I kept my hope just like I hoped to // any

[Rhaegor]

I kept my hope just like i'd hoped to
then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue

Although he's done about the most traveling in his circle of siblings - excluding Abysm, but he had a couple years advantage over him so that really doesn't count - he is maybe the least experienced with Hyaline's landscape. Yes he knows where the family grotto is, and where the lake is, and where Grandpa's willow copse is, and where some good hiding places are for hide and seek. But maybe what I'm trying to say here is that little Rhae doesn't know the people of Hyaline... But really, how can you blame him.

It's easier to make friends in the outer lands, in his opinion. He feels brave outside of home, knowing that he won't ever have to see any of the people he meets out there again if he doesn't want to; they get to stare at him and smile awkwardly in response to his silence, and frankly, he can just let it bounce right off. But here at home... Well, of course he could talk to Will and Koko and Mothers, and Valdis and Velk and Grandpa, and sometimes Abysm when he's in a good mood, but that's not... The point. He wants to find his place in Hyaline, wants to belong... But how do you belong, when you can't even say the word hello...

Well, I'll just have to find some other way to say hello then!

Feeling determined as the sun lazily rose one autumn morning, Rhaegor stretches his wings wide and leapts from where he'd been standing at the mouth of his family's grotto. With few strokes, he glides down towards the kingdom's heart, circling once or twice above the lake as he considers both his reflection and the horizon, eager perhaps to find a figure standing there, a wordless invitation.

Finding no one, the little buckskin decided to settle near uncle Svedka's willow tree, not far from the lake's rocky coast. He'd not seen his fabulous uncle in some time, and he doesn't truly expect to see him today; but perhaps someone else would come along, someone else just as - if not more - interesting.

Rhaegor

[Chryseis]

we're on the road to ruin,
and we're starting at the end --

Chryseis has grown enough that she was able to escape Briseis’ overprotective clutches more frequently. Even though the black mare still fretted, there wasn’t much she could do. The delicate blue roan filly would be a year old come spring, and she already rarely needed her mother’s milk. In fact, if she really wanted to, she could leave Hyaline all together. It was a thought that crossed her mind frequently, although she has yet to act on it. Her wanderlust was insatiable, but something about the mountains of Hyaline told her to stay just little bit longer. 

Despite her outgoing nature, Chryseis has not met many of the residents of Hyaline. She knew there were other children here, the ones that belonged to the Queens, but she has not met them. But she could see them, and she was slightly envious. If she had a twin, or was a triplet, she would always have someone to hang out with! They could have their own secret club that no one was invited in, go on adventures, torture their mother...but sadly, she is just by herself. Queen of her own club, member of one. 

Today she was traipsing through Hyaline, without her shadow of a mother. It’s cold, and because of that she is sticking to the lowlands instead of exploring higher up the way she usually did. Her blue roan coat had darkened to nearly black thanks to her thicker winter coat, but the metallic gold blaze that adorned her face still shone brightly. With slender legs she was expertly traversing across the frosty grass, avoiding the especially slippery stones and frozen patches of mud. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the triplets - alone. This was incredibly rare, in her experience. It was like seeing a unicorn (oh wait...). Without even hesitating, she bounded right over. 

”Hi! Did you get kicked out of the triplet club?” Giggling at her own inside joke, she hastily adds, ”I’m Chryseis. I was born here too, but I’ve never talked to you.” The meaning of the last statement went unexplained. Either she thought the triplets were too cool for her, or she was too cool for the triplets. 



chryseis
of leilan and briseis

Chryseis talks a lot and will keep the conversation going just fine haha

@[Rhaegor]

[Rhaegor]

I kept my hope just like i'd hoped to
then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue

Although he's not met any of them, the little prince knows something of Hyaline's other youthful inhabitants - mostly from Sviko and Will, who easily outpace him in terms of gregariousness, at least in the presence of others. Mother has told him of Tahti, the reincarnated girl, and of course there's the orphan Kanamae, Ilma's son whose name he's forgotten, and then Chryseis. He remembers her most because her name sounds like crisis, and he's always wondered why she'd be named such a thing. Maybe she's devastatingly ugly, or had been conceived at the wrong time - but he's never met the girl in question, and thus can draw no conclusions as to her appearances or her wantedness.

Luckily for him, he'll get to have some questions answered today - silent ones, anyway.

