"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
12-11-2017, 06:42 PM (This post was last modified: 12-11-2017, 06:44 PM by Deathwish.)
Deathwish
im a DIY pioneer, they tryna get involved
After many days settling back onto the island of Ischia—who would have ever thought—Deathwish had circumnavigated the entire island looking for Jah-lilah. And, not finding her, spoke to Krone about her whereabouts. Whispers led her to the absolute last place she'd ever wanted to be.
Hyaline.
She had learned, when she made it back to the mainland, that she had separated from the wolf-shifter... abandoning the white stallion with the fire in his eyes, and had gone on her own way. To a place that had no love for her. And she certainly had no love for it.
Her wounds had healed and she was walking normally again—though she had met back up with Maugrim as soon as he smelled her scent—but her heart was still confused. And she needed... well. She wans't sure what she needed. But with no mother or grandmother to consult, she needed to talk to somebody, and Jah-Lilah was the first mare she could think of.
Deathwish really needed to meet other creatures like her.
And so, she crosses the borders, silently as the grave. Her dark eyes piece through the landscape, seeing the growth in the aftermath of their handiwork. And that lake. The fish. Her body itched to work the way it was designed—to bring death and dismemberment, and the pure stink of rot—but she digresses, and heads down the bluffs, making an audible grunt that she hoped would attract the right sort of attention. Because if not...
High dive into frozen waves where the past comes back to life.
My red mare seemed to be in high demand lately, there had been tales told to her about several different equine who had been seeking council with her. Jah-Lilah didn't mind, she just didn't make herself known. Anything worth speaking to her about was worth tracking her down for. Fortunately, there were several too lazy to make the effort, and Jah was fine with that. She tried to keep her circle as tight as possible, and weeding out those that were parasites, only taking and never giving, was an absolute necessity. The dark mare Deathwish, was clearly not one such parasite.
Jah-Lilah had watched the girl hesitantly step into the territory of Hyaline from her sanctuary, showing a vulnerability rarely seen. Apparently the woman had history with the quiet land unbeknownst to Jah, because her body language and facial expressions showed extreme distaste and discomfort. My mare finds it endearing and amusing, and stifles a soft chuckle. Once she's ensured her little filly is sound asleep, she kisses the child goodbye and emerges from her thicket.
Trailing the girl, silent as the moonlight, she follows behind. They weave down the craggy terrain, Jah's nostrils flared and her curiosity piqued. Why is this girl here? What is she searching for? Several times Jah-Lilah is almost found out, but her ability to blend into the shadows seamlessly comes in handy. The other creature comes to her final halt and emits a grunt, the sound reverberating off the hills in the night. Jah chooses this time to reveal herself, bobbing her head in greeting and grunting softly in return, ears perked and face wearing a half-grin.
Fight fear for the selfish pain, but it was worth it every time.
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
There are times that Amet thinks back on the destruction that had followed the Lost Boys' attack, but those moments are few and far between these days. After Kolera had returned to the sanctum with new abilities and a desire to fix what she had done, the last remaining sign of death ─ his beloved wisteria tree ─ had been restored. With the return of its purple blooms and gnarled trunk had come the young stallion's piece of mind and there is rarely a moment now that he is distraught with the memory of what had happened.
Both Kolera and Levi had found their way into the center of Hyaline since the attack and both had apologized for their part in the destruction. The young stallion (king, at the time) had never been one to grip tightly to a grudge when the offending party only sought forgiveness, and so he no longer thinks on them with disdain or negativity. Amet remembers, though, that they were not the only two.
Kolera. Levi. Maugrim. Deathwish. Iset.
He remembers them in the order that Molotov had fed him their names, in the order that she had read their minds. He will never forget them.
Kolera. Levi. Maugrim. Deathwish.
Iset.
It's the last one that hurts the most. And it's her absence that still feeds that hurt.
The vaguely familiar scent of Deathwish hits Amet's nostrils like a freight train and he is suddenly off, lanky legs carrying him with purpose through his home and towards the source of the smell. His chest is tight with anger and determination and it is not long before his amber eyes catch sight of her. He snorts his arrival, ears turned back to stand at half-mast but he does not chase her off like he would have, had he not already handled this same situation with Kolera and Levi. Jah-Lilah reveals herself from the trees just as he arrives and, while he feels more comfortable with the red soothsayer at his side, the gilded stallion's amber eyes have narrowed on Deathwish. "You've come back. Why?" he inquires tersely, muscles taut beneath his dragon hide.
Instinctively, she took a step back from Amet - perhaps the only one in current existence, save those rare magicians - her father, for instance - who could undo what she does. she had rotted the fish, and torn apart the leaves of this land, and she had walked away. Her actions were surely those of a bored petulant child, but never the less, they were the actions of a child.
Her silver eyes soften - did they really? - at Jah Lilah when she sees the woman emerge from the protection of the trees, but, almost on her tale was the one thing she did not want to see. And she was well and truly fucked. However, she would never admit to it. Amet's words are clipped, and for the minute, the priestess is forgotten. You've come back. Why?
His impotence, his stunted speech. Grandmere would have been most displeased to see that he had no social decorum whatsoever. Deathwish's cold gaze rested on the gold and green dragon king - ex-King - and she twists her black lips into a dark smile. He may have nihlism, but his pre-cog was not in residence. There was no mind readers here.
Never let them see you crawl.
"Darling Amet, I wondered when I would see you again," her voice is sickly sweet, acid coating her every word as she speaks to him with eyes that are spitting daggers. "I just came to inform you that I have you to congratulate for my recent trysts with Maugrim. The tricks he learned here in the company of your lake were what he most enjoyed on and inside me." She elongates her neck to touch Amet's nose, her voice hissing disdain for him, and for the very fact that she was standing here.
"I do not come for your precious lake today though, little King." She straightens herself again, her gaze momentarily flitting to Jah. "I came seeking your soothsayer. She and I have - a sort of - history, for which I believe her counsel would be of use to me."
She snorts, her tail slapping her backside as she shamelessly looks at their surroundings. "I see your wysteria tree has been restored. It would be a pity if anything else should happen to it." She clucked her tongue with a vague dis-satisfaction, and then, she drops all sense of games. "We were children, Amet. Do not expect me to apologize for the actions of a girl, when you were little more than a boy yourself. Little King."
She looks at Jah-Lilah then. "I suppose now, you will have no wishes to speak to me?"
Hold still right before we crash, we both know how this ends.
The Dragon-King's swift arrival is not lost on her, nor is the obvious tension that hangs in the air. There is a thickness around the clearing suddenly, and feelings are super-charged. The emotions are infectious, and the boho chick has been too lackadaisical to learn how to not let her heart affect her electrical current, resulting in sparks shooting around all over them, the particles popping and snapping loudly. Halting her merry progress towards the wayward female, she evaluates the situation with flared nostrils.
A verbal exchange happens, and she remains silent throughout. At the acidic tone Deathwish uses with her dear friend, Jah-Lilah's ears drop suddenly, hiding in her charcoal mane. Her face is drawn tight, her lips pursed. Clearly she has missed something huge, she has never seen the Dragon-King act in such a foul manner. This warrants paying attention to, she has never seen someone so desperate to see the good in everything as @[Amet] does. His heart had been broken by the world, by his fellow equine, by his very own lover countless times, yet still he is not jaded. She longs to have the same stillness of heart as he does one day.
Watching the girl reach out to touch the scaly boy's nose, and Jah is overcome for a moment by emotion. Hopping forward, she nips at @[Deathwish] and sends a charge of lightning her way, missing on purpose. Her tone it curt, her words to the point. "Don't touch him. I don't know what's happened between the two of you, but I'm keen to find out." Turning to Amet, she snorts a warning as well, her daughter sleeps close by, and as long as The Wind has put her in charge of protecting his progeny, there will be no battles or negative vibes nearby, not while Jah-Lilah has air in her lungs.
Her attention returns back to the ebony mare, and she sighs deeply, regaining her composure. "Crumbling-Flower, I won't turn you away when you need me, but stop threatening the land where my daughter lays her head. I will kill for her and I will die for her, with no exceptions. I'd hate to have to start today." Composing herself and smoothing her ruffled feathers, she shakes all over, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Her emerald gaze falls upon Amet and Deathwish, looking between them and licking her lips. "Since y'all wanna do this in front of me, go ahead. What happened? We need to squash this shit TODAY, at least until Quiet-Storm and I leave. Then you two can do what you gotta do." A gaze over her shoulder is tossed in the direction of where her little creamy miracle sleeps, and she shifts her weight anxiously, eager to return to her babe already.
Our clock ticks 'til it breaks your glass and I drown in you again.
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
There is acid infused in Deathwish's greeting and his ears adjust so that they are no long just turned backwards but nesting within his tousled mane instead. He opens his mouth to oust her, to turn her away from this sanctuary, but it's Jah-Lilah's electric fireflies that sizzle with agitation through the air that distracts him and pulls him back from the cusp of rage. To say that he is displeased to see the foul black mare return to Hyaline would do his emotion no true justice ─ her very presence threatens the sanctity of his home, of Solace's home.
"You mistake my question for interest in your life. I assure you that I have none," he responds bluntly to her as she snakes her muzzle out towards him, a black cobra that he has no desire to tolerate but will not remove physically unless she attempts to bring harm to Hyaline or those within it. Amet stands still, pupils narrowing in a sea of amber as Deathwish nears him and he considers the use of his nihilism to ensure her cooperation briefly but is effectively cut off by the red soothsayer and her own jet of lightning. The Akhal-Teke tosses his gilded head skyward and he takes a step back, acknowledging Jah-Lilah's warning snort with a nod of understanding.
Amet bites his tongue as she works to belittle him, though the nickname is quickly forgotten as Deathwish threatens the use of her abilities on his wisteria. And then, before he can respond, her voice loses its faux sweetness and she recalls the night of the attack. Children, she says, and Amet cannot stop the small, incredulous grin that hints at the corners of his lips, but he maintains his silence ─ if only because he is curious of Jah-Lilah and how she will react to the bay mare's aggression.
He is not disappointed.
Her threat to Deathwish concludes and effectively puts the ball back in his court, and by this time the stallion's amusement has faded to make way for cold anger. He addresses the red soothsayer alone, his voice calmer simply because she is near, as he answers her inquiry about events of the past. "A group of children, including my sister, invaded Hyaline and destroyed nearly half of it just after I made it a home and sanctuary. Tangerine was injured, everything was in ruins... Deathwish rotted all of the fish in the lake and helped to tear the land apart." The synopsis is brief, though he has to keep it that way to prevent his anger from igniting into hot fury. He refuses to hold a grudge, to harbor that negativity, but that does not stop him from turning his amber eyes back to the black mare and narrowing them on her.
"I was a boy who hoped to feed more kindness into the world. What have you contributed? Children or not, you knew right from wrong. All of you did. Children or not, your intention was to harm. Call me Little King if you'd like ─ we may have been children then, but you are still one now."
Amet rips his gaze from Deathwish and returns it to Jah-Lilah, offering the red wytch a terse smile. "I would prefer that she remain outside of the borders for your discussion, but I trust that you will make sure she leaves when you are done," he says calmly with complete trust in the red soothsayer, ready to remove himself from Deathwish's vicinity. "Would you like me to keep Quiet-Storm company while you are busy?" the gilded stallion inquires, hoping that the youthful innocence of Gypsey will help to un-ruffle his scales.
She smiles then, her tongue clenched behind gritted teeth as she allows Amet his peace. There is no love lost between them. She would not apologize. Amet knew she would not - hence why he did not demand an apology. Deathwish makes movement to speak or to cut him off. She supposes he deserves that much, despite his whining for attention. What grown ass man has such love for a purple flowering tree that he calls himself an adult? She nearly rolls her eyes, groaning out loud.
A child? Maybe. Growing old was mandatory. Growing up was not.
"At least I know how to have fun. You seem to have grown elderly in your prime, Darling Amet." And back to that sticky sweet voice again. He hates her. That's fine. There is no love lost for her, either. So much has bled from her since then. So much time.
"I do not want to be here any more than you want me to be here. This place stinks. It looked much better when I left it the way I did. A pity you did not enjoy the renovations." She tsk'd then. "Oh, by the way, how is your sister? Spoiled princess get a belly full of the taste of rebellion, or did she get sick on it?" She didn't like Iset any better than she liked Amet. Deathwish had simply been bored, walking past a group of troublemakers, and on the backside of a failed mutiny on Ischia, felt that her place to cause a little chaos was wanting.
She had never been so disappointed.
"Spoiled children using their powers recklessly, simply because they can. Or simply because they have the power. I was bored. Nothing more. It wasn't personal. It was supposed to be Ischia but --" DW shrugged a single shoulder, out of apathy. "And now I am living there. In the end, we always get what we want. Just be glad I do not want Hyaline."
A threat.
A rumbling growl lays low in her throat, and she flips her tail up. Her ears, pinned to her head and hidden inside her tousled mane, go erect for a moment as she removes her gaze from Amet. He is no longer worth her time. He is a little King, playing with his little soldiers.
No matter who wears the crown.
Her voice, her face, softens when she looks at Jah-Lilah. "I mean your child no harm. I am soon to have one myself. Family is foreign to me. Sex, love, pain and passion - You told me stories once upon a time ago.. In Gryffen's company. I wanted to speak on these. But, certain events have prevented us from speaking today. If you ever find yourself on Ischia, seek me out. I would be grateful for the company."
I'm terrified.
Fear is foreign to Deathwish, but she is not immortal. To be taken by the one thing that she normally controls - To feel things that she normally eschews.
So much change.
And so, she turns and leaves, giving no further utterances to either one. Amet was not worth her time. She just hoped that Jah-Lilah would not be so easily coerced into negative thoughts.
Things are rarely as they seem.
And Deathwish desperately needed a friend, even if she herself did not yet know it.
