[open] i was blind, all members

[gospel]

By the end, she wants to tear them out with her own teeth.
Because they kick and tumble and, by the end, she knows that it’s them and not it.
She resents how they kick the air out of her, how they bruise her ribs, and they are so unbearably heavy and she is so impossibly tired, by the end.

It is too early, she knows, when she sinks into the sand, crippled by the pain of it. But they are coming and there is nothing she can do to stop them. And even if there were, she is too tired to try. So, she writhes and pants and heaves her chest as they claw their way out. First the girl, beautiful and small and covered in scales, just like her mother. And then the boy, only stars. And she feels some enormous relief as she staggers to her feet without the tremendous weight of them, cleans them up and finds they look exactly the same. The girl’s scales are the only thing that set her apart from her brother, who is otherwise her mirror image. She has seen twins, certainly, but she has never seen twins like this.

She cleans them up, driven by instinct, and sees to it that they each drink their fill, hissing low when the girl accidentally sinks her fanged teeth into her.

And when the sun rises, so too does Gospel. Gone is the insurmountable exhaustion, eradicated from the marrow of her bones. Gone is the frustration, the weakness. She is returned.

And so, with her two identical children trailing behind her, she moves from the beach deeper into the territory. There are other children, she knows, Ghaul’s children. Other inhabitants, too. So, standing on a grassy knoll, she calls to them. And when they come, she lifts her proud head and steadily appraises each of them.

“I don’t know how much Ghaul has shared with you all,” she announces, “but he has returned to Pangea to serve as their – our – king. He has asked that I look after the Cove in his stead.”

She draws in a long breath, surveying each of them again, gauging reactions before she continues. “I am Gospel and I intend to serve him well.”

and i know in my heart, this cold little heart

i can live or i can die

(ooc: gospel is the new leader of the silver cove, please introduce yourself or complain or reply ooc and let me know who is still around so we can proceed accordingly!)

[yadigar]

Yadigar is still here as a lil baby!

[sochi]

SOCHI

She is not surprised that Ghaul has not stayed forever.

Not surprised that he has set his sights on something larger—an empire instead of a stepping stone. She does not resent him for it and is not afraid of what it might mean for their deal. For everything that he is, she believes him to be true to his word. She trusts that he will honor the deal that had brought her to the Cove in the first place—that she will still be allowed to start her pack in the shadows of the moon and the waves in exchange for the strength of her back and the magical entity that she had brought in her stead.

Still, she knows enough of politics to know she needs to confirm it.

So when the snake woman calls out from the knoll, she doesn’t ignore it completely. Doesn’t answer immediately either—she has made herself a promise that she would never again completely kneel to a leader other than herself and the wild—but does come eventually. She slinks forward as a tiger before shifting, letting the feline form fall away from her as she stands, knotted mane falling on both sides of her neck as she angles her head up. “It’s a…” she hesitates before her lips curve into a predatory smile, “pleasure to meet you then, Gospel.” She inclines her head. “I’m Sochi.”

She doesn’t know if Ghaul told Gospel about her, about their deal, and she doesn’t jump immediately into it. Instead she studies the other mare for a moment before rolling a shoulder.

“I imagine that there is much for the two of us to discuss at some point.”

she said a war ain't a war before both sides bleed

hi! sochi is here. she's working on her pack within a kingdom idea.