anyone;

[Cress]

all that we have amassed sits before us, shattered into ash

Before Oxytocin had come along, Kindling had a different lover. A man hailing from the Chamber; Kindling’s original home. They had loved each other deeply (at least, he had loved her while she lusted after her father) and had ended up producing twins, a girl and a boy. Cress had heard the tales from many different mouths and knows them well. The couple had grown apart after their twins birth and Kindling’s subsequent turn to Oxytocin and she ended up leaving the Valley throne due to her conflicting feelings, leaving her young (for Smolder was hardly a year old) daughter on the throne after her.

Not much is known about their son, Cress was disappointed to discover. She wanted to know as much about her siblings as possible—where they are now, what happened to them, if they have any children of their own—but she has hit so many dead ends. Davorin, her brother and once the Heir Apparent to the Valley throne, is gone. Smolder had taken the throne only for three short years before leaving Oxytocin on it alone and she hasn’t been seen around much since. Of Cress’s older brother she knows very little of. At the present she cannot even remember his name. Something to do with fire. All of them had something to do with fire.

Kinda funny how Cress was the one with a somewhat normal name and she is the one who ended up wielding flames.

She is away from the Valley once more, nerves about her promotion getting the best of her (as always). Why is it that every time a new monarch takes over, they feel the need to promote her? She has done nothing to earn the position of councilor but here she is, one of the three councilors of the Valley. Not a position she asked for and not exactly a position that she wants. It gives the broken girl too much responsibility. She had pledged her life to her kingdom, but come on, guys.

Her mindless wandering takes her to the meadow and she can feel the loneliness (though he tries so very hard to mask it) radiating from the bay and white stallion long before she can see him. Curious, she follows the empathetic wave right to him, head tipping curiously to the side as she approaches him. He doesn’t want to be lonely, she can tell, but here he is, alone as can be. “Are you quite alright?” she asks as she approaches, hoping he doesn’t mind the ugly, burned stumps where her ears had once been (she’ll always be self-conscious about this, she cannot help herself).

There is something about him (the line of his jaw, the roundness of his hindquarters) that gives her pause and she studies him harder, making quick note of the similarities. Could it be…? “You look like her,” she says quietly, almost to herself. “Like Kindling.”

After a moment her eyes widen and she laughs nervously. So what if he looks like her Not-Mother. Maybe she whored around once upon a time. Maybe… maybe he’s her long-lost brother. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? “I forget my manners. My name is Cress.”

cress

oxytocin x kindling