A ways from where he's picking at the stubbly winter grasses, the sound of dainty hooves navigating the ice patches sounded. Intrigued, the colt lifts his head and perks his ears, dusky eyes blinking as they landed on the little blue filly who then races to approach him upon sight. He bobs his shapely head in eager anticipation of her arrival, an array of emotions coursing through his wordless lungs, nerves and excitement and something between dread and wonder; he hopes that she won't mind his silence, because he knows instantly by the grin on her face that he will surely not be disappointed by her uplifting company.

Hi! The girl laughs, and before she can get to her joke, Rhae has awkwardly bumps his nose into hers, nearly trembling with boyish excitement at the joviality of his new friend. A hopeful smile weaves its way across his lips as he steps back blushingly, head still bobbing nervously as he hears the girl out; she is indeed Chryseis. When she mentions never having talked to him, his expression stretches queasily; he feels guilty, knowing that there is potential for her to never truly speak to him.

But he suppresses this useless worry, instead blinking at the filly and grinning like a fool.

Leaning down, he looked up at her through his thick brown lashes, fumbling at the icy earth until his lips struck against a loose piece of ice; picking it up gingerly between his teeth, he met Chryseis' gaze and then reached to neatly nestle the shard into the wild locks of her black mane. A gift, if a muddy and very temporary one; but the soft clicking of his noiseless laughter is perhaps the true gift, and he steps back anxiously, hoping that she'll appreciate his gesture.

Rhaegor

@[Chryseis] uhm? this is adorable.

[Chryseis]

we're on the road to ruin,
and we're starting at the end --

If there was one thing Chryseis was good at, it was talking. Although her mother would disagree, since the blue roan filly also had a habit of saying too much, which was something she would probably not learn to control until she was older. She has never came across anyone that didn’t seem to enjoy her company, however, and she hopes this colt would be no different. He appeared to be friendly enough, with his welcoming smile and eager head bob. For a split second his facial expression flickered with what looked like uneasiness or worry, but she can’t imagine why. Unless, there really is a triplet club, and he wasn’t suppose to talk to outsiders. 

The blue roan filly doesn’t seem to notice that he hasn’t verbally replied back to her, but she is watching him curiously as he begins to root around on the ground. He retrieves a piece of ice, and she giggles again as he nestles it into her wild mane. ”Wow, thanks! You know, I have frost aura? I would show you but, I mean, it’s already cold.” She nods her head in the direction of the snow-topped mountains, as though he might not believe her that it is, in fact, winter.  Her talent would be a lot more fun beneath the blazing sun of summer. 

She seems to notice his wings for the first time, and much as she had been with Tahti’s wings, she is enamored. ”But you have wings! That’s neat, I bet you never walk anywhere.” Without asking, she extends her muzzle forward, her soft lips feeling the feathers. She had often wondered what wings felt like, and now she finds herself wondering if his wings and a bird’s wings feel the same? With her lips still mindlessly tracing across the feathers, there is a look of concentration on her face as she tries to configure a plan on how to catch a bird for comparison. But suddenly she pulls away, realizing that something important had been left out. ”Wait, what was your name? Was I talking when you said it? I do that sometimes.” 


chryseis
of leilan and briseis

@[Rhaegor]

[Rhaegor]

I kept my hope just like i'd hoped to
then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue

Luckily for the triplet club, he can't talk and therefore can never ever give up their secrets. Not that there are any. Wink.

His pretty new friend seems oblivious to his muteness though, and that fact is all the more reason for Rhae to let loose a little bit. Because of how people look at him, he always has to hold himself a certain way - but with the talkative and jovial Chryseis, he finds himself behaving almost as he would with his siblings. Except with less name calling and hair pulling. Those events are reserved for the triplet club. And besides, he didn't need mothers - and Chryseis' mother, three of them oh goodness - coming to scold him for being so careless.

After graciously accepting his gift, the filly makes mention of her frost aura and then gestures to the mountains to indeed confirm winter's presence in the land. Rhae follows her gaze without a second's hesitation, studying the snowy peaks as if his life depends on it before returning his gaze to her. His wings lift in a bit of a shrug, and he scuffs the ice, making shards fly out. A brow cocks playfully. Something like that? He wonders - he doesn't really know what a frost aura is, or what it can do.

As if the shrug had been a giant sign reading THIS LITTLE BOY HAS WINGS, Chryseis goes off about them in her energetic voice. When she reaches out to touch him Rhae only steps closer to make it easier for her, eager to please his new friend. She spends quite a bit of time lipping through his carefully preened feathers, shoving them all ahoo such that he'll have to reorient them before flight is possible, but he doesn't mind - she looks too cute with those brows screwed up in concentration. Without thinking, the little colt is extending his nose to plant a kiss square on her cheek for no reason at all besides absolutely everything about her - but at the last second she pulls away, and he spooks a bit, pulled out of his reverie as she asks him about his name.

