all, Tephra was a rather large home for all of them, and even though it was populated and bustling with life, that didn’t mean everyone knew one another.
Magnus wasn’t so self-centered that he’d think everyone knew who he was.
Silence fell between them for a moment as his gaze shifted to the scales that claim her body, the horn that sprouts from her head, and then he returns it back to her eyes, politely watching her. “Are you new around here or simply curious about your neighbors?” While he protected Tephra fiercely and monitored her, he also knew he had long ago adopted an open border policy; it was not uncommon for souls to come and go, to rest and then leave, or to settle down permanently. “Either way, it is a pleasure to meet you.”
out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll
She had been wary, cautious of a pretty face and a crooked smile. Dark blue eyes watch him in the silent study. Gold like churning lava beneath the earth's core, and he was just as attention commanding. It was hard for Epithet to let ehrself believe in someone else, believe in anything but she allowed him to approach just the same. After all, it is she who is in his home.
"I used to haunt you home for a time or two before but I never made much effort to introduce myself." Her voice comes off light and casual as she slowly sheds the armor and guards the tender portions of her porcelain body. One by one the scales fall from her svelte form to blow away in the light breeze. They were as hard as steel in one moment and then more weightless that a feather in the next. The horn changes to a bit a mist that surrounds her poll, blowing away just as the scales do. Epi pays them no mind as she smiles to her host, dark lips curling upward comfortably.
"I'm Epithet...and I've heard your name before Magnus...glad to finally put a a face with a name." The pale mare muses with a soft laugh before her attention flickers around to their surroundings. The warmth felt good on her back and she knows she could get use to the scent again. "I think I may be curious enough to learn the land and the faces devoted to it." The woman smiles again shyly as he attention returns to his lovely face. Epi makes an effort not to stare and so looks off to the call of gulls just on the shore.
His smile was charming as he considered her, his gold-flecked eyes warm. “I am glad you are comfortable introducing yourself now,” he said with a crooked smile, the wind pushing his back forelock away from his eyes. “The world is brighter for it.” His voice was genuine as he considered her, and it was easy to see that he actually believed it. Not because she was physically beautiful, although it would be impossible to deny that, but rather because of that internal light that flickered so softly.
All Magnus wanted to do in this moment was to see her smile.
He watches, amused, as her scales fall off and her body ripples into a more recognizable form, and he nods his head. “That is quite an interesting ability.” He could only imagine the prowess you could have on the battlefield if you could command your body on whim. He himself had never had such magic. He had bore wings for a short time, but they had been an awkward weight; he had been happy to see them gone. Now, immortality sizzled in his veins, but it was a quiet magic—one that was easy to miss.
But this? This was something altogether new.
“Epithet, the pleasure is all mine.” He laughed lightly, the sound smoke and fog. “I do hope that whatever you have heard about me has been good.” A wink. “Just know that half of it is probably not true.” At her request, he turned his gaze out toward the land unfolding around them, studying the horses that milled around it, the air warm despite the winter setting in. “I would be happy to tell you anything you would like to know,” he offered, glancing back at her. “Tephra is a wild, wide, wonderful place.”
out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll
She finds herself smiling, noticing how the warm breeze lifts away his dark locks. He is charming and Epithet suspects he is aware of this but she allows it to relax her. It had been some time since she had felt at ease, comfortable in front of another. Tephra, after all, is her home. But it is his next compliment that send a small tinge of pink through her body as she can not help but blush a delicate shade of ballet slipper pink.
If the stallion wanted her smile then he would surely have it. Dark lashes fall over the blue of her eyes as she can not help but smile shyly, her gaze flickering from his lovely features to the gulls on the shore for a moment. How long had it been since the mare had giggled like this? 10 years? 20? Immortality had it's benefits. Epi would never deny the benefit of looking a mere five years old but actually being almost three times that.
But in a blessed change, the buckskin mentions her ability to change. Thankfully the pink tinge of her coat melts back once more into the pale bone before. "Yes, it is interesting." She echoes as deep blue eyes return to her companion. the smile still curling her lips upward. "And you, Magnus? Do you possess anything other than charm beneath that skin or is that you gift from Beqanna?" Epi does not intend to come off as a flirt, teasing, or in any way other than a simple question though she understands once the words have trickled from her lips that the stallion would think so. But was she truly stating anything that he had not shown her already?
"The pleasure is not all yours for I share some of it as well." The alabaster mare quips with a small grin. She finds herself happy, truly happy in this moment. She silently counts her blessings. A warm home, pleasant company, and hope above all else. "Would you are to walk the shoreline, Magnus?" It is a simple enough inquiry as she moves to pivot by his side, dark hooves splashing the salt water against their hocks. Should the man decline, she would not fault him but if opportunity prevailed then she should like to learn more about him.
howling ghosts, they reappear in mountains that are stacked with fear
He grins at her smile, at her blushing, but doesn’t speak of it. Let the lady have her secrets. Instead he averts his eyes for a moment, staring toward the horizon and the birds that swam in the air above them, their feathers bright and their calls lilting. It was only when she directed another questions his way that he dropped his gaze, angling his head toward her. “Nothing like that, I’m afraid.” He rolled his shoulders and gave a crooked smile. “I have recently been granted immortality, but that has been the extent of the magic bestowed upon me. I do not shine nearly as bright.” Not that he minded. He liked that throughout his life he had to rely upon his wits, the strength of his back, his work ethic. It had made him stronger for it.
At her request, he just dips his head. “That sounds perfectly lovely. After you.”
The truth was that Magnus was his best in the company of women. He had grown up amongst them and his closest friends throughout the years were females. The strongest warriors he had ever known had been women (Lagertha, Ellyse, Twinge, Liberette), and the smartest diplomats. They simply drew out the best in him, and he cherished them for it. So he embraced this camaraderie with Epithet, enjoyed it thoroughly.
However, he was quiet as he led her down to the coast, as the ground beneath them shifted, the water lapping up peacefully along the shore. Grinning, he looked over his shoulder and gave a playful half-rear, the golden sand spraying slightly. “Race you,” he challenged, knowing full well that she could shift into any number of animals who could easily overtake him. But knowing it was impossible was half the fun.
Epithet collects herself against the warm breeze that lifts her pale mane, fanning across her neck as she steels herself (or attempts) to Magnus' charm. Ears are rotated towards the buckskin as he answers, noting the way he shifts his weight, the roll of muscular shoulders but it is the ghost of a smile that seems to fflutter like tiny wings across his lips. Epi almost wonders if it is the smile that he uses to shield himself rather than the courage in his breast or the wings that had one tucked against his spine (though she does not know this).
Her own lips turn upward into a pleased smile when he accepts her offer for a stroll. Epi is warm, smiling, and finally feeling something close to pleasure. Not in an indecent sense but more so that she can feel content in an enjoyable walk with a handsome gentleman on a beach. Honestly, could anyone blame her? But just as she is about to start a sentence, the sand is splattering against the alabaster of her hide, the stallion's deep laugh vibrating against her skin. She in turn follows in his steps, kicking high the golden grains, her laugh trailing behind her.
The mare knows she can be any creature and overtake him. She can shift, change, mold her body at a whim but why should she do so when all this was is a simple, fun game? This race was not meant to be any more than just two souls along a dotted coastline. The pale woman moves in the bat of an eye (or a wing) and she is gone. A tiny hummingbird, shining and squeaking, flits close to the stallion's shoulder. It was easy for her to keep his pace and does so with a whirl of small wings.
Epi pushes past the stallion to hover before his eyes backwards and squeaking happily in her small chirps but the wind catches her off guard and tosses her small body in a jerk at the stallion, throwing her across his brow and rolling off before her tiny feet manage to grip a wisp of black mane. Angry little squeaks pipe up from the disheveled mess of his mane before she is back in control and once more fluttering just above his brow, small feet clinging to the blown back forelock of Magnus but this time she faces forward, cautious to stay clinging to his hair as she races with him rather than against him.
howling ghosts, they reappear in mountains that are stacked with fear
It feels good to run—to stretch outward, to feel himself cover the land with strong, solid lunges. The sand shifts beneath his weight, reacting to the heavy fall of his hooves as they run. He feels her shifting next to him, and he laughs when he catches sight of the hummingbird by his side, the way it flutters in and out of his line of vision. He can imagine that she is enjoying the wind in her face, the same way that he enjoys the freedom that is exploding in his chest, the joy that is unlocking in him so easily.
As she dances in front of him, he lifts his head upward, looking at her with his bright gold-flecked eyes. She looks so happy in this moment, so free, and he appreciates that she has given him this moment, this chance to just indulge in the company of another without having to worry about anything else. He didn’t often get the chance to let himself relax, to not worry about his duties and responsibilities, but he did now.
When the wind pulls her across his brow and then buries her in the thicket of his mane, he curls his head back and nickers, humor caught in the sound of his laugh as it carries back to her. He doesn’t stop his pace though, trusting her to right herself, and when she does, he feels the strength of her feet digging into his mane and forelock. “Hold on, little bird,” he growls into the wind, rocking back just slightly and then pushing off the sand, powerful body rocketing forward under the sun. “We still have the sun to catch.”
And then, without another word, he levels out, letting the speed and the sun and wind speak for him.
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