"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
06-04-2019, 12:43 PM (This post was last modified: 06-04-2019, 09:47 PM by Jakub.)
Jakub passes the border of his homeland the sulfuric smell encasing his nose. He smiled as he witnessed Leliana's flowers blooming sporadically through the still ashen covered ground. He does not mean to stay long but he needs to talk to his queen. He has been searching for months for Tephrans dropped amongst Beqanna, only to come up empty handed. He could see by glancing around that a few had found their own way back, pawing at the ground looking for summer eats, resting in the heat of the summers sun and the heat of her volcano. It was reassuring that not all are avoiding the land after her destruction.
He made his way across the open expanse, stopping momentarily under the cover of the trees that had fought back and won. Cracked and broken as they may be they were a sign of resistance.
He continued towards the beach, making sure to avoid the flowers Leliana had placed amongst the ground. The thought of his queen sent nerves through his body. The last time he had seen her was less than ideal. The party he curiously wondered into had not ended how he had hoped. He had left abruptly, he could not face her after Vulgaris had revealed her identity.
He dipped his head picking a single flower, a red daisy. A red flower in loyalty to his red queen, that is what he had intended. At least that is what he had told himself.
As his hooves sank into the sandy, white, ashened beach he let the flower fall from his lips catching the hot air and floating softly to the ground. Serving his Queen is the only intention he could have. Right now he needed to inform her of his progress and maybe delve into her mind for some guidance. His hooves toed the blue green ocean waters and then he walked in to submerge himself, a cool relief under the heat of the summer sun and the magma's scar splayed across his back.
Leliana had taken great measures to make sure that she had not checked the stranger’s identity at the party and thus she has no idea that the kind gentleman had been Jakub. Still, she knows that the young stallion has been working hard to find those still displaced from the war, and her heart warms for him. There are so few with such a pure heart—so few with such loyalty, with such true intentions.
So her smile is kind when she glances up, feeling his presence on the shores.
She does not teleport—although she could—and instead makes her way from the heart of the volcanic land where she had been resting toward the beach. As she walks, she continues to heal the land around her, pulling summer flowers from beneath the ash and clearing away the destruction. It is slow, tiring work, but over the months, she has made headway. Not all of Tephra bears the scars of the war.
When she reaches the beach, she glances down at the way the ash has begun to build up here and slowly begins to clear a path through it. As she walks, it dissolves—leaving the golden sand underneath. She cuts her way until she reaches the water and then she slowly begins to step in after him. It is soothing, the water crisp on such a warm summer day, and she exhales softly as she relaxes into it.
As she pulls up beside him, she angles her lovely head in his direction. For perhaps the first time since he has known her, the magic has receded from her eyes. It still burns within her, but not out of her control. Instead, she begins to feel it coil beneath her hand, responsive and natural, but not poisonous.
Her gaze is soft, the eyes gold and green in their hazel, and flowers bloom in her mane.
“Jakub,” she says his name kindly. “It is good to see you home. You have been working hard.”
it's only you and me there until the darkness calls let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes
The sound of another entering the oceans gentle grasp beside him catches his attention quickly. His ears turn before his face follows. Leliana. Jakub feels the beating in his heart stutter for only a moment as his dark blue eyes meet the hazle of her's, swimming in color much like the waters they stood in. Normal in complexion, though he knew they were anything but.
A gentle smile caresses his lips as he nods in greeting. My Queen, it is good to see you as well. a pain of failure pulls at his eyes as she talks of his hard work. A soft chuckle passes between his lips MY hard work? Lets take a minute to appreciate yours. It seems like you have been keeping your self busy. he says slightly shifting his body towards hers and turning his head past the beaches shore line appreciating the spackle of colors across the whitened planes. It is certainly peaceful and beautiful, though I did not expect anything less.
His eyes trail slowly back to meet her gaze. Before he speaks again he takes a slow, deep breath tasting the salt that seems to mingle aimlessly above the waters surface.Unfortunately, I have not been as successful as I had hoped. I have walked the Sylvan and Tiagan lands with no luck.
Though I had tracked a Tephran scent deep in Tiaga's cover, I lost it and happened upon Tiaga's leader Aten instead. He has promised to help in any way he can and to send word if any Tephrans find their way to him.
Jakub pauses for a moment as he looks out across the oceans expanse, his mind trailing across the faces of the defenseless he had gathered here on the beach that night. I know there is alot of Beqanna I have not searched and I won't stop until I have succeeded in finding those who wish to return. he says more to himself than to anyone.
Leliana just smiles at his compliment, ducking her head a little in response and then looking back to take in all of Tephra, noting not the places where flowers are beginning to bloom but rather the places that she has not yet reached. So much of it remains touched with ash and smoke and char. So much of it remains locked beneath the scars of the war and she can not see the good that she has brought—only the evil that she had not prevented. The evil that she had played her part in amplifying, not reducing.
It twists her stomach, causes a sour taste on her tongue, but she does her best to keep it from her face. Such bitterness simply sits in her belly and she lets it steep there; lets it be a dagger that affects her only.
“You have done so much for Tephra already, Jakub,” she says, bringing her hazel eyes back to him. “And I know that Magnus agrees. You have fought for her and worked to bring her children home to her and even helped discuss the terms of assistance from foreign lands.” She pulls her wings from the water to perch them higher on her back, the rivulets of water running down her slim sides.
“I know that you have just been named Beta, but I believe you are deserving of the Alpha rank.” She smiles again. “I have full faith in you, Jakub, and I know that you will continue to work for Tephra’s good. We are lucky to have one like you amongst our ranks.” She knew that she couldn’t do this alone, after all. She would need those like him who were willing to bleed and sweat for this land she loves.
it's only you and me there until the darkness calls let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes
He watched her carefully noticing how she shies from the complement and the sadness that sets it as she looks to the places not yet touched by her gift.
He thinks about how useless he felt that night, not being able to protect the home he vowed to stand for, and he can only assume that his feeling is amplified by ten within his Queen.
She brought him back from those feelings of regret as she continued to talk of his place of Beta and gracing him with Alpha. All he could do was offer her a small, strained smile. Her faith in him also 10 fold compared to his own.
I accept my place as Alpha under your reign, but only because I know that I will be serving a Queen how will stop at nothing to protect the innocent. Those who have no say in what happens to them, those who are simply here to live and not just in Tephra but all of Beqanna. Evil is a hard thing to stop, but nothing will change if we all sit idly by and watch.. he stops for a minute studying her face and the hurt that sits in the farthest caverns of her hazle eyes. The land and people will heal beneath your touch. Don't doubt yourself in your actions. What you did was brave and selfless. As much as we need those that are willing to bleed and sweat for our land, we also need those who are willing to lead this land and make a change for good upon Beqanna.
Jakub's eyes held fast to hers, as if he was trying to physically pull the negative feelings from her. He could never pretend to understand the weight of protecting a kingdom, he had only felt what it was like to not be able to protect a few including Leliana and it still rained havoc on his mind. So much so that he had gone to the mountain to ask for a gift to help others. Standing her looking at Leliana standing here with him in the blue, green waters, his red queen, only solidified his decision.
Do you ever regret the gifts you have that allow you to protect others? he said absantly.
Leliana smiles as his accepts the promotion and then pivots to compliment her further. She doesn’t break eye contact, even though there still lives within her a quiet girl who shies from such things, but neither does she engage further in it. Instead she remains still, letting the smile that warms her crimson lips speak more than she ever could on the subject. How could she truly ever tell him how grateful she was to have someone like him in the kingdom—someone who trusted her and could help her grow this kingdom.
But such things are too difficult to verbalize so she keeps them tucked away.
Instead, she watches until he finally asks the follow-up question. Her lips press together in thought as she finally glances away, her hazel eyes looking toward the horizon. Once, she had been just a girl who had been living within Tephra’s warm waters; now, she was a woman who wore its crown. Once she had been a girl who had been just a healer capable of stitching others together. Now pure magic flowed through her.
“I don’t know if regret is the right word,” she finally answers as she looks back to him, “but I do long for the simplicity of what my life was before. I long for how easy it was to just be a healer.” She didn’t know what it was to always trust yourself; to know that, at the end of the day, you would know the right move.
“I can protect others now, but I can also harm them,” there is a bruising in her eyes as she thinks about those who were hurt by a simple action she had thought would only serve as a warning. “It goes against everything I have always believed about myself, and now I have to live with that.”
it's only you and me there until the darkness calls let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes
He listened and watched attentively, what she had to say on the matter was important to him. If his crimson Queen, who was kind, selfless, and compassionate, wished to not have been graced with her abilities then who was he to pursue abilities of his own.
She did not regret the abilities themselves but the hurt she caused with the actions of her abilities. That is what tore at her slowly, it seemed. He nodded in understanding as she spoke of the simplicity of healing compared to the magic that flowed through her now. She had always been a protector, healing those who had been injured or sick. At the revelation of this knowledge Jakub offered a soft smile.
The thought of Leliana healing did not surprise him. Her actions against Loess were valid, but whether she was trying to protect those that had been taken or those that would be taken in the future every action has a reaction and hers caused great loss. He could see in her eyes how much that alone affected her.
If you could do it all over again knowing now the harm that came from the war, would you have stood back and let Loess continue with their ways knowing that many innocents would suffer instead of taking action and protecting and standing up for them like you did? he did not ask this question with the purpose of making her feel her pain more deeply, but only because it was a question he needed to know.
Peace was not a utopia that came with out harm. There is bad and good in the world and both sides will always suffer in the battle of morals, with the innocent stuck in between. Unfortunately the bad seemed to have powers that were untouchable to the innocents of both sides, and Jakub was searching for a way to defend those innocents.
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