"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
05-31-2017, 09:00 PM (This post was last modified: 05-31-2017, 09:08 PM by Levi.)
The moon was rising, a full moon, generously flooding the meadow with silver-blue light.In the center of the clearing stood a dark horse. A stallion, tall and solid in the way a boulder is solid. His legs were not tapered, his muzzle was not fine. Nothing about him was delicate.He was unshakeable, he was burning and he was plotting.
He stood on the edge of The Meadow, facing The Forest. All around him the tall grasses sway and bend, momentarily reminding him of the warm Tephra ocean. But now is not a time for remembering, now is a time for crafting the future. He stands in open pasture; his eyes watch the break of The Forest and his ears listen for life elsewhere. Maugrim stands downhill, young, yet daunting in his posture. Their shadows stretch long in the moonlight.
Now it is time to put his theory to the test.
Hello Darling, he wakes Her with a kiss. And now, instead of being coiled neatly in his belly she is raging inside of him. Pushing hard against his sides, his ribs, his throat, but from the inside, trying to get out.It doesn’t take long to ignite this woman. He lets her swell, taunting her until he can barely take any more. Then, he lets her go. His eyes lift to the heavens as she erupts into the sky. Raging, she spirals higher and higher into the space between the stars and the tree tops. She takes with her the air from his lungs, and he gasps. Sometimes he feels like she is using him.
For a moment, he simply watches the twisting flame ascend, but he can’t let her free for too long. It’s time to pull her back - let her go too far and he will lose his delicate control.
Levi grits his teeth, every muscle in his body bearing down and he takes a step back. He reigns her in. High above the tallest tree the flaming comet collapses in upon itself sending ripples of heat and sound. He dams the flow of his magick and she dissipates into a thousand fragments of light.
Time to see if they will come.
Levi
so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
@[Kolera] @[Iset] @[Maugrim] @[Deathwish]
*Her is his fire... incase that isn't clear.
Nobody calls for him. No one misses his existence. He was and is the forgotten.
Kirin probably was completely unaware of Maugrim’s presence in Beqanna, let alone their shared blood, while his mother (albeit sweet and gentle) has undoubtedly forgotten to keep looking for him. He hadn’t wanted to be found, of course. The many intricate parts of Maugrim were left to only fathom, as he would not yield to many when it came to speaking and conversing. This odd silence that he had taken up has lead the yearling to many fights when he was just a foal (no one could understand why he didn’t want to play tag with them) and only brought him discord with others now. Maugrim is short for patience and once it runs out, his silence ebbs and is replaced with rage. Many did not enjoy his somber and eerie silence, it meant that he was hiding something, or planning something gruesome (which could undeniably be true; imagining the deaths of others kept him busy) – only if they could understand that his brooding silence was a much better option for them than if his thoughts were said out loud. He had at least learned that much in his short time here on earth.
The night shrouds him in blackness, blanketing him gently with its delicate and cold fingers. Though he was not near a body of water, the boy felt strangely calm. The moon calls to him softly and gently, recognizing that it’s control over the push and pull of the tides also resides within Maugrim’s chest. The moon hangs high and bold in the sky, its silver light illuminating the dark angles of his pearlescent but otherwise hidden face. The boy’s shoulder glimmers with a fresh covering of healing skin, still slightly bloody from where it has not yet clotted. Most likely the wound would not mend completely, leaving him with a silvery and ugly scar that would remind him constantly of the smell and sizzle of burning and melting flesh.
Maugrim’s dark eyes are nearly pupil less as they stare up at the large and unwavering moon.
He is here with the large, robust stallion. He is not lingering in the shadows in childish, boyhood wonder. He is drawn to power and Levi reeked of it – of relentlessness and darkness, only illuminated by the fire in his belly. There seems to be a silent understanding between the two, controlled completely by their elements that, though opposite in their make up, collide beautifully in a dark and chilling dance of yin and yang.
Maugrim’s silent eyes watch him emotionlessly, the reflection of the spiraling comet igniting the darkness of his gaze momentarily. He is calling others, he knows. His ears flick backwards into the short of his lavender mane, his eyes smoldering with the remnants of the comet as well with the displeasure of meeting others. He trusts the older stallion and not in a typical, brotherhood sort of way; but in a way that meant they wouldn’t try kill each other – the respect for each other only goes so far at the moment. He does not fully trust Levi’s particular taste in company and waits impatiently to see whom he brings to their gathering.
In her wandering she often had crossed borders. Sylva was her birthplace but she rarely found sanctuary there. The trees too bright, too beautiful. The variety within the Forest intrigued her. Helping to strengthen her powers as she gained control over the poison that flowed through her veins. Amongst her trees she felt at home. The cool, gentle breeze that passed between their tight confines tossed about her ebony tassels. Rarely did she travel far from her self-made clearing, or their clearing...most days. She had all she needed there...
It had been a while since meeting the fire eyed stallion. When their powers preformed a deadly combination of life and death. As her powers stripped away the souls of the woodland, his flames fed upon their lifeless remains. In that meeting she also exhibited control of her powers she had not yet mastered previously. Slowly she grasped the necessary components of control. Should she lose that, there was no telling the destruction she could cause...
Today she grew restless, pacing slowly across the Forest clearing, where ash once lie, new life was emerging from the forest floor. Each hoof placement did not kill it upon contact as it had when she was younger- when she lacked control. She stopped and admired it with a tilt of her crown. Smallish nares flared as a snort was fluttered from her chest. She grew bored and she knew it. Quick flicker of her muzzle upwards sent her forelock from mid-profile to covering one of her deep chocolate eyes. Tucking her muzzle back to her chest, her slender porcelain legs lifted- quickly finding a three beat pace. Weaving effortlessly through the tangle of brush and bark. An occasional fallen log provided an obstacle to gather herself over. Dusk was upon her and even in the dim light her travels went unscathed...
Feeling a sudden presence she slowed to a halt. Not abrupt in fright but casual in caution. Dark eyes filtered what light she could from the moon lit in the skies above but little found it's way this far to the forest floor. Ebony dipped ears flicked back and forth as her tail swooshed casually behind her. A pied form was visible just outside the treeline. Parts were near black as the night while others almost shimmered the same hue as the moon above. Watching contently for a moment more and when it did not move she stepped forwards. Dipping her head under the last cover of forest before meeting the Meadow. Just as she did a burst of orange and yellow engulfed the sky. Chocolate eyes shifted from the pied figure to another at the source of the commotion... Levi.
A one-sided grin tugged at her lip upon seeing the bay stallion. Her gaze did not return to the figure practically beside her right away. Standing behind the bay she was sure he was unaware she had joined their group. She could have fun with this... A quick glance was given to the dark and light colt beside her as she summoned her demons forward. Deep chocolate eyes transforming to a yellow as the poison surfaced. They shifted forwards- with their gaze- the grasses of the meadow dulled in color. Creating a trail from them to where the bay stallion stood, then circling around to the right. The contrast of green and yellow seeming to glow in the moonlight as the circle completed around him. Would he figure it out...? Or would he need a larger display...
Lines were made to be crossed. There was no doubt in Iset’s mind that this was the case; always had been, always would be. From her place preparing to cross the lie between consciousness and sleep in Hyaline, she sees the plume of fire erupting into the night sky.
“Levi.”
The name falls from her tongue in a breathless whisper, and all at once she knows what the flames represent; a calling card. An invitation. One that her curiosity gives her no choice but to accept. Rising slowly, carefully, as so not to disturb her brother or any of the other residents that have taken up shop in Hyaline, Iset picks her way gently through the snarling underbrush and sets off on the path she knows will lead her to the fire and it’s master.
When her trek was finally complete, the moon was seated high on it’s throne and doing its best to lend what little light it could to the meadow. The pale silvery glow highlighted Levi, standing proudly in a large clearing; but this time they were not alone.
A smaller colt, looking gangly and a bit younger than Iset herself, stares up at the stallion, equal parts reverence and caution lighting his gaze while his ears hide in the pale purple fluff of his mane.
Another horse, a filly about her age stands behind Levi, and she recognizes the mischievous expression in her eyes as one that often mirrored her own. They meet eyes briefly as she approaches, before she looks away languidly, careful not to give the filly away in whatever it was that she was trying to accomplish.
She cocks her head slightly, staying far enough back that she could keep all the three horses in her field of vision. She was suddenly aware of the quiet, her mouth feeling warm and heavy as she fought the impulse to speak first. The quiet was never her forté. Her words were always her weapon, and because of this her current situation was even more uncomfortable.
But, she could adapt. And with this crowd, she had gathered already that loud words would get her nothing.
Maugrim and Levi don’t have to wait long. The last falling ember is barley extinguished before there is a disturbance in the grasses behind the green and pearlescent colt. A trail is blazed in the sea of silver-green - it begins behind Maugrim and like a quickly moving snake makes its way to Levi before encircling him. The grasses bow before him in death, falling grey and limp. But it is not the imposing stallion they bow to, it is a little girl who bends them to her will. He cannot see her, but knows she stands at the end of that trail. He nods in her direction, he can almost feel her dark eyes on him. “Kolera.” He says, scarcely above a whisper.
And then from the woods comes another form. A form which is not a girl and is not a mare. His stoic expression almost cracks at the lips in an upward turn, but he holds fast. The memory of their last encounter is far from lost, and he again sees the sheet of flame spreading to overtake the clearing where the two females had stumbled upon him while he had practiced his craft. But here she was, and maybe this time her biting tongue and anger would be of use to him instead of irksome. He was learning that his quiet anger was an asset, maybe she too could learn to utilize her anger for her own advancement. She stands apart, and he beckons her closer with a tilt of his head.
Five gathered under the moon, six if you count her. But Levi like to keep her to himself.
He isn’t one for formality. He has only begun to creep from the shadows, realizing he had more of a destiny than to simply prowl the woods for lovers and victims. His voice was still rough, but his mind was clear in its decisiveness.
He adjusts so he can see them all, but does not relinquish his spot atop the knoll. He stands like a dark pupil in an eye of dead grasses, thanks to Kolera. The looming stallion looks them over, appreciating the different skills they all represented. He didn’t have to like them to value them. In varying degrees, they had all seen his fire. Two of them had even felt it, yet they came, curious and silent.
“Would any of you agree the things have been too... tranquil?” He almost said quiet, but quiet and placid were completely different words. When he had learned of Pangea’s fall he had felt a twinge of excitement - such a displacement could mean anything. There had been ripples, disappointingly small ripples, then nothing.
“Taiga. Loess. Hyaline... Ischia.” his eyes pass over each one of them, gauging any reaction one of these names may cause in the horses gathered. “Their borders are largely unprotected. Many of these lands consist of only a leader and a small handful of passive residents.” His eyes fall to Maugrim, Levi knew the colt harnessed immense power – possibly more power than he understood.
There was a time when the world was painfully simple. The security of the Cove was hers. Power was hers… when she lived in a sea of purple. The lavender grey lady was now almost fully grown, and her derision for the world had grown with her size. Silver eyes looked upon them as something beneath her hoof. She was raised with the belief that anyone who was not like her was less than her, and Deathwish wielded the power that made her a goddess amongst them. To have the power to wield life and death of the natural world. It was a heady feeling.
The feel good drag.
She saunter’s out with all of her mother’s swagger, complete with resting bitch face. In her trail, steps of dead grass and wilting flowers line the way. She snorts, her look satisfied with her handiwork as she continues through the meadow. It was way too bright out here. Summer was high and the temperatures of the open lands were far too hot for her liking, and she rolled her eyes, wondering what stupidity had caused her to think that she could possibly make it out here. Turning, she heads back toward the tree line—back to the shadows, the darkness—when she sees a group forming.
A group of Vagabonds. Like her.
She approaches, her ears flickering with interest when one of them mentions something about putting their skills to the test. A wry smile plays on the corners of her lips. Another hostile takeover. Another feeble attempt at… stretching one’s power.
What the hell.
She turns to them, slides forward a hoof, and with a thought all the grass around the group withers and rots to mush in the sun. She smiles outright this time, as she follows the trail of her making, and dips her head in greeting. “Dangerous plans I see. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve shaken up kingdom politics. I’m Deathwish.”
The moonlight wraps him in a comforting glow while the darkness seems to wrap onto this legs, attempting to shroud him in their shadowy kisses. He continues to watch Levi, his eyes still lingering on the embers and ash from the bay stallion’s fiery (albeit rather showy) display. Maugrim snorts sharply. He would not have chosen to make himself this noticeable, but that is where he and Levi have their differences. Therefore, he continues to linger in the darker parts of what would become the gathering, feeling at ease within the wispy shadows of night.
They gather quickly. Maugrim is rather impressed with how swiftly they respond. However, he is not thoroughly impressed with how close they have gotten.
Wanting to stay within the shadows and slip by nearly unnoticed, the pearlescent and evergreen yearling was unable to keep his presence completely hidden. She sidles up beside him, which causes a ripple across his dark lips as they peel back into a snarl. A low, guttural, and nearly animalistic growl rumbles somewhere in his chest in warning, side-stepping away from her just as the soft and moonlit grass beneath his hooves decay and crumble. He sets his hooves down into a hard crunch, quizzically looking down at the now dead grass beneath him. His cracked lips fold back over his teeth, his nose wrinkling as he tries to understand what had just happened. He quickly shifts his pupil less gaze to the bay girl next to him, eyes narrowing with speculation. What else could she kill? The thought warms him.
Ears still hidden in his mane, he watches as two more seem to join the escapade.
“Maugrim,” he says, his voice icy and shattering in the dark silence. It would be all they get from him.
Maugrim had barely found the ability to stomach Levi’s presence, and with the newcomers joining them, he could feel the familiar roll of his stomach (much like acid boiling) as they grow closer.
Now Levi is speaking and this was the part that Maugrim wants to hear. He lifts his chin and watches the bay stallion from beneath the shadow of a hooded brow. What he suggested was to cause trouble, essentially. Nevertheless, Maugrim recognized the familiar glint in the stallion’s eyes and his heart races as he realizes its meaning. He nearly trembles with the thought of unleashing his power on real, living test subjects. He could only drown birds and other small creatures for so long before the thirst for bigger game overwhelmed him. Maugrim’s tongue traces the cracks of his scabbed lips, his eyes hungrily taking in the others around him.
The lost and the forgotten circle Levi, their spindly fingers reaching out for purpose and fulfillment, all too eager to strike fear into the world around them.
As he turned in recognition her name slipped from his lips. I a deviant smirk planted upon her own. She barely took notice of the rumble emitted from the snarling colt side stepping away from her. She was too engrossed in satisfaction to bother asking his issue. A smug "Yep... I did that" expression clearly visible upon her face...
Like moths to the alien beam of light they gather. Crawling out from the cracks and crevices of Beqanna like roaches as the darkness cast over them. Her gold tinted eyes sweep from one to the next as they step out into the open. Most quiet... First a metallic joined them. Silently watching with intent. Levi seemed to recognize her as well so she made objection. Then a lavender joined the posse already present. Quick to speak and flaunt her own talents... A slight disappointment as more grass faded by not her doing. Brow cocked as chin uplifted, shying her eyes the other direction unimpressed - Killing grass... How original- she huffed to herself...
Without missing a beat he was speaking and her eyes shifted in his direction. She knew of a few lands but not much about them. Their names barely rang a bell. But testing skills... She was all for that. Looking to some of the others she wondered what powers they possessed...
Tranquil…her old life had been anything but tranquil. It was all she ever knew. The danger, the adrenaline, the fear, the excitement. All of these things, all of these elements that she had known, were gone (for the most part, at least) the moment she stepped foot in Beqanna.
She missed it; the quiet life was never for her, and though she tried to create some trouble with her brothers it just wasn’t the same. There was no risk, nothing to lose, nothing to gain.
She stands further back from the others, unsure of her surroundings and those in them. She was feisty, but she wasn’t stupid. 4 to 1 weren’t great odds, especially with all of the magic tricks the horses here seemed to be able to perform. He motions her to move closer, and with only a brief hesitation she complies, sidling only a fraction closer to the crowd that had gathered under the moonlight.
Her eyes widen and her heart begins to pick up its pace as Levi starts speaking, unsure of how she feels about what she believes he is saying. Hyaline…it’s her home. But boy, would she kill to see the look on Amet’s face when this crew shows up at its borders. Maybe this could be fun.
A thrill.
Another mare arrives before Iset has the chance to speak, Deathwish, she introduces herself as, as she joins their little group. As she walks the plants wither and rot underneath her feet, something Iset has not yet seen.
The younger colt offers a gruff introduction (if it could be considered that) of his name, and Iset finds his eyes as they travel from each member of the group, searching for…something. Some hunger he plans to sate.
This group was far too silent. Her talent lied in her tongue, the tongue that the filly was painfully aware of as it rested heavily in her mouth. She heaved a loud sigh, “Look. I can get us into Hyaline. Easy. But no one gets seriously hurt, especially not my brothers. They don’t get touched. Other than that…” a mischievous and excited smile pulled at her lips, “Lets do some damage."
Levi’s words hover in the dark as he waits patiently for any input. He does not wish to lead them indiscriminately towards trouble, he recognizes they may have valuable information. If he is leading them towards trouble, it will be calculated trouble.
To his surprise, the first to reply is a newcomer. The grim stallion tilts his large skull, ears tilting towards her, as she approaches their moonlit gathering. Like a carpet unfurling below her hooves, she walks on a terrain of her own making. Her caustic smile is charming even as death churns around her - he is wary, yet intrigued. “Welcome, Deathwish.”
Maugrim stands by, a silent yet capable soldier. Levi doesn’t expect the piebald stallion to voice an opinion and his eyes drift to Kolera again, noting her hint of displeasure as she seems to size up Deathwish. Internally, he frowns at this. The two of them will be much more efficient if they cooperate, but he remains silent on the issue.
Then Iset’s voice breaks the pause which had followed his words. He hasn’t missed that voice, but her suggestion is sweeter than her tone. “Hyaline.” Before Levi had left Tephra, rumors had been tossed around that two young foreigners had claimed the territory as a sanctuary of sorts - a neutral territory for children to test themselves at kingdom politics. Could this Iset be one of those two young foreigners? What kind of leader would sacrifice their own territory for a cheap thrill? He asks himself.
A volatile one, a bored one. The steaming, warm, voice his fire answers in his mind.
Maybe the metallic filly believed they would get a few new recruits from this, with five ramblers…. It could be possible one of them would end up making a home there. But it seemed a high price to pay for one or two young recruits. But of all the troubles on his broad shoulders, this was not one of them.
“Iset, you and Maugrim will go in first, get the attention of anyone who may interfere. Koleara, Deathwish, the tree of us will follow a few minutes after they enter. The more plants you kill, the quicker the flames will spread. Once the flames go up, our presence will be sure to attract attention.” His thoughts flicker to two beings he had never meet in the flesh, only in reputation - Nayl and her genie at heel.
He smiles then, a surprisingly boyish look on his large face as he breaks the stoic mask of his father for the first time that night. He feels precariously balanced on the edge of something meaningful. The fires in his belly stirs again, prompting him to hasten to the place, the place where he will finally let his flames drink from the ground before his feet all the way to the horizon.
“Unless anyone else has something to add… lead the way, Queen Iset.” Levi cannot be sure if she is a queen or not, but he is enjoying the irony of the situation and indulges in the sarcasm. The fact that they have made progress in such a short amount of time also heightens his mood.
He glances up to the moon. Not much time has passed, the pale orb is still low in the sky, casting long shadows on the mass on dead grasses which surround the group like a toxic footprint.
Levi
so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
I can do a starter in Hyaline tomorrow if no one else want to volunteer
