09-08-2020, 04:47 PM
Yanhua
Sometimes, Yanhua could plainly see that his mother still thought of him as a colt. He’d caught a glimpse of her thoughts while she stood back to look him over. When Lilli looked at him or spoke with him these days, Yanhua acted as if he were with Amarine. He cut off the usually wide flow of inner-feelings, dulling his emotional state to that of a nearby tree or rock in case he (or his mother) began to bounce emotions off one another with their magic, and reverted to direct facial cues as a way of expressing himself. But it didn’t take a magician or special powers for Yan to see that Lilliana was holding onto feelings she should certainly let go of.
“It wont,” She responds to his hopeful comment about lasting peace, and only Yanhua’s well-practiced restraint kept him from spitting out I know as a response. He was a horse on the cusp of full maturity, having lived through a troublesome childhood with acriminally absent sire and a captive dam; he didn’t want his comments to become foundations for motherly lessons on how the world worked. He wanted Lilliana to see him as a stallion, to treat him like one, yet in his heart he couldn’t bring himself to offend her. So the goat-looking chestnut bit his tongue and listened to his mother’s voice take on the same wistful tone it always did when she spoke about their shared lineage.
Valerio, Aletta, Elena and the Legacy family… Yanhua remembers their names and their story in his heart now. Lilli’s brought them to life for her children, even if he and his siblings hadn’t lived the tale themselves. Hearing his mother talk about her decision to unify the North as it related to how her past life worked, Yan found himself smiling regardless of how irritated he’d been moments before. He understood, though his still-hopeful and loving sensibilities might’ve led him to make a different choice had he been in his mother’s hooves.
Playfully, Yan responded with: “Well where I was raised, the thought of an Overlord or Empress wasn’t exactly a welcome idea, and there were as many kingdoms then as there are territories now.”
He knew the history of his home well enough. Lepis, Queen mare of Loess had tried (and so had others before her) to take more than one throne; all failures. Yanhua himself seemed to have an inbred pride for the way his Northern home and her sister-lands often resisted intrusion in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, as the stories went. Though now only Loess and Tephra could cling to the heritage of their upbringing: only they remained as the Kingdom seats, unmoved from their original positions in the history of when Beqanna shifted. Tephra especially - Yan longed to make the journey there himself, soon, to see more of the Volcano and her ancient mysteries.
“Give it another hundred or so years, mom. Maybe you’ll see Beqanna united the way it ought to be, as one. Then you can be the one to blow away the pesky horses.” He laughed carefully. The expression on Yanhua’s face softened, but became more like stone than before. Immovable, just like his thoughts on the subject he brought up next.
“Until then, I was hoping to do something more… productive with my time. There’s a tournament coming up.” Yan winked, shifting a bit and relaxing one of his hind legs. “Taiga needs a champion and a representative.” He drawled on carefully, unable to tear his eyes away from his mother’s. “I’d really, really like to nominate myself.”
Yan paused and flourished the uncertain question with his most hopeful, most endearing of smiles, puffing out his chest a little. The six-pointed star tattooed there gleamed with the movement, bright as a coin. From his expression it was obvious that he believed in himself; Yanhua was confident in his ability to represent Taiga during a nation-wide event, despite having ulterior motives for entering. He wanted, more than anything, to mostly prevent his mother and Izora from participating - they’d been through enough. Leilan and the Isle boys would be fine on their own, same with Nerine.
What he needed, however, was Lilliana’s blessing. Even if @[Izora Lethia] agreed and encouraged him, Yanhua wouldn’t feel right continuing on if he knew Lilli was against it.
“It wont,” She responds to his hopeful comment about lasting peace, and only Yanhua’s well-practiced restraint kept him from spitting out I know as a response. He was a horse on the cusp of full maturity, having lived through a troublesome childhood with a
Valerio, Aletta, Elena and the Legacy family… Yanhua remembers their names and their story in his heart now. Lilli’s brought them to life for her children, even if he and his siblings hadn’t lived the tale themselves. Hearing his mother talk about her decision to unify the North as it related to how her past life worked, Yan found himself smiling regardless of how irritated he’d been moments before. He understood, though his still-hopeful and loving sensibilities might’ve led him to make a different choice had he been in his mother’s hooves.
Playfully, Yan responded with: “Well where I was raised, the thought of an Overlord or Empress wasn’t exactly a welcome idea, and there were as many kingdoms then as there are territories now.”
He knew the history of his home well enough. Lepis, Queen mare of Loess had tried (and so had others before her) to take more than one throne; all failures. Yanhua himself seemed to have an inbred pride for the way his Northern home and her sister-lands often resisted intrusion in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, as the stories went. Though now only Loess and Tephra could cling to the heritage of their upbringing: only they remained as the Kingdom seats, unmoved from their original positions in the history of when Beqanna shifted. Tephra especially - Yan longed to make the journey there himself, soon, to see more of the Volcano and her ancient mysteries.
“Give it another hundred or so years, mom. Maybe you’ll see Beqanna united the way it ought to be, as one. Then you can be the one to blow away the pesky horses.” He laughed carefully. The expression on Yanhua’s face softened, but became more like stone than before. Immovable, just like his thoughts on the subject he brought up next.
“Until then, I was hoping to do something more… productive with my time. There’s a tournament coming up.” Yan winked, shifting a bit and relaxing one of his hind legs. “Taiga needs a champion and a representative.” He drawled on carefully, unable to tear his eyes away from his mother’s. “I’d really, really like to nominate myself.”
Yan paused and flourished the uncertain question with his most hopeful, most endearing of smiles, puffing out his chest a little. The six-pointed star tattooed there gleamed with the movement, bright as a coin. From his expression it was obvious that he believed in himself; Yanhua was confident in his ability to represent Taiga during a nation-wide event, despite having ulterior motives for entering. He wanted, more than anything, to mostly prevent his mother and Izora from participating - they’d been through enough. Leilan and the Isle boys would be fine on their own, same with Nerine.
What he needed, however, was Lilliana’s blessing. Even if @[Izora Lethia] agreed and encouraged him, Yanhua wouldn’t feel right continuing on if he knew Lilli was against it.
I GOT | Extra | FEELINGS
@[lilliana]- also Endellion feel free to have Lethy interrupt these two whenever!