; it was but a dream within a dream (magnus)

[Hybris]

I want to walk with you on a cloudy day In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high In retrospect she would admit that she had mispoken. Hybris could not help but correct herself - he should not be so sad for her. "It was different, Magnus. It was... empty." How could she possibly explain? How could she tell him how it was nothing but blackness and shadow. The sensation of being alive but dead, hearing voices and words and having no control of them. How could she explain to him what it was like to be a prisoner of your own body? It had been cold at first. An endless stretch of shadow in which lurked a thousand voices, a thousand monsters. She was blind and voiceless and completely powerless. But then she LIVED and at the same time did not. A limbo, her lips sealed even as they moved, her limbs frozen even as she walked and ran. It was not a life she would wish on any creature. Hybris Sage died again in that tumble from the mountain and then she had known pain and death. Then she had known - fleetingly - what it was like to feel her life slip away, even as she watched from a distance. But it had been a relief. To be free from the prison her own mother had forced her in to was a blessing and she had welcomed death with a friendly embrace. Only to be pushed back to this earthly world, the same but so very different. Hybris wanted to explain it all to him, but how? Where could she begin? Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, before finally her lips pursed together and she simply shook her head. It was impossible. "You are likeable." Simply spoken with an emphasis of truth and trust. Hybris believed that no matter what had happened, no matter what he had witnessed or done, he was good. For what she had known of his heart she believed that, fully, and pulled back to seek his gaze as if she might will him to believe it. "The younger versions of us were naive and judgemental - they could not be asked to understand. But now... there is still good in you and I." Come away with me, in the night Come away and I will write you a song

[magnus]

— find what you love and let it kill you —

He laughed lightly although the sound lacked humor. “That is true.” His lips quirked upward in the corner as he glanced back to look at the sky, darkening around them. “I certainly thought I knew everything back then.” He was so full of fire and passion, quick to temper and rash. He had been wild in his youth, when she had known him best, regal (how else could the prince of two kingdoms be?) but dangerous. It had taken great effort to mature, to soften his edges, to conceal that darker part of his soul. He had done his best to become the kind of stallion worthy of Joelle, of the Gates, but even now, he was not certain what part had been truth, what part make believe. Looking at Hybris, he realized he did not know who he was.

“I would like to think that I would have grace on myself, but it is impossible to know.”

Recognizing the gravity of the conversation, the weight, he steered the conversation to happier notes, hoping to salvage the joy of their reunion. “I certainly know what Twinge would have thought. She was fearless, was she not?” He nosed her neck and laughed. He missed his mother, desperately at times, but the sting of her death had long gone. It was easier to think on her now with fondness, with nostalgia.

“Come, let’s walk.” He stepped forward, waiting for her to match his pace before he guided them toward the outskirts of the meadow where the crowd was thin and they could continue to talk unhindered. “So, Hybris, where shall you live now?” He wondered if she would hunt down the women of Nerine and find her spot amongst the warrior women ranks once more; if it would feel like home. “I live in a land not too far from here. In fact, just north of the meadow’s border. It is called Tephra.” It did not feel like home yet, but he was growing fond of its ragtag family, of the humidity in the air. “You are welcome to visit.”

magnus

[Hybris]

I want to walk with you on a cloudy day In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high It was good to hear him laugh, to see him smile, however fleetingly and empty it may seem. It was hard to remember emotions of joy when so much sorrow had existed in its wake. Hybris chuckled, too. "Well I think if we could show respect to OUR elders back then, surely we wouldn't be too hard on ourselves. At least, I'd like to hope." They weren't really that much of a mess, were they? The ivory sparrow tilted her head and studied him as if she might be able to see him through eyes that were decades younger. "I still would have been your friend." These words spoken after a moment with a smile and a nod, earthy eyes crinkling with the kind of mirth that had once been the only thing to exist between them. "Twinge was incredible," she breathed and her voice held reverence even now, decades later. Strong and brave, the mare had been the type that Hybris had once aspired to be. A much quieter life she sought, now, but she remembered.. They walked and he spoke of a new home, a new beginning. Hybris picked up on the touch of fondness and wondered what it would be like to live beside him again. It would not be the jungles they had grown up it - it never could be that - but it could be something. "I cannot help but feel a pull back to my sisters," she spoke honestly, frankly, but nosed his shoulder and kept pace, "but I will visit. Now that I've found you again I will not be so easy to shake." Teasing words as her nose turned to teeth and she bestowed a playful nip upon that shoulder. In a flash she broke in to a trot and urged him along with a snort as she sought to recapture some of the playfulness and innocence of their youth. Come away with me, in the night Come away and I will write you a song

@[magnus] @[Laura]
PLEASE forgive my long absence <3 <3 It's been a heck of a month!

[magnus]

Being with her is like peeling back the layers of himself that had been accumulated throughout the years; the ones that had been formed by hardship and sorrow—the ones that had grown like armor to transform him into something that did not think about what he had done and failed to do. She helped to pull it back though so that he could almost trick himself into thinking he was the same wild boy he had been.

It makes sense that she would root out what she had previously had and so he just smiles when she says that she is going to return to the sisters. “Then the sisterhood of Nerine is lucky to have you.” He was fond of the kingdom and had enjoyed his conversation with their Queen Nayl, but it wasn’t the same. They did not have the same faces of his youth and they did not have the same backdrop. Magnus could not help but feel like he was an orphan now, although he had been an orphan for so long now.

It was not something to dwell on though and instead of doing so, he just laughed at her response. As she nipped at his scarred shoulder and took off. His eyes flared with warmth as he took after her, lunging steps catching him up to her side faster than perhaps she had anticipated. He reached over to playfully pull upon her mane and then raced forward, tail snapping behind him. He was never one to ignore a challenge, and if she wanted to recreate their youth, he was happy to oblige. Without words, he raced forward, twisting his body through the trees, knowing full well that she could keep up with him.

With the wind picking up, Magnus could almost close his eyes and pretend he was at home.

out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know
I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll

[Hybris]

I want to walk with you on a cloudy day In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high Magnus was hot on her heels, but she was not surprised. Hybris remembered well their many races through the jungle, she expected nothing less from him. Had he not caught up so quickly she would have turned to investigate why - this speedy rumble was the only thing that felt right. Just like that she was young again. Just like that she was free of the burden of her mother and embraced by the humid jungle. It was there that she had learned to control her mind reading, to filter out what came in and focus only on the important and the necessary. It was there that she had learned how not to pry - for though she could have known what they ALL thought she did not wish to intrude. He had helped. Magnus had touched her life and given her confidence that she had not dreamed of. He had helped her become sure of herself and of her words. He had been a gift and she regretted only how she had treated that gift. She would not make the same mistakes. The ivory mare stretched out her neck and snapped at the long strands of his tail, amused when she seemed to catch a hair or two between her teeth. Spurring him on, encouraging his hooves to fly as she squealed and snorted beside him. Her own heels kicked towards the sky in a true display of freedom and joy - in that moment she found a happiness that she had not dreamed to touch again. When she was finally spent she would slow near the edges of the meadow, sides heaving and flecked with sweat. And then she would turn her gaze towards her best friend and without saying a word would thank him for that oh so precious moment. Come away with me, in the night Come away and I will write you a song

@[magnus] we can wrap this up soon if you'd like? a fade or some such? i plan to send her to tephra i think, at least for a visit. nerine hasn't really called to her ;_; she might come stay or see if he has any other ideas for her ^^