"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
The bitter wind rips away any pleasantness there might have been on this journey, and so despite the new (and beautiful) landscapes, my stern expression does not falter. The feathers of my golden wings help hold in the heat, but there is no protection for my legs and face. An early winter wind whips at the long strands of my navy mane and tail, and when I finally reach the edge of Hyaline I am grateful for the boulders to shelter behind.
I call for Ilma, knowing my voice will be carried by the wind and the shape of the valley. I’ve no intention of venturing past the border, so she’ll need to come to me.
”Color me impressed.” are the first words out of my mouth. ”I didn’t think you Hyalinites had it in you to retaliate.” There’s nothing in my expression to suggest that I’m truly impressed; if anything the lack of emotion has shifted to something between pity and disdain.
”I don’t suppose the terms of your steal are the same as mine?” At that there is a bit of a smile of my sharply angled face, but it is meant only for me, and not for her. Of course the terms aren’t the same; she’s completely unaware of what they would have been. I would have told her upon her arrival to Loess, but I never got the chance. Instead, Ilma had allowed her monarchs to leap over civil diplomacy and directly into threats of war.
The irony of it brings a smile to my face; Hyaline, the sanctuary, stealing mothers away from their children and attempting to start a war. Perhaps they’re undergoing a rebranding of their own.
And there's a lesson waiting to be learned the firestarters always get the burns and the good guys never get the girl
The moon-coloured figure moves without too much speed. Winter is approaching, moreso in Hyaline than anywhere else, true, but not that much different from the hills attached to them - if of course, Lepis had not chosen to take the most open path that could be found.
Ilma herself, she takes the routes that may not be the straightest line, but then again, she's not the one in a hurry. When she reaches Lepis on the border and the mare starts to out her cynical lines, the white woman snorts but otherwise just lets her rant. Lepis' smile is not genuine, in fact, there's a huge mountain that Lepis brought with her here today, as well - containing her ego. And Ilma's not smiling at all, simply keeping a neutral face.
The white mare shrugs, and looks at Lepis a while before speaking. Perhaps her full-term steal was a cover, at least, the way she told it now, but it could also be her way of making herself sound less bad than the rest now that it had turned on her. "On the outside, they are the same, Lepis. I'd thought you of all horses would understand that in diplomacy, image is everything." She outs it in a mildly lecturing tone, because, that's what you do with children who don't seem to understand exactly what they are doing, but you don't want to scold them for it either.
She nods to the path she's just taken. "Let's get you settled first, it seems that you need a break from the winds from taking the shortcut. We'll sort out further terms later if you want."
Truth is, she just wants Lepis to see what kind of an impact a full-year steal would have been on Hyaline, on Ilma. And how it felt to be confronted with it. What better way than to take the woman of similar position from her own lands? And sure, if like she implies, she wasn't meaning it to be that long, then she should have said so in the first place. To be honest, with the way this woman was "bargaining", and honestly not doing the greatest job at it in Ilma's opinion, it should not surprise her that maybe she wanted something in return for Ilma's freedom - but the tables were simply turned, now.
And Lepis did not have to pout about it being so.
and shooting stars cannot fix the world
@[Lepis]
Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this: men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.
08-24-2018, 02:29 PM (This post was last modified: 08-24-2018, 02:29 PM by Lepis.)
It’s clear Ilma isn’t amused by my opening line, but I’m not surprised. Had I known she considered three sentences a rant, I might have carried on longer, but I’ve always been taught there is value in brevity. I roll my shoulder, fluffing out my wings before I shift my weight to lean farther closer to the granite boulder we shelter behind. It’s not much different from the rock of Loess, but winter is not quite so bitter yet in the lowlands.
She answers my question as though it had been a genuine one, and the self-amused smile on my navy mouth slips away. The lecturing tone of her voice is unmistakable. Does she think me a child? Can she genuinely believe that she - and her kingdom - are the ones in the right? Image is everything, she says. I tilt my golden head, the better to watch her with growing incredulity in my grey eyes. Image is everything?
