"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
08-07-2016, 12:09 PM (This post was last modified: 08-07-2016, 12:30 PM by Moment.)
Let me apologize to begin with...
My short life has been eventful to say the least. Not my birth, mother is old hat at that by now. But the discovery of my, er, ability, for lack of a better word, had been, well, interesting.
For one, I almost started mother on fire. She hadn't been too pleased by that. And then I did actually start the little clearing on fire. I didn't mean to, it just kind of… happened. And, unfortunately, since then, it hasn't been much better.
Finally mom just decided she had had enough. So, here I am, watching her walk off in the distance. She said she loved me. I cling to that little bit of comfort as she disappears (even if she had ended with ‘but you are your father's problem now’. I can just pretend that never happened, right?).
I shiver in the cold. It's almost summer, but the ice wall sends a great, chilly shadow over the land. On top of that, it's just darn cold. And my coat had already been shortening as it prepares for summer.
I am a rather uninspiring bay color (at least when compared to my admittedly beautiful mother) with four white socks and a white blaze decorating my face. I have the gangliness of youth still, but mother says I take after my father. I'll be tall, I suppose. I already am. And big. It's hard to hide, even as young as I am.
Still, that doesn't help me now. It's just bloody cold. As I move forward, my step is hesitant. I have no idea what is beyond that small opening in that rather intimidating wall. Just then, a sudden hiss above me causes me to flinch reflexively.
Damn, I know what that means. Sure enough, moments later, a sharp rat-a-tat-tat sounds. I glance up to see several glowing embers sizzling against the ice that makes up the wall.
Over the years he had seen quite a lot of things. He cannot say that he’s that easily surprised, but the rain of stars isn’t something he had come across before. He could see it from a distance, yet that isn’t necessary the thing that scares him. The fact that he stars had fallen – and created some strange effect on the border – while the sky was packed with clouds that promised snow caused him to worry. With the recent developments, changes and warnings it was only logical for the graying male to think of an attack, right?
So he hurries towards the wall and the one entrance that it has. He’s bound to travel by foot, trotting as fast as his short legs were comfortable with, and secretly Brynmor is regretting it that he has lost his wings. With the disappearance of magic he had been stripped from his kingdom granted wings, but it wasn’t only that. His scar, the sign of his initiation, had disappeared too. Oh, he had carried it with pride, and he would love to see it back on his chest again. It had become a part of him and now it was gone.
The child that he finds at the border, barely passed through the gate, wasn’t the thing that the blue eyed lord had expected to find. The boy is tall for his age, his small body already showing that he would grow up to be tall. Much taller than Brynmor himself, and maybe he would even rival Offspring’s height, but that was something only time could tell. ”Hello there, child. What’s your name?” His head dips a little and his movements slow, not wanting to scare the colt. He glances through the gate, eyes searing for a dark spot against the snow, as they didn’t find an unknown child alone at their border on a daily base.
I don’t mean to scare anybody with it. Really, truly, I don’t. But sometimes they get scared anyways. Mother wasn’t scared at least. Just irritated. She could protect herself with her starlight. The thought of that hollows out my belly, leaving me feeling rather empty. If only I had gotten Mom’s starlight instead. That would have been so much better. It’s so pretty, and it doesn’t accidentally start things on fire.
I mean, falling stars are nice and all, but they are rather alarming when you see them for the first time. Or really any time thereafter. No one wants to be hit by a burning rock, least of all me. I’m still growing back hair on my rump where I had accidentally dropped one on myself. That was when I had discovered that if I try really hard, like really, really concentrate, I can kinda sorta avoid hitting things. Well, important things at least. Like myself. And other horses.
Did I mention yet how much it is just not appreciated?
In any case, it comes as no surprise to me when the sudden appearance of a handful of falling stars attracts some attention. In this case a gray stallion who is on the smallish side. He’s taller than me still, but that probably wouldn’t last too long. When he sees me though, he slows down, demeanor shifting almost instantly.
He seems almost… cautious. It’s okay though, I’m used to it.
I try to smile at him, but it feels a little awkward. Hopefully it doesn’t look quite so stilted to the graying northern man. I’m not optimistic about that though.
”I’m Moment,” I say in response to his question. My voice is soft. It always is; soft and quiet and altogether unimpressive. Still, it’s my voice. It’s what I’ve got. ”My, uh, my mom dropped me off.” I stop then, not quite sure how to word my quandary. How do you tell someone your mom doesn’t want you around anymore?
”I guess that my dad lives here. That’s what mom said at least. Offspring? Do you know him?”
Scared wasn’t per say the right word. More like worried and on edge, especially with the recent happenings in Beqanna. It could be that one of the other kingdoms, one of which they held an hostile relationship with, that had decided to attack them. After all, with Offspring allying with Tannor and Killdare in the war he could bring the war to the Tundra.
But there is no real threat when he reaches the border. It’s a colt, a young boy, one that clearly struggled with his power. That was something Brynmor could relate too. He clearly remembered how hard it had been to learn how to master his kingdom granted traits, even though he had been stripped of them by now. Either way, the boy isn’t a thread to the kingdom, although it probably would be a good thing if he soon would learn how to control this strange gift.
Dipping his head a little he offers Moment a smile. It’s not really like he looks scared or needs soothing, but he didn’t want to impose the child and scare it away. ”Nice to meet you, Moment. My name is Brynmor.” However, the smile gets replaced by a frown when the bay colt explains what he came for. Instantly the graying male raises his head again, eyes narrowing as he moves forward. He passes the gate, only to come to a halt at the other side. All signs of the mare that had dropped off the colt are long gone, sadly enough.
He could’ve ventured out, trying to search her, but instead he returns to the kingdom grounds. The look in his eyes isn’t pitiful, but that doesn’t mean he is pleased with the situation. Angry is a better way to describe it and Brynmor has to try to not show it to the colt. ”I know Offspring and I would gladly introduce you to him. What do you say, shall we go look for him?” He offers the boy another smile, before heading off towards the mid center of the kingdom. He calls out for his dear friend, who he hadn’t seen in a while already and who should definitely come to meet his son.
BRYNMOR
@[Offspring]
Although I guess Moment can reply first, then Offy and then Bryn?
