[private] They all warned us about times like this

[Obscene]

I can see through you, see your true colors
Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me

It is not the first time he looks at Skandar and wonders what lurks in that swirling head of his. Only a fool would trust his ambitious court completely and it would be a surprise to him if they hadn’t spoken of ripping him from his seat of power one day for their own gain. The thoughts of murder that linger in the back of the skinwalker’s head wouldn’t have shocked him at all. The Fae part of him would have been disappointed if they hadn't considered that option. The serpent within him secretly hopes one day they will try, an easy release from the equine prison it currently resides in.

It won’t be today though. Today, Skandar is willing enough to play the part of Champion and assist him in his search. There is a moment when he thinks to offer the other stallion a mutual assistance, to ask if there was anyone he might want to find as well but the other vanishes quickly after the orders are given. The volcano holds too many memories for them both and the glance he gives towards the looming mountain before disappearing into the underbrush is one filled with loathing. It stays with him as he pushes past overgrown leaves and snaps vines caught around his neck with the strength of his movement.

He isn’t quiet on purpose. He wants to be found.

He can feel eyes on him and knows he is being watched. By what or who, he isn’t sure. But he banks on at least one pair belonging to the mare he seeks. He knows that Skandar is probably not far from him but it is hard to tell in this oppressive atmosphere and that eerie quiet they had found when stealing Sickle seems to have grown ten-fold now. Everything in Tephra felt plainly wrong.

There is a soft whisper behind him and he whirls to find exactly what he has come for.

She never would have appeared if she hadn’t wanted it to be seen. His red eyes find the harsh golden ones that he had tried to forget over the years, the ones that match his sister’s. “You came.” She whispers to him and now he can see the marks of age along her face, the gray of her muzzle that sprinkles into the dark of her wings. She is different and yet still exactly the same. She looks at him and sees that at first she had been mistaken. She had thought Offspring had managed to come back from the dead with the nightmares that had been following her recently and the terrible whispers that clung to the shadows. Now she realizes how wrong she is as she looks over her son, changed in so many ways. But it was him, there was no mistaking that. No mistaking those eyes.

Her defiant head is raised to him, expecting a rush of anger. But there is no time for that now and he is suddenly uncomfortable and it shows in the deep smirk that plays across his dark lips. Would he ever not be at the mercy of powerful women? There is a sharp whistle he sends to catch Skandar’s attention, one that means he’s found what he’s looking for, as they stare unwavering at each other. “Are you going to make this difficult?” He asks her quietly, fire blazing in the depths of red. Silence. ”No.” She says simply, frowning. She had already been planning to leave but couldn’t remember where Bardot had told her she had been residing. And then the nightmares had started and the jungle that she had called home for so long turned into something she no longer recognized. She had planned on leaving and simply had nowhere else to go. Until now.

As he waits for Skandar’s appearance, thinking once more how simple this had been, the feeling of being watched intensifies and he starts to scowl. It seems they had outstayed their welcome.

obscene

@Skandar
@Gale