“Hyaline does seem rather eager to shed the image of neutral sanctuary.” I reply, the words accompanied by a doubtful raise of my eyebrows despite their neutral tone. I am prettiest when I smile, my mother had always said, but I am not smiling now. The angles of my face are sharp, as intriguing as a newly minted blade and perhaps as dangerous.
I’ve never had a chance to go on the offensive before, after all. Everything in my life has been a reaction to what has been given to (or forced upon) me.
“We can talk now,” I reply flatly. “I’ve dealt with worse weather.” There is no shifting in my body when she suggests moving. There will be no getting settled. We’ll discuss this here and now, or we won’t discuss it at all.
And there's a lesson waiting to be learned the firestarters always get the burns and the good guys never get the girl
The mare assesses the unmoving girl with a look, having trouble not to roll her eyes or sigh at her and stay in a neutral stance. There's only a few words she will out now, and if Lepis still refuses, then she can just keep standing there. She's the stolen one now - she'll have to comply by staying within their borders and, if she refuses to be reasonable, then there will be no negotiation today and her return home is simply stalled. But it's her retort about Hyaline that she addresses first and foremost. Lepis keeps on insulting Hyaline. "If you really think that is the case, you may have to reconsider what your steal looked like to us, with no prior warning, and apparently aiming way higher than you intended - but again, we could not know. Had you considered the prospect of spending a year away from home, from your children, had I not stolen you in return? Stealing is a diplomat's way of warfare, like a challenge is for those in the battle castes. If you think it is not, I'm telling you now that the rest of the world thinks otherwise, and that you may have to make a little more use of your imagination and empathy to try and understand someone else's reaction. I do agree that my queens were very quick and very angry; there's a reason they have a diplomat advisor. Take that away, apparently this is what you get." She snorts - she's not happy with Kag and Lace's quick reaction; at least not the tone of it. At heart though, she understands that Lepis basically broke the neutrality of the sanctuary where that was uncalled for, and if no strong image was displayed, that would have been a symbol of 'Hey y'all Hyaline is open for stealing without repercussions - free game zone!'. "But maybe this is good for us too. A sanctuary without protectors and strong borders can't promise safety to anyone, as you will know." she shrugs.
When Lepis refuses to move, Ilma still takes a few steps away, then looks back to talk, but only briefly. "So it seems. Well, if you're set on staying there, I suggest you make yourself comfortable in your current position. I'll find someone else to talk to and negotiate with, if you're not talking to me." She shakes her head to realign her mane, then walks back into Hyaline's kingdom - Lepis will follow, or stay on the border all day, and if the latter is the case, the white mare is not inclined to give in to such childish behaviour.
and shooting stars cannot fix the world
@[Lepis] just so you know this is the ilma version of furious - too calm, too cold, not caring shit about how you feel
Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this: men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.
I'm not certain why she assumes I hadn't considered the way my steal attempt might seem. Perhaps she sees my young face, and thinks that I am reckless, or assumes that Loess lacking traditional political alliances must also be lacking traditional intelligence. Neither is the case, but those and a dozen other possibilities run through my mind as Ilma speaks. And speaks. And speaks. The lecture she'd begun earlier seems destined to continue, yet as she instructs me in things I learned as a weanling I keep a straight face, one ear pricked as though I am genuinely interested.
"Your kingdom turned a single steal into a threat of war." Even if we had intended to keep her for a year, their reaction had been extreme. Now, they turn the tables, and I am left marveling at the irony. If attempting to steal Ilma had been an act of war, what then is her theft of me? Surely it is an equal act, and yet Ilma still blathers on as though I am the fool.
At last she says something I agree with. While I doubt it's going to end well for Hyaline, a sanctuary is useless if it is not safe.
I tell her that I am not moving, that I want to talk where we are. Somehow she interprets that as refusal to speak to her, which brings a frown to crease the blue webbing of my forehead. I don't have time to respond before she is turning away, and I while I've no intention of following her, I do wonder if perhaps she is heading somewhere warmer.
