"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 darkness is overwhelming at first, but Soleil quickly finds it peaceful. Where her eyes once struggled to make sense of the emptiness, there is now just the gentle fluttering shut of a child’s eyelids. A sweet humming floats from the depths of her throat, filling the nothingness with the only sound she needs: herself.
It is upon that realization that her eyes flash open, now blinded by the brilliant light so contrasted by the previous dark. She sighs and droop her head, little ears twisting backward to rest a centimeter above her skull. There are low murmurings from good distances away, faded voices of residents of Tephra she cares not to meet. Fox and Lynx are nowhere to be found - at least, Soleil has yet to discover their thoughts. She huffs and heat burns her throat, sending little tendrils of smoke out of her nostrils.
Yet another trait she cannot control popping up in her most frustrated moment. The little babe grumbles to herself.
The only distraction Soleil has is the undying, itching need to deceive. She shakes the cloudy blue fluff of her mane from her eyes and shivers, dragging a pale gaze over the bedraggled landscape of Tephra. Not much disturbs the healing land since the fire, though the little mind reader is not sure if she knows anything other than an isolated home. Still, she stretches her mind in every direction, quiets herself just enough to find even the most echoed thoughts. Find those whispered thoughts she does.
Goddamn flies, he grumbles, voice grisly in the filly’s mind. She follows the murmuring as it grows stronger, the complaints growing more vulgar by the second. A fierce frown passes over her mouth: she does not like him already, but the desire to pull the wool over his eyes is disastrously strong.
When Soleil finally happens upon the stallion, she hides behind a copse of thick jungle trees. His thoughts are easy to comb, simple and rude. The frown pulls a bit more taut around her mouth. Melancholy is a fitting adjective for her, but uncouth is not. His vile words mingle with a cruelty she has never faced before, and her mouth curls in her first ever sneer.
What was that? the stallion thinks, whipping his head up to peer in the filly’s direction. A twig she did not realize she was pressing into finally snaps. A little flame covers her lips and then immediately disappears. She steps from the shadows, neither frightened nor confident - simply just there, absorbing his mind with a gentle tilt of her head.
“What the hell do you want?” the stallion snaps. A slew of curses cross his mind, one in particular too destructive to go unnoticed: boring looking brat. For just a moment, Soleil seethes. Her fire is angry in her chest, hot and desperate to send chaos spewing from her mouth. This is starkly different from the childish tantrums she has thrown before (her first taste of injustice). Despite her fury, the babe is able to swallow the flames that lick at the back of her throat; now, she is merely taking note of the man’s equally as unremarkable appearance.
Revenge is a seed sown ignorantly, kudzu-like in its rapid growth and endless reach. Soleil does not shy from its vines.
“I’m just walking by,” she states, matter of fact as she steps in the opposite direction of him. Her faux-retreat is slow as she listens to his thoughts, searching for a piece of his puzzle she may rip from his brain. Finally, she pulls a name shrouded in fear from his absent thoughts.
“Though . . .” Soleil pauses, pivoting to face the much larger creature once again. “That is not what Saul told me to do.” A grin is brilliant upon her lips. The stallion rears back. “He actually told me I should do this,” she finishes, voice growing stronger as the heat on her tongue strengthens into full flames. The filly spits her magic at the man, a flame as big as her chasing him as he stumbles back.
“Fuck! You crazy ass -” but he is already galloping in the other direction, and Soleil is exhausted from exerting herself - she drifts to the ground before she can hear the rest. She sleeps.
the grumpy old man is phae. i am inserting myself into beqanna :-)
my heart is violent because it learned how to bleed at a young age when it is hungry I feed it with shaking hands.
He watches in wonder as Djinni mimics him and the others who follow after. Malone’s eyes are wide and a smile plays across his features while she twists and contorts into so many new shapes and colors. That is, until she copies Meraxes, causing him to turn his head just as the older boy begins to scold him. The golden starboy’s ears swivel back and lay flat as he lowers his head shamefully. Would his brother tell Starsin where he had snuck off to this time? He glances to the rose-gold genie and shuffles his hooves awkwardly as his sibling seems to brush off the boy’s mischief.
The strange woman speaks her thanks and before he can even think of how to reply or introduce himself, he’s somewhere else. Rude, but okay. The colt blinks as he tries to regain his bearings before realizing that he is simply back in Loess. Someone is rushing up behind him and he spins to face the assailant with his small wings spread wide.
“Malone! Where have you been all morning?!”