His name.

HIS NAME!!

Nostrils fluttering now in a flurry of anxiety, Rhae tries desperately to think of some way to tell her his name - he could try shooting a light beam and making her guess the word Ray, but he could guarantee that she would just become distracted again and it would get them no where. Swallowing dryly, he parts his lips, the weight of a thousand worlds bearing down on him as he makes his first ever attempt to speak to someone outside of his family.

"Rhaegor."

With an exhale twice as loud as the word itself had been, Rhae's shoulders slump forward and a dazed smile stretches his lips. He did it! He spoke! Even if it was only one word... But surely more would be coming any second now from Chryseis, so he turns a bemused head towards her, happy to know that he wouldn't have to say anything else for a very long time.

Rhaegor

@[Chryseis]

[Chryseis]

we're on the road to ruin,
and we're starting at the end --

Chryseis hasn’t had much interaction with children her age, and especially not boys. She had never given them much thought, to be honest. Her mother was not big on love or fairy tales, and Briseis’ relationship with Leilan was far from romantic. It wasn’t something she had ever talked about with her daughter, and so it wasn’t something Chryseis was brought up with. But somehow despite all that, something about Rhaegor made her feel nervous, but not in an upleasant way. She wasn’t entirely sure how to handle it, so instead she shoved the feelings down as far as they would go.

She giggles as he sends small pieces of ice flying, and she shakes her petite head. ”No, it’s not quite that intense. I can just make the air around me really cold. I guess it would come in handy if I decided I didn’t want someone close to me.” Chryseis has not practiced with her trait all that much. The frosty barrier didn’t match her bright and warm personality, and she couldn’t think of a single situation where she would ever want to freeze someone away from her.

The blue roan filly doesn’t notice that he had extended his muzzle towards her, since she has been so distracted by her own lack of manners and not getting his name. She wouldn’t have known what to do even if she had noticed. Her mother was the only one that ever kissed her. What are you even suppose to do if a boy kisses you?

When she notices that asking for his name seemed to make him anxious, she feels guilty. Although she clearly doesn’t have a problem talking and socializing, she wonders if maybe it’s not as easy for him. And then his name is uttered just a hair above a whisper, and while she doesn’t have to strain to hear him, she can tell that something about his voice was weak. For the first time, her vibrancy seems to soften; her energy becomes quiet, and she closes the space between them to touch her delicate muzzle against his neck. ”It’s nice to meet you, Rhaegor.” Her warm breath is expelled against his skin, and she realizes that he smells exactly like Hyaline - like mountains and trees and fresh air. That strange feeling from before begins to flutter in her chest, the one that made her feel anxious and excited all at once. Not knowing what to do with it, she suddenly tugs at the locks of his mane, twirling away on her too-long legs as she calls out, ”Race you to that tree!” Of course she doesn’t specify which tree, and instead she just launches into a run, only assuming that the colt will follow.


chryseis
of leilan and briseis

@[Rhaegor]

[Rhaegor]

I kept my hope just like i'd hoped to
then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue

In the chaotic whirlpool of her company, Rhae finds himself clinging to her eyes to stay afloat, feeling at once bedraggled and elated to be in the presence of one so unhindered and full of life. She speaks and he nods dazedly, barely understanding (I guess it would come in handy if I decided I didn't want someone close to me) what she means and the implications her words could have if he ever would stop to consider his actions and how they make other people feel. No, as he smiles at her and thinks of how pretty she is when she speaks and laughs and smiles, he doesn't think of any of his other dalliances; her frost aura could never be turned towards him. Could it?

And yet, as the gears of his mind grind to a halt, her chaotic disposition softens, the energy of her aura quieting in order to hear what he has to say - not that it's much. When at last his name does befall her ears, she's suddenly closer to him, pressing the kiss he'd intended to give to her to the soft fur of his dapple buckskin neck. It's nice to meet you, Rhaegor, she says, and his eyelashes flutter in something like shock, tangling with the blue locks of her mane. He leans into her touch, sliding his lips along the length of her own neck. That sparkling feeling in her chest bursts forth in his too, and for a fraction of a second, they stand there in tingling youth, discovering that there were reasons that fillies and colts played together.

