"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
He had left Tephra looking for himself, looking for his place in the world.
Little did he know would he find his father's past, a burden he had carried in his heart until he had left to find her. Solace welcomed Phoebus to come to Hyaline, so she could show him around. Hesitantly, he had taken heed of the offer and made his way to the land of the wisteria tree. He finds the journey long and exhausting, and he can now understand why his father had been absent so much of his childhood - it took forever to get here by foot. He wondered how much faster the trip might've been if he had been blessed with wings like Solace or his mother.
Mother. Oh how he missed her. The guilt he felt for leaving her alone while father was away (to where he wasn't sure) sat uneasily in his chest. But he knew he would return to her...someday.
He finds the winter air unforgiving, too cold for a boy who was raised by the heat of an active volcano. He missed Tephra - its unwavering heat, its ash riddled air, the taste of sulfur that lingered on his tongue. He had decided on his lonely walk that when he returned, he would ask Warrick to be in his army, so he could serve the home he loved so much...just like father.
It isn't hard to tell when he arrives. Solace was right, it was beautiful. Especially now - snow blanketed the earth around the valley, the lake completely frozen over with glistening ice. Such a stark contrast from where the gold and blue mare had come from, he wonders what changed her mind.
He lets out a call for Hyaline's caretaker, patient to wait until she arrived to show him around.
Boy of Fire
@[Solace] He wanted to come take a look! He doesn't know Rou is dead yet.
Solace's winter coat is dense full, making the mare appear more like a pony than she would perhaps like. But she did not begrudge her alabaster pelt its warmth. Below this plush cloak, she didn't look much like a girl from Tephra anymore.
With wings spread wide, the gold splashed mare drifts across the sky in her regular route. Their stream of visitors had all but stopped not that true winter had set in, the mountain kingdom was a cruel mistress during these last days of the year. But there is someone waiting patiently in the cold and she alters her course to greet him.
Her landing is soft despite the frozen earth, and her hooves click along the stony ground as she makes her way to Phoebus with a smile on her lips. "You made it!" She breathes in a plume of white steam, her eyes sparkling with a familiarity that they have yet to form but she already feels because of his father.
"Let's get you out of the wind, come it's much quieter in the basin down by the lake." She says, as she notes his sleek pelt and the wind pulls at her tri-colored mane flipping it wildly as to emphasize the winter's ferocity. But she had seen that he had some control of Tephra token element, fire, so maybe her concern was unnecessary.
03-21-2018, 09:33 PM (This post was last modified: 03-21-2018, 09:35 PM by Phoebus.)
Phoebus
Just at the start of the hill, Phoebus takes notice of her golden and alabaster skin, and her sky blue wings. He grows excited, and suddenly a harsh, glowing orange light engulfs him, melting the snow beneath his feet. God dammit. He thinks to himself, trying to settle the flames upon his bodice to something less powerful. He manages to gain control over his power, his armor fading into a warm crimson that lay across his chest and back. Even the bitter wind that whipped his mane could not put it out - he was able to stay toasty as the now-furry Caretaker approaches.
Solace leads him down the steep incline, towards the frozen lake, and inquires about his trip. "Save for the snow and long walk, it was rather uneventful." He chuckles. Frost glistened on top of the ice coated water as they approach, and only now can Phoebus truly admire its beauty. He could definitely see why this beautiful land was so appealing to her now.
"Woah," He murmurs, stepping closer to the water's edge. As he goes to press his hoof onto the ice, the heat of his exoskeleton causes it to melt, and soon he dunks his right leg completely into the freezing water. "Shit!" He pulls it out, nearly stumbling over himself as the cold air tingles and pricks at his leg. Without a second thought, his armor ignites his leg, relieving him of the pain.
He looks to Solace, embarrassed. "I didn't gain dad's gracefulness..."
'A true man of Tephra,' she laughs to herself as he unexpectedly combusts. Her concern for his warmth had been misplaced, she realizes. Summer coat or winter coat, she doubted Rou's son would ever catch a chill.
"That's a handy trick in a place like this." She soothes, with a half-suppressed smile.
Solaces is content to watch as he admires the mountains, the lake, the beauty of the snow-draped landscape. It reminds her of the first time she had made the same journey he has just taken, and how her eyes had been opened to the world beyond her tropical island at a similar age.
She had never meant to leave Tephra, but in one day Amet had flipped her world upside-down.
They find themselves at the lake shore, and she doesn't think to warn him about the ice before he is already exploring. This time, she lets her smile effect all her features as a quiet laugh harmonizes with his curse. She comes to stand beside him as he stumbles backward, but while he is in the first stages of learning to control of such a dangerous element she makes sure to leave a little space between them.
"I'm sure you will have your own set of charms," she teases. "I know a few who have gone pretty far without a lick of grace."
Her curious blue eyes search his face - he is a living gauge of exactly how much time has passes since she left Tephra and she can't help but feel a touch of homesickness.
"A random gift from the fairies," He tells her, noting the space she leaves between them. It was probably for the best until he was able to control his power. "I'm thankful for it though. It's like carrying a piece of Tephra with me wherever I may go." The flames on his leg dissipate, leaving nothing but a low heat. He glances to it, then back to Solace. "But it does come in handy for situations like these...you can imagine."
He travels back over towards the lake, but this time simply observes it. Where his fire had burned the ice beneath, the wind catches the water, swaying back and forth. How curious it was - even though the top of the lake was frozen, beneath it it was still just...water.
He wondered if the many horses he had crossed on his way to Hyaline were like this - one way on the outside, but completely different within. He knew his father was like this, he knew in a way, his mother was like this too. But who else? Could there be a whole world of people who...were simply putting on a facade?
He notices how long he's been staring, and finally peels himself away from the lake to meet Solace's gaze once more. "Well that sure is comforting," He laughs. "Well show me around! I'd love to see more of Hyaline, and learn."
03-29-2018, 04:47 PM (This post was last modified: 03-29-2018, 04:49 PM by Solace.)
Solace
He takes his time to observe the new facets of her world - so different from the island where they had both been born. She doesn't mind waiting, she actually enjoys it. Her pale wings begin to relax a little, slipping down to cover her sides as she watches him and his lovely, expressive eyes.
His reflective daze ends abruptly and his smiling face is once again turned to her. "I would like nothing more," she smiles in response to his request, it's is something she should have already offered. Turning her body, she begins to walk along the lakeshore to the north, pausing a moment so he may join her. "Walk this way for long enough, just through that pass..." Solace gestures with her muzzle to a well-worn path through the snow. "... and you will find Nerine." Then she gestures to the west as they walk. "Our western border is coastline, but the ocean there is nothing like Tephras. It is grey and turbulent, and the waves can be as tall as horses - even on pleasant days."
"The mountains are full of caves too, I keep a very careful eye on everyone who comes and goes - but even so, sometimes I am surprised to find someone who had been here for days without me noticing."
As they reach the north-most point of the lake, she pauses. There are several paths before them. Her blue eyes find his again, as she looks to see if this was the sort of thing he was interested in learning.
Tephra's borders were water, and were not surrounded by any kingdoms, simply by common lands. So when Solace tells him of Nerine, and shows him the worn path towards the foreign land, he is intrigued - he had never thought Beqanna could be so big. All he had known his whole life was his little corner of the world, the volcano he loved so much. It was weird to think of all the lands he hadn't explored, the places he hadn't seen.
They are nearing the northern edge of the lake, when he sees more worn paths. Curiosity gets the best of him, and he walks ahead of Solace to look at each one. He wonders about the horses who had come and gone here, about the memories they had made. Maybe he thought too much about things like this, but he couldn't help himself.
"Where do these lead?" He asks, looking back to the caretaker.
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He doesn't know Rou is dead yet.
