"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
The last time he had been in the Riverlands, snow and ice had covered the ground while a heavy mist clung to the evergreens and stone. Now, as the days grow shorter and the flowers bloom from summer’s plenty, he finds himself traversing the same riverside once again. A fresh rainfall gives the earth beneath his hooves a soft, damp feeling that moistens his fetlocks, the rainwater desperately clinging to each blade of grass and sliver of bark. For a moment, he halts; blue eyes stare into the horizon, remembering the way from whence she had came nearly two seasons ago. With a soft snort, the heat of the day plastering strands of ivory and blue to his milk-and-honey neck the stallion sets off again, keenly focused on following the winding river that will hopefully lead him to his destination.
The river finally ends, its great mouth opening up into the sea that stretches before him endlessly. The ocean did not daunt him; he is a child born from the salted waves and though his home now is surrounded by mountains, he does not forget where he came from. His cerulean gaze flickers across the sparkling horizon, the dark churning waters of the ocean wrinkling like skin beneath the sun’s warm light. The Ischian islands are wavering in the far distance and a smile begins to curl onto his pale rose lips. With a toss of his head, he enters the pull of the ocean’s waves and begins the swim.
Svedka is a rather experienced and skillful swimmer; nearly all his days in Hyaline are spent with a few hours in the lake, or traveling to the mountainside where the ocean meets his home and swimming through stronger currents. It leaves his body toned and muscled as well as gifting him with the knowledge to go with the current; to not fight the waves but become a part of them. He uses this knowledge now, floating when needed and then propelling himself forward. His wistful gaze remains on the outcropping of the islands which grow larger with every stroke, nostrils flaring with exertion but a breathless smile found on his face that never seems to fade.
Later, he thinks mildly to himself, Solace will chide him for attempting to swim across the channel without first seeing whether the tide was going in or out. He hadn’t cared to check, and even now as he swims it does not cross his mind that perhaps he will tire before finding purchase on Ischia’s sandy lagoons. Water crashes over his head and moves him mercilessly, but with each breath he inhales there is nearly a laugh on his lips, despite the stinging that has begun to annoy his nostrils and bring a red color to his eyes.
It is not until he is nearly upon Ischia that his brow furrows with contemplation, the burning feeling in his lungs beginning to perturb him. He kept the island in his sights, and his breath no longer came slow and steady but now is ragged and pulsating as he attempts to keep himself afloat. The closer he came to shore, the stronger the currents became as corals and other sandbars created choppy and unforgiving waves that pulse into him endlessly.
He is tiring, but he had promised her, so the stallion continues to swim despite the way his muscles scream for him to stop.
(be my escape)
Svedka
@[Kylin] maybe she can come assist in the last few feet of his travels? <3
After watching is silhouette retreat, and turning to go home herself, she had regretted not having picked up the pretty flower that had floated out onto sea. It was the flower that had made her curious enough to stir her towards the river, bracing the freezing cold and the hollowness of her chest. It had brought Kylin to him, and although his words of destiny and faith had stayed with her, she had longed to have something material to help keeping the memory more alive.
In thought, she had imagined his arrival much more effortless. With the sun warming his back as he came down from one of the few sand banks that appear during low tide. Kylin pictured herself waiting from him with a flower to present, and give him as a welcoming gift.
It is far from the reality as happens today. When her hazel eyes find him – she had been lounging on the beach like she mostly does – he is near drowning. “Svedka!” she calls out, panicked and loudly. Initially she freezes, quite vividly remembering how Kharon had once almost drowned. Back than Father had saved him, but Kerberos is no longer around to do just that for Svedka. Which means it is up to Kylin.
“Svedka!” she repeats, panic still in her voice as she eyes him, now slowly descending into the water from where she had stood upon the surface. It had been quicker to run across the sea, instead of swim to him, but now she’s nearby, there is little she can do for him from her position on the surface. Her fins make it easy for her to keep her head above the surface, less sure she is about keeping both their heads dry. But she wouldn’t know, unless she tries. Not so gracefully she takes a mouthful of his mane – having no other idea on how to get him to the shore safely – and starts swimming to bring them both to the beach.
@[Svedka] Aaaaha, sorry for the wait! And sorry for the short length after the book you wrote.. Shorter posts are just easier for me atm. Hope that's okay! <3
Even with barely his head above water, Svedka’s eyes are filled with laughter. Of course he would get tired only feet before he could place his hooves on the white sand! Why wouldn’t it happen any other way? He was not afraid and was even less so when he spies the lady he had been coming to visit - grand and beautiful in the warm Ischian sunlight, striding upon the water with a grace unlike anything he had ever experienced. He thinks she is more beautiful now than she had been in the winter - the frame of dark palm trees cascade behind her figure, while the crystal clear water ripples undeterred by her weight. “Destiny!” he tells her when she’s standing above him (how marvelous and magical!). There is worry etched onto her slender face, but seeing her has given him a new source of strength, his muscular legs pedaling faster beneath him so that his neck now appears from beneath the water.
He desperately wishes to reach her quizzical face, but his muscles scream in protest from the exertion. Instead he allows her to guide him to shore, the moment his hooves hit the soft sand halting. The water of the ocean still careens across his back, only his neck and head fully exposed. His ivory and blue mane hang tightly to muscled curves of both sides of his neck, his nostrils flaring wildly as he quickly tries to catch his breath. “I promised, didn’t I?” he tells her breathlessly, staring up at her with a fascinated gaze. He then begins to push against the pull of the waves (a familiar feeling, being Tephran-born, though there is no smoke or ash in the air), his broad chest pushing past the frothing water as he strides slowly towards the white shoreline.
