"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
Her mind was easy tonight. Feeling the weight of the world on her back no more. She had found her purpose. Although she had those who did not trust her fully, following her only to get the Amazon's a new home, she still was happy. Though until she secured a land for tgem she was still just a leader, not yet queen. Though, if Hestia and Lagertha think she should have a chance, then that meant something. Our dark lady had her share of worrying about the jungle and her sisters, but right now, it was time to relax. Her body was getting a tad used to the cold now, though she still doesn't have a winter coat, and doubted she ever would after living in the jungle her whole life.
She tries not to shiver hard as she trudges slowly, her head lowered, letting out a sigh. The forest was her favorite place right now, the abundance of trees gave her a feeling of being in the jungle, though it lacked vines and exotic creatures, and most importantly, warmth. But, it was the closest she was going to get right now. Her mind wanders, to the cold spring nights in the outskirts of the meadow with her horrid mother and her equally as messed up brother, Noctus. She remembered them being rough with her, trying to force her to shift to do awful things...she remembered her mothers cold gaze filled with malicious intent, and strange love....
It scared her..but she tried to replace fear with hate to cope. Thankfully Scorch found her, heaving and soaking wet at the edge of the jungle one night. Rhy was there, sweet dear Rhy. Naga knew not that Rhy was gone from this world for good, and when she finds out...it will break her.
Naga shakes, her mind was reeling too much to darker things. She had to relax. She pushed through drifts, making her way to a ring of pines, with an opening looking out to the other horses in the forest, her own little alcove. She settled in, and watched. The array of colors, the abundance of wings now that they have some sort of temporary traits. She herself had chosen immortality. She noticed she felt different now, but nothing major. She kind of liked the idea of being around for a long time, kind of like Hestia. Naga wanted to ask her about the jungle before she was born, what it was like, what the history was like. She could learn a lot from the ancient warrior sister. For someone who was going to be a queen, she sure had a lot to learn. She hoped she could live up to expectations, and not let the sisters down. They were giving her a chance in a time of great stress and sadness...she couldn't let them down.
09-14-2016, 10:56 AM (This post was last modified: 09-14-2016, 10:57 AM by Echidna.)
Echidna doesn’t remember her mother, she was ripped away at birth and sent to train under the fire stallion. Months spent in preparation for what she would become. What her father wanted her to become, that is. Months wasted. Echidna left as soon as she was old enough, well, when she was powerful enough. Back then, under the shadow of the mountain, Echidna’s power knew no limits and she was vile and dangerous and salivating. But the point is that she doesn’t remember her mother, so there is another hole in her memory she can’t fill in.
It’s the way of life and death and war -- the only three points in existence. She knew love once or twice, or maybe she didn’t. No, she didn’t. She left them or they left her. There’s no such thing as love to her, it’s a myth, she was a myth once, too. They used to whisper about her and wonder if she were real or another figment of their imagination. Echidna liked being a myth, she liked being a monster. What is she now? That is a good question, she doesn’t quite know the answer anymore but it’s a good question nonetheless.
She’s wandering, not lost, but wandering. Her heavy feet dragging snow and ice and mud along with them. Echidna was born in the snow and she doesn’t feel the cold -- her coat is long and shaggy. Her eyes are small, pinched dots in her ugly face. They sweep tirelessly along the ground and look between the shadows, this place reminds her of the home she left so many years ago. It takes her back to a time when she was a different mare and her entire soul shakes, or maybe that isn’t true. Does she even have a soul? Oh, so many good questions.
The smell hits first, before anything else. Echidna breathes deep and exhales sharply and pauses just outside the inner ring of pine. She can see the other mare from here, watches her shiver and shake from the cold. There’s a smirk on the spotted mare’s lips, it lasts for only a second before the stony reserve of indifference reappears.
“You look cold,” Echidna says.
Quietly she slips into the clearing, she is small but bulky. She is built for the cold and it is obvious because she is primitive in design. Not sleek and shiny and smelling like salt. “You also look like you’ve got a lot on your mind, cupcake.” She says, her voice gravelly. Echidna takes a couple of steps around the other mare before she pauses, stands close enough that their noses could brush if one of them moved too quickly. But she won’t make that mistake, she won’t touch.
Bad memories of her foalhood and the two time loss of the jungle plagued her head. She wondered if it was because of nerves. She was to be a queen, and not just any queen, but the queen of the NEW amazons. She was going to be the one who had to reform everything, lay out new laws, new ranks, new everything, as well as lead the trusting and mistrusting to a land they knew nothing about. Unlike their beloved jungle that they had grown up in and knew well, that had never changed in many years before most of the sisters even knew. She still could not shed the anxiety of being a new queen in this practically new world. But soon her thoughts are broken when a voice catches her dark foxy pony ears.
She pricks them forward, exotic green eyes flash to the creature who emerged into the little alcove. Her nice winter coated legs were wet with mud, and her body and face were shaggy. Naga envied her warmth, and when the woman asked her if she was cold, with a slight smirk playing upon her lips, our dark woman couldn't help but exchange that same smirk. Then the woman noticed her anxieties, guessing it was probably written all over her sleek, black face.Velvet tones slipped from her smooth velvet lips, her voice as sultry as always.
"Very, you are lucky to have a winter coat. I lived in a humid jungle all my life 'til now. So this is my first winter living in the cold. And, you would correct my dear. A lot on my mind."
It is then the painted woman strides forward, circling around our dark feline woman as she finds a place beside her...close. Naga feels her body quiver as they are practically rubbing muzzles, she breathes in the sweet scent of the woman's warm breath. She immediately sighs and closes her eyes. warmth... she thinks to herself. Though it doesn't help Naga's attraction to women make her a little prickly with nerves. Her green eyes flicker to the woman beside her, steam flowing from her lips.
"Thank you...you're so warm, it's definitely helping. As for my mind, I don't think it will be at rest until I get the fairies apologies and to give us a home...until then, my mind is nervous. I will be a first time queen."
She doesn't know why she is opening up to this mysterious woman, she seems like stone, yet she is so warm against her sleek cold coat and thin skin. Maybe it is because of her lack of her sun....her beautiful Ashara. She missed her...the golden woman that stole her heart. She had not seen her since the shift...and she wondered if she would ever see her again. It had been so long, maybe she had to move on...
Echidna is stone, or rather, she is earth. At the height of her power, Echidna could control the dirt beneath her hooves and it made her into a deadly warrior. Her fight was never one-sided, good or evil, right or wrong, it was a fight for freedom. Her very birth had been an orchestra of magic by the gods, created to end a long war, but she’d always been a rebel. Echidna wanted to live on her own terms and by her own ideas, not stitched together by someone else’s opinions. It caused her to become an outcast, which was not far from what she wanted anyway.
But that didn’t mean there weren’t those who searched for her. Who would come roaming into her hiding places and challenge her for things, whether it be her loyalty to their cause or whatever magical items that might be in her possession at the time. Echidna never knew the taste of defeat and after a while, they stopped trying.
She lived the majority of her life in the cold, but there was a time when she lived near an ocean when the rebellion swept through. Out of hate for her father, Echidna helped them, but it was all for selfish reasons. She knew that until he was gone, she’d never truly live free. So she remained near the coast for a time, tasted salt and ate sweet grasses that would grow in the lush regions deep inside the jungle. Echidna remembers because it was the first time she left her home and it was the first time she ever committed murder.
When the mare speaks, Echidna tilts her head slightly. Her golden ears flick passively, she can hear, somewhere around them, the crackle of twigs beneath a heavy weight. She does not flinch or show any emotion. The sleek mare talks about this being her first winter and how she lived in the warm jungles and Echidna grinds her teeth softly. They are very different from each other and the spotted buckskin feels a sense of contentment -- it makes her relax a little more, sigh against the velvet spot between the other mare’s nostrils.
