[private] the beginning of the end

[Ivar]

I V A R i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take “You cannot help but meddle where you are not wanted,” Ivar says idly. His golden eyes trace the glittering arch of the magic overhead. He sounds disinterested, though the quick movements of his eyes make it clear that he is anything but. The kelpie probes at the sparkling web, gentler than Brennen expected, and the answering force is a tickle against his scaled nose. Ivar snorts, shaking his head then looking back at the bay stallion with a frown before turning back to where the other pair had disappeared beneath the water.  Ivar makes no secret of his dislike of magic, there are few that know it more intimately than the winged stallion in front of him. He scuffs one hoof in the sand, curious to see if the barrier is meant only for the kelpie, or if it will stop anything from passing through. “They really shouldn’t’ve gone without me,” muses the glittering stallion, still sounding disinterested. His manner matches it now, seemingly accepting his imprisonment in this dome with the worst jailer he could imagine. He rolls his shoulders and flicks his dripping tail against his gold speckled hocks. “My sons are rather protective of their mothers, and I didn’t bother to teach them any of the manners that my mother taught me.” They’re feral, he implies, creatures that resemble Ivar and are equally capable of carrying out the dangers that his anatomy implies. He pauses for a moment, as though considering. “Though I think Carwyn managed to domesticate at least a few of hers. I never did thank you for leaving her behind when the Brotherhood abandoned the place, by the way.” Ivar doesn’t thank him now either, but it seems purposeful by the way he keeps a single ear flicked back toward the magician. Ivar is baiting him, and does not mind if Brennen knows. "Maybe they'll be the ones to greet Aquaria and Aodhan." Ivar doesn't sound hopeful.  @[Brennen] and i'll use you as a warning sign that if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

[Brennen]

so give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'cause oh that gave me such a fright

If fate were kind, she would never have brought Brennen to Ischia. If this was not one of the few places he has strong ties to in the new world, perhaps he and Ivar would not be constantly bumping into each other, strong winds blowing in opposing directions that have the possibility to tear apart the Earth when they touch. Brennen dislikes most others who he sees as only loyal to themselves, and the kelpie's actions have not served to endear him to the somewhat dogmatic Brennen. For Ivar's part, he's not known for his tolerance of other stallions in general, and the bay is well aware of his contempt of magic in particular. One might even guess Brennen chose magic rather than a physical fight in this instance just to wind his counterpart up; that idea would be supported by the slight smirk on his face and his half-closed eyes as he watches Ivar test the boundary.

Brennen is quiet, appearing to be half-asleep, for the first few sentences of Ivar's taunting. In their other encounters, he has often failed to rise to the bait at all. There is little that Ivar can say that Brennen has not had thrown at him before. There's a flicker of unease when he speaks of his wild sons, but Brennen had seen Aodhan just not in action and the fury of a mother scorned is not to be belittled either; he assumes Aquaria can take care of herself, and this is the task she set him. But Ivar is nothing if not cunning, and when Brennen does not react to the possible danger he changes tact, and throws somethign else at Brennen's feet instead.

Carwyn.

Brennen's eyes open at that, golden and on fire. He knows that in reality Carwyn is very much an adult, young in body because she is immortal as he is, but well past childhood years. But in Brennen's mind, she is still the gangly blue girl he had practically raised; his granddaughter twice over, the child of his own half-feral granddaughter and a son who had been dead long before Carwyn was conceived. Kellyn had not raised any of her children, but Carwyn had been the most like himself. He has too many descendants to keep track of all of their day-to-day lives beyond if they are in terrible distress, but he is instantly enraged that he had not known Ivar had Carwyn. And the way he says "a few of hers" - with a thought, he is racing down those magic threads, and discovering to his horror that there are six of her children by Ivar he knew nothing about, as well as another of Kellyn's in Ivar's little pod. Something in him snaps, and he lunges at Ivar, ears pinned and teeth bared; magic will not do in this instance, he wants to feel his flesh against the kelpie's.

Between his fury, his movement, and his mental preoccupation with suddenly looking for any other descendants he might have missed, the trap dissolves into thin air.

but I will hold, as long as you like
just promise me we'll be alright

BrenneN

@[Ivar] this sucks but here

[Ivar]

I V A R i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take Most of Ivar’s taunts glance off the bay stallion in front of him, like so many little drops of water. The old bird is resilient, but Ivar knows that. Finally, it is his mention of Carwyn (or perhaps something that Brennen’s magic has told him about Carwyn – there’d been just enough of a delay in Brennen to suggest something of the sort) that has an impact. There is a reason that Ivar prefers physical fights, and it is not (just) the satisfaction that comes from victory by brute force. Brennen knows it too, which is why Ivar has tried to goad him into a confrontation. The kelpie has had nearly twenty years to hone his hypnosis, and all it takes is a single touch. A touch he is about to get with Brennen lunging toward him, teeth bared and eyes golden with fury. Ivar is eager to meet him, even if he suspects those flat teeth might have the magical ability penetrate his protective scales. Yet in the split-second Ivar has to make a decision, the glow of magic falls away. Behind Brennen glitters the sapphire sea, its call of freedom far stronger than the need to quash the bay stallion. Ivar lunges at Brennen, his own far more impressive teeth bare, but rather than rise up and beat at him with his hooves, the kelpie shoves past him. His hooves land in the shallow water, and a leap forward over the surf ends with his finned tail slapping the surface of the water before he disappears beneath the waves. --- He keeps to the deep, waiting until Aodhan and Aquaria have left the island without the children. Ivar is not sure where they might be hidden, but he spares them hardly a thought. Instead, he spends the fall in the most pleasant of ways. Though he couldn’t track down Carwyn to give Brennen a seventh reason to hunt him down, the kelpie had at least found Kaite. The end is near, and Ivar greatly enjoys his preparation for it. By the time Brennen finds him again, spring has come and the island of Kelpie is lively with Ivar’s youngest children. --- Ivar does not look surprised to find the bay magician on his island. Instead, he arches a golden brow and asks: “Any chance Kaite told you what she named our child?” The tactic had worked once before, and while Ivar is loath to leave his herd behind, the women and children that are restricted to life on land are not his favorites anyway. Perhaps they can get this encounter over as quickly as the last. @[Brennen] and i'll use you as a warning sign that if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

Just some expo to explain last fall's baby making and then fast-forwarding to current time so Brennen can stick him in a hole for good!

[Brennen]

so give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'cause oh that gave me such a fright

A season has passed since Ivar escaped his grasp, and a single-minded Brennen would have tracked him to the depths of the sea with ease, but he had been far from a single-minded hunter these few months. There had been Aquaria to check on, Nerine to look into, and his own offspring to track and protect. He had turned back to the topic of Ivar at the conclusion of these, and gone to Kelpie looking for the predator. He has several bones to pick with him – first is his own fury over Carwyn (whom Brennen hasn’t been able to locate either), but it has also come to his attention that Aquaria only recovered one of her children, which he finds unacceptable.

When Ivar approaches him, Brennen pivots to face him, unafraid but always wisely wary. Ivar is not without his teeth – literally or figuratively. He even believes he has prepared himself for more of Ivar’s taunts about Carwyn – after all, the one place he is sure his granddaughter currently isn’t is here with Ivar, which helps. But when Ivar opens his mouth, it is not of a living grandchild he speaks, but of Brennen’s long-dead eldest daughter. Brennen blinks for a moment in genuine shock, and then frowns with a slight tilt of his head. “Kaite’s been dead for a half-century. If you’re senile now as well as treacherous, perhaps it’s time for you to move on more permanently.”

but I will hold, as long as you like
just promise me we'll be alright

BrenneN

this is super short but that's okay right :| @[Ivar]

[Ivar]

I V A R i'll use you as a makeshift gauge of how much to give and how much to take There is a gruff bark of laughter, and Ivar’s golden eyes flash in genuine amusement. “You’re one to talk about senility, old man.” The kelpie says with an incredulous shake of his head. “I thought you magicians were supposed to have your eyes and ears everywhere. The dead have returned, haven’t you heard?” Ivar is remarkably unconcerned about the sort of arcane working that have brought life back to the dead; it is the sort of cosmic chicanery that a creature like himself has no control over. And so the kelpie doesn’t worry over it, preferring to focus on those things he can control. One of those things is – he hopes – Brennen. And if not control, and least shoo him away again so that Ivar can return to his peaceful existence. Ivar has watched Ischia from the depths, and he has seen that only one foal trails behind Aquaria. It is the boy, the one that he had wanted for his daughters. The whereabouts of the girl are unknown to the kelpie, but Brennen’s presence and accusation of treachery suggest that the bay stallion and his pale dame think Ivar responsible. “Have you come to apologize, then?” Ivar asks Brennen, as casual as he’d been when asking after Kaite. “I assume you found the second child perfectly unharmed as well?” @[Brennen] and i'll use you as a warning sign that if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind