"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
The heat is stifling, and in solemn silence, he begins to feel as if he might suffocate. With the air so thick with rampant humidity, his massive body has already begun to encase itself in a sheen of trickling sweat, unnerving him to the very bone and leaving him uncomfortable. Clenching his broad jaw, he maintains a steady stoicism as his heavy, muscled legs carrying him through the thickening brush, listening carefully for the more dainty, effeminate steps of the two females that trail behind him. His breath his warm on his whiskered lips as his nostrils flare, his large skull tilted towards the heavy canopy that has begun to fill in overhead. The stench of estrogen has begun to settle in the depths of his senses, and his pace begins to shift into a gentle lope.
His weight causes the moist soil beneath to sink slightly - no more unsettling than the ice and the snow that he so often treads across. His searing red eyes peer around, taking in the vibrant greenery that lines the marked but unseen border. He casts a glance to the two females lingering at each of his sides (Josie to the left, and Maribel to the right), giving the faintest of nods as a marker to slow their own pace. At last, they come to a halt, his breath heavy and his lungs filled with heavy, damp air.
His matted tresses fall in the way of his eyes, matted to his moist flesh, which continues to uncomfortably trickle perspiration. He longs now for the icy wind, the frigid snow and bitter cold - but it will have to wait; there are more important matters than his own level of comfort. He presses the brunt of his nose against the rain forest floor, and the overwhelming scent of heavy rains and carefully placed markings reassure him he is, for certain, lingering just outside of the border.
Respect is of utmost importance to him, and too many had stirred a festering anger within his own heart for crossing his own borders so carelessly - he would not do the same to Lexa or her Sisters.
He had long since kept away from the dense land, knowing what lie behind it - but with the blood bath that had reined upon them all with a quest victorious to no one, with the disappearance of the very Queen he had fought eye to eye with - change was certainly shifting throughout the land, and he knew that no one was safe from the vengeance of the Gods above. No kingdom had been spared the loss of their magical entities; he sorely doubted that the Jungle had escaped their angry revocation. Alas, though the former Amazonian Queen had attempted to vengefully end his life with her hidden, poisonous ability, he held no ill will to the land itself - Lexa had fought bravely, fairly, so he had been told - and he longed to know where the kingdom now stood. A new era has begun, and a new age is upon the horizon.
He could hold no resentment to many for the actions of one.
Craning his long, powerful neck towards the dense canopy above, his vocals call out, echoing across the land with a masculine prowess. Time would only tell what such a meeting would hold.
OFFSPRING
THE FIRE AND ICE KING OF THE TUNDRA
TLDR:
Offspring, @[Josie] and @[Maribel] are here to see the state of affairs and to meet the lovely @[Lexa].
The ebony mare followed alongside Offspring as well as Maribel as they traveled to the Jungle. The climate was the polar opposite here from the Tundra. Every breath she took was filled with dense air unlike the Tundras bitter air, it proved to be an uncomfortable climate to be in. She was a member of the Dale not to long ago but her body quickly adjusted to the freezing temperatures the Tundra offers, and Jungle was far to warm for her liking. The black mares coat was slick with sweat, she had a shiny resemblance.
There trip seemed to never end, the Jungle was on the other end of Beqanna in respect to the Tundra, but eventually Offspring gave a signal for them to slow there pace and she gave a gentle nod of her head as she slowed and eventually came to a halt. Josie scanned around, the trees were like nothing she has seen before, she certainly would not want to live here but she could appreciate the scenery it offered. Josie wondered how the Jungle was adjusting to life without magic, surely they suffered similar consequences as the Tundra, being striped of there tribal markings.
Josie knew that Lagertha was the queen but rumor had it she left and Lexa was now the new queen, she was eager to meet the queen with hopes she was a kind mare. Her head turned to the right as Offspring shot out a call, one so strong and loud they surely would not be alone for long. She cocked her hind right leg and relaxed her body awaiting the arrival of a Jungle member.
08-10-2016, 01:00 AM (This post was last modified: 08-10-2016, 01:01 AM by Lexa.)
the dead are gone, and the living are hungry.
She has fallen into the roll far more easily than she had expected.
She’d never planned on being queen. In all her years in the Jungle, she’d never turned her sights on its most lofty position. She’d simply focused on the roll in front of her - breathing and fighting and living for the kingdom. But now that she’s here …
She finds that she likes it.
She can make choices as a queen, steer the Amazons in any direction she sees fit. Certainly it’s a lot of responsibility. But it’s hers, hers alone. And no one will be able to take that from her without a fight.
That isn’t to say she doesn’t miss Lagertha. The old queen’s disappearance is a great loss to the Jungle, a great loss to Lexa herself, and she still can’t fully wrap her head around the events that had lead to the mare’s disappearance. Every time she patrols the the borders she still expects to run into the old battle-axe making her own rounds. But she’s alone out here.
Or perhaps not.
She’s forcing her way through the bush when a loud, masculine voice calls out from somewhere nearby. Someone is at the border, and, based on the gender, likely on a diplomatic mission. She wastes no time on forcing herself through the bush, using thin blades of carbon to cut down the vegetation and save on time. Within minutes she bursts out of the underbrush and upon the place where the strangers wait, and she takes a moment’s breath to analyze.
Offspring. She recognizes the stallion from the fights in the plains. The dark stallion had been paired up against Lagertha, and Lexa hadn’t been able to help but glance her queen’s way once or twice. Well, until her own battle with Weir had started.
As she looks him over she can’t help but wonder about his participation in the raid. He hadn’t dragged the Tundra into it along with him, so his reasons must be personal. What on earth could have made him support Tannor in his quest to gain the Deserts throne? She has to confess it makes her mistrust the stallion, just a little (she can’t help but be biased towards her family after all). But it is not enough to dissuade her from a potential alliance. The Tundra is powerful now, and they will make powerful allies. Even if they are allied with the accursed Chamber.
“Hello, I am Lexa.” She doubts he ever looked her way during the raid - she was a no one then - so she might as well make herself known. Her brown eyes flick from the older king to the dark mare at his side, and she nods in greeting as she looks the mare over as well. The girl is fairly young to her eyes, probably on one of her first diplomatic trips. Lexa had been there once, long ago. She can’t help but feel a little sympathy.
Her gaze turns back to the stallion’s face, brown eyes seeking out his own. “How can I help the both of you?” It is a rare occurrence for a ruler to make the trip themselves - he must have important business on his mind. Perhaps it is similar to what is on her own …
Who cares if hell awaits?
We're having drinks at heaven's gate.
Silly girl.
Mari moves along to follow the pair of dark forms that belong to her father and also her friend Jasie. The palomino moves with some less elegance than the other girl, less striking as her father but nonetheless she hurries along on tip toes of excitement to finally break against the Jungle's borders. Deep blue eyes are wide, wide, wide against her honeycomb face, a smile growing on her lips as they further move towards the Jungle's heated embrace.
The flora distracted the mare, as well as the insects that buzzed and the birds that sang. Mari looks upward, her gaze climbing higher and higher till when she finally calls to Josie to look at a rather peculiar butterfly that she notices that they have gained ground. Maribel makes a rather amusing gulp before hurrying along.
She locates the dark pair and slips along the free side of her father. The smile is still on her lips, curling and brightening her features when the spotted queen approaches. Mari dips her own head courteously before listening to the mare introduce herself. Typically the palomino lass would introduce herself but she remains silent as she listens to the queen mare's question and her attention flicks to Offspring as she awaits his voice.
Riva has taken the oath, but other decisions lie on the horizon for her --
She will have to decide on a caste, a path to travel down for all her days in the Jungle (may they be many!). War? Peace? The potential for either lies inside her but she leans towards peace, if only because her tongue is far sharper than her hooves and teeth. She is thinking heavily upon this, as the scent of the North invades her nostrils, sharp and icy.
Visitors!
There is a big black stallion in their midst, and she knows him to be the Tundra King. Funny, she advocated for an alliance with them and here they are! He is trailed by two mares; not surprising, he has opened their ranks to them and offered them opportunity and chance equal to that of the former bachelors that called the frozen North their home. She is curious how well received that change is within his kingdom, thinks to ask him but maybe later, diplomacy staying her usually blunt tongue for the moment. Besides, the Queen is there and Riva is merely there to even out the odds for this diplomatic visit.
Besides Lexa, they are all given over to quietly waiting. Not a one of them utters a name or a hello, not even the bay tovero as she stands just off to the side of her Queen. Consider it sisterly support, or maybe frank curiosity as she looks between the black and palomino mares that have accompanied them - he is smart to bring mares and not stallions, though surely he has a few that are more diplomatic than warmongers. That, she finds curious too, but also thinks it a sign of respect that he does not trespass their lands with a band of bachelors in tow that would incite the ire of most of them there. Maybe that is why no one else in the Amazons has bothered to come forth and join Lexa.
It takes mere moments before the heavy sounds of rhythmic, graceful beats can be heard rumbling through the woodland floor, reverberating through the many individually typed, hollow trees and the dense, moist soil beneath. His fiery eyes watch carefully; the brush is thick and seemingly impenetrable - easily cloaking what may hide away within, stirring a weariness within his tired bones. The muscles that line his broad body tense slightly, his weight shifting from one side of his body to the other as the bleak sunlight peers through the heavy foliage, illuminating the scars that litter his dark body.
Soon, deep, soulful brown eyes meet his own, and he finds himself within the presence of feminine authority, her physique lithe and slender but heavily lined with toned muscle. Her skin is as dark as his own in many places, but patterned with as many spotted markings along her spine as he himself had scars. The intensity of his stare does not falter as he observes the line of her jaw, the ridge of her furrowed brow and the slender line along her neck where a tense muscle lie, clenched. Her words are simple, yet laced with confidence. As they should be - a Queen should never waver.
His chin tucks close to his chest as he dips the girth of his heavy neck towards the soil below, a careful eye observing another female that emerges from the heavy thicket, alabaster with splashes of copper to accentuate her wide, curious eyes. She remains silent, as do Maribel and Josie - who linger close but quietly at his side. He tilts his cheek slightly towards her, a nod to her in turn. Respect is something to be given openly, until given reason to strip it away - he has come to them, seeking answers, but no prowess he possesses will keep him from proper formality and honor.
"Lexa; I am Offspring - and these are my envoys, Josie and my daughter, Maribel." His voice raises within the heavy, humid air, soothing the gravelly tone caused by dry disuse. Though he had not known her personally, she was a familiar face, nonetheless - a valiant warrior in a battle lost to all. He did not feel the need to tell her his title; he had a feeling she already knew. "We have come from the Tundra, seeking answers, and to answer any questions you may have."
He pauses now, silence lingering between the weight of his words.
"Senseless war has taken too much from us all - and to repent, we seek to strengthen both our own bond and that of our allies. Change is in the midst, and so is the unknown. We are plenty in number and strength; we may be willing to exchange devotion and loyalty in return for your own. In the very least, we seek neutrality in a time of uncertainty." He trails off for a moment, a steady eye meeting hers.
"As you may already know, we are allied with the Chamber and Valley both - though bad blood has stirred in the past, we all seek to move past old bindings and amend anew. If an alliance with the Tundra is something you might find yourself interested in, but our own alliances cause concern, we would exchange our own loyalty if a treaty of peace can be extended between your kingdom and theirs. Is this something that you and your Sisters desire?"