Speaking of playing! Rhae's shapely head rebounds off of her in surprise and dismay as she bolts away, a flustered grin stretching his ashen lips as she tugs on his mane and issues a challenge, one that has nothing to do with the sparks they'd just been so smitten with; but she's running before he can get a word in edgewise (hah), and after a dizzying moment of trying to ground himself back to reality, the young prince launches after her.

As the two yearlings race towards the forest, the last of the year's cool air tears at their longs with happy claws, sending them almost to cloud nine as they snort and pump their legs and throw jeering looks back and forth at one another. Just when it seems that Rhae is going to win their race, he pulls up short, watching intently as Chryseis whoops to the tree, the joy of her win nearly tangible.

As she cavorts and brags, Rhae slowly walks closer, breathing hard; and when they come chest to chest with the tree at Chryseis' back, he doesn't stop. The release of energy has brought forth something new to Rhae, and he feels that newness in his gut, in his pulse, and in her pulse too as he presses his lips to her neck. They slide down towards her whithers in silence, his hot breath still befalling her skin in heavy bouts; but at the peak of her roaned shoulders, he instinctually pulls his lips back and bites her.

Mine.

Rhaegor

@[Chryseis]

[Chryseis]

-- I don't know where you're going
but do you got room for one more troubled soul?

So far, she couldn’t fathom using her frost aura to keep anyone away from her. She was too naive to understand that there were those out there that might intend to hurt her, physically and emotionally. She has never met anyone that wasn’t a friend, and why would she ever want to push anyone away?  To her, the frost aura was just some trick she had been born with. It was fun to annoy her mom with it but that was about it. When she had said it, it had never occurred to her that Rhaegor could ever possibly do anything that would make her want to create a barrier between them.

Because right now when she looked at him, she was thinking the opposite.

But for now they are careening across the ground, her long legs stretching in front of her, and with each stride the nervous butterflies are replaced with surging adrenaline. He matches her stride, and for a moment they are in sync, the winged prince and the gold-blazed filly. Her laughter is strewn on the breeze as she jumps ahead of him; before tucking her haunches beneath her as she slides to a stop and rollbacks around to face him once they’ve reached their target.

”Did your wings hold you back or something, cause that wasn’t even hard —“ But when her eyes meet his, the words die on her lips. Her breath catches in her throat, and now when her heart flutters nervously in her chest she finds that she can’t stop it, can’t ignore it any longer. Her emotions are here now; staring her in the face in the form of an impossibly handsome prince. The intensity in his stare causes the blood to rush to her head, and her brown eyes flicker to his searchingly. ”Rhaegor,” His name is a murmur, whispered like a question that she doesn’t think she will ever get the answer to. His lips are on her skin then, and it leaves a touch that feels like fire in its wake, and she trembles. Her small body presses into the curve of his side, her own satin lips trailing down the nape of his neck, exploring the way it ties into his shoulder.

The feel of his teeth elicits a gasp, but she doesn’t pull away. Instead she tucks her delicate head beneath his neck, letting his head drape across her back as she nestles against his chest. And for the first time since she can remember, Chryseis doesn’t know what to say.


chryseis
I don’t know where I’m going,
but I don’t think I’m coming home

[Rhaegor]

I kept my hope just like i'd hoped to
then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue

As testosterone and adrenaline and all sorts of things pound through his veins for what feels like the first time, the whirlwind of her words are lost to the young prince's ears. There is only the sweet smell of her heavily exhaled breath and those darling brown eyes which look into his with a vulnerability that leaves him feeling... powerful. And responsible. He can't tell if he wants to take her or to take care of her, and in his youth, he feels almost paralyzed when he realizes he could have either, right here, right now; but she breathes his name and she doesn't back down from this new, strange challenge, so he doesn't, either.

Their hearts hammer in sync and he imagines that he can feel hers and that she can feel his too, as their bodies press together in an awkward and tantalizing mess. He is so close to her that he can see the individual hairs which roan her petite body, white and black intermingled to create the illusion of something blue. He's so transfixed by this - and everything else about the charismatic girl - that he's surprised by the feel of her lips on his skin, too. His skin shudders where she ghosts her dark lips, but to make up for this he presses into her more firmly; and as his teeth mindlessly find their mark on her shoulder, he presses into her even more, needing to remind her that for all his confused manliness, he is still just a boy who finds her endlessly enrapturing.

As he presses a kiss to the place he'd just bitten, Rhae feels more than sees the tucking of Chryseis' head into the curve of his body, made a meek girl when one minute ago she'd been whooping about her win. This thought makes Rhae's head spin, and suddenly his throat feels dry; he wishes he could speak, but honestly, even if he could, he wouldn't know what the fuck to say.

Hi, I am in love with you.
Hi, I think you are the most beautiful creature to set foot on this planet.
Hi, you make my head spin, and you make me forget how to breathe.

Yeah, in this moment, his mutism is more gift than curse.

Feeling like he might implode if he doesn't act now, the little prince suddenly steps back, but maintains contact but running his mouth back up Chry's slim neck. His lips find hers, and their whiskers intermingle pleasantly; but he tosses his head with a worried smile and a confused flick of his ears, withers shuddering both against the cold and the feeling that, somehow, he's done something wrong.

Rhaegor

@[Chryseis]

[Chryseis]

-- I don't know where you're going
but do you got room for one more troubled soul?

Her head is spinning, and she closes her eyes to ward off the feeling of the world twirling around her. She takes a deep, trembling breath, in an effort to steady herself, and instead his scent further fills her mind. Both their hearts are beating rapidly, and she can feel it thrumming in her ears. She is still too naive to think that he could possibly feel this way with anyone else, that maybe his mouth had caressed someone else’s curves, that maybe someone else had stood this close and breathed him in. In her young mind, it just wasn’t possible. If she’d had even an inkling of what her father was like with women — not that he was malicious in his intent — she might have been more cautious, but she has lived her life entirely ignorant. All she knew was that Rhaegor made her knees feel weak, and that in this moment, she is sure they are only thinking about each other.

Her skin shivers as his lips trace the path up her slender neck, and they don’t stop until they find hers. It is a sweet, innocent kiss, and they are just two kids stumbling through their emotions and grasping at something they don’t fully understand yet. She is lost, and confused, and exhilarated, and she couldn’t imagine feeling any other way. Her lips still tingle even after he pulls away, and when their eyes meet again she can see the worry that lingers on his face. Her quiet laugh breaks their silence, tilting her delicate head as she inquires teasingly, ”Am I a bad kisser?” The sudden shyness is slowly ebbing from her eyes, some of the insatiable vibrancy returning. With a demure smile still curled at the edge of her lips she slips past him, beckoning him to follow as she says, ”I want to show you something, but you can’t tell anyone else, okay?”

And with that she begins her ascent up the mountains, following a well worn path that most of Hyaline used. It is only a short trek, before she suddenly veers off the path, into a heavily forested area,  and she begins following landmarks that it appeared only she could recognize. ”When I was little, my mom hated letting me go anywhere. But my dad convinced her to at least let me explore Hyaline on my own,” she explains as she walks, her hooves deftly remaining balanced even with the precarious footing, all the while her eyes remained trained in her surroundings, occasionally diverting her course. Her pace quickens once she seemingly spots her destination — a thick grove of dogwood trees that border what appeared to be a solid rock wall. ”I never told anyone about this place though, and I don’t think anyone else in Hyaline has seen it either. At least, I’ve  never seen anyone here.” She does not hesitate as they reach the grove, carefully pushing her way past the thin trunks and seemingly disappearing into the rock face.

She only stops briefly to make sure the colt is following — she knows he is. The darkness of the cave they are now standing in  brings with it a drop in temperature, and her warm breath creates puffs of vapor that dissipate around them. Their footsteps echo within the confines of the cave, and the purpose in her walk signals that this was clearly not their final destination. ”It’s not much further,” and even though she whispers it, the close quarters bounces the words off the walls. As they come around the bend there is a sliver of light up ahead, and suddenly she launches forward, giddy at the excitement of finally showing someone her only secret. She lopes the final stretch, breaking into the daylight at the end of the natural tunnel and then sliding to a stop. With excited eyes she looks to Rhaegor and then back to what she considered her own private discovery. They stand on a ledge that overlooks a very small valley, the mountains towering in a circle around them. More groves of dogwood and pine cluster the area, with a shallow mountain stream trickling down the face of one side - most likely a run off from the river that fed the lake in the main part of the kingdom - and flowing through the open grassy field. 

She side steps closer to him then, feeling the feathers of his wings against her side. Her pulse once again begins to race, but she looks to him with bright and earnest eyes as she reiterates in a questioning murmur, ”Promise you won’t show anyone else?”

chryseis
I don’t know where I’m going,
but I don’t think I’m coming home
leilan x briseis

@[Rhaegor]