Svedka heaves himself from the water with a grunt, tired yet completely enthralled with the landscape around him. “I dreamed about this place,” he says as he comes to a halt where the soft waves lip at his fetlocks, “thanks to you.” He turns to her then, saltwater saturating his milk-and-honey skin, stretching his head towards hers to greet her with a soft and innocent kiss to her pearl and lavender throat.
“Destiny!” he exclaims upon seeing her. Not knowing if he is referring to them meeting again as destiny, or if he uses it as a nickname for her, is enough to fluster her, even showing through her panic. And she does not know that his lack of fear and self-preserve fuels her panic, or eases it. Her pale crème and lavender muzzle dips towards him, allowing him to land a touch as she descends into the water, her own legs now pedalling under her body as her fins push them forward by their sideways movement.
Once she finds she is able to reach the sandy bottom again, she is a couple of meters closer to the shore than he is. Just like Svedka, her head and neck barely reach above the surface, and she has to tilt her head back in an attempt to keep the waves from hitting her nose. Her nostrils flare, the short exercise having tired her out because of the adrenaline rush her panic had given her. “Are.. Are you okay?” she asks, neck bending so her hazel eyes can look back at him. Kylin does not know if she should be angry, or glad, or just relieved and thankful. It was stupid for him to face the sea, but the thought that he maybe faced it for her, makes that she has forgiven him before she starts to question his motives.
“You did?” she asks him surprised, her dished head tilting to the side as she watches the crème, golden and light blue stallion pass her by. She follows, a little behind, and stops right beside him. “How? Why?” Kylin asks, unable to keep her curiosity at bay as her lavender ears swirl forward. Why me?“Is.. Does it look like you imagined?” She hopes it does, it would kill her if Ischia didn’t live up to his expectations.
As his lips land on her throat she turns her head just barely, leaning into the touch just slightly while a soft sigh escapes from her lips. They’re both still soaked, but under Ischia’s sun they would soon dry, leaving the weather circumstances much better compared to last time they’d met. No longer carrying her child, Kylin looks much leaner too. But all she has eye for is the golden and blue and crème male himself. “Would.. Would you like a tour..?” she almost timidly asks, glancing up at him through her lashes.
He does not allow the turn of her face away from him to bother Svedka, and instead finds himself smiling gently to himself at the idea of making her shy beneath his touch.
“Of course I’m okay!” he replies, his sapphire-colored eyes sparkling as the sunlight reflects the water in them. “I’ve reached my destination.” He adds this as if it somehow solidifies his explanation, his chest rising and falling with each large gulp of air he inhales and exhales, trying to catch his breath. Svedka has already turned his gaze away from her to view the open lagoon before him, enthralled with the sight of Ischia in reality, not just his dreams. He almost doesn’t hear her soft voice ask, How? Why? because he is so engrossed with what is before him, but a single ear flips towards her and catches the sweet sound of her voice. “My friend told me to imagine any place, and I imagined your home.” His gaze slides to the corner of his eye, mischievously watching her with a gleam in his cerulean irises. He easily notices the reservation that is in her voice - that he would perhaps not find Ischia as lovely as Kagerus’ dream world, but he continues to grin because he knows the truth of it.
“It truly is better than I could have dreamed up,” he tells her gently, honestly, because he knows his opinion of her home means so much to her. He turns his head towards her, still full of energy despite his struggle the last few feet towards her island home. He prances beside her, bumping his shoulder against hers in a tender push, hoping that his excitement would dissipate any reservations she currently has about him being here. “A tour? With you as my guide?”
A laugh resounds in his throat - hearty and full of life - stepping further onto the shore where the distant tropical treeline sways in the island breeze, throwing his head up wildly. “It’s like a dream come true,” his voice falls to her with a jovial tone, nearly breathless as it falls from his pale lips.
Her hazel eyes are locked on his mostly white face. From the sparkle in his bright blue eyes, to the way his pale golden ears are pinned forward. The pastel blue locks complimenting the blue of his eyes. It is only when Svedka looks at her from the corner of his eyes, that she quickly glances away, though not without peeking up at him through her lashes once. “You did?” she asks, not only curious to how that had even been possible, but also why. Why dream of Ischia, of all places imaginable? Kylin obviously would, but why would he? A stranger to the islands.
“It is?” she cannot help but to ask, her hazel eyes finding his blue ones as a smile tugs at the corners of her lips. Kylin wants him to like Ischia, so he will come over for a visit more often. His prancing – and let us not forget the gentle nudge – make her smile, and even lightly bump her muzzle against his cheek in return. Kylin nods, gesturing to the island, before wading through the sea towards Ischia’s shore. “Yes,” she replies with a smile, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye before watching ahead again, suddenly avoiding his gaze. “I’d like to, if you want it too..”
It is impossible to not watch him. Kylin likes how carefree he is, how free his spirit is, and how easily he adapts. “Not just a dream. Ischia is so much more than that” she tells him with a smile, stepping into his personal space – neither seemed to value it much – to bump his shoulder with her nose, as she passes him by. “This way,” she announces. Her step is light and with a slight bounce, her tail held like an Arabian’s as she glances across her shoulder. “Are you ready to see Ischia’s magic?”
<3
