Lightning never strikes twice; any/Ea

[Voltage]

Of Hamilton & Yasmine

Patiently he waits along the shoreline, the long hours ticking away, until low tide comes and he can pick his way across to the island as he moves from sandbar to sandbar.  When Voltage's hooves settle themselves into the dry sand of his destination, he looks about with interest.  Ischia, he muses, had been one of his two choices back in the Field.  He doesn't regret how things had turned out though; life in Sylva under Gryffen's reign was definitely turning out to be interesting so far, and none of the dullness he so dreaded enduring day to day in pastoral surroundings.  As he had done in Tephra, he repeats here the act of a mental headcount to learn how many have come to call the tropical island home, along with whatever random facts might be floating on the top of resident equine minds.

There are fewer mind-sparks here than there had been in the volcanic land, fewer of those treasure troves he so loved to plunder, and he does not sense the answering contact of Kharon, the telepath he had encountered in the Field.  Had he moved on, left Beqanna?  Evidently.  He does manage to pluck out this land's ruler's name out of a random mind.  Ea? An unusual name indeed.  Voltage sets his gaze upon the greenery directly across from him, calling out with a loud neigh to announce his presence to any who might be hidden within the jungle's reaches.  Anyone other than the parrots, that was.  They were quite chatty, both verbally, with their endless squawking, and in their little avian minds.  They didn't have much in the way of intelligent thoughts to pick up on, however.  Mostly thoughts about food or mating or rowdy hatchlings who refused to would rather stay up all night playing than going to sleep when their parents wished.  The bay fidgets, ever so slightly, as he waits atop the warm sands, eager to get back to Sylva and see just what would be unfolding during the autumn festival.

V O L T A G E

[Circinae]

-Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me-

If Circinae had been aware of just what kind of company her wolf-son had been keeping during his stay in Sylva, she might have been more inclined to involve herself in his life. When Gryffen had come to Hyaline, filled with words and ready for trouble, she’d been happy to leave her son as ‘alive and well’ without much room left to worry - but time continues on and without her knowledge, Crevan is rising in popularity by his own disastrous means.

How quickly people change.

It’s Voltage who rouses her from her station, deep in the heart of Ischia. The shifter mare rises on paws instead of hooves, points her brown nose to where he lingers on the shore, and slips nimbly from her makeshift bed to weave through dark vines and twisted roots. The shift of earth melting to sand beneath her toes prompts her to switch skins - no need to frighten whoever might be waiting - and as a lithe green-and-navy pony, she brushes free from the foliage of her newfound home and glides easily down the beach to where he fidgets so haplessly.

“Welcome to Ischia!” She calls out from afar, easing to a slow halt once the distance between them has shrunk to a considerably smaller length. “A place of quiet retreat and … noisy birds.” She laughs, peering over a green shoulder briefly to indicate the chatterboxes littering Ischia branches.

“Do you come in peace?” She questions, turning about once more with curious eyes.

Circinae

@[Voltage] I Pm'd you, Silverbell, but I went ahead and replied anyways

[Voltage]

Of Hamilton & Yasmine

The sun passes by overhead, slowly, so slowly.  Sweat begins to coat his body, darkening his rich bay shade, and the sand is beginning to feel quite hot against his feet as he stands atop it, waiting and waiting.  The barest of moments before he can decide to call it a washout and head back across the sandbar to go home, a mare arrives.  At last.  Gryffen would approve much more of information gathered from two lands than he would of just one.  Something about her reminds Voltage of Crevan, the wolf shifter who was his original link to Sylva.  Curious, he flitters through her mind and ends up having his suspicions confirmed.  This mare, this, she-wolf, Circinae, was indeed related to Crevan...his mother in very fact.  He wonders to himself why she is here, and her son is living leagues away in the autumn woodland kingdom.  The boy did seem to have an independent streak however; the youth usually did when they decided to strike out on their own instead of staying in the family fold.  

With a quick shake of his head, the telepath returns to reality, eyes turning to the green mare and mind quickly thinking up a reason to not be paying immediate attention to her arrival.  "Good day to you.....my apologies.  A bit too much sun, I think.  Thank you for the welcome....they are more than a bit vocal, aren't they?  I wonder if they are ever silent?  " She questions if he has come with peaceful intentions in mind, and he nods in confirmation.  "Very much so, in fact.   My name is Voltage, and I am here on behalf of Gryffen, new-crowned king of Sylva, to invite all of Ischia to the autumn festival about to be held within our borders.  It will last all of the fall season and is open to every kingdom's residents, one and all of Beqanna, to take part in under peaceful conditions.  "  The stallion shifts his weight once again from hoof to hoof as he pretends to be patiently awaiting the emerald female's response.  There was another fact lurking within Circinae's mind, a vital one.  It was no longer the unseen Ea holding the leadership here....it was his current companion.  The wolf-queen of Ischia, this would be a useful tidbit to pass along to the wraith king.  


(Snoopy snoopy Voltage, sorry not sorry boy<3)

V O L T A G E

[Circinae]

-Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me-

This one is brimming with words, it would seem. A bit startled at first, Circinae retracts a step and tries to make sense of his notions as they blend together. Voltage, he calls himself, and amusedly she shakes her head. “Take a breath, relax.” She laughs softly, turning aside to lead him in the direction of some nearby palms. If it was the sun that bothered him, Circinae wouldn’t have begrudged the diplomat a bit of liberty with his position in her home. Borders were invisible, after all. Just lines and rules expected to be followed.

The wavering shadows of Ischia’s sturdy trees dapple her coat a shade darker as she twists around them. Comfortable, the Keeper indulges her guest with a reply in as concise a manner as she can muster. “My name is Circy and I do intend to show face, you can begin by telling Gryffen that.” She exhales, glancing over the bay stallion with piqued interest. “Gryffen likes his special toys,” Her conscious muses while her eyes find nothing to tip her off in the way of hidden talents, “I wonder what makes this one so shiny?”

Hardly missing a beat the pony mare jumps right back into easy banter. “With that news you can turn around and extend an invitation to Ischia, for him and a guest.” She offers, hoping that this will tickle the white wraith’s fancy. Already she can formulate the semblance of his pale face in her mind, how amused he might be when the news filters through to him. Another, perhaps more important topic rouses now though and Circy allows for her earlier humor to drain. “I was wondering - are you familiar with my son, Crevan? Is he … still in Sylva?” She breathes.

Her heart clammers against her chest. She can hardly decide if she wants to be given the affirmative or negative. “Still my son, but no longer my boy.” She thinks, feeling the phantom ache of a pain not yet delivered.

Circinae

@[Voltage] lmao it's his job <3

[Voltage]

Of Hamilton & Yasmine

He placidly follows after Circinae, or Circy as she had declared herself to be called, into the shade of the palms, quite content to continue on with the sun-dazzlement explanation to cover up the time he'd spent in telepathic snooping instead of greeting the little mare immediately.  A little white lie never hurt anyone, after all, he chuckles inwardly.  Even if they were lies hued in a darker color....It actually was cooler under the click-click-click of the palm trees, and he leans a brown shoulder against one's curved trunk as he listens to the green monarch's promise that she will be attending the harvest festival.  He dramatically inhales, deep, and exhales just as forcefully, trying to get a laugh out of her to match his own joviality over how well this was going now.  That was very good news to Voltage's ears; now he was two for two and he'd have no failure to report to the wraith king.  He'd gotten hints, in the meeting on the way to the Taiga kingdom that Crevan had intended to bring him to, of the....unique ways Gryffen dealt with failure and though he did not fear the cremello, the bay also preferred to keep on his new leader's good side all the same.  Speaking of leaders, had he chosen Door Number Two, he'd have come here, to this island...he'd now be following this wolf-queen.  

Life under her doesn't seem like it would have been a bad thing, but loyalty was bone-deep within the former member of Nexa's band, and his musings go no further than that, no wonders if he'd made the wrong choice or if he ought to consider a change of scenery.  He'd chosen Sylva, and Gryffen, and that was that.  The queen of Ischia makes an offer in return, and he smiles in acknowledgement.  "I will indeed pass the invitation along, and I thank you on my king's behalf.  I look forward to seeing you amongst the gathered revellers.  " Her good mood suddenly vanishes like a dewdrop upon the hot island sands, and Voltage tilts his head with anticipated curiosity.   Whatever she was about to say, she was having quite the difficulty getting it out.  She manages it, though, and he now understands her hesitation.  "I am indeed familiar with him, Lady.  It was actually your son who recruited me to Sylva, and he remains there even now.  Perhaps you'll see him when you arrive at the festival? " Had they parted on harsh terms?  It seems likely given how anxious she had been in mentioning the wolf-shifter.  Or perhaps it was merely a mother longing for the days her son had been small and dependent upon her, their own private world together that had fallen away into ashes as colt became stallion.  Sensing that this meeting is nearing its end, he carefully pushes away from the palm tree's rough trunk in preparation for departure.

V O L T A G E

[Circinae]

-Oh my love, don't forsake me; Take what the water gave me-

Ah.

If only she could read minds. The wiry little wolf in her would weasel up a way to keep him here, though Voltage is already overjoyed at her prospect of coming to Sylva. “The Wraith sure knows how to inspire.” She thinks with a curious glance in the Bay’s direction, though she won’t say whether that inspiration sparks from fear or admiration.

With Gryffen’s crew, it was usually a sick twist of both. “I am indeed familiar with him, Lady.” Volatge says and that phrase alone wipes all other thoughts from her mind. So, Crevan had recruited this one, had he? It doesn’t surprise her - Crevan was a showy sort of thing with the confidence for a matter like that, but it was out of his character to approach strangers. Odd. “Perhaps, yes.” She murmurs, lost to her own confusion. This whole … Sylva ordeal with her son was still new and still so raw. Even talking thinking about it causes her unrest.

But Voltage is clearly finished and Circinae won’t keep him further; there’s work to be done for both of them after all. Instead she pushes free of the shelter too, choosing to amble ahead down the shoreline without peering back to see if he’ll follow. There’s always only been one way to come and go from Ischia, so inevitably he’ll be at the shore too.

Her forehooves part water and, knee-deep, she pauses to allow the gentle waves a moment of peace before summoning her power. A deep inhale and the churning waters surge; they strip away from the beach and move to circle about her body. With an exhale, they grow in speed and soon rip into a vortex that leaves the sandy floor of the ocean showing the red-gold sky of Sylva. Circinae has crafted him a gate, a quick one-way ticket back to his land for all the work he’s done to get here in the first place.

“Step through if you like.” She calls loudly, keeping her portal wide and open should he choose to cross its threshold. “But beware of vertigo afterwards.” She warns, the hint of an amused smile playing at her lips. Why wait to go to Sylva at all?

The festivities and her son couldn’t wait another moment.

Circinae

@[Voltage] Yaaaaay! And now this timeline is caught up <3 Thanks again for your patience