taken away to the dark side; offpsring

[magnus]

— find what you love and let it kill you —

Magnus’ respect was not something that he gave away freely. He had been burned too many times during his life (lives), and he knew better than to simply throw it at the ground of just anyone. It was too easy for someone to trample it; it was too easy for someone to take it for granted. So Magnus held it close, choosing to be kind to those he met but reserving judgement until a later date. It kept things in check for him, and it helped him keep an accurate, honest view when he looked out at the world.

All of that being said, Magnus had taken a liking to Offspring the first time they met. He had recognized a kindred spirit in the stallion of coal—feeling the weight of his strength and resolve and finding it worthy. At the time, he had wished that Offspring had been the one to wear the crown in the Gates. It would have been far easier to stomach serving in his army then in the way that it had all gone down.

But, of course, one cannot choose the path that their life takes. One cannot command it any more than they can command the ebb of the ocean or the current of the river. And perhaps that was the first best; for if his life had not taken this path (if he had not raged at Zeik, if he had not left the kingdom, if Beqanna had not ripped away her gifts and spat them out into this new land), then he would not be here.

He would not feel this renewed purpose in his heart. He would not feel this hunger in his stomach and clear-eyed vision about what he needed to do. And he certainly would not be searching for the black warrior of the once-brotherhood. It did not take him long to find Offspring (the other not particularly difficult to pick out from a crowd) and Magnus did not waste time in making his way toward him.  

“Offspring,” he kept his greeting short, nodding his heavy-jawed head. “Hell of day.”

magnus

[Offspring]

YOU CAN STAND ME UP AT THE GATES OF HELL, BUT I WON'T BACK DOWN.

  Weary though his heart and mind is, he cannot rest - the gears within his age-old mind were constantly shifting and moving, leaving him to rot within the remnants of old memories and stirring anxieties. His heart ached to see his children, to know of their safety - and he pined quietly over the doe-eyed bay sabino that had stolen his heart away so many years ago. His eyes, which burn with the embers that no longer stir within his chest, gaze out across the land before him. The draping foliage, the gentle breeze and the long, wavering stalks of greenery that gently caress the length of his hind legs all pull him back to the very day he had met her, to the day she had fallen into him, frail but enduring. He longed to see her again, to look into her honey-tinted eyes and to tell her over and over again how he felt; quietly he damned his emotions for keeping him at bay for so long.

  Solitude is not often his own, and even beneath the pale moonlight of evening, he cannot find it - a low voice stirs him from his reverie, and soon his darkened eyes meet with an equally as stormy pair - but a faint smile tugs at the corners of his whiskered lips. A broad, heavy-jawed but familiar face had sidled up close to him, and yet he had been oblivious to his presence. He wondered for a long moment whether it spoke of his own lack of awareness, but he could not be in control of his mind all of the time. A low chuckle rumbles from the depths of his throat as he gives a heavy nod, forelock falling in the way of his dreary gaze.

  "I daresay it has been. I have been able to find a few I know well, though I have yet to find my family," He does not conceal the depths of sorrow and worry that are laced within his words. There is no guard to uphold with Magnus; it is something he knows instinctively. A warrior who has walked as many moons as he has, if not more, understood too well the weight of loss and change. "And you? I hope that those you care for have been found safe."

  His gaze draws away now, staring out once again towards the endless night sky, the heavy blanket of stars that twinkle so mockingly above - speaking of peace and serenity but there is none to be had in the aftermath.

  "I know what you seek, Magnus, and I seek the same. Stability. Refuge. I long to know what is hidden away within the mist; rumor is that no one has yet to breech it. I have had power, a kingdom, a crown - and for what? The only thing I have left are the friendships bound in blood; the alliances I held that I still uphold, though I could not ask for anything more. I remember the days of your ruling," He murmurs, heavily revealing the true weight of knowledge of his age; immortality's curse feels like a burden lifted from his tired shoulders. "and I remember how little power interested you then. Perhaps we are one and the same, you and I. Perhaps we should not let the divides of history keep fate apart."

OFFSPRING

[magnus]

It wasn't difficult to figure out what he wanted to do, but it was slightly more difficult trying to parse out the details. The mist was thick around the borders, the unknown out there lurking, and he knew—he knew!—that there was adventure to be had out there. Adventure and potentially something to be found.

If he was lucky, a home to carve out of this new land.

However, that did not make the decision necessarily easy. He knew enough of Offspring to know that his allies were not always his own. There was no love lost between Magnus and the Valley. He had seen how the kingdom had pillaged and spilled blood over the years. It had cost his family their homes and their lives and their safety. It was a difficult thing to swallow.

But perhaps Offspring was right. Perhaps there was something to be said about letting the past die with the old Beqanna and forging something new. Looking to people with similar ideals and letting that be enough. Finally, after several minutes had passed in silence, Magnus just nodded. "You are right, Offspring." He didn't want power; he wanted what he had always wanted: a place to keep people safe. A place for people to find a haven. "Let's work together toward a better future." His gaze met the others and he felt it, the solidity of a new bond forged in iron.