Starsin pulls him close and buries her face in his short mane, as she often does when she’s trying to calm herself. He smiles beneath her affections and nuzzles against her happily as she continues to scold him for sneaking off yet again. The ink and gold wings settle across his back and he feels a content sigh slip from his lungs as she finally releases him. Suddenly, Djinni’s words echo across his mind: deceive. Malone does his best to keep a cool expression across his face as he straightens to face his mother. Her eyebrow is arched knowingly but she says nothing despite hearing his thoughts.
“I was out with Dad. It was just flying lessons, honest!” he says with a grins and a wag of his short tail. His mother knows very well that Ophanim is still sore from his wounds during the war but she’s curious to see just what rabbit hole this lie will lead her son down. She places another delicate kiss against his cheek and nods, parting from him to find the boy’s father. Malone skims through her thoughts but she’s careful not to leave any clues within them. But now what to tell his father when he surely comes asking the same question?! Countless ideas flow through his mind and he swallows nervously as he tries to grasp even one.
Meraxes! Of course! His older brother will surely tell corroborate his story if Malone simply tells his father that they were off playing somewhere. And it makes sense, after all, for him to lie to Starsin about playing with any of his siblings besides Alita. Ophanim knows that she doesn’t much care for his other children aside from their lovechild. He gives himself a curt nod and puffs out his small chest with pride at his own cleverness.
Of course, he could just nap and avoid lying further all together. Best not to implicate himself by speaking any further. The boy scurries on his spindly legs to the shade of a nice tree, the perfect place to at least pretend to sleep for a while. Malone scans his surroundings with those blue eyes framed by black sclera before turning a circle like a housedog pleased with himself. Finally, he lowers himself to the ground and blankets his small body with his wings. He tries to keep one eye just barely open, peeping out for any sign of his parents as the summer sun dapples his body with its warm light. A breeze brushes his fluff of forelock from his face and kisses him goodnight.
His eye drifts shut and his ribs fall into a steady rhythm of even breaths as he falls asleep. Even the most clever tricksters need their rest, it seems.
Felicitey watches Dijinni in utter awe of her abilities, a giggle escaping her lips every time she morphed in front of her as each member of their party came around. Her wings shifted slightly as the rose gold mare talked to the group. As quickly as the mare morphed so did the world around her when the mare had finished thanking them.
Blackness filled the air, and a slight panic mixed with excitement zinged through Felicitey body. The excitement was soon replaced with only panic as Felicitey turned suddenly to find no Dexter upon her back. The world was always half quiet, with her deaf left ear but as her large mismatched eyes searched the void she realized it that even her racing heart made no noise at all, she was entirely alone, forever.
Before she knew it she was tucked back beneath the large gangly tree skirting the play den that she had started under when the call for adventure began. With a whip of her head she nuzzled her cheek up against Dexter's, still sitting on her back grooming her long, poofy baby mane. Her heart slowed as he scratched her ear and patted her cheek. He had been there, he knew.
Felicitey hoisted herself from the grass, and her and Dexter made their way deeper into the play den the feeling of adventure still fresh in her mind. But there was also another feeling settling in and stirring itself up with her idea of adventure. Decieve it said, decieve she breathed, a playful lopsided grin adorning her face.
They spotted him then, a small blue colt dappled in white prancing among the flowers that coated the dens floor. An innocent idea creeped it's way into Felicitey's mind, nothing wrong with some fun and a little white lie.
I'd be careful if I were you she called to the boy. His attention turning towards hers setting his small tail flouncing
Hello! Careful? Why?
Have you been to the den before? Is your mom around? she asked glancing around to the edge of the trees, putting on the most serious face she could muster. He shook his head slowly. They say their is a vicious lion that stalks the border of the den, waiting. Once the mommas have left their babies and the fairies have fallen asleep, he creeps up and...BAM! You're dead. she said forcing the smile back as she watched the boys eyes widen in fear.
You're lying, my momma said this is the safest place for me to play. his voice squeaked and quivered a little as his eyes glanced around the trees edges.
Am I? she questioned, slowly moving behind a thicket not far off but far enough that he couldn't see.
As she hid away, Dexter jumped from her back scolding her with his eyes. Oh, it's just some innocent fun. she said as she rolled her amber and blue eyes. Her brow dipping in concentration and her mouth skewed in hard work. She had yet to voluntarily shift from equine to lion cub, but determination had set in.
decieve
She felt her body change and meld beneath her, eyes closed and squished together. As she opened them up a squeal of happiness over took her, though it came out sounding more like a dying horse and a small roar of the cub she was now.
