"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
They were one year old today, which meant they were practically full-grown women. Mom and dad were off doing whatever it was the did when the twins weren't around and Locheed was feeling the kind of antsy that meant she wanted to drag Laia into some sort of trouble with her.
She had the energy to burn, and plenty of ideas on how to burn it.
"Laia," she calls, her draconian mouth opening wide and garish. Her sister was much prettier than her, but so far she hadn't decided to hold that against her. She wouldn't have anyone to play with is she did.
"Do you want to go to the common-lands today?" Locheed dangles the idea in front of her twin, knowing it is, without a doubt, against the rules. Her dark eyes are inquisitive and dangerously hopeful and she adds a toothy smile for good measure.
"We have to do something exciting on our birthday."
Laia pranced like a fawn after her sister. Spring was well and truly on its way and she felt it in her bones and every muscle. Her legs were still too long for her body, her face caught between childish softness and grown angles, but today, as Loey had woke up reminding her, they were now a year old. So she was feeling rather grown up.
Her twin had a look in her eyes that her buckskin counterpart had long ago learned to recognize as the flicker of mischief. Laia stuck her pink tongue out thoughtfully, squinting at her draconic sister with a tinge of suspicion.
Dad had laughed when Locheed was born, called her a "throwback" and shook his head. Laia had been the expected one, the baby who'd taken after her parents and not a grandfather rarely spoken of. Clearly though, the dragon blood was strong, and Laia had admired her sister for as long as she'd recognized that no one messed with Loey.
"Mom and Dad won't be happy if they find out." She stated, pointlessly. Locheed knew that, and she was suggesting it anyway. Her pink nose wrinkled in feigned dismay. It was their birthday, and while she was sure their parents would have something nice planned for the evening, it was very tempting to have a little adventure before then.
A deep, dramatic, long suffering sigh rustled through her skinny chest. "I guessss we can," she agreed, as if the idea didn't excite her just as much. Casually she flipped her lengthening forelock from her eyes, a conspiritual grin lighting up her face. In a blink, she flashed from her sister's side to several yards away. "Come on! Last one to the border is a dead squirrel!" She called over her shoulder with a shrill giggle.
Laia of course has to pretend like she actually has to weigh the decision and Loey mumbles a "good girl" under her breath as she looks away from her twin to the distant smudge of woodlands on the horizon. But the act is over in a second and when Locheed turns back to find that mischievous grin, the excitement she feels manifests in a little buck and a squeal.
Last one to the border is a dead squirrel!
Laia disappears, but in the length of blink, she's there again - just a few yards closer to the border. Loey clenches her teeth together as her emotions get the better of her, anger bubbling up inside her tiny chest. It really wasn't fair, but the dragon-scaled filly channels her passion into a headlong run.
"No cheating!" She calls, as her thin, coffee color legs stretch and straining to prove that she is the fastest. The fact that Laia would always win races was something her sense of sibling rivalry would not let her admit yet. But it isn't hard to see Laia does have the upper hand in this race, and after a mile or so of galloping towards The Taiga, Locheed slows to a trot.
"I'm the oldest, so mom and dad would want me in charge." She says between gasping breaths, as she hungrily eyes the land beyond the border. "So no teleporting. But..." her confidence ebbs as strange scents begin to reach them, of wild creatures and deep woods, "... what should we do if we meet a stranger?"
05-17-2020, 06:16 PM (This post was last modified: 05-17-2020, 06:18 PM by Nashua.)
NASHUA
Popinjay likes to take him higher - she indulges him when the winged yearling laughs for every upward thrust of her wings. Nash whoops and grins, thrilled with the idea of the sky opening up for him. (He loves Taiga - he does but how can any pegasi love the ground when they were destined for the skies?)
When the yearling manages it, when he slips through the notice of his Aunt Brazen or Elaina (never Yanhua - never on purpose with his brother), the little bay mare finds him and delights him by transforming into something far more electrifying and slightly terrifying. They make an unlikely pair in the Taigan forest but a pair they’ve become over the last few weeks as Nash has learned to spread his growing wings and try his hoof at tackling ever higher heights.
His plan is to aim for the Isle; he wants to see the burns and scorched ruin for himself (and the dragon stallion, Leilan). Poppy, as usual, seemed to have other ideas.
