[private] oh, can't you hear the drums?

[Tarian]

He doesn't immediately seek out Lady @[Oceane] when he first returns to Loess. His early morning ritual becomes an afternoon one in this case and with winter almost upon them, Tarian heads to one of the famous hot springs. The pegasus soaks for a time, mulling over thoughts and how to present what he learned of the Brilliant Pampas. He hadn't found Noah. There had hardly been a trace of anyone at all but perhaps that would change with the new Prince of the Pampas.

Tarian groaned as he lifted his wings out of the warm water, disliking the way that the cold air wrapped around them. 

It was now or never, he decided. There was little sense in trying to decide how to explain the previous ruler's disappearance and the ascension of the new one. The Queen had requested a report of the Loessian territory from Tarian and as a stallion ever true to his word, he set out to deliver it. He drips while he walks through the spires and redwalls, moving towards where he might find the Southern ruler.  By the time he's found the opalescent leader, Tarian is no longer dripping (rather he's a gleaming creature beneath the winter sun) and the gray dips his head respectfully though his usual stoic expression slips into a troubled frown. 

"My lady," Tarian starts as he lifts his head and settles his almost cloud-white wings against his sides. "I've returned from the Brilliant Pampas." His dark nostrils exhale and he adds, "My report is ready, if you have a moment."

[Oceane]

oceane

a little white light
in a sea gone black

Tarian catches her in a moment of repose, planted upon the eastern plateau she had first met Tiercel. The location is ideal for observing a large portion of Loess, with the red rock canyon spires offering a distant backdrop to a foothills and shrub brush foreground. She’s chosen this spot for just that reason ─ but also because it’s easy to spread her wings here and feel both the open air and the sun beating down upon her twilight frame, especially now that the heat of summer and autumn has begun to fade into something much less inviting.

She smiles warmly at her Champion as his gleaming gunmetal frame comes into view, though his answering expression and tone are both more troubled than usual. “Of course, Tarian. Always.” Despite the severity of his expression, Oceane is struck with warm contentment that they can stand here in the sun together. The last time they’d had an in depth conversation they’d been illuminated by the fiery horns of their Vanguard Primary, and the Loessian Queen had been fraught with panic.

Maintaining hope that today’s conversation will be less of a cause for concern than Tarian’s expression hints, the opaline woman presses her ears towards him and gives an encouraging nod, curious to hear what has become of the Pampas and Noah since she’d had the opportunity to visit them last.

@[Tarian]
“”

n | v

[Tarian]

It's comforting to find Lady @[Oceane] here. Tarian has seen her standing from this precipice before, keeping watch over the horizon as a leader should. Looking over those who dwell within their borders and looking towards the future. For a moment, the gray pegasus does the same and there is a look of admiration on his face as his blue eyes trace the familiar rock formations and canyons of Loess. He doesn't know the precise moment that he considered this place home but the notion - like him - has settled.

Loess is home.

His gaze lingers out there a little longer and then the Champion finally looks towards the opalescent Queen. "Thank you, my lady." Tarian says quietly and then proceeds to speak of his recent journey. The flowers were in full bloom and while he compliments the Pampas as one of the prettiest places he has seen, the Loessian pauses. "I couldn't find a trace of Noah." His silver tail flicks once over his haunches, studying the pegasus mare (had she been close with the former leader?) for a sign of any emotion before Tarian adds: "There wasn't much of anyone to find but there was a young stallion." His dark nostrils flare once - the only visible sign of his irritation - and he explains with a name, "Obscene."


"He's styled himself Prince of the Pampas." Tarian sighs then and his wings loosen slightly as he grows more comfortable in the presence of the Southern queen. He gives a physical description of the stallion - dark and tall with burning red eyes - and then adds what he thinks is an important point: "He's young. I'd say no older than four or five summers." In that regard, Tarian thinks he understands the younger brute. He remembers what it is to be young and with that youth came all that invincibility, of all the years to come. 

But Tarian - full of the prospects of what could be and not willing to wait for any of them - had gone to war instead.

"Apparently he hopes to make the Pampas less... quiet."

[Oceane]

oceane

a little white light
in a sea gone black

Oceane enjoys the brief opportunity to sit in quiet repose beside Tarian. It’s not often that either of them have the time to do so, and to share this moment with someone that has called the canyons and foothills home for as long as she has ─ perhaps even longer, though the details evade her ─ feels special. She knows that Tarian’s efforts, both inside and out of the Southern kingdom, are always for the betterment of her home and it’s for this reason that she trusts him unequivocally.

Their quiet moment passes and Oceane turns her full attention, both her amber gaze and her tented ears, towards the gunmetal pegasus. She nods in agreement at the Pampas’ beauty ─ the last time she had visited the flatlands had been to inform Noah of Lepis’ passing and the whole time she’d been there to share the heavy news, the Pampas’ brilliant flowers had been billowing in the wind.

While the news that Tarian shares is certainly an interesting development for the Southern kingdom, Oceane has a difficult time feeling surprised. The succinct nod she gives her Champion says just that, and she fills him in on her thoughts. “Lepis was close to Noah. I have a feeling that her passing affected the Pampas leader more than she let on,” Oceane sighs before allowing the stallion to continue.

Obscene. Oceane can’t help but to grin slightly at the name, though she stays silent as not to interrupt her gray companion. Tarian’s brief irritation, the exaggerated flutter of his dark nostrils, does not go unnoticed. “Interesting,” she muses quietly before biting pensively at the interior of her cheek. After a moment, she continues. “Less quiet is good, as long as it doesn’t affect our standings with the other kingdoms. Did he seem volatile to you?”

Youth is good when one wants to try their hand at molding a more capable ruler ─ but she is not too naive to believe that the usurper would not be brash or foolish, especially if he has already found his way beneath Tarian’s skin.

@[Tarian]
“”

n | v

[Tarian]

They stand in silence for a moment and Tarian can certainly appreciate it. How many moments of silence had they been allowed? There had been the fires from Pangea when he first moved here, followed by his imprisonment in that kingdom, and upon his return home, the Eternal Darkness had come.

So as his Queen takes a moment to bask in a moment of warmth and sunlight, Tarian happily follows. There hadn't been many moments like this.

It's only after he's given the bulk of his report - that Noah is gone and Obscene has replaced her - that the silver pegasus looks across the canyons again. The former Pampas leader had been a friend of Lepis, Lady @[Oceane] tells him. He'd only known the former Queen for a short time but she had commanded a great of his respect, one that had been carried over to the opalescent mare as her named heir. Respect that has only grown during her tenure as leader here.

As he finishes what he has to say, there is a certain... spark to the Queen that he hasn't seen before. Tarian's silver head lifts a little, curious as to what has lifted her humor so much. Perhaps he has just gotten stodgy in his later years; the Champion had been annoyed that there had been no Noah to find. (And if he had to be completely honest with Lady Oceane - which he would have been, if she asked - he had been irritated to find anyone besides her.) He sighs, some part of him still stubbornly hanging on to his impression that he didn't quite warm up to the red-eyed youth.

"Who knows," Tarian wonders aloud to the Loessian leader. "He wouldn't share any of his plans with me." That had stung a little (more than he cares to admit) that the youth had thrown around his title and rank, reminding him that it wasn't his place to receive an answer to his intent for the Brilliant Pampas. The Champion glances speculatively to his Queen, "He did mention that he would be happy to receive you, should you want to discuss them." That hadn't been Obscene's exact words but the gray pegasus would be damned before he would tell Oceane that.

"I wouldn't call him volatile," Tarian says, a little more direct. "Just young and trying to make a mark on the world." His expression shifts again, "But youth and patience never seem to be amiable companions."

[Oceane]

oceane

a little white light
in a sea gone black

“Of course he wouldn't,” Oceane responds with an exasperated sigh that brushes away the small grin that had developed at the new Prince's name, “He's testing the waters. Trying to find where he stands in the the echelons.” That the usurper had rankled Tarian does not leave Oceane feeling particularly content with where they currently stand, though the majority of her is still prepared to wait and see. She had encountered many an abrasive leader in her past and not all of them had been bad - quite the opposite, really. There are certain types who flock to such behavior and as long as no harm comes to the Southern kingdom thanks to it or his intentions, she can find reason enough to be satisfied at the idea of liveliness.

The Loessian Queen nods succinctly at Tarian's opinion of the man - an opinion that she does not take lightly - and allows herself a moment of quiet contemplation before she responds. “I will journey there soon. Unfortunately, you're right, and his likely lack of patience forces our hand.” Her amber eyes watch the gunmetal stallion for another few moments. “And to be honest, I'm uncertain if he'll actually be more open to receiving me than he was you.” She smiles at the Champion, hoping that her next words, spoken quietly despite the distance between the pair and the rest of Loess, will help to loosen the agitated frown that still settles across his lips.

“If we deem that he is not a good fit for the Southern kingdom, it is within our power to oust him, Tarian. If that is the best route for Loess, it's a decision I will not hesitate to make. And in that event, we would need someone to take the helm in his place. I don't hope for infighting, but we need rulers in the South that we can all trust.”

She doesn't say it aloud, at least not yet, but she thinks the exact same thing for Sylva.

@[Tarian]
“”

n | v

[Tarian]

The wind whispers past his wings, mingling with his pale feathers and the sunlight. The pegasus looks away from the landscape below them and nods in agreement with the Southern monarch. Obscene was young and had found himself in control of a territory.  A territory, Tarian reminded himself, that was at the helm of the woman beside him. She glanced imperiously out at Loess and the gray stallion found the thought comforting.

Loess had endured much over the last few years. Another leader might have left or abandoned the title at the first sign of trouble. And while Tarian won't equate Obscene with the Pangean thefts or Dragonfire or the Eclipse, the black stallion could certainly rouse some kind of unrest. He didn't know much about the Pampas, other than it had a less than admirable past. But the autumn woods hadn't given Loess any recent trouble, atleast none that he was aware of.

Still, with one leader usurped, it makes him wonder about the other.

Lady Oceane seems to follow in stride with his wandering thoughts, gently guiding him back to the present.

"If you do venture to the Pampas My Lady, I would advise taking a companion." He'd request to go again himself but it already feels like this advice that he broaches is a giant leap. He hopes she knows that he isn't insinuating that she couldn't look after herself. It's just the opposite. He hadn't gotten a sense that there were many horses dwelling with the Southern Territory and perhaps a reminder that Loess housed quite a few might deter the young leader from doing anything brash.

If the Pampas Prince had the sense, anyway.

His distracted expression smooths out as the opalescent mare speaks again, reassuring Tarian that the South wouldn't tolerate any inward fighting. The Loessian even feels the wisp of a smile haunting the edges of his dark lips. "We've been fortunate in you, Lady @[Oceane]" he tells the Queen. His blue eyes warm slightly; this is the closest to open affection that the Champion will allow himself with her.

But he hopes that Lady Oceane knows she only need ask and Tarian would be more than happy to dispel any uprising, to quash any unrest on her behalf.

[Oceane]

O C E A N E

"I will be sure to do just that," she responds to Tarian's suggestion with a small smile and an intrigued tilt of her head as her warm amber eyes inspect the man's silvered face. She cannot recall the last time her Champion had freely offered advice without her first needing to ask for it. She has come to know that he does not find it easy to offer advice to her; he is far too much a loyal knight to be someone to question her without cause, and it's for this reason Oceane certainly won't take his words today lightly.

She's struck with another thought and for a moment she hesitates to speak it aloud for fear that Tarian will take offense, though she scolds herself silently before she speaks. He would understand, she is quite sure. "I may bring one of our new diplomates along. Ledger." She shifts her weight, amber eyes instinctively looking towards the north where she knows the one-eyed man to be exploring Loess' canyons. "You may not have had the opportunity to meet him yet, but he is experienced, and comfortable with politics. I would ask for you to accompany me, though something tells me Obscene may know he was able to get under your skin when he saw you last." She grins, ever so slightly. Oceane's gaze returns to Tarian just as they are buffeted by a sudden squall, her next words concealed from any prying ears. She had given her word to Ledger that she would not share his secrets with any except her trusted advisors, and this is a pledge she intends to keep. "I will be properly protected. He is able to shift into a bear, and he seems quite motivated to prove himself."

Their conversation breaches the potential need to remove Obscene from the helm of the Pampas. It's a move she would not make unless necessary, and the optimist in her remains hopeful that she will be able to level with the new crown of her subsidiary. Should things turn sour, however, she has no doubt that Tarian will remain unwavering beside her as they take the required steps to instill peace in the southern kingdom once again.

So caught up in these thoughts is the Queen that she is caught off guard by her Champion's compliment. A sheepish grin finds her lips and she tucks her maw to her chest for a brief moment before she nods with gratitude to Tarian, their eyes connecting. "And Loess with you, Tarian."

She pauses for a quick second before quiet laughter falls from her lips. "You deserve some time to relax. Please do so. But if you find yourself feeling restless, perhaps you could follow up with Sylva, as well. I've yet to hear from Fiorina." And the unrest in the Pampas has her feeling restive.

― @[Tarian] ―
""

a little white light
in a sea gone black

n | t

[Tarian]

Tarian never considered himself much of an advisor. He doesn't have the tongue for politics and the gray knows he's too hot-blooded for diplomacy. The pegasus often can't stand the silvery way that diplomats and ambassadors speak (at least those he had encountered outside of Beqanna), with sentences full of nothing but hot air and speeches that allude to absolutely nothing.

He certainly isn't offended when Lady Oceane mentions bringing a Diplomat to the Pampas. That isn't his forte; his skill is the ability to not have to use pretty words at all. He gets to use his teeth and his hooves and whatever means necessary to keep those with ill-intent out of his home. It's a job that suits the battle veteran just fine.

A silver-rimmed ear ficks to the Loessian Queen at the mention of a Ledger. His brow furrows slightly, trying to recall if it was a name he recognized. It wasn't but there were many new faces in Loess these days, the canyons had begun to hum with all the incoming echoes of returning horses and wildlife. All credit that he gives to the opalescent leader beside him. If it hadn't been for their Queen's steadfastness, Tarian thinks that Loess would have smoldered until the Eclipse and then never risen from the ashes.

The Loessian Champion nods as Lady @[Oceane] explains that this Diplomat could shift into a bear (helpful, Tarian thinks approvingly), and then his blue eyes catch her grin. The pale stallion isn't prone to smiling so much but he remembers Altissima and their banters and finds that he doesn't fight (as much) the matching one he wears in reply. "Bah," Tarian says ruefully, "I have too much time as it is." He rolls his winged shoulders and looks out across the canyons again, glancing in the direction towards Sylva. He'd be glad for more distraction.

"As you wish, My Lady." He tells her and then Tarian adds, "might I be permitted to bring someone along?"

[Oceane]

O C E A N E

Oceane laughs warmly at Tarian's dismissal of her request that he takes some time to relax. "I'd say you have just enough free time," she tells him in jest, "Any less and I'd be worried we were dealing with issues stemming from the East again." It has been a long while since they had interacted with the Eastern Kingdom, though not unhappily. Breach's promise to keep pressure on the necks of the South had gone unfulfilled, and that encounter had been the last Oceane had seen or heard of the wolf-shifter.

Perhaps soon she would journey over, accompanied by her Champion, to see what had changed in Hyaline and it's surrounding subsidiaries.

For now, though, she nods warmly at Tarian's request.

"Of course you may. I trust your judgment," she offers him another smile before her gaze returns to the whole of Loess before them, "I look forward to hearing how it goes."

― @[Tarian] ―
""

a little white light
in a sea gone black

n | t