She pounced from behind the thicket roaring her baby call as she started to run towards the small blue colt. He squealed in terror, backing up quickly tripping beneath his spindly legs. Felicitey crouched in the tall grass, peering up at him as he found his composure and took of towards the opening into the meadow.
A small cackle of good fun escaped her mouth as Dexter made his way over to her back. Grabbing her left ear they made their way to lay beside the small lake. Still in her cub body, Felicitey gave a large yawn, and closed her eyes. The effort of her first voluntary shift and the fun she just had, satisfying the invasive thoughts decieve had tired her to her core. She didn't even have it in her to argue with Dexter as he groomed a little to roughly in defiance of her joke played.
Soon she drifted off to sleep underneath the hot summer sun, one paw dangling softly in the cool water.
felicitey
who do you think you are? collecting your jar of hearts.
The mare doesn’t keep to her rose-gold form that he had first envisioned, and it fascinates the boy as he looks up and there is a copy of himself staring back at him. It is only momentarily, as she turns to mimic the colt that approaches after him, and then the filly who appears last. He is completely awestruck as she settles back to her original body shape and color, and before he can ask her what she’s thanking them for, he blinks and he is home again. Wait... what? What just happened? Where did Malone go, and all of the others?
Something rises in him, a quiet voice whispering deceive.
He sets off at once, towards the ruins of the labyrinth that tries to slay his brother and one other. The scars marking the ground have recently been healed over by the new growths of flowers, and he sniffs at them curiously, his nose close to the ground. He doesn’t notice the black-and-white mismarked stallion approach until the man snaps a question at him, and he flings his head up to see the white-maned man standing off to the side of the maze. “W-what?” he stutters, unsure of what he was just asked.
“I said, what are you doing here?” the stallion demands, ears flat against his head. “You don’t know if any of that is safe.”
Deceive.
Drawing himself to his full – not large – height, Meraxes rolls back his shoulders and fixes the man with a haughty stare. “I don’t think it’s of any matter to you,” he says airily, flicking his tail over his haunches in dismissal. “I’m royalty here, and I don’t need some old crock bossing me around.” He digs his talons into the soft earth, turning up his nose at the old man. “In case you haven’t noticed, my father is a dragon. I don’t think I need your help any.”
The stallion chuckles, and turns to go. “I remember being like you once, little prince,” he says. “Have your fun, but not everyone will believe your story as easily as I.”
Bristling with the fake arrogance he has conjured up, Meraxes releases a small jet of fire skyward, laughing maniacally as he does so. The stallion stops and turns back briefly, rolling his eyes before continuing on.
With a giggle, Meraxes, curls up in the flowers, suddenly sleepy. The sun is beginning to set, but something tells him that the fun is just beginning.
The darkness quickly overwhelms the bay stallion, silence engulfing the pitch black expanse as time seems to stop. Everything is silent and cold, perfectly still. Time now seems to fold in on itself as everything begins to re-appear again, now bright colours begin to appear, the colourful shine of Sylva appearing as the stallion opens his eyes, the silence is gone, birds chirp loudly as he stands upright, dazed and confused.
Was it all a dream? Aziz huffs loudly as he begins to walk forward, he had either invested his time and effort into nothing or overslept. Nevertheless, the male was tired and rather grumpy.
As he walks he can hear the wail of a young child, desperately looking for something, but for what?
The bay male's ears perk curiously, his body slithering closer to inspect the scene, upon arrival Aziz spots the small foal, laying silently in a small patch of overgrown foliage. Interesting.
Aziz feels a strong connection, a desire to ask what the child is in search of, the male steps forward with an inviting smile "Hello, what seems to be troubling you?" he asks softly, his voice abandoning its usual raspy and aggressive tone. Where is my mother? I'm lost, please help me the small child pleads, her voice portraying a tone of urgency, giving Aziz the chance to help.
He can smell where her mother has gone, though the child's meagre sense of smell cannot pick it up. He was in control of the little one's future, the possibility of life and death right at his fingertips. Deceive, deceive, deceive.
Aziz grins warmly "Your mother?" he asks quietly, the small foal nodding desperately, trying to stand without shaking.
"Right. Your mother" he nods, standing by the small foal's side. He is compelled to deceive, to lead the child along the wrong path, deception was the goal.
Aziz smiles sincerely "This way" his voice growls, his mind pounding excitedly as he leads the small foal in the opposite direction, leading the child into the shadows, created by the thick Sylvan canopy.
"Run as fast as you can, don't look back, there are creatures around these parts" he smiles, watching the dark foal disappear into the thick foliage, running as quickly as he can.
The deed is done, he has deceived. He can now rest.
The bay stallion recedes back into the Sylvan forest, shaping a dome out of the ground that he can sleep in, his mind rather fuzzy as he falls asleep, warm and comfortable inside the dome.
In the shelter of his forested home and his father’s shadows, Torryn has not seen much in the way of other forms of magic. He knew the way his father could open the curtain and lead them into the darkness, and he knew the way his siblings could disappear into them, or use them for travel. But watching the genie shift from various forms and colors caused him to stare in unblinking confusion and fascination, but he remains quiet and says nothing to her. As it turned out, he wouldn’t have had the chance to speak, even if he had wanted to.
He knew what it meant to be swallowed by darkness, but this was something else entirely. The shadows were cool and sheltered, but they were still alive. But this – this felt like absolutely nothing, and briefly, he wondered if she had killed them.
When the first threads of panic began to take root, his eyes open, and he is suddenly back in Taiga.
There was something toxic creeping like a vine, tangling itself in his veins and doing its best to encroach into his mind. It left a bitter taste on his tongue, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t shake it. The need to lie and decieve was like poison, and when he turned and landed face to face with his youngest sister, his expression was immediately twisted with guilt even though he hadn’t done anything yet. “Where were you, Torryn? Mom has been looking everywhere for you,” she said to him with her eyes narrowed slightly. Wrenley, unlike himself, was the perfect melding of their parents. Her coat was black, like theirs – not the same endless black as Ether’s, but somehow still darker than the plain black of Briseis – and her eyes a molten amber. If he was a crueler being, he might have been jealous of her. Jealous that she looked like them, jealous that she had inherited some of Ether’s power over the shadows.
But when he looked at her, he only felt softness, and he reached down to obnoxiously ruffle her forelock, because he knew she hated it. “Nowhere, little sis. I had a strange dream, and just went for a walk.” It was more or less the truth, he thinks. The meadow had come to him in a dream, and he had walked to it. But his sister was not impressed, and was staring up at him dubiously. “You went for a walk all day? You usually never leave Taiga.” Had he been gone all day, he thinks with a slight frown. It had only felt like a matter of minutes, but when he glances up through the towering trees, he can see the sun is already dipping lower in the sky. “Yeah. Just a walk. Nowhere special.” He swallows away the urge to create a firmer lie. He wasn’t really lying right now; he was withholding information, but he wasn’t lying. There is something clawing it him, something that wants him to spin a story; tell her that he had been on some sort of grand adventure, maybe one where he had evaded attacks from predators, or perhaps outwitted a magician. But staring into his little sister’s still innocent and trusting eyes, he realizes that he simply can’t. The fact that he hadn’t even given the full truth of where he had gone was already gnawing at his conscience.
Having decided she was already bored of her brother’s half-way explanations, Wrenley just sighs, and turns on her heel to bound back to where Torryn knew his family would be gathering. Normally, he would follow, but instead he turns, disappearing into the shadows of the forest. There, in his newfound solitude, he rests beneath the sprawling limbs of a tree, and finally he drifts off to sleep, the image of the pink genie still floating behind his closed eyes.
i never said that i would be your lover
i never said that i would be your friend
i never said that i would take no other
First there is endless darkness.
Hyaline is bright after the time in the blackness. All the world is gold and glaring until she blinks several times and her pupils adjust to the sudden change. The children are still asleep, but the tether to their dreams is weak and soon the warm sunlight will rouse them. It is a sweeter good morning than any mother’s touch and so she waits for them come awake on their own. Normally she would be happy to be present when trio first rises, but the urge planted when the Djinn sent her home almost coaxes her away.
It's a craving for fresh and giddy wickedness that quickens her heart. It is not like her to lie, she omits now and then but Kensa does not believe she ever twists the truth into unnatural shapes. Yet she wishes now to go down into the valley and lead someone astray...and maybe that is not so unlike her. The chestnut snorts, her thoughts having turned down a switch-backed path toward truths she is in no mood to consider.
Kelynen raises his head to the sound of her breath and his movement wakes his sister (Valek sleeps on, a slothful teenager). Kensa stares at the two younger children almost absently. It is Risk she loves, a child not of her blood or born of her womb. Kelynen’s golden eyes worship his mother but there is no place for him in her heart. She broke somehow when this boy was born, or before he was born. When he was issued forth she might have given him to the Den but his father was alive and she could not betray the man she loved in this way. So, so many other ways though… Whispers the temptress voice of mischief.
Kensa who tells no lies refuses to acknowledge that a man might expect fidelity, that a child might know its mother is cold, that chaos might only breed chaos.
She lies.
She lies now, to the child. This lie, this mischief planted by magic might be enough to keep him safe from her indifference. Kensa gives the child the words he seems desperate to hear (words that would always stick in her throat). The sabino mare is brushing her lips along the sweet smelling curls at his crest and the oath falls against his her unwanted boy’s skin with the same warmth that honest words would. “I love you, darling Kelynen.” She has never wanted something to be truth quite as much as this, and perhaps that is love in its way.
When the boy looks up at her, it should break her heart but it doesn’t. His smile is quick and bright with the innocence of an infant. She smiles back. For once she does not reach for her feelings about the girl and try and extend some semblance of warmth to him, because the lie seems to rebound on Kensa and summon up softer feelings for the palomino colt. At least for now.
The Primarch spends her day the youngsters, teaching and playing among the trees. When she takes them back up to bed the boy falls asleep curled between mother and sister, rather than tucking himself against Risk alone as he normally would. Kensa wonders if she has made a mistake, taught him to expect something she cannot give. The day has been long and her lids are heavy. She begins to drift off, leaving those worries for another day.
She is with them, peering curious through intangible eyes as they feel the most gentle of her instincts.
One does not lie at all, and one by one each glittering hair will fall from his hide.
One fights the urge most fiercely, a sweet boy with no heart for trickery, and she places a soft touch to his poll just after his sister leaves. He’ll find himself feeling inexplicably dizzy for some time.
The others succeed in a variety of ways, and they will hear her soft laugh just as they drift to sleep. When they wake, rested and hale, the whisper to decieve has deepened. A lie is not enough anymore, though some of them might have already felt it with the tricks they’d played through deception. Today they feel the need to prank someone, to watch a friend or stranger fall for a trick.
---
- Bowie has been eliminated for missing the deadline. He will slowly lose his hair and become completely bald. It can grow back or be permanent; that’s up to the player
- Torryn has been eliminated for lacking the heart of a trickster. He will be physically awkward and clumsy for a period of time, the length of which is up to the player.
- Your character is wakes up where they went to sleep
- You have been overcome with the desire to play a prank (can be another character or an NPC)
- your post should end with your character falling asleep at the end of the day
- The deadline to reply to this quest is Wednesday, June 19th at 11 pm CST
She had slept the rest of the night away and most of the next morning. Djinni's laughter filled her dreams as her joke from the day before played over and over in her mind. She had found relief from the prodding of a voice, that sounded much like her own, telling her to deceive. It had felt like a small itch - the kind that settled between your shoulder blade that you couldn't fully reach only satisfy by lightly touching around the irritated spot.
As the sun reached halfway between up and down the itch very quickly became stronger, a light touch no longer satisfying it. Felicitey's mind awake deceive the voice vibrated through her mind, bigger it scratched. Without hesitation she knew who she must deceive next. He laid sprawled across her back, his tail entwined with her own soft lion tail.
deceive
Felicitey did not know if this would even work. They shared a connection, Dexter and her. He would surely know that she was lying, that she was pranking him. But that ITCH!
Felicitey yawned and stretched her rather lengthy cub body, her paws skimming the lakes water edge. Very suddenly she jumped up, disturbing Dexter's comfort. She let out a distraught yowl, and several consecutive yips of distraught. Using a talent she didn't even know she had she rolled her eyes back inside her head - she didn't know if she actually managed to hide her iris' away from Dexter.
DECEIVE.
BIGGER.
Dexter!! she screamed in utter terror, throwing her body to and fro. Rolling and tumbling she began to "search" her surroundings, eyes still rolled.
He howled, boy did he howl, frightened for his companion. Her eyes bare of sight, and she didn't seem to hear him. Was she dying? Was she completely deaf? Why couldn't she see him? It was that damn joke she played. He tried to scold her. He had tried to warn her, and this is what she got for falling into the mares games. Dexter began to weep as he hopped to Felicitey's back. He swiped his hands lightly across her cheeks in attempt to calm her.
Felicitey so badly wanted to end the prank now, if only to take pride in how well she had pulled that off. However, her itch had not been fully satisfied. Longer. I must drag this out longer. She closed her eyes now that Dexter had settled on her back no longer able to see her face. She settled into her touch, sending out waves of gratitude but also trying to maintain the fear she had pulled off.
He could feel it in her tense muscles and the way she only relaxed a small bit beneath his touch. He needed to get her to her mom. She could do more than he did. Let's go for a walk he thought hoping she would understand.
Felicity moved and responded to Dexter's touch not knowing where they were going or who they were finding. She pretended her balance was almost non existent, purposely tripping and running into boulders and fallen tree trunks. Dexter was doing his best but she knew he was not prepared for her to be completley deaf and blind.
They made their way to the meadow, slowly, but successfully. Just as quickly as they arrived she could her the sky shift and the air move beneath powerful wings.
crap she thought.
She winced as hooves met ground infront of her, eyes still clenched shut. Felicitey, what are you doing? came her mothers voice. She cracked one golden, amber eye as she peered up at her mother and her sky blue eye followed shortly after. Her body shifted beneath her, she knew her mom didn't appreciate her lion cub form during confrontation. She could feel Dexter's betrayal as he hopped from her now equine back moving to stand beside her mom.
It was weird, to say the least, to see the two of them standing there both with scolding eyes directed towards her. We were just playing. she said a lopsided grin forming, giving a roll of her shoulders. Sorry Dexter. she offered. He seemed more upset with her than she had expected, but the itch had been satisfied.
The sun had set during their slow journey to the meadow. We're eating and then going to sleep. her mother said eyeing her curiously, and giving her a soft kiss tangled in her forelock. That was okay with her, she seemed to be absolutely exhausted after today's prank - which she pulled off perfectly by the way.
Dexter never found his way back to her shoulders that night but remained in earshot of her. He was angry with her, but would always be there. With that confirmation she settled in next to her mother and dozed off.
felicitey
who do you think you are? collecting your jar of hearts.
my heart is violent because it learned how to bleed at a young age when it is hungry I feed it with shaking hands.
He wakes in the afternoon warmth, still curled beneath the shade of the tree his mother left him under. The rose gold woman’s whispers come to him again and so he stumbles up onto his small hooves. Malone gives his head a little shake to clear the dust from his mane before happily skipping along to find his brother. Meraxes will be hearing the whispers too, he assumes, given that he saw the boy at the beginning of this little game. Perhaps they can cooperate on this leg of the journey. There seemed to be no rule against it, after all.
When he finds the golden boy, Malone smiles up at him with mischief tucked behind his black and blue eyes. “I need you to push me off a cliff,” he says simply, his small tail swishing back and forth in nervous excitement. The smaller boy waits patiently before continuing with his explanation. “Chase me onto the rocks up there, so Mom will follow and tell us to calm down. Then you’ll push me off and I’ll glide down but I’ll scream real loud so she thinks I’m falling!” He grins now, knowing that her fears are still floating on the surface of her mind after the thorn maze nearly took him from her. She hasn’t fully recovered from seeing Ophanim torn apart either.
Before Meraxes can protest or voice any concerns, the black and gold child tucks his wings tight to his side and takes off running on his spindly legs. He can see his mother up ahead speaking with someone and so, for good measure, he leans just enough to bump her with his shoulder as he goes skittering past. The boy is careful to keep his mind focused on outrunning his brother and nothing else as he listens to the hoofbeats following him. Starsin cannot know their plans until the big reveal.
He hurries up the rocks, laughter bubbling up from within him, as he rushes to the edge of the cliff. Finally he turns with a grin still overcoming his other features, chest heaving for breath as he faces Meraxes and Starsin. He steps carefully backward, feeling his way with his back hooves until there is only open air behind him. Malone takes a deep breath, his mind still clear, as he rears up to meet his charging brother.
He spreads his wings almost instinctively, regardless of their plans, and cries out in surprise at how much it hurts to actually be hit. For a moment, genuine fear overcomes him and he flaps his wings wildly to right himself. His heart thrums wildly in his chest as he glides to the ground, head almost dizzy from fear. Malone looks back at them as he lands gently on the ground, the corners of his lips still managing the faintest hint of a smile before he skitters off back to his tree.
By now, the sun is setting and the dry Loessian air grows cooler by the second. He lowers himself back to the ground and curls into a sleepy bundle of legs and mischief. Malone wonders if the woman will still speak to him in shapeless whispers when he awakes tomorrow morning. For now, however, the day has made his eyelids heavy and he finds himself drifting off to sleep before his mother can find him and scold him. All of that can wait until tomorrow.
![[Image: N3F7IUd.png]](https://i.imgur.com/N3F7IUd.png)