They don’t get far into the volcanic kingdom - though Tephra’s icon sits like a jewel in a crown in the background - when the mare cackles and dives and grins when she thrusts him into an upcurrent he hadn’t been prepared for. Nash doesn’t completely spiral to the ground but his ability to fly is still limited to only short spurts and he lacks the grace of a practiced flyer - his movements are too choppy.
It's a moment of pride, though, that he lands somewhat steadily (and on all four hooves - wouldn’t Celina be proud!) on the border of Tephra and Taiga, her proud Redwoods guarding all their secrets behind him. The copper yearling settles his wings and takes in the new sights around him - admiring the birdsong, the unfamiliar scents and.. voices? The boy follows the sound to a pair of fillies - twins? - and tilts his head as he emerges from behind a rather large fern.
He’s about to tease them about strangers. Nash has never met one in his short life. Every horse he comes across is a new adventure. Instead he says, "you could say hello,” with a rather cheeky grin.
and for every king that died they would crown another
Yanhua watched his twin go that day, because that was all he was ever capable of doing: watching Nash leave. The abandonment should tear away at him, and at times he does feel jealous when his brother returned from a particularly thrilling flight with a wide grin still plastered on his face, but for the most part Yan understands. He was made to love the earth and all its secrets, while his twin had been crafted to love the sky and all her restricted places. Yanhua felt an anchor made of loyalty that kept him in Taiga, Nashua felt the whispers of the wind and longed to see where it could take him. Most of all, he loved his brother - more than he could love the stand-in mothers who tried to replace their own perfect one. He would never be the type to weigh a free bird down with sibling guilt.
But that day, for some particular reason, the ache is just too much. Yan watched his twin soaring up from a rare open spot of Taiga’s woods and felt that for once, it just wasn’t good enough to be down on the ground. And, his brother's companion had immediately turned wing in the opposite direction he assumed they’d be going, which didn’t do much to ease Yanhua’s fragile nerves.
He hesitated once they disappeared, balancing his thoughts on the knife’s edge of what was expected of him (stay put, don’t leave without notice) and what felt like an adventure waiting to happen… and it hadn’t taken long for him to decide. As soon as he couldn’t make out or hear his twin anymore, Yanhua darted off into the towering redwoods in hot pursuit. Today, for the very first time, he would venture farther from home than he’d ever dared without Lilliana there to guide or protect him. The goat-like yearling felt a rush, a pure energy high, and knew he must be projecting the feeling nearly everywhere like some broadcast, but he didn’t care.
He was following Nash, and he was going to catch up to him, dammit!
He was going to finally - Oh, he thought as he pulled up to a skidding halt near the border of Tephra. The moment of courage wavered as he looked out past the wide expanse of dwindling forest, but Yanhua knew that if he thought too much about what he was planning he’d lose the strength to see it through, so the normally level-headed colt did something in that moment that was extremely irrational: he backed a few strides and flung himself into a canter, ignoring the scent of boundaries left by Tephra’s sentries.
By the grace of fate or the mercy of some divine intervention, the leggy chestnut actually made it through without detection, but he realized (as he skidded and hopped to a stop, drenched from the exertion of his exercise) that he’d lost valuable time in tracking Nashua. He snorted and looked around, pivoting before calling out, “Na.. Nash?!” in a quivering tone. At first, only silence answered back. Then, a faint murmur - the sound of many voices gathered nearby - caught his attention and the tall, short-horned stallion turned his ears and eyes toward the noise.
I should just leave… he thought anxiously, but he felt nothing in the surrounding wilderness that warned him off. So he took a hesitant step forward, then another, and before he knew it, Yanhua was striding through Tephra and into the gathering where Nashua had been the entire time. “Brother!” He greeted his twin first, enthusiasm brightening his earlier expression of caution. He stepped high and trotted over to integrate himself, bumping his sibling on the flat side of his mirroring-chestnut-colored neck with his small horns before turning to glance shyly at both fillies.
@[Laia] hi I'm here to interrupt the posting order. Don't mind if I do
"You're oldest, but I was born first! So I can flash if I want to!"She cried out as they ran, but didn't use her power again. Running felt good, the stretching of her young muscles and the rhythmic pounding of feet on the ground. Anyway. Beating Loey was always more satisfying if it was a fair race.