“Faeries,” Echidna says under her breath. The word sends a shiver down her spine because it holds so many keys to her past. Faeries. Maybe she should -- no. “You are a queen,” she says and it is not a question, rather a statement. Echidna knew royalty, queens and kings, she’d watched them come and go like sand blown up and away by the wind. Titles meant nothing to her and so she doesn’t say anymore on the matter.
Echidna had never been a queen, she refused, but she had been a god. What a tangled past she had and each memory floats to the surface standing here next to this new queen. The little mare shifts her weight slightly.
“My name is Echidna,” she says.
Echidna takes in a deep breath, the cold burns her lungs. She does not ask for a name in return, there is no point. They will part ways and Echidna will forget this meeting. “What are you queen of exactly? Or rather, who are you queen of exactly?”
09-14-2016, 07:38 PM (This post was last modified: 09-14-2016, 07:40 PM by Ruan.)
Ruan
Deep blue eyes, no longer brightly lit with the power of magic, scanned the forest critically. He was watchful, and stealthy. Wary. Massive wings were held tucked tightly to his sides, careful not to brush and scrape them across the sharp bark of the trees.
Silent, he was, but silence did not follow him. Without turning he could hear her behind him, trailing closely. Where his large hooves stepped with precision learned from living among the wolves, her smaller ones fell with the natural clumsiness of childhood.
The pair were matching, black for black, save for his pale blanket of plum-spots and the equally milky wings encasing his ribs. And their eyes. He almost turned to met her gaze, to reassure himself she was well, but distant sounds whispered to his sentinel ears. Halting abruptly, his head slowly turned toward the soft noises.
His sudden stop caused the young filly to bump into his hind-leg and he smiled in amusement, turning back to nuzzle her briefly but quietly. She'd learn the wolf ways too one day, he'd make certain of it. Focusing again on the cause for his concern, he listened intently.
Two females, it sounded like. He accepted the wash of relief knowing they weren't males; he wasn't sure how well he'd stand up alone against two stallions if they ran into trouble. Good thing they wouldn't have to worry about it.
Ruan gave a low whicker to the girl, beckoning her forward to lead them into the copse of females. It was always best women see other women before a man stomps through. He tapped her flank playfully as she passed him, smiling encouragingly.
Their day out would start here, a forest similar to their home. Different, but familiar. He hoped @[Jinju] would find comfort in that.
She too hadn’t been ready for the sudden cold. In the Jungle she had never felt cold, not even once, but she hadn’t lived there throughout the whole year. She never got the chance. Her inky black coat hadn’t been thick enough to withstand the cold and it still wasn’t. But Jinju didn’t need her coat to keep herself warm. It was magic that kept her warm, not her magic, but her aunt Reagan’s. All she had to do was the wear the pretty green scarf that was lightly wrapped around her neck. The magic kept her warm from within and therefor Jinju’s coat was just as thin as it had been before.
The red eyed girl trailed closely behind her uncle, but she rather had pressed herself tightly against his flank instead of walking behind him. Like promised he had taken her out on an adventure, even taking into mind that Jinju felt uncomfortable and bare in open spaces, preferring the density of a forest. After all, she too had lived in the Amazonian Jungle for a big part of her live. Walking around in this new, unfamiliar place, was both exciting and terrifying, but as long as uncle Ruan was close, she would probably be able to keep her nerves in check.
He surprises her by suddenly standing still, causing her to bump into him. Taking a step back she shakes her head a bit confused, her ruby eyes meeting his questioningly. As he keeps standing still she moves to the front, to stand next to him, hiding herself underneath his wings, for as far that was possible while they stood in between the trees. ”Why did you stop, uncle Ruan?” she asks, not at all aware of the reason why he had stopped, neither aware of the fact that she might be giving away their presence.
Her gaze meets his briefly as she hesitantly steps forward, not able to not feel shy. Jinju turns her head a bit to glance backwards, making sure that Ruan was still there, before she started walking. Her ruby eyes take in the two mares with curiosity, one dark as night while the other showed two colors on her coat. ”Uh, hi..?” Oh damn, that went fabulous. Why did she have to go first anyway? Jinju could only look at the two mares, studying them silently while hoping that Ruan would quickly come to her rescue.
OOC: I'm obviously too tired to write, but didn't want to keep you waiting <3.
Also, Jinju was previously adopted by Lexa from the Den, and therefor lived in the Jungle for a while. After the change she couldn't find Lexa anywhere and Reagan took her in.
The muffled sounds of the forest surround them, the sounds of twigs snapping, the sound of wet, icy snow crunching under the hooves of horses beyond the little alcove of trees. She finds comfort in knowing she is not alone, especially now with this painted, fluffy woman beside her. Though she seemed a bit stoic, she was good company, at least Naga thought so. Who wouldn't say no to a space heater when one has no winter coat to speak of. Her ears are forward and she feels better, noticing how focused the other woman was on her words. It's been a while since she has had a deep conversation with anyone. Though as she mentions the fairies, she can hear the painted woman repeat the word, muttering it under her breath. Our dark woman wonders what faeries had done to the woman before, but before she can even think to ask, she speaks again.
Matter of factually stating Naga's status, before stating her own name, Echidna, and then asking what our dark woman was queen of. Naga lets the name settle on her tongue, she repeats it back once and then answers her with a soft smile. Although Echidna doesn't offer to find out our dark woman's name, she tells her anyway. Her voice was deep and silky as always.
"Echidna...it is nice to meet you. I am Naga."
She pauses a moment, thinking it over....she was to be queen yes....but the Amazons...would they still be the Amazons without their jungle? Or would they have to rebrand themselves....and was it too early to call herself the queen? As of right now, she doesn't really know what to say. She hears Nayl's words in her head, about stepping up fast to grab the title when everyone was just happy to find one another after the shift....but, she couldn't help it. She did not see it like that, she just did what she thought was right. She lowered her head and sighed before looking back to Echidna.
"Well, I will be of the Amazons...well...what was the Amazons. We used to be a strong kingdom full of devoted and brave women, our land was a vast humid jungle. One of which is now lost forever. I took the crown for myself...though I did not mean it to be greedy. I just thought someone had to defuse the fighting over the past, and if no one else would....I did. So here I am...awaiting our new frontier, without a clue of how to go about ruling. I hope I do not let my sisters down."
As she finishes her heartfelt sentiment, a sound of approaching small foot falls in the snow catch her attention, her head shoots up, green eyes bright and ears alert. A filly, black like herself, comes shyly into the alcove, a small hi was all she muttered before Naga noticed the stallion behind the filly. She was not worried, for she could easily take care of him if need be, but he has a child, and he did not seem a threat. But what really caught her attention was the filly's scent. Young as she was, the scent of jungle still clung to her dark coat. Naga looked to Echidna with a look of awe before trotting forward, her heart warmed and her motherly instinct kicked in. Of course, since she was pretty much the Jungle children's babysitter most of the time, as well as a mother. She nickered warmly, her soft, deep, velvety voice cooed to the filly.
"Dear child, hello! My name is Naga, I can smell the jungle on you...I was a diplomat of the jungle for many years. Young sister, it is very nice to meet you, what is your name? Is that fellow by the trees your father?"
She is genuinely excited, a child from the jungle, she was afraid they were all lost in the loss of the lands. She lifted her head to the dark stallion with a spotted blanket, nodding her head to him as an invite to come closer. She wouldn't bite, though she wasn't so sure about her space heater, Echidna. Though this was quite an interesting evening. She has not socialized like this with strangers since...well since before she was a higher tier diplomat. She was missing socialization, at least now she knows how to talk to others without completely shutting down or losing control of her tongue. She used to be quite a spicy young panther. Thank goodness for maturity.
