"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
12-13-2016, 12:04 PM (This post was last modified: 12-13-2016, 12:05 PM by Heartfire.)
show them the joy and the pain and the ending
Life so easily becomes lost in the daily humdrum of activity. Even she is no exception. But it is boring, incredibly so. Without her unique sight to guide her, it had been so easy to lose focus. So easy to fall into the pit of endless days and nights that await those who have lost their purpose.
And she had, for a time. With almost nothing of what had once been her left to this world, it had been so easy to fall quietly into obscurity. But no longer. She has never been one to sit easily upon her laurels, and certainly this past year has been unsettling and disquieting in ways she had never expected.
For one, she had learned far more about herself than she had ever wished to. Certainly she had always known her mind, but this had been different than her happy youth, her years as queen in a far distant and foreign land, and the subsequent fall of Beqanna as they all had known it. This had been much too… reflective.
She is not kind nor good (though neither has she ever stooped to terrible or true evil). This does not bother her. No, what bothers her is the lack of knowledge. Once she had been all seeing, she had known every piece of these lands so intimately. Now she is simply mundane, a creature no different from the foxes upon the ground (if perhaps a little longer lived).
She is nigh on indistinguishable from the rest of those in this large, grass-strewn field. Though rather slight of build, she is neither tall nor short. Not hideous but certainly no beauty. She is too angular to be truly pretty. Her coat is a lovely shade of roan though, the blue coloring splashed with white. Her eyes though, those are uniquely startling, a pure, crystalline blue with stories shimmering in their depths.
All in all, however, nothing too terribly exciting. Still, she is here, seeking, waiting. A resident of the field until convinced otherwise.
heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
picture c Petrova Julia.N
I know I did this before, but since it's been ages, let's try this again
Meandering through the Field, the grullo mare turns her head this way and that, curiously watching the other horses assembled in the broad plain. They are all here, waiting or looking for something, and Djinni is no different.
Recruiting is dull business though, so she is here more for companionship, to see if there is anyone worth wasting away the afternoon in conversation with.
She might have passed directly by the sabino mare had their paths not crossed, Djinni stepping over herself to the side in order to avoid a collision. It's not an awkward movement - there is plenty of space between them, but she offers the roan a polite apology nonetheless.
"Sorry about that. Gets a bit crowded here in the Field sometimes." The other female doesn't smell strongly of any particular new land, but Djinni doesn't presume to think she is here to be recruited. She probably is, but since Djinni is not really looking for recruits, it doesn't really even matter. "I'm Djinni," she adds with another friendly smile.
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
Lucrezia this day has a purpose for coming to the field. She is here as most others come to the field, and even before the Reckoning it has not changed. There were others here in the field she knew that were looking for a home. However, she was also looking for a way to improve her goodwill to her home. Lucrezia wanted to help up lift Tephra into something strong and unbreakable. She wanted to also find a purpose again, a rhythm that felt right for once again in her life.
She fell easy into the rhythm of old habits. It was her diplomat instincts that drove her forward each day. She found watching the borders, greeting newcomers, and adjusting to this new life easy now. Likely, it was with her acceptance now that she had found something to look forward to. And she also thanks Magnus for such a new life to live instead of dwelling on what had been lost before.
Her eyes catch the two mares first. Lucrezia indicates that this will be the start of her day and purpose. If anything, Lucrezia feels more in control now of her life and such indications come easily now. She has always believed that everything worked into one, so today was no different as she allowed fate to work—hopefully in her favor.
“Hello,” she says greeting the two mares. She catches the grullo tobiano mare’s introduction as she approaches. Her eyes flick over to Heartfire and then back to Dijinni. “I am Lucrezia,” a soft smile graces her thin lips. She then looks at one and then to the other again. Lucrezia simply analyzes them and their scents by simple processing and thought of these two strangers.
Perhaps it is the bustle of the field, or perhaps it is simply her own lack, but whatever the reason, she does not notice the grullo mare until they nearly collide. Bringing her darkly defined head up sharply, she settles startlingly blue eyes upon the stranger.
It is not rare for her to be somewhat unobservant of her immediate surroundings. Of course, in a previous life, she would have had the somewhat valid excuse of her gaze having been otherwise occupied. Quite literally. Then, it had been incredibly common for her to be borrowing sight not her own, spying upon a far distant land.
She misses it, that gift. An ache that nothing else can possibly satisfy. Not that she wouldn't try.
Dipping her head slightly in acknowledgement of the other woman's apology, she tips her lips into a slight smile in return. A rather bland and practiced motion, but one that returns offered friendliness.
Just as Djinni introduces herself, Heartfire notices the second mare approach. The newcomer, who introduces herself as Lucrezia, is much paler, with spectacularly patterned wings that immediately draw the eye.
”Heartfire,” she says simply to the pair by way of response. ”A pleasure, I am certain.”
Lips curving into a true grin, small though it might be, she continues then after only the briefest of pauses. ”There now, formalities out of the way.” The faintest of sighs (perhaps slightly exaggerated) escapes her. ”Such a… tedious business. Especially in this place, I am certain.”
She has always been particularly frank, and today, this moment, is no different.
heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
The sabino mare doesn't seem offended by their close passing, and Djinni returns the nod in her own polite greeting. Then she, too, is quickly distracted by the arrival of a third female.
The peafowl markings on the champagne mare's wings are striking, and Djinni makes no attempt to hide her admiration. She's never seen anything quite like it. The grulla mare does not stare nearly long enough to make the situation uncomfortable, and when she meets Lucrezia's gaze with her sea-green eyes it is with an open and friendly smile.
"Hi Lucrezia." she replies in her sandy voice, "It's nice to meet you both." She glances back at Heartfire to include her in this; the two of them seem pleasant enough. When the roan mare sighs over the tediousness of polite introduction, Djinni's perfectly polite smile twists into something genuinely humored for the first time.
"At least since the Reckoning there's a bit more variety here. It's not just newcomers to Beqanna and children venturing away from their families for the first time anymore." The way she says it makes it obvious that she's not entirely disappointed at the change. "Though I will admit, it's a bit more difficult to recruit when the lands are so different from anything that we had before." They all have their perks, even isolated Ischia. None of them are tainted by bloody histories or family tragedies. They are all blank slates that have barely been written on.
12-18-2016, 03:54 PM (This post was last modified: 12-29-2016, 03:59 PM by Lucrezia.)
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
If there is certainly one thing she misses from the old world of Beqanna it is her wings. She had cherished those more than many things in her life. It had been a dream of hers to fly, to fly away from all her problems that followed her. She had been envious of the birds that she saw—simply choosing where and when they could go freely. It was freedom she had wanted those days back then, independence from her duty to the Chamber and her family.
Then one day she got it.
One day her home, a new home called the Deserts, gifted her with something she knew she would not deserve. And she surely never deserved the pair of wings despite the many times she had left the Deserts. Lucrezia blames herself still sometimes for the flood that took her home. Maybe one day she could have been there when the kingdom needed her most—saved it from this Reckoning she is now in. This new world is all that she has—a home it has given her, a second chance she has been blessed with. She has accepted it even if she is without her wings.
Lucrezia would have admired the looks from the two others if she had her wings still. She would have been proud and maybe a little bit prideful in the wrong sense. Her wings were beautiful, but she still has the familiar feathering of them in her mane and tail. And she is still admirable to look upon. Though she would never admit she is beautiful or find such selfish pride in her own physical appearance.
She cannot agree more to what both mares have to say about the field and the new changes of Beqanna. Her lips form into a soft smile. “Yes, we do have quite a change before everything change.” She had once been sad about the changes but she finds something particularly peaceful about given a second chance. “I think in the end it was a good change.” She admits openly to the other two mares. Lucrezia has never been afraid to share her ideas and thoughts on a topic. “But I am certain that some of us needed it more than others.” Lucrezia remembers the monster named Pollock on the mountain who felt he deserved everything he had lost so soon. She had found him foul and worthless creature to exist—a demon if she said so herself.
“I know little about the other lands,” she says looking towards Dijinni. She is curious to know more about the mare as she mentions recruitment. “Where do you call home?” She asks with a tilt of her head. If anything Lucrezia finds she must learn about other recruiters that come to the field. She has much to learn about these new lands, new members, and new things in Beqanna. Another one like herself, a recruiter from another kingdom, would just do the trick for now.
It is a frequent frustration of hers just how little she knows of these new lands. She had known the old lands of Beqanna inside and out, her sight knowing no boundaries. But now, with it gone and the topography shifted so greatly, she has seen little beyond the quite public lands they now stand upon. The new homelands are strange and foreign to her, blank masses in the eye of her mind. But she is curious, terribly so.
It has always been one of her many flaws, her downfalls, that curiosity. It had led her to see far more than she ever should have, especially in her youth. She had had the wonderful and horrifying ability to unearth Beqanna’s residents deepest held secrets, both past and present. Now, she has so very little.
But she is here to earn it back, to gain what had once been hers. In that respect, these women could help her.
The grulla mare is quite frank in her words as well, something Heartfire can well and truly appreciate. Her words cause something of a more genuine smile to slip onto the roan mare’s features. Though she had never ventured into the field before the change (for just those very reasons), she could well imagine the truth of her words. ”Hm, indeed,” she responds easily, ”A curse and a blessing then.”
Her attention is drawn to Lucrezia as she interjects, adding her opinion of the alterations. She seems to have come to peace with the changes that had ravaged the land, and Heartfire wonders if there is perhaps a story behind her words. Still, now is not the time for such tales.
Lucrezia’s next question serves to pique Heartfire’s interest, the simple inquiry drawing her gaze back to Djinni. She, too, is curious, for she knows so very little about the lands that now surround them. And that is a fact she can no longer abide. ”I must admit to knowing very little of the new homelands as well, but I am simply dying of curiosity.”
heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
Lucrezia is the first to voice aloud the opinion that Djinni thought she alone had held. Beqanna better after the Reckoning? Of course it is.
They have all been given a fresh slate, a bright start. Yet, in the first year since the changes, all Djinni had heard were complaints. Sadness over the loss of shifting, depression over the loss of homelands - rage over the theft of power, even.
She had not lost anything in the Reckoning, she has told herself, that is why she is able to enjoy it. But surely these mares had something before the world reshaped itself around them. They are lovely, polite, and both of them have even shown glimpses of a sense of humor.
"Some of us did," replies the grullo mare to the champagne's second comment, shrugging. Her words and body language makes it clear; Djinni was clearly one of those that needed it more than others. But she shakes it off easily, physically doing so and ruffling the salty locks of her mane. When she speaks again, it is in response to both Lucrezia's question and Heartfire's curiosity.
"I live in Nerine," she answers. "It's on the western coastline, above the wasteland of Pangea." She has seen the residents of that dry place as she soared through the sky on now-absent wings. They look the same as any other horse from such an altitude, but she cannot help but be curious what has made them live in such an inhospitable waste. At least the Desert was full of oases.
"It's beautiful there," She adds, "Soaring cliffs and the green ocean; rather different than the Jungle that the sisterhood called home before." With that she's given away the location of what once was the Amazons, as well as her own life among them. Djinni knows that there were sometimes hard feelings for the warrior women in the old Beqanna, but if her two new acquaintances feel that way, she supposes that it's better to get it out in the open early. "Some had difficulty adjusting to the change in scenery - and the addition of stallions - but we're settled now."
She feels that she has talked a bit too much, but she's not quite shared everything she knows. Should she? Perhaps some of it, she decides. "I know there's a tropical island to the west - Ischia. And there's a forest that stays autumn red all year round; I'm not sure what it's called." The tobiano mare looks solely at Lucrezia now, equally curious about the sabino mare as she is about Heartfire. "What about you?"
Here it comes with no warning; capsize, i'm first in the water
Lucrezia flicks an ear towards Heartfire. A curse and a blessing then, she repeats to herself. She nods her head in agreement. Lucrezia has found such a change to be both if she thought about all the things that came with a change. However, she had chosen to see it as a blessing. She could no longer sink herself into a dark pit like she did before. Not like the last time she did.
She smiles when Heartfire also shows enthusiasm for what the new world holds. Her attention then turns back to grullo mare. She is carefully to ensure of every word the mare speaks regarding what she knows. And truly, she notices, there is a lot to learn. Djinni offers them more information than what her home is like. It seems that Djinni had explored much of Beqanna already as these new names and descriptions of lands are very unfamiliar to her.
“Nerine, I know of your place.” She says with a smile once the grullo mare finishes. “We had a visit from your leader, Nayl.” Lucrezia had found the mare pleasant and strong-hearted. She knew such a leader would be chosen to lead the sisterhood. However, Lucrezia is interested in the idea of stallions being part of the ranking system now. “A new age for the sisterhood to allow stallions to be seen as equal rank.” She truly knows nothing of the sisterhood, only from stories by her father, Rodrik. Her family line extends to the jungle due to her grandmother’s, Kagerou, ruling there and her father’s birthplace.
Her smile fades for a moment, though to a neutral expression. “It seems I have much to do to see these lands for myself. They all some very wonderful so far.” However, she isn’t sure what she thinks of this new place called Pangea. Lucrezia, as she always is, is curious of this wasteland.
Djinni then looks at her, asking about her home. A smile quickly returns to her thin lips. “I live in a place called Tephra. It’s just north, above the Meadow.” Her eyes light up with excitement as she continues to speak more about Tephra. “There is a small volcano and a large spring at the center of Tephra. It is humid and warm all year long so far from what I have gathered from living there. It reminds me of the Deserts a little.” She falls silent for a moment at the mention of the Deserts, but then shakes her head slightly and continues forward. “And there are streams of lava crisscrossing over, so you definitely have to watch your step.” She laughs softly at the end.
It is perhaps fortunate that she had not truly settled into any one place before the Reckoning. It gives her much less to miss now. True, she had called the Deserts home, but it had not been her home so much as it had been her mother and father’s. This allows her an openness when considering these new homelands that so many others might not have.
Still, there is plenty to miss. Her once incredible abilities, for one. But she has always been a pragmatic sort. She knows what she must do to earn them back, and so she will. She might often be described as calculating (of which there is no doubt she is) and just a bit cold, but never mistake that for unfeeling. She is not unsympathetic to the plight of Beqanna and what had been taken from her without thought (she had seen too much of it not to be aware after all).
All this talk of lands if very intriguing however, and perhaps now, finally, there is a place she might truly call home. The talk of Nerine does intrigue her. She knows of the former Amazonians of course. Everyone does. She might never have lived there, but her father had been born there (she, too, is the granddaughter of a former Amazon queen). Because of his gender, Shahrizai might not have been well suited to to place, but that does not mean Heartfire was not curious.
”Interesting, indeed,” she responds thoughtfully. ”Though, I must admit, odd to think of stallions joining the ranks of the sisterhood. That should be… an intriguing change, to say the least.” Her curiosity had led her to spy quite a bit on the sisters in her previous life (the plethora of creatures in the Jungle had been quite helpful too), but she doesn’t feel any need to elaborate on her previous life as a pocket spy.
As Lucrezia continues, Heartfire shifts her attention, ears perking a bit at the mention of the Deserts. They have something in common, it seems. ”So, another displacement from the Deserts?” Her lips quirk into the faintest of smiles at the pale mare’s description of Tephra. ”Sounds like a bit of an improvement.”
heartfire
i filled up my senses with thoughts from the ghosts
Silly kingdom traits. She loved those wings so much D:
