"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
now don’t you understand…that I’m never changing who I am?
Their home had gone silent.
The whispers of the fire-eating tigers have dissipated into nothing, and Reagan is now in search of new blood to fill her forest. She misses the life and the laughter that had first been there when the families had filled it. Romek and Maribel gone, Ruan and Reagan had taken control as caretakers of the forest. And still, they wanted to share with others.
The first one Reagan thought of was Lilitha. And so the pregnant mare sets out for the forest, where she knows the little fire-breather to be, and looks for her. The daughter of Offspring was as hotheaded as her old man, and it had been a rather embarrassing display atop the mountain that now gave her a restlessness that came from not having a home. But Reagan knew that her beloved Jinju had gone in search of her sister and had spent some time with her underneath the trees.
Now it was Reagan’s turn to find her. Without her magic, she found herself groping about blindly, hoping that her voice was enough to carry to Lilitha’s ears—because that’s all she had.
02-20-2017, 01:47 AM (This post was last modified: 02-26-2017, 04:29 PM by Lilitha.)
The forest was indeed an excellent place to look for Lilitha. In lieu of a true homeland, Beqanna’s quieter common land had become something of a makeshift home for the young woman, and young woman she was slowly becoming. Her frame had grown substantially since the last time she’d seen anyone now from Taiga, towering over the lanky, leggy little thing she’d once been and now nearing her full adult height. Her hips and shoulders had begun to broaden as well, and there was a new thickness to her limbs, a new weight to her oversized hooves, a drape and flow to her vibrant red mane and tail that had before been nothing more than scruff.
On this particular autumn day, Lilitha was deep within the forest, doing her best to avoid anything male in particular, though really anything equine in general, as was her usual routine. Still, the forest was only so big, and eventually Lilitha heard her name in the distance. “Lilitha? Lilitha! Are you here?” There was no telling how long the vaguely familiar voice had been calling, and Lilitha almost didn’t answer. But perhaps the one who called carried news of her f--of Romek and his family, or maybe one of her childhood friends was seeking her out?
Curiosity piqued despite her best efforts, Lilitha found herself walking in the direction of the call. “I’m here,” she reluctantly replied, drawing nearer to the source of the sound. And when she found the speaker, she paused, tilting her head and studying the near-stranger before her. “Hello,” she greeted the mare, her brow furrowed. “Do I know y--oh.” How could she forget any detail of that day, after all? The long walk up the Mountain, treacherous in and of itself, entirely putting aside the hazards to be found atop it. She remembered the faces of those she’d walked with, and the rear ends of a fair few of them since she’d never taken the lead.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, wariness in her voice as she steeled herself for bad news. Perhaps Romek was dead. It would explain why she hadn’t seen him in years. Or perhaps his new home had been invaded, and its residents were all now homeless--though why the still fairly strange woman would seek her out in such an instance was beyond Lilitha’s imagination just then. Whatever it was, she doubted it was good. She’d left good behind a long wile ago, lying in the dirt alongside the ashes that were all that was left of her wings. Or had been, before the wind had taken them and scattered them to the four corners of the world.
there was a quiet moment when Reagan always knew that she would be the one to bring the fire-maiden home. The girl’s “father” had fled back into the shadows, and instead had left the magician in his wake. She had taken a lover, and now their passel of children ran wild beneath the trees in the protection of the forest. And always in the back of her mind, was the one who had been left behind. Lilitha, she says to herself. I will find you, child. Except, Litha was no longer a child.
In the three years she had been forced away from her home, she would have grown into a very powerful pyro. Her pelt was black like shadow, and yet her hair was a resounding bright red—much like her fiery personality; the thing that had gotten her in trouble with the Fairies to begin with. Useless dictators, the lot of them, but it had been the child who suffered more than all of them. Playing in fire and shadow, Reagan often wondered if she would ever see the adopted child of Romek again.
And then suddenly—almost as if by magic—the girl stood in front of her, questions fleeing from her face and asking about Romek. A wry smile plays at the grey magician’s mouth. So forward and direct. Some things cannot be bled out of you—no matter how hard you try. The fairies had better learn not to quenche the fires of this one. She was a special thing.
“I am sorry, my dear. I did not mean to startle you.” She shakes her head, her skin going from a mottled grey grullo, to a white, and back again. “Nothing is wrong, except that your time of wandering is coming to an end, and, I have come to bring you home, if that is what you wish…” she is hesitant now, flexing her muscles warily when the girl mentions her father. “I am sorry, Lilitha. Romek has departed these lands, and left me in charge in his stead.” Her eyes flare, and she produces green fire that comes to rest at their feet. Fire that cannot burn. Fire that exists, for no other reason than to be.
Clear green eyes studied Lilitha, roving across the black of her coat without lingering overlong on the scars where wings had once been, taking in the changes in her appearance since they’d seen one another last almost three years ago. Lilitha stood tall and met those green eyes with unflinching, unblinking gold as Reagan offered to guide her home.
Home.
The word held almost as little meaning as family did, promised and stolen away long ago. “The fire still hurts,” she countered, calling forth a flicker of orange flame as if to prove it to herself. Her pupils dilated and her eyes drifted half-closed as sweet agony washed through her, lingering only a moment after she doused the flame. “I can try. There’s no harm in that. But I doubt I’ll be able to enter Taiga, not if the fire still burns me so.”
And I don’t know if I’ll fit even if I can.
Beqanna had cursed her to wander, but even if that curse was lifted, she had no ties to the land her fathe...Romek had fought so hard to win. Especially if he wasn’t even there. She smiled sadly at the news, swallowing hard against a wave of sorrow as she said, “I think the word father is a bit of a stretch, don’t you? I haven’t seen him since I told him I couldn’t follow him to Taiga. I hope he is well, but he’s not my father. I don’t have one, and I’ve gotten by just fine without one, just like I’ve managed fine without a mother. I’ll follow you to Taiga, and I’ll try to cross the border. But as for my wandering days being over, well, we’ll see.”
