"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
10-02-2017, 09:23 PM (This post was last modified: 10-02-2017, 09:24 PM by Castile.)
Isobell. Sweet, sweet Isobell. He misses her. His heart aches for the warm touch of her skin and the liquid fire of her voice. How long has it been since he last felt her curl innocently into his side so that he could brush her forelock from her eyes. There is no denying how much Castile loves his one and only sister.
His aimless wanderings have led him here and his heart lurches when he draws in a breath and drinks in the familiar scent of her. His senses pique. Mismatched eyes blink then roll left and right in search of her in this heavily-populated river land. Every fiber of his being is suddenly on overdrive, his adrenaline pouring into his veins. ”Isobell,” he tastes her name and it’s nectar on his tongue, so decadent and sweet. He is almost considering taking flight to search for her face from above, but he takes pause with another breath.
For a heartbeat, she is alone and undistracted by the world’s temptations. He sees no other stallions trying to whisk her away to a land far from Nerine; relief washes across him because it is too soon in the day for his anger to blind him of his inhibitions.
There is a break in the crowd, one in which he takes advantage of to reach her. His wings tuck tightly to his sides in attempt to avoid all contact with strangers, saving himself for her only. Without even realizing, Castile’s pace quickens as the distance closes between them until his chest is against her shoulders, his head draped lovingly across her neck. ”Isobell,” he whispers her name again, the taste of it more familiar now as he wraps himself around her and presses a kiss to the arch of her neck. ”I’ve missed you, little sister,” if there is one thing he learned from father, it was certainly how to love.
She seems to hover as she walks slowly, the warmth of sunlight bathes her in gold, the pureness of her white and black pelt glinting beneath the glowing eye of the sun. Summer was a preferred season of her (with autumn close behind) for this was a beautiful day.
The sky is a seamless blue stretch of silk that the young mare admired with her own silver eyes, there were no clouds today but the heat had yet to set in. She feels happy in this moment despite the yearning she felt for her family but mostly for Castile. It seemed as though he were gone most days which left Isobell to entertain herself within the confines of Nerine. Mother was constantly in meetings, speaking with diplomats, ruling with the sharpness of a the very sea glass that washed up from time to time. Father was never far but never close enough. He guarded Mother, worshiped her, was her slave in the darkness of a new moon (Isobell had heard them murmuring one as she was falling asleep).
The painted princess takes some time to steal away from the salt flecked lands. She grew bolder everyday with her immortality and sweet smile. No one had come to hard her as of yet and she even had met a horse or two along the way and in fact it was odd but the most recent was Ivar. A small vine of a smile touches eh unmarked lips and she keeps the sheepish expression hidden as she looks to the ground. He had grown tall, painted, handsome. In an odd way though he is nearly identical to her brother. Isobell's heart lurches to think of her only sibling. Did he feel her thoughts? Does he know she always looked for him no matter where she went?
But then, as though it was true Beqanna magic, he has appeared to her like a ghost. Isobell can only believe it was all real to feel the warm brush of his skin against her, the touch of his lips into her neck and the feel of his weight. "Castile!" She says his name breathlessly, burying against him and rubbing her face into his mane. The surprise, the happiness, it all brings tears to her silver eyes and she does not try to hide them as she only pulls back to look into his mismatched ones. "Where have you been?" She attempts to give him a stern look with a pouted lower lip and furrowed brow but it is more comical than serious. "I have missed you so much..." The words are nearly a whisper as she looks up to him with a slightly tilted head, the white forelock blowing across her brow. She does not pull away but still leans into him as she listens with all her attention given to him with large pewter eyes searching his with almost disbelief that he had finally returned to her.
i'll wait for you inside the bottom of the deep blue sea
Isobell melts into his side, and every shield, every distant thought, recedes far back beyond his reach. There is only this moment now, only her, and he savors these minutes as though they are his last. The only thing that has ever mattered is his family – mother, father, Isobell – and to have that one critical piece leaning against him is more than enough. Castile breathes a heavy sigh of relief – of joy – into the arch of her neck and mindlessly toys with the frosted tips of her mane. How beautiful she is, he muses, and what a sight to behold. When she peels away to look at him, her lips frowning, he wants so badly to pull her back in, but he doesn’t. Instead, he drinks in the sight of her and how her forelock slips across her face and almost hides her pewter eyes – so much like father’s.
She is a beautiful mixture of their parents.
A frown creases his handsome face, and he is almost afraid to answer. He had no idea where he was – he remembers only darkness – but he can’t tell her that and lead her to worry. But he cannot let her question go unanswered as she looks at him briefly with the hurt of having missed him. Leaning forward, Castile brushes aside her forelock then grazes his muzzle down her cheek. ”I’m sorry,” his apology is the only thing he can choke out, hating himself for having been gone. ”It won’t happen again,” he is afraid to promise her because he doesn’t have the heart to ever fail her again, but he reassures her with a soft kiss before taking a slow step back to look at her then to the river nearby. It has been perhaps a year or two since he last looked at his distorted reflection in the gurgling water. A young, gangly boy he had been. Nothing like now. He is still growing, still filling out, but every day he resembles father more with a lighter feathering and baroque torso.
”What trouble have you been getting yourself into?” He asks lightheartedly as a boyish grin stretches across his lip. ”There are no boys I need to chase off, is there?” He wants to laugh, to show her that he is joking, but he is undoubtedly protective of her. So, instead, he is left with an expression that struggles to hide the humor, his eyes bright and his brows trembling with effort until nothing else can hold back the chuckle. Isobell is capable of handling herself, but in the back of his mind he can’t help but wonder. ”I still haven’t even mastered the whole dragon thing. I have to perfect that before I ward off wanna-be suitors.” On command, he can only shift his wings. With a backward glance he strips the feathers for a thin membrane of skin stretched across the bones, claws punctuating the appearance before he looks at her again, still smiling, still unable to hide the innate joy of finding her.
What had she ver done to deserve such a doting brother. Isobell snuggles agaisnt him again as though they are children except now there is muscle where there was once bone and he smells strong and masculine.
His words reach her and she cannot help but smile at his protection (no doubt a sight to behold if there ever was a boy so daring). His voice soothes her, the vibration of his words are lulling her, but the shift of his weight causes ehr to look as he changes his wings.
They are beautiful.
"Castile!" The excitement is obvioys across ehr femine features as her silver eyes dance from one to the other. "Oh my goodness, that is spectacular!" She practically squeals in delight as she wished she had a talen to show him...but there is nothing to show. The black and white mare-child simply smiles and watches her handosme brother. He was more like father every day and it made her heart break and grow all at the same time. "Where are you heading Castile? Home or elsewhere?" Isobell asks for she is heading out shortly to vist their friend Ivar in Loess and if Castile should like to, Isobell would love to have her sweet brother along..
i'll wait for you inside the bottom of the deep blue sea
Castile loves how her body melts into his, the space hot with their body temperatures rising beneath the summer sun. If there was one thing he learned from his parents, it was adoration. They coddled each other in ways that Castile had never before seen. They loved each other. They looked into each other’s eyes and whispered honeyed words beneath the cloak of nightfall where they were safe from prying eyes. Even as a colt, still nursing, he observed them and decided he wanted that. It wouldn’t be soon. Even now, he wonders how late in life until someone comes into his life that he can cradle against his side much like he is with Isobell now.
He wanted his parent’s love, but in the meantime, he is comfortable with the adoration blossoming in his heart every time he looks upon his sister. All of his energy goes into watching her, into caring for her, into protecting her. With Lior and Nayl preoccupied, Castile vows to himself to always ensure that Isobell is well loved and cared for. It is his job, he muses, and one that he takes pride in.
”That’s all I can do right now at my will, so don’t get too excited.” A light-hearted laughter brews from his gut and echoes in the air around them. If there was anyone he could comfortably admit to, it was Isobell. ”The other parts happen randomly still. I noticed it happens with adrenaline or extreme emotions. I completely shifted when I flew from Hyaline to Sylva to retrieve Djinni. Hyaline was burning and under attack. I haven’t been able to do it since and I don’t want to pester dad.” He wants to learn on his own, ideally, so he can have the satisfaction of not having any help. Is it pride? Arrogance? Stubbornness? He isn’t quite sure. But to master his shifting would be to truly protect her. He could be like father.
Father was a guardian. He was a silent protector in Nerine.
”No, I’m not going home,” he almost chokes on the final word as he struggles to map a place as such anymore. For Isobell, however, he agrees to decide on Nerine as home because he doesn’t want her to think he abandoned her. So, he doesn’t admit that the ties he had with lands is so loose and that he doesn’t have an aching for any place in particular. ”I will be checking out Loess with Ivar,” the confession comes easily enough since she’s aware of the friendship, ”and you, my darling sister? Where will fate be taking you?” His chin rests momentarily on her poll, not wanting to peel away from her or to no longer feel her body warmth. Beneath the heat of summer, he tries to still hold her close but savors when a cool breeze passes by.
The young mare listens with silver eyes shining against the darkness of ehr face. She loves this time with her brother, so close and cozy. He made her forget that she was becoming a woman and she was just his little Issy again. Petite lobes are full forward as she feels like a child once more listening to her brother's wild tales of adventure with Ivar.
"Oh I hope I can be there when you do it again Castile!" She is excited and does not attempt to quell it as Beqanna had such little happiness for anything much anymore. The world was a place of hurt and darkness. "Oh dad wouldn't mind." She rolls her eyes with a huff then giggling against his shoulder, bumping her head into his muscle, but she pulls back once he answers about his decision of not returning to Nerine. "No?" Her voice trembles a bit at the disbelief
Isobell, no matter where she went or however long she is gone, she will always return to Nerine. It was her rightful home and she wanted to be like mother. Strong, beautiful, a queen one day. She could not walk away as Castile chose to do but she would not fault her sibling for that. In fact, it could be help one day down the road though she knows it will break her heart.
The weight of his chin on her brow conjures another small smile as he questions as to where she is going. "Well...", she is almost scared to say so, "I believe I will go visit Loess as well." She does not say Ivar has been the one to convince her but she knows Castile would know soon enough. She would never lie to her brother but the prospect of spending more time with him in Loess was a lovely idea.
A picturesque vacation with her handsome brother.
i'll wait for you inside the bottom of the deep blue sea
aerissss <3 i love them so much! Would you want to continue is Loess? Also Lior words are coming very soon to Nayl <3
Isobell is so quick and willing to offer an adventure to Loess; it almost startles Castile. The girl has spent a great majority of her life shadowing mother’s footsteps. Nayl had always been wary of attempt her enemies would make to harm her. When Castile was a child, their mother held Nerine and two subkingdoms, but those days seemed to have just recently ended. He has questioned the matter, merely shrugging it off and resuming life with the knowledge tucked away.
But Isobell was conceived and raised during a period that mother developed more enemies than friends. Alas, Castile cannot help to blame himself significantly for not having slipped her away from mother’s notice in the dead of night so he could explore with her. Instead, he had taken a more nurturing approach by visiting Isobell when possible and updating her on the childhood excursions he took with Ivar. He would rest a honeyed kiss on her neck as her eyes closed to sleep before abandoning father’s cave.
Loving her was undeniable, and with that, he never wanted to risk putting her in harm’s way.
Perhaps, that is why he is hesitant to agree with her. When he lifts his head, he looks in the direction of the rocky kingdom, contemplating the distance and time lapse, but he cannot bring himself to reject her curious, pewter eyes. Their gazes lock momentarily. His mind reels as the wind tousles his unruly mane. ”Okay,” he finally says while bumping her cheek, ”but you can’t stay too long otherwise mother will worry. You know how protective she – we – are of you, dad included.” The tone in his voice is stern as his heart patters against his chest nervously. Surely, their parents wouldn’t reprimand him as long as she is accompanied, right? ”They don’t want their little Nerine princess to go missing,” he punctuates the beginning of their adventure with humor while a boyish smile stretches across his lips.
