"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
Exhaustion had rid her body weak. It was the dead of night when she had slipped across Tephra borders. Bidding Levi farewell and returning to the solitaire she was beginning to know too well. It hadn't been far to her destination in the forest. The little haven she had created for herself so very long ago. The spot they had shared their intimate secrets, ones of destruction. It was different now though...
Her slender legs pulled her thru the thick brush until she could see star light reaching the forest floor. It wasn't as near as luminous as she remembered and as she came closer she could see why. The seed she had planted that was no more than a sapling was now expanding. It's branches outreached to close the gap in the canopy above. Stopping, her eyes climbed the tree - that towered above her - in awestruck wonder. A smile cradled her lips as she stood proudly beside it.
Her lids were growing heavy so she walked to the base of the redwood pine. The decision to rest here was made to allow her new powers to soak into the earth surrounding her. Gently she folded her legs under her, lowering her two toned body to the littered floor. Tucking her crown to her side, she released a sighed breath. With it her magic flowed freely to any plant life in reach. "Good night, little tree..." She sleepily whispers.
He had tried to sleep after Kolera left, but he could not find rest. He had paced around the tree she had brought back to life, he had thought, he had wrestled with the strangeness of the situation. He hadn't known what to expect next after she had reached her muzzle to touch his face, but he hadn't anticipated her turning and leaving - again.
Restless, he had followed her. She was maybe an hour ahead of him, but this time he recognizes the trail of lush foliage she leaves behind her for what it is. Even in the moonlight, the road is an easy one - he follows the scent of spring in the autumn world.
The nymph unknowingly leads the mahogany stallion deeper and deeper into the forest, and before long, he knows exactly where she is headed. He breaks off from her trail, taking a different course to reach the clearing where he feels she is headed for. Even though the midnight breeze is slight, he remains downwind. His secrecy is unnecessary, but some part of him is enjoying the chase, and he decided to continue in this way instead of calling out or trying to overtake her.
Before him, there is a break in the trees - he has reached the tiny meadow she had created years ago- and Levi spots her dark form curled up in the nettles there. The living plants around her thrive with life, curling around her ivory limbs in seeming affection, and from his shelter in the gloom under the ancient trees, he smiles to himself.
The heavy stallion turns his back to her then, taking a few steps further into the forest. His mismatched eyes roam the shadows around them, and he stands as a silent sentry while she sleeps, however long that may be.
Luckily sleep did not evade her these days. Ever since the fairies completed their promise to relieve her of her blight she had slept soundly. Even as her magic flowed freely it did not exhaust her the way confining her poison had. So when the weakening rays of autumn sun found her she awakened refreshed.
Her lids opened to a new world surrounding her. When most plants withered naturally in anticipation of winter, the ones around her were renewed to a spring green. A select few flowered vibrant blossoms even. She smiled happily. Her eyes lifted to the needled branches directly above her. They seemed even higher up then they had been before her sleep. Curiously she rises from the floor. Ivory limbs steadying her weight as she gave a shake to her two toned coat. The dried forest litter loosens their hold, falling back to where they came. Ebony tresses tossed about but rested neatly against her nape again. A slight yawn leaves her as she shifts to move out from under the redwood.
Sienna eyes trail to her surrounding as she turns about. A sudden splotch of white - stark against the shadows - catches her attention. She ceases motion to focus on the misplaced colors. Recognition slowly surfacing, "Levi?!" A smile kisses her lips at the sound of his name as she strides a step closer to him. "What are you doing here?" There was a hint of knowing in her tone but she was not expecting that he'd follow her. The delicate curve of her profile tilts slightly in wonder as her sienna eyes fix upon his mottled face.
The night passes quickly for him, Levi was no stranger to solitude, and the inky blackness of the forest begins to grey. The first songbirds begin to flutter between the branches and clear their gullets for a new day of old song. It is only then, after the morning has officially begun, that the mottled stallion closes his eyes to rest.
With his weight leaning into a sturdy tree he drifts off into a light sleep easily after the night's vigil.
The sound of his name, softly spoken, brings him back to consciousness. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Levi lifts his heavy skull and looks to Kolera. The genuine surprise in her voice softens him towards her, and a ghost of a smile plays on his pale lips as he rolls his shoulders to loosen them and turns his body to face her.
"I wasn't done asking you questions," he half-jokes as he takes a step into the small clearing she had made so long ago. Offspring's son wasn't usually a victim of impulse, but as he stands her looking down to where the dark lithe mare rests, he realizes that he doesn't have an excellent excuse for following her. He had been tirelessly been patroling Tephra, and even if he wouldn't admit it, the change of pace after two years in the volcanic Island was refreshing.
"Would you rather I leave?" He teases, because the way she is looking at him lets him know she doesn't.
Solitude had been her familiar over the last two years. Her quest for her true self had consumed her time but it was well worth it. So his presence is a welcome sight and she smiles happily at his response. She looks over his features, "Questions huh... Well what would you like to know Levi." She winks jokingly at him before turning to look at the redwood behind her. It has grown so much in such little time. He questions his presence jokingly, so she sweetly replies, "Of course not."
"You remember this place?" She asks without turning back to look at him. The charred debris of her fallen trees laid consumed with moss. Time has given them purpose again. To feed and shelter smaller critters and vegetation. Her shoulders turn away from him as limbs move her to the hollowed log. Her muzzle lowers to run her upper lip along the soft lichens attached to it's rotting core. A chipmunk scatters from it's home as she walks along it's length. All the while an array of shrooms sprout from the tree. Upon reaching the end of it's stretch she smiles. Raising her crown to look at the stallion. A soft flick of ebony tassels against her flesh, "It's changed so much. The Forest is repairing itself." Sienna eyes shift to the tree so precisely placed in the middle of the once clearing, "This one though was a gift from the fairies. Only a few weeks ago it was nothing more than a seed I planted... Now look at it. It's almost taller than the rest."
She pauses for a moment before moving nearer to him. Her soft eyes drawing his gaze from the tree back to her, "There are three total. The first is here, the second is in Hyaline and the third... The third is in Taiga where it belongs." He possibly had not known Taiga was a forest of these trees nor that it had been destroyed by greed. She remembers seeing the kingdom for the first time, as she crossed thru the gaurdians. Flood and fire remnants gave vague details as to what happened there. "I should head that way actually. I promised Amet I'd return to check on the tree there and also help rebuild Taiga..." Her eyes flickered from sadness to hopeful as she invites him, "Would you like to come too? I mean... Unless you have something better to do." Half-joking smirk creases her lips as she awaits his reply...
Kolera
Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
@[Levi] <3
Sorry for the short feeling of satisfaction on completing Levi words but she is so easy to write and Levi <33
Before he can fully form the shapeless mass of questions he has into sentences, the forest nymph is speaking again. But he doesn't mind when she saves him the effort, he watches her with his usual curiosity as she explains the things she has decided are important for him to know - especially the part about her involvement with the fairies.
Levi never had an eye for nature. If the flowers were white or lavender, the ocean grey or blue, these things didn't change his outlook on the day. He had respect for the forces of nature which he interacted with on a more tangible level - thunderstorms and wildfires, those were forces of nature which commanded his attention. But he notices, for the first time, the redwood tree (which does seem out of place now that she has mentioned it) and her strange tale which began yesterday is beginning to all come together.
"So, you are happy with the trade, poison for healing?"
The names of the two kingdoms she mentions stir up more questions.
Hyaline: a ghost which haunted him. Even after all the maturing he had done the last two years, the sabino stallion still stubbornly refused to feel guilty when his small band of 'lost boys' was called to mind. But it seemed like he could hardly have a conversation without the name of that kingdom cropping up.
Maybe this could be his chance to lay that ghost to rest.
"I don't think Amet wants me anywhere near his kingdom, but I'll come along anyway." He's been enjoying his hiatus from patroling Tephra's boarded. He knows that in a few days he will be feeling differently, he was a part of the volcanic island now, but he tries to push it from his mind - just for a few days. "And what was that about Tagia being rebuilt?"
The gift the fairies promised her wasn't one of spectacle nor one of great power. It was quite simple. So when he questions her she grins, "Does it not suit me?" A low chuckle escapes her lips as she turns to the west at mention of the invite, waiting his response. She hadn't considered he'd refuse but even if he had she was sure duty called at home.
When his thoughts go to Hyaline there is a complex look of decisiveness on his face. He speaks of Amet and she giggles nudging his shoulder with hers, "It'll be fine. You're with me. I'll make sure to keep you in line." With a flick of her ebony tail she leads them off. Collecting into a two-beat gait, neck arched delicately. He questions about Taiga as she is prancing away, "I'll tell you when we get that far. Can't give away all my secrets at once,"she calls out jokingly.
![[Image: BQLevipagedoll-DONE.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/25n6rx5J/BQLevipagedoll-DONE.png)