"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
07-08-2019, 01:32 PM (This post was last modified: 07-08-2019, 01:58 PM by Nolin.)
It had been an adjustment with father back in his life. Mother has moved on with Litotes and even moved to Pangea. It was a lot for the young boy to take in, and he finds himself hanging back in the Cove while his mother had left.
Athena was never far, and he could always count on her. Although, as they grew older it seemed that the pair grew farther a part. At this point in his life he felt alone, confused on which parent to choose when all he wanted was to get to know father, but it was mother who was always there.
The nearly yearling found himself traveling through the Cove by himself. The winter was heavy, and snow covered the ground but soon enough it would all melt away and spring would be here. The pale stag moved about in an opening in the heart of the kingdom. He looked for anyone, seemingly he missed the part where he made friends as a child.
07-10-2019, 01:21 PM (This post was last modified: 07-11-2019, 12:23 PM by Leah.)
oh, i was reckless, once was breathless but i’ve got a feeling and keep believing i’m never gonna give this back
Isilme had never been good at making friends, either. She was outgoing, but not particularly sweet; beautiful, but rough around the edges. It doesn’t bother her — she has a zebra forced to be at her side, after all — but she does enjoy finding other people to talk at (less so listening to these other people, yet another reason she doesn’t have very many friends).
The Cove is quiet today. Perhaps the winter has driven people further away from the shore, or perhaps everyone has followed her mother to Pangea, but regardless, Isilme and Spot remain. They walk, side by side, until she sees another body in the distance. His green points and horns give him away: her younger half-brother, Nolin.
Despite Nolin and his twin Athena only being a year younger than Isilme and Austra, she hardly knows her half-siblings. Because they each had their own twins, they segregated themselves, and Isilme was often too busy wandering or hunting to spend time with them. He looks lonely, even from afar, and she wonders where Athena and her own twin are.
“Nolin!” she calls, picking up the pace to join him, Spot slowly trudging through the snow behind her. “Hey!” she says when she reaches him, shifting her wings to fit comfortably at her side. “Whatcha doin’?”
He didn't expect to run into anyone, mainly because he wasn't looking for anyone. Nevertheless he was found, he hears his name being called out but when the voice wasn't Athena's his head whips to the source.
His gaze settles on the pale girl, his sister, Isilme. Though related they barely knew one another, each having there own twin to befriend. There pelts were nearly matching, and if Nolin hadn't had a green mane and tail they probably could have passed as twins.
Isilme, he says with a smile as his lanky legs make his way to her. His eyes ponder to the zebra friend beside her, but he knew well most of Litotes kids had a companion animal. She asks what he is doing but he isn't sure how to respond.
Uhm... avoiding my parents, he thinks to himself. I guess seeing who has remained in the Cove, seems rather quiet since the move. He sighs, his home that was once busy and full of life, recently died down and he wasn't sure which place to call his home. What about you? Where's your sister? He asks, cocking his hind leg as he finds a comfortable spot.
oh, i was reckless, once was breathless but i’ve got a feeling and keep believing i’m never gonna give this back
He asks about her own twin, and Isilme shrugs a shoulder nonchalantly, despite missing Austra greatly. “Probably with mom, I don’t know,” she pauses, thinking of her twin before remembering that the polite thing to do would be to ask about his twin as well. “Is that where Athena is?” It’s okay to feel lonely, even when you aren’t alone, Spot says, and she whips her head around to him, pinning her ears. Shut up, dummy, she replies, before turning back to her brother.
“I’m staying here, too,” she says, reaching her silver nose out to touch Nolin — a stiff, strange gesture, coming from her, but he is young and soft and she feels the need to comfort him. “Have you visited yet? I haven’t. It seems weird over there.”
Suddenly the pale girl is restless, shifting her weight from side to side, bored of the quietness of the Cove. She shifts into her lion form: not still a cub, though not yet fully grown, but an awkward, in-between small body with big paws. “Wanna go hunting?”
He inquires about Isilme's twin, and she admits she was not sure of her exact whereabouts, but most likely with mother. She spits the same question, inquiring about Athena and he couldn't help but laugh a bit. It seems that the older they get, being opposite gender twins they are drifting father apart from one another. They have different paths in life, and Athena was a free spirit while Nolin was much happier staying in the Cove.
I assume with mother, or at least she moved on to Pangea with the others. How ironic it would be if the twins had swapped siblings, spending time with one another rather than there legitimate twin. He knew of Isilme, but the two barely spent any time together before this interaction.
Isilme notes that she is staying in the Cove, reaching her nose out in some sort of gesture? He was never one for the diplomatic ways, although apparently his father was. None the less he reaches his own muzzle out to nudge hers, his ears listen as she mentions visiting Pangea. It seems these two siblings have more in common than he imagined. I haven't been yet, It seems to me that Pangea was always a separate land....I don't know but I will be staying here. He looks around the rather barren kingdom, almost everyone moved on with mother and Litotes.
Before his own eyes the equine shifts into a lion, for a moment his eyes grew large but after a few blinks they settle back. She asks if he wants to go hunting? He laughs, they shared the same mother but not a predator shifting trait. He wasn't exactly interested in chowing on another animal....but he wouldn't mind accompanying her, besides what kind of brother would he be to send his sister off in possible danger? I won't be of much use to you..but I will come with you. He begins to move towards the open field and stops to look back to his now lion sister and the zebra that stands beside her. Do you hunt often in the Cove? Does your prey live in the open field? He inquires, realizing he doesn't know where to begin with finding prey.
Isilme notices his eyes grow wide for just a moment and grins. It had shocked their mother, too, to birth two little lion girls, but the shock factor had quickly worn off as Isilme learned to control her shifting and often stayed in her lion form. She finds herself in her lion form often still, even as she ages, mostly out of boredom.
She moves past him, trotting ahead of Nolin and Spot, large paws landing softly on the melting snow and grass. “Well...don’t tell anyone but I don’t actually eat anything I catch. I used to eat the bugs but they don’t taste very good,” she says quietly. How embarrassing, the possibility of being seen as soft or kind. “It’s mostly bugs or squirrels in the field. Sometimes by the water I’ll catch a crab but they’re very pinchy so I don’t recommend it.”
After padding along for several minutes — all that her quick attention span can handle — with no bug or animal in sight, Isilme stops, scrunching her muzzle in frustration.
“Well…” she pauses, turning back to Nolin, “maybe we can practice on Spot instead? Here, watch.”
Spot drops his head with a sigh, pretending to graze to play along. Isilme leaps a few large steps back and then turns to face Spot, crouching down. “You get really low and quiet so they can’t hear you,” she explains with a mischievous grin. She slinks forward, silent, and then pounces suddenly, tackling Spot to the ground with a laugh. Spot does not laugh with her.
“I think it’s fun, anyway,” she says, getting back on her feet and shifting back into her natural golden form. “But it’s definitely easier in the spring. What do you like to do?”
you should see me in a crown
[I'm so sorry this is garbage!!! you are totally welcome to close this thread if you want ily]
