"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
She wakes slowly. Blue eyes opening a fraction to squint out into the white washed landscape. Her legs feel leaden as she gathers them beneath her in a valiant attempt to stand, displacing the snow that had drifted over her slightly too thin frame. And yet. The cold and hunger did not bother like they should have, and she felt...lighter. Graceful wings no longer fluttered against her sides, and demonic horns no longer weighed heavy upon her crown. She was new, reborn into a winter world. The steely girl shook the last of the snow from her mane while taking in the familiar sights of the field around her.
So much had changed while she slept, and now she was alone. Not only were there no other horses near her, but in her head there was only silence. No more the howling of the wolf in her ears or in her veins, she was just Tyrna. The realization came slowly and jarring enough to give her mild alarm. What exactly had happened? Not just to her, but to everyone. To Beqanna itself. Images flickered rapid fire through her mind, making little sense, before her memories went blank. She could remember who she was and her family at the falls, but everything else just faded into darkness. She felt an overwhelming sadness for someone she couldn't see the face of, and a maternal yearning that surprised her.
Tyrna ambled slowly forward through the snow encrusted field, letting the feeling return to her legs. How long had it been since she had used them? How long had it been since the roar of her wolf and her rage had been silenced? How long?
She walked until the cold set in and the silence grew overwhelming. Her eyes burned as cold as the ice around her as she screamed into the night.
"Hello?"
Silver dapple sabino|Mare|Andalusian Hybrid
ooc: sorry it's rough! i've been out of the game awhile xD
He was a speck of darkness in the endless blanket of white. His pale body disappeared in it and he became a disembodied black head, hair, and legs. And scars. The wind battered against him, but he was steady. Steady. He didn't tremble or quake with the chill. He didn't even feel it. This was his element.
Winter wolf.
The rain of flurries diverted around him as he walked, as if he were untouchable. To them, he was. They were the children of his tears, the manifestation of his fears. But he was steady.
His blue eyes were bright, piercing and lit with the power of his magic, nearly glowing in the night. They weren't what found her first. Winter wind called to him, come away, wolf, she is here. Whoever she was. And he listened, of course he did. The snow, the ice, the cold; they were all friends to him. So he followed until her hello drifted passed on erratic flurries, until he could smell her, until his hard stare found her. Met hers as though her own blue had called him.
And froze.
Always, his wolf had been separate from him; came at night when he took paws and patrolled their forest. Gone again by morning. But now. His pulse quickened and he was immediately on edge. Gusts of steaming breath snorted silently from flared nostrils. He stood taller, looked bigger, throwing a hoof in agitation. His lip peeled over his teeth in warning, as though they were his fangs, then resettled. He felt the whine of the wolf build in his throat and swallowed it. And then he stilled, and studied her. Why did she call to him, why had he been brought here.
Then he was walking again, stalking toward her, stopping before her. His blood still screamed threat but she looked cold. And somehow that mattered. His magic came to life around them, and in a blink the snow and wind stopped, hammering against an unseen dome around them. The silence was suddenly so loud, and he could hear each of their breaths. And the thunder of his pulse in his ears. Yet still he said nothing. Because he was Alpha, a bit too wild, and he didn't have to.
His glacial eyes said it for him: Who the hell are you and what have you done to me.
She is so focused on walking, keeping ears and tail pressed tight to her body to lessen the effects of the winter winds, that at first she doesn't notice when she is joined by another. Then it starts with a prickle along her spine. The faintest brush of a second set of hooves in the snow. The muffled breathing of someone else, and she is no longer alone. Though whether or not that is a good thing remains to be seen. Blue eyes stare into blue and she feels the hair along her spine stand at attention. A low growl attempts to escape her throat, but her vocal chords are no longer built for those sounds. Just as she no longer has the luxury of tooth and claw should this stranger prove a threat. Something about him speaks to her and yet sets her teeth on edge. He seems almost... familiar. Even if she is almost certain they've never met before. An involuntary shiver makes it's way down her body and she curses the show of weakness even in the bitter cold.
She studies him carefully as he moves closer. His movements are calculated, predatory, and her own muscles respond in kind. Tensing, she breaths in his scent as he comes within in easy earshot and the air around them warms considerably. Her eyes widen slightly as a bubble of sorts seems to form around them, warming the air and quieting the wind. Without the cover of the wind the silence threatened to overwhelm her. For several heartbeats she just stared at him, taking in the sight of the male who looked as haunted as she felt. With a soft snort she broke the growing silence between them. She was a warrior in a time past, and she would not be cowed.
"Thank you for this" she gestures wit her muzzle to the invisible dome around them, "I'm assuming you had something to do with it?" Another shiver courses through her as the warmer air attempts to chase the cold from her bones. She locks her icy gaze back to his before continuing. "My name's Tyrna, and who do I thank for the valiant rescue?" Cocking her head slightly, her tone almost shifts to playful as she sizes him up. Something about him spoke to a part of her no longer there, and who was she to let that slip by when it felt kinda nice?
She tensed at the stealthy sight of him, and her eyes widened at the use of his magic. He hadn't meant to startle her, but at the same time he didn't really think he had. She probably sensed him as clearly as he could her. His heartbeat still soared behind his blank face, and they studied each other.
She thanked him for halting the snow storm, figuring correctly that he was the cause of it. His eyes flickered and he tilted his head curiously, unintentionally mirroring her just as she did the same. And then they both seemed to take the other's measure. Tick for tick they moved coincidentally in sync with each other. His ears pinned back and his stare hardened, believing she was mocking him some how.
But her blue eyes were genuine, and so his face blanked again.
Rescue she'd called it, though it sounded a little teasing. Playful. It made him want to nip at her and bounce away, wait for a chase. But of course he didn't. Much more awkward to do in this body. And he had yet to determine if she were friend or foe. There was still an underlying sense of threat to her, though her demeanor thus far had seemed kind. So he broke his wild nature and spoke.
Ruan, he gruffed. Silence. What the hell was it about her? Why had his wolf heart pulled him here? Perhaps he should ignore it for now, pretend for a moment he was actually a decent leader of his forest.
....Aaaand still silent. Why was it always so awkward for him to speak with words? His nose reached hesitantly toward her, trying to decode her scent but she only smelled like horse. Damned confusing. What are you, he wanted to ask. He didn't, he at least knew it could be rude. Far too wild at times, he was. So he blew his own scent on her nose then straightened.
You're.. homeless? Well that wasn't much better was it? He grimaced and tried again. Do you.. Are you. God damn. He huffed in frustration and glanced away, then met her equally glacial eyes again.
Would you like to visit the Taiga? My home, he added by way of explanation. A forest. There. That wasn't prying or pressuring. Just a visit if she wanted. Geez, he was terrible at this.
He mirrors her movements and stretches his nose towards her for a sniff, gestures that aren't quite equine. She breaths his scent in and revels in the pine and ice that it brings to mind. It's almost like he's wearing the wrong skin. A creature in horse's clothing. When He pins his ears, Tyrna can feel her muscles tense, an unthinking reaction before a fight. She was only one for flight when she had wings.
And then he relaxes again. It feels like they are trapped in a dance that neither one knows the reason why, but the steps come as naturally as breathing. They are both here and not here, creatures of the same spirit, born of the same wild. She meets his eyes steadily and without hesitation. Something about him draws her in, but she will meet him as an equal and no less. Once she was a queen, and always an alpha, taking orders from no one but the wilds. She would not run scared with tail tucked, and neither would she bow in the face of his stoicism. When he finally breaks the silence, his voice is clipped and terse. She rolls his name around in her mind trying in vain to attach it to a memory, but none stick and she is sure she would have remembered his scent. Wouldn't she?
Then he invites her to his home. He seems to have trouble forming sentences, but her ears prick forward at the mention of the forest. Immediately she is assailed with visions of running through the underbrush, branches catching at her longer fur and tangling in her horns. Leaves and needles crushed beneath soft paws and warm blood dripping from her maw. Yes, the forest was home. Though the Falls were no more and she didn't really have anywhere to go, the forest had always really been her home anyway. She doesn't particularly understand why she wants to follow him, but if he will lead her back to the woods, she will happily.
Her gaze is steady, but her voice catches in her throat as she nods her assent. "I would like to see your home very much." She can almost feel the wolf bristling beneath her skin at the thought of returning to the shadows beneath the trees where she belongs.
