"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
Her stint with the grouping of rowdy teens had come to a pause. Hyaline burned under the combined efforts. Sending mass panic through the lands and their allies. She had paired with a fire magician at the scene. Her dried timber fuel to his precious flames as she feasted upon the buffet provided. A devilish smirk painted upon her lips as she watched -they watched- in delight. His flame licked eyes gazed upon her and with a kiss to her starred forehead he vanished. Red-orange flames parting for her master. For a moment more she watched then was off to her next venture... A visit perhaps to an old friend or a meeting to a new...
Smell of sulfur led her back to the land. Her trail of dried grasses had long vanished since her first visit here with her mother. She was older now, stronger. In control of the poison that laced her veins. Wielding her magic with precision when she unleashed it to the lands. Today, it settled within her. Rested.
She moved along upon ivory dipped legs. They were taller now, slender. The grasses of the land barely reached her auburn belly. Ebony tipped ears swiveled to catch the slightest of sounds. Stopping at the border her natural eyes peered inland. With just a quick pause she steps forward. When mother visited she did not wait for permission to enter so why would she. They had come to visit... someone. She didn't remember details since she had ran off the moment they had gotten here. Where she met the navy and auburn stallion Warrick. A smiled tugged at her lips. Perhaps she'd meet him here again...
Ebony tassels hung loosely at her hocks. The feminine physique of her maturing frame apparent to any who spotted her. As she advanced into the territory the vegetation was thriving. Most of Beqanna was wilting as winter was fast approaching. Here though it remained green and abundant. She hated seeing the deadness that came with autumn, knowing it was not by her doing. So seeing the green made her feel powerful... Again
Kolera
Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
Sooo kind of for Warrick but kind of a recap for Levi... So idk... Whoever feels musey. She may get her tail burnt for trespassing but she is Karaughs' daughter so IDGAF tude lol
She is just a distant memory, blurred on the edges and vague, but Warrick does not easily forget. Sometimes he wishes he could, to scrub away the gentle and sweet memories of his childhood from his mind, to draw a curtain over the night he spent on the mountain, to simply think of nothing else but the present, without everything folding back to the past. Maybe one day he would find someone with the ability to help him with this issue, but for now he continues to relive his memories in pain, still staring up into the night sky and still answerless as to what happened to his precious family.
He’s been on edge lately, with the news of Hyaline’s attack fresh on his mind. He’s continued to keep himself along the borders of Tephra that melt into the rest of Beqanna, even though he longs to be at the shoreline with the salty wind caressing his face. But his worry has kept him in the denser parts of his home, lumbering quietly through thick and wet foliage, their broad leaves brushing against him as he parts them with his auburn chest.
Navy ears prick forward as he hears something walking through the land just as he is, their steps deliberate but soft as they press into the dirt. He lifts his head with a jolt, snorting sharply and inhaling quickly, cerulean eyes peering into the dark bracken and other brightly green flora cautiously. He finally sees her, a dark auburn mare (a yearling? Maybe older?) quietly making her way through the vegetation. The smell of smoke and ash is long soaked into her skin, but it is noticeable and immediately puts him on guard. His ears flick backwards impassively, immediately launching himself forward in a choppy trot, concerned as to who has so comfortably walked into his realm so flippantly.
A gentle soul, but with the rising caution that has come with the news that Amet had brought him, he was anything but gentle today. He slides to a halt directly in front of her to stop her from further entering, emerging from the shadows of the tropical verdure with an analyzing glare, the lines of his face hard and unforgiving as he watches her most untrustingly. He curves his neck, the muscles coiling beneath the shining auburn skin, lifting a single indigo foreleg to paw at the thick underbrush in agitation.
“Should I chalk up your blatant rudeness to merely a youthful mistake?” He asks simply as
he brings his muscular foreleg to rest squarely next to the other one, a solid exhale of breath leaving his navy lips.
But Warrick does not easily forget.
His gleaming eyes reach hers, his brow creased in reflection as he tries to remember why her face sparks something familiar in him. He tilts his head, the taunt muscle in his neck relaxing slightly as he does so, his dark forelock trickling over his inquisitive stare of blue.
“I know you,” he murmurs quietly with a slight narrowing of his eye in thought, a hint of a question on his rumbling voice. Did he know her?
Lush greens wrapped around her in an embrace. The tropical climate here provided the much needed sanctuary for the flourishing flora. She found her lips tracing along the large paddle shaped leaves. The mornings dew still covering the greenery. Everything about the land was exotic. Rainbow colored parrots chattered in the tree tops, nearly drowning out the incoming footsteps...
Ebony dipped ears twisted to the sounds location, but she didn't stop. Auburn neck flexed as she brought her snipped muzzle to her chest. The hoofbeats grew faster, closer... More purposeful. A grin kissed her lips as honey brown eyes scouted for the creator. A flash of auburn and navy was all she caught glimpses of amongst the thick brush. Wasting no time at all he was upon her, blocking her route. All huffy and puffy like, but she grinned evermore...
The familiar lines of his face, the conflicting hues of his hide, the alarm in his stance... It was all to predictