"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
06-22-2021, 08:09 PM (This post was last modified: 06-22-2021, 08:10 PM by Oceane.)
"Cheri," Loess' Queen greets the younger woman with warmth as she comes to rest beside her, Oceane's search for the evening complete. She peers out over the small creek that splits the canyons in two, her voice low and full of nostalgia as she continues to address her charge. "I thought that I would find you here. Can you believe that it's been nearly a year since you joined us?" Had she taught her enough? Would her father be pleased at the progress she had made, in the months she had spent shadowing and learning and exploring? Oceane thinks of her own sons, takes a moment to silently consider how she would feel if they were in the position that Cheri is now in. She would be proud, she knows -- and still she doubts her own abilities to teach.
"Are you still happy here, Cheri?" the question rises swiftly from Oceane, catching herself unawares. She had not intended for this conversation to be so introspective. Her amber gaze turns to her companion beneath the amethyst skies of twilight as she awaits her answer. And when it is finally given, Oceane clears her throat and continues with a gentle nod. "I ask because it's my wish that you eventually take my place. As the South's Queen." Her stomach flutters at her own wish, though her powers do not grant her the ability to make such a decision for someone else. Her magic as a genie can only go so far, and the option to remove free will does not fall in her grasp. But oh, how she wishes it did.
There is much more that she has in store for Cheri this evening - but first, she waits to see where the young woman's head rests. Not everyone yearns to don the crown, and should Cheri find herself unwilling to bear the weight of the Southern Kingdom, Oceane will need to begin her search once more.
Not necessarily the moment itself, but the day: the hour in which she and Oceane would meet again, Master to Student, and discuss everything that had come to pass in the year Cheri had been here. Was she prepared for it? The young pegasus cloaked in resplendent black and folding wings as green as a fresh blade of grass had little to no idea. She could only reflect and take Oceane’s suggestions as guidance from here out, do what was expected of her and be the best she could be - given the circumstances.
The circumstances being Obscene, Targaryen, her familial relations, and the odd hallucination/vision/dream that she’d experienced not long ago. On the one hoof, Cheri could claim that her growth as an individual had been in leaps and bounds since arriving in Loess. On the other, she could just as easily say her problems had multiplied. Lucky for her she had two other hooves to spare, and as the southern Queen approached her that fine autumn day Cheri hadn’t expected they, too, would be loaded with a similar weight.
In fact, she’d expected an unburdening of sorts - but that was *not* the case today.
“Lady Oceane.” Her prodigy lowered her crystal-studded head in an appropriate bow, still set in her ways on acknowledging and respecting her liege’s authority even if Oceane insisted otherwise. Cheri would’ve felt awkward doing anything less. She owed Oceane everything: her title, her home, and her freedom. “Time certainly flies.” Was all she could manage to say, paired with a half-smile and the slight fluttering of her wings. Oceane’s question had seemed more like a statement that was leading to other things, so Cheri kept her response short in expectation of what was coming.
That being said, when Oceane asked a true question of Cheri, she responded quickly - wiping the smile clean from her expression and replacing it with a much more serious look. “Of course! I love Loess!” She exclaimed, hoping that her absence from the southern kingdom as of late hadn’t translated into something much more negative in her Queen’s mind.
She would’ve explained the time away if Oceane had asked that of her, too. She never got the chance.
Oceane’s private admission - of her desire to see Cheri ascend the ‘throne’ and bear the crown and scepter of the southern lands - felt exactly like that moment from her dream, when the truth struck its pointed beak through the surface of her life’s calm waters and pierced Cheri through-and-through. The black appaloosa could hardly breathe.
“I … I had a dream that this would happen.” Cheri admitted softly, hesitant to share the finer details in fear of Oceane thinking she was crazy. “At least I thought it was a dream.” The younger pegasus murmured, casting her eyes out and away from the Queen toward the high gorge walls lined with centuries of sediment layers. The past and the present … could it be possible? Could they collide? “Why me?” Cheri wanted - no, needed to know. She turned back to her monarch and waited, patiently, for the pieces of a puzzle only just beginning to put itself together.
It had been evident since the day Cheri had stepped into Loess that she would be dedicated to its wellbeing. Since that day, Oceane has found herself struck on innumerable occasions with the notion that the young girl from the Taiga, with the unfettered willingness to learn and warmth in her heart, could lead the Southern kingdom into the future. It was not a thought that had crossed the opaline woman’s mind until she had met Cheri, and then it just wouldn’t leave.
Oceane’s sleep has been fitful for some time now. While hopeful for the future, and at the opportunities that could be pursued at the hooves of Cheri, it has been nigh on a decade that she has stood at the helm. She had restored the southern foothills with Lepis after Castile’s violent departure. And when the East had threatened them, she and the South had stood together. None of it could have been done without Tarian, or the others who had called the South home all these years, but she can’t help but take pride in her own work as well. There’s a possibility, though, that she can go no further - she has hopes for the future, but the Loessian Queen can’t help but feel that she owes it to her people to hand over the crown to someone with fresher ideas and a less jaded view of the kingdoms that border them.
Someone kind and committed. Cheri’s response to her question draws pleasant laughter from Oceane’s soft mouth, and a shake of her lavender and turquoise head is given to reassure the young woman that it was not doubt that had prompted the question, but simply the desire to hear it said aloud.
To know that she is making the right decision.
When Cheri’s expression turns incredulous, Oceane fears for a quick moment that her charge will deny the desire to head the kingdom. But it’s not that at all, and the Pegasi woman is pleasantly surprised to discover another piece of magic contained inside her gem-encrusted companion. A healer and a prophet. Loess would be in capable hands, when the time came.
“Because I’d never considered abdicating until you arrived,” she tells her truthfully. Her amber eyes sweep away from the other woman to arrive on the familiar sights of the canyon and hot springs that lay out before them. “Cheri, the only thing I’ve ever wanted for the Southern kingdom was for its people to be safe and happy. I feel like I’ve done a decent job, despite the challenges. But I’ve worn the crown for over a decade now and I would not be a good ruler if I could not see that Loess and it’s subkingdoms will soon need to find direction from someone with a fresher set of eyes.”
Oceane pauses long enough to turn her warm gaze back to Cheri before she continues speaking with the hope that her own confidence will help to settle the uncertainty she can see rigid across Cheri’s face. “The South deserves someone kind, who will not hesitate to foster positive relationships with its neighbors. Someone willing to be bold when it is required of them. And it needs someone who loves it. That’s you, Cheri.” She smiles kindly, close-tipped and tight to keep herself from tearing up.
“Of course, mistakes would be made. I continue to make them myself. But you’ve proven that your heart is one glowing with kindness, and so any mistakes you make will be grounded in good intentions. It would be a slow but steady transition, if you agree. There is still much for us to discuss, but I am certain when I say there is absolutely no one better suited. The South would flourish under your guidance.”
A healer, a prophet, a genie, a warrior, and a troubled heart. The Loessian court is a fair spectacle, and her inhabitants are as varied and wayward as the land was itself. From rolling prairie to maze-like canyons, from sea to sky, she was a beautiful and bountiful land. Ripe with history and home to a promising future.
And Oceane … her words leave so much unsaid.
“Ruler for nearly a decade.” Cheri thought, admiring her Queen. Ten years of being filled with both the hindsight and foresight to lead a Kingdom through the darkest times of their lives, through dragon’s breath and chaos. Ten years of history Cheri had dutifully learned, then ten more behind it and ten more behind that. And now the years have fallen away like grains of sediment pulled off smooth river stones, leaving them polished and perfect. Cheri wonders how many years it would take her to become one-half of the stone Oceane has become.
For a long time now Cheri has questioned her self-worth. She would never have imagined that at some point, her life would lead her to a place that would become more than a home, more than a lifestyle. That Loess would become her legacy. And of the things Oceane tells her: that she is kind and smart, bold yet loving - if Cheri had heard them from anyone else she might not have believed it.
She sniffled, taken aback by the emotions and feelings this moment had brought on. It was impossible for Cheri not to think of her past faults, which Oceane promises will come again. Such was the way of life. But she felt empowered to know that even then, in those moments, her Queen honestly believed in Cheri’s capability to see them through.
“I’m speechless … truly.” Cheri struggled to find the right words. They came slowly and built upon themselves, lending her strength though she didn’t particularly feel especially strong. “But hearing what you’ve said and understanding that you think all these things about me, it gives me reason to believe you might be right. I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, though I might not look it.” Oceane’s understudy laughed carefully, blinking away her astonishment.
“However …” Cheri quieted down again, what little happiness she’d had before fading into something much more serious. “I think there’s a few things you ought to know. About myself and Obscene.” The younger pegasus sighed. She’d wanted to avoid this conversation for as long as possible, but Oceane’s comment about fostering positive relations ruffled her. “I had feelings for him once. I’m not entirely sure they’re gone, but the longer I spend away from him the less I feel inclined to believe they were ever there to begin with. I know he’s our neighbor, Oceane, but I just … I can’t stand him. It’s more personal than anything, I know, but I honestly don’t think I could trust him. And I’m afraid that if I become Queen I won’t be able to overlook those feelings of resentment in order to make the best choices for this Kingdom.” Cheri sighed. For a moment her own eyes flickered out across the wide expanse of natural wonder, and she struggled with her thoughts on the matter.
“What can I do?” The student asked of her teacher.
The slew of emotions that present themselves on Cheri’s soft, black face draw heavy nostalgia into the pit of Oceane’s gut. When Castile had first presented her with his plan to gift her the Loessian crown, she had felt similarly. To be thought of as worthy to lead a kingdom had filled her to the brim with aplomb… but on the other hand, to receive such a thing ─ such a massively important thing ─ from someone who had been a lover had instilled doubts in her. Was he blinded by whatever connection they had briefly held? Or was she truly worthy of leading a kingdom into the future? She had been thankful to have Lepis’ aid at the beginning. The late Queen had been instrumental in Oceane’s relationship building, her kindness and softness a welcome pillow to lay her worries upon whenever they grew too great for Oceane to stomach herself.
She finds herself hoping that she can fill that same role for Cheri.
When again the young woman’s expression shifts from grateful to something more muted ─ uncertainty, maybe ─ Oceane presses her fluted ears forward in their bed of tangled lavender to give Cheri’s concerns her full attention. She is neither surprised nor unsurprised to hear of the girl’s involvement with Obscene. The new Prince of the Pampas was swiftly making a name for himself and, noticeably, some were starting to gravitate to him like moths to a flame. And Cheri, with her newfound freedom and Loess’ diplomatic responsibilities as an easy excuse for travel, had ample opportunity to find herself in his company. Quietly, Oceane focuses on Cheri’s apprehensions. By the time the younger woman has finished speaking, the opaline woman has developed a small and understanding smile. With a kind nudge on the younger woman’s cheek and a quiet laugh, she works diligently to placate the future Queen’s worries.
“Oh, Cheri,” her tone remains confident, a warm balm to calm the woman she will abdicate the throne for, “You keep that concern at the forefront of your mind. The very fact that you are worried about making the correct choices in regards to Obscene’s involvement in the kingdom is enough for me to know that you’ll keep the good of the South in mind.” She pauses for a brief moment, offering her companion a small smile and a sideways glance. “Just a secret between you and I, neither he nor Sabra are leaders I would have chosen for our kingdom. But for now, they stand where they stand.”
Adjusting her feathers at her sides, the pegasi woman drops her playfulness for sincerity. “If you are comfortable with it, I would like to address Loess regarding your position as Co-Queen, as well as my intentions to abdicate entirely when you are ready.”