"If you leave me here, I'm going back to Loess." I say flatly. I don't step forward, but I do move away from the boulder, the better to stretch the joint where feathers meet flesh. "Your queens' threats of war were empty, but they were real. Loess will take them seriously. Stealing me after threatening us? Are you sure you're ready for what keeping me a captive will entail? " The way I phrase the words might have meant political repercussions, silly things like verbal warnings and veiled threats. Yet as I say them, I stretch my wings out, a casual reminder that I am not grounded, and that a year is a long time to keep someone without a cage.
"You should let me return." I say as I re-situate my wings against my sides. It is too cold to remain unprotected for long, and their purpose has been served. "You'd wanted to know what you could offer us..." I let the sentence trail suggestively. This hadn't been my original intent, but I know that I must play the cards I hold and not those I wish I had.
08-24-2018, 06:05 PM (This post was last modified: 08-24-2018, 06:07 PM by Ilma.)
Ilma
And there's a lesson waiting to be learned the firestarters always get the burns and the good guys never get the girl
She is a slow mover - she is waiting for the obviously-soon-following 'retaliation' from Lepis. Ah, there it is already. Ilma stops to listen, but does not move back towards Lepis. It's indeed warmer where she's headed.
So Hyaline made the steal into a threat of war? Maybe - that's why if she had had the chance, she would have asked her queens to give it a day to talk it over, though after admitting once that she might not have agreed with her queens, she will not verbally do so again. And whatever the case; it had been a war-like act from Loess, and Hyaline had no other way to interpret it. And so she'd done the only thing she could to prevent actual war - steal Lepis back, let them feel what Hyaline had - it's uneasy, it feels slightly like betrayal even, perhaps. But it's better than the alternative, better than letting her queens actually declare war on Loess, which most certainly would mess up all existing alliances. But apparently, Lepis does not understand this. For one claiming to be a diplomat, she does very little to understand the view of the other party - ultimately that is where she failed to make a deal in the first place.
Lepis threatens to return to Loess, and Ilma repeats the 'casual' motion of her wings when the girl does. The Cleric even goes so far as to threaten with war, to which Ilma raises a brow. Obviously - not that Lepis seems to get it - keeping her here would give Hyaline the upper hand, a hostage to be traded back. So yeah, she's pretty sure she knows what keeping her entails - her molten orange gaze meets the other woman's bluish grey ones, with a look that is almost a sigh in itself. Tired of the repetitive motion of threatening, and that combined with small insults. It's nothing but threats, really.
Standing there staring at the woman until she not-finished her last sentence, Ilma's mind works over the possibilities - she'll have to be following Lepis around to keep her here if need be, that's for sure; but she's determined enough. And until 6 months have passed, nobody should be able to reclaim her. Plenty of time to get acquainted. "Perhaps I should. And perhaps I will; give me some time to think it over, but do not demand it from me right away or the answer is most certainly no. I think you and I already know what you want most, right about now, so stop playing games and come clean with me, or stay here and sulk. Run away even - but I'll find you. Do not think that we have no means of keeping you if we want to. I had just hoped you would stay somewhat willingly, because if you do, you'll have more freedom here than you could have otherwise." Clearly Lepis wanted to go home, while Ilma would have been stubborn enough not to take the offer and sit out her full sentence; something Lepis might not have considered. "And who knows, perhaps you'd have done the same for me and release me early. But inflicting a wound and then healing it still leaves the memory of pain, Lepis. Releasing a stolen horse is not a favour, if anything, it neutralizes the steal in the first place, and gets us back to ground zero, but then tensed. I suggest you try another tactic if you want something from us. At the moment, we're not quite sure if we're interested in any deals with you at all." Her winter coat bristles a bit at a sudden flare of wind, but it settles quickly enough not to have her shiver as she outwardly calmly, awaits a response. She'd rather just show the mare around and give her a place for the night, but no, Lepis was determined to negotiate (or, threaten really - there was no offer, so it was not a negotiation at all) until the deep of night.
Well then, so be it.
and shooting stars cannot fix the world
@[Lepis]
Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this: men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.
She doesn't seem to have seen the hint I laid directly in front of her, but I am unwilling to make it any more clear. I wait, head still tilted slightly askance, as she replies. Her casual dismissal of my efforts as a game is grating, but I do nothing more than stomp a rear hoof (and that could have been a muscle twitch). Ilma continues to treat me like a child, lecturing and berating me as though a rant will make her position more respectable.
"Another tactic?" Repeating her suggestion is done with another raised brow. Does she want that?
"I've given you a chance to keep Hyaline the neutral sanctuary you claim it is, and you've declined. Twice. I've offered to forgive the fact that you threatened us with a war you wouldn't win. You seem uninterested in diplomacy entirely." I pause for just a moment, meeting her gaze squarely. We both know I'm right, but I suspect the Advisor will twist the situation to fit her narrative just as she has done with the rest of our interaction.
"If your offer of another tactic is that I fight you for my freedom, I accept." It hadn't been an offer, but my irritation is growing as the cold whips around us, and I am ready to be home, warm by the hot springs. At least a fight would warm me up.
"And if it's not, you're welcome to come with me to Loess." At that I do step ahead, finding my footing on the stoney earth easily. The wind is harsher here, and I turn back to look at Ilma from the wind-whipped veil of my navy mane. Where will it be? My cocked brow asks. The challenge lands or Loess?
And there's a lesson waiting to be learned the firestarters always get the burns and the good guys never get the girl
Okay, that's it. This girl is just acting crazy. Why she's a diplomat at all eludes her completely at this point.
"I know that you're irritated, and so am I. We're getting nowhere with this at the moment. The facts are that my steal was successful and yours wasn't, and that I have no intention to fight you. We're diplomats, not warriors. Whatever deal you wish to make to get out of your stay here, I will listen, but tomorrow. I have nothing to offer you but your freedom - but if you have nothing in return but threats, you'll just have to stay here until you think of a better deal. Those are the terms. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go some place warmer. You're still welcome to join me there, it's no use standing here in the open winds." She turns, leaving Lepis at the spot. If she really wishes to escape, Ilma will be sure to find her within the appointed timeline, which will force her to come back. But she's not going into Loess - not with Lepis, at any rate.
and shooting stars cannot fix the world
@[Lepis]
I'm just going to end it here. Feel free to make a new thread in Hyaline or even a common land to escape, but Ilma is not going to Loess with Lepis and also not going to fight. Maybe I'll see if she can talk to Bane though.
Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this: men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget.
My suspicions prove correct, and the moon white diplomat remains obstinate. She's either purposely obtuse or blissfully ignorant I've concluded, neither of which are positions I can reason with. Diplomacy requires logic, after all, and it seems that my companion would rather go down with her flawed ship than concede the lifeboat is a safer option.
I have not voiced a single threat - I'd swear it in front of a magician and be found truthful - but she accuses me of it regardless. The insinuation that a diplomat can’t fight brings a deeper frown to my face. Do Ilma and I not occupy the same world? What is to stop someone from being both.
“I’ve actually been training as a warrior.” I tell her, my ears flicked forward. “I’d have thought that without a standing army that Hyaline would train all its residents in combat.”
Ilma leaves me at last, and I watch her pale figure climb further down the mountainside. For a moment I am tempted by the thought of warmth, but I remember my salty spring and the plentiful steam, and my resolve strengthens. I raise my eyes to the sky, where the thick layer of autumn clouds has begun to grow darker. There is a storm brewing. With Ilma still in the distance, I take to the sky with a single leap. The buffeting wind is now to my advantage, and the chill of the cold is nothing to the thrill of flight. I climb higher and higher, until Hyaline disappears into the base of the cumulonimbus.
@[Ilma]
Ending here works for me!
just a heads up that I’m sticking with this timeline for now since Lepis isn’t the type to passively wait while Ilma goes to find Wolfbane