Heart thundering in her chest, the splashy filly came to a riotous halt at the border of their home. Behind them, dense jungle and heavy, humid air. Before them, who knew? Adventure, of one kind or another. She had only just begun to turn to answer her twin's question when an unexpected other voice did instead. Laia shrieked and briefly disappeared.
She stood back in their home den for three heartbeats, and then realized that she'd left Locheed stranded with a stranger. Gasping in horror, she flashed back to where she'd just been standing.
"Sorry, Loey," her eyes were big and remorseful, before she turned back to the new speaker. "Don't sneak up on people like that! It's rude." She scolded, one hoof stamping in the loamy soil. Her heart had slowed at last to its usual beat, while she shook her lengthening forelock from her eyes to better see the boy. Boys. There were two of them now, and she could see they were brothers even without the second one's greeting.
Her head tossed, awkwardly displaying her own antler spikes to the colts. One of them had horns of his own but she dearly hoped he didn't want to use them. She didn't know the first thing about fighting with antlers, and besides, poking him with her pointy little sticks would probably hurt him. And then she'd have to explain why she had hurt another kid and it seemed like a lot of work to explain that she'd only done it to protect herself and Loey and he'd started it and no, there weren't supposed to be out here in the first place but-
Her big blue eyes blinked hard. Right. They were still here and no one was hurting anyone. She huffed an embarrassed breath and looked at the two boys again. "Anyway, I'm Laia and this is my sister Loey," she picked up the thread of conversation again. "Who're you?" They were siblings, obviously, maybe even twins too. But they were alsoas differing as she and her own twin were.
06-09-2020, 02:42 PM (This post was last modified: 06-09-2020, 03:04 PM by Locheed.)
Her question is cut short by her sister's shriek, and Locheed turns her narrow face to see a boy stepping out from behind a fern. She had been concerned about strangers before, but when she finally sees one she doesn't feel afraid at all. He is not as scary or tall as she imagined all strangers would be, no, she finds she likes to look at him.
It instantly becomes obvious that her sister does not feel the same way, at least at first. The dragon-hide filly merely looks at him as Laia disappears and then returns just as quickly with a soft apology. Locheed blinks her acknowledgment, then hisses happily as Laia scolds the boy.
One colt is enough of a surprise, but it isn't long before there are two. The exciting adventure into the redwoods is forgotten as her draconian eyes take in the tall colts with uninhibited curiosity. They are both very interesting to look at after all, especially for someone who has not seen many strangers. Stripes, horns, and glowing skin - they are enough to make her forget her manners.
Laia remains on the defensive, and luckily the two forest-boys don't seem too skittish. But her pretty little sister is quickly regaining her composers and asks a question Loey thinks is a rather good one. Even so, there is one thing she really wants to know, and with a nod of her head in the direction of the great, dark wood, she slips in her own question right after the first two. "Do you both live out there?"
06-10-2020, 04:12 PM (This post was last modified: 06-10-2020, 04:17 PM by Nashua.)
Nashua is still high on the heights that he has fallen from and the adrenaline rush is fueling the broad grin that sears across his face. Oh, to fly. Taking to the skies is a thrill that he hasn’t found a match for yet and every time he soars (however little that might be - he’s still growing into those wings), he happily throws it onto a pile of kindling that ignites his life.
The yearling loves many things but flying is… this is just the beginning of a spark that will light up his soul. There are many places for Nash to go, many sights for him to see but for now, this is just the start of lifelong passion. (The striped yearling will always love his brother more than the skies and his Aunt Elaina has told him there will be times he will have to place duty above his wings.) For now though, this is just the beginning and Nashua is still a child.
Those lessons haven’t come yet.
With the mighty height of Taiga’s trees behind him, it bolsters his confidence and steadies his easy grin. The first filly that disappears surprises him. Nash looks sharply to the left and then to the remaining girl, ”Where-?” The boy starts before her reappearance answers his obvious question. He’d be more interested in what she just did - how she just flashed in and out like that - if she wasn’t so intent on scolding him.
His ears flick back and Nash looks like he’s been stung by the whiplash of her words. ”I wasn’t sneaking,” the yearling corrects her. She can’t know that being accused of sneaking was something that Nashua’s mother would tell him was rude. And any thoughts of his mother always make him ache. ”I’m exploring,” he states, as if that explains all the difference, with a flip of his flaxen tail.
And as if Yanhua knew something was missing, his twin slips into the conversation.
"Yan!” he calls out with an eager whinny. His earlier (stormy) expression brightens and the boy lowers his head to playfully mimic his twin's motion. There are no horns on his head but the two have practiced this action before. When he turns his attention back to the first filly, he’s studying her growing antlers. Nash feels a momentary twinge of jealousy that the only thing he has are the auburn wings tucked by his sides. He glances to the other girl and finds himself inspecting her scales; was she a dragon as Leilan was? Why didn't she fully shift into her other shape? Or did it work differently when young? Perhaps only parts and pieces could come together before the whole picture took shape.
Maybe it was something like Yanhua’s growing horns or his molting wings. Only a matter of time.
”I’m Nashua,” he says, blinking away the questions that are dawning in his mind. He answers the first filly - Laia - instead. The yearling playfully tosses his head to the side, ”and this is my brother, @[Yanhua].” Nash and Yan, as those closest would come to know them. As their mother had called them, as their Aunts Elaina and Brazen called them now.
Then looking to the second girl - Loey - with a returning smile and easy shrug of his shoulders, he adds: "Naaah. We’re from Taiga.” Just as these two are obviously from Tephra, he assumes from the sulfuric scent that permeates off their skin. Nash peers up, wondering exactly how to describe Popinjay. "My, uh, flight instructor dropped me off here.”
Glancing curiously at his twin (he can’t recall the last time he saw Yanhua outside Taiga or leave it, for that matter) before looking back to the other set he asks, "what are you guys doing out here?”
They’re young boys still, but they play at war anyway. Greeting each other with a head tossed low, playing at the deadly art of ramming one’s opponent dead in their shoulder. Just two young colts saying ‘hello’. Someday, it’ll be two stallions and the light in their eyes now - familial, warm and welcoming - will be gone. Replaced with something darker, but no less bright. Today the gesture is harmless as they are, one yearling colt after the other turning to look at the antler-crowned filly and her sister.
For his part, Yan was happy to give the lead over to Nashua when it came their turn to reply. He was, himself, busy tuning out the noise of their words… if he concentrated in the moment he could breath in and feel the tingling sensation of an echo. How long had Tephra been here? Too many years to count? Nearly a hundred, if not more, he thought. Exhaling, Yan began to picture the way the land might’ve looked. He imagined, vividly, the way time spun backwards and backwards, how the suns would’ve slipped across the sky over and over again. The jungle surrounding him morphed, growing and thinning over the course of countless days, months, weeks, years as he thought backwards in time and let Tephra carry him further. An echo came to him: Tephra away from the mainland, kept apart from the shore by a wide sea. The volcano crowned the island, alive and glowing.
“Hi there.” The daydreaming horse suddenly piped up, interrupted by the sound of his own name in someone else’s voice. He nodded his horns swiftly, batted his dull gold tail side-to-side, and gave the other set of twins a quickish grin. From the corner of his eye he saw Nash give him a glance and chose not to return it. “Maybe you’re up to no good?” He speculated instead playfully, blooming into a more easy-going attitude now that the bashfulness seemed to be wearing off. “That’s all Nash is ever into.”
Now that they were all gathered, Laia eased back on her bold approach. A little "hmph!" of dissatisfaction was her only reply to the boy who was absolutely certain he hadn't been sneaking. Whatever. He'd startled her anyway.
Her tawny and cream wings fluttered by her sides, loose energy that longed for an outlet. Throwing a catty look at the other winged boy, she pranced in place while words were exchanged around her. The new boys were fascinating to look at, all glowy and golden in the summer sun. Would they shine brighter at night, she wondered?
And then the first boy, @[Nashua], asked the question, and she leapt to answer it. "It's our birthday!" She shrilled, a little crowhop popping her wings open momentarily. The splashy filly slipped her knees over her sister's back to nibble at the bay girl's mane fondly. One whole year they'd been walking the world together, and she was excited to see what the next cycle would bring them.
Grinning wickedly, she turned to the quieter colt, the one with boney pale horns erupting from his skull. "Maybe. Want to get up to it with us?" She asked, tail whisking at her hocks happily. There was more than a little dare in her voice. The kind of wheedling tone that she used when she wanted something she knew she shouldn't have. Right now she wanted adventure, and she wanted to bring her sister and these boys along for it.
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