[private] oh me oh my, i thought it was a dream... [lilli]

[Kagerus]

K

oh me oh my, i thought it was a dream...

Ah, how I remember my years of land-based loyalty -- the years of political jousting (though years of peaceful sanctuary-keeping preceded those) and of wearing a crown of antlers. My fidelity to Hyaline never wavered during those years, starting from when I met Solace at the lake to the day we stepped down as leaders of the Eastern empire in order to ensure a safe birth for our youngest daughter. How fierce my love for Hyaline and then the Silver Cove had been, how vehement my protection of those places... And yet, as I look back upon them now, I can't help but to wonder if we made the right choice. Life without the stress of the kingdoms seems so much simpler, now that Solace and I live our nomadic life.

But some flame of pride and of political lust flickers inside of me as I stand, waiting, upon the Taigan border. An ardent smile tells the tale of my throat as it swallows the feeling down and stores it away somewhere deep inside of myself. I am here to see my friend, I remind myself, a glance spared Panthera's way for moral support. Not to reignite my passion for politics. The cloud-leopard nods at me with one brow cocked, as though to say, do you even need the reminder?

At that moment, a voice calls my name -- my ears prick up and my right hoof strays across the border. I call to her again, this time with more excitement colouring the crystal of my voice. When the crimson woman bursts through the fog to stand across from me, my smile stretches and parts. "Lilli," I laugh, head tossing. Another step closer closes the space between us; with a tender gentility, I wrap my head around her withers and hug. "I've missed you, too. Hah!" My laughter reverberates from my chest to hers, the friction comfortable and warm. "I'm sure you have, dreamer that you are."

As I extricate myself from the beautiful mare (fuller around the edges now, I notice, and womanly instead of girlish), I catch sight of her effervescent smile. I can't help but chuckle; I can't think of a single other person who could smile the way she does, so starblinded and carefree. I hope that that light never fades from her eyes.

"I am well my friend, and consistently mending. Almost everything about me is back to normal." The leopard beside me bursts into fog, floating a moment before reassembling into a new kind of matter. With my eyes trained on the place which I direct my magic, I shape the bone-tissue into a pair of elk antlers before raising them and placing them atop my skull. The connection process takes me longer and causes me to grimace as I pinch nerves here and there, not yet ept at this sort of thing (though I've learned from experience that trying to make myself grow them hurts much more). With the antlers attached, I return to the conversation and grin. "Getting more myself every minute, it would seem."

"And Solace -- well, she is the love of my life, and she fared well in my absence... That woman knows no end to her might, I swear." My grin stays steadfast as I speak of my gold-and-blue angel. "She and I are very happy to be together again, thanks to you."

"And speaking of you -- how have you been?" I lower my head to gaze at Lilliana from beneath brows that are furrowed in jest. "Staying out of trouble, I hope?"

@[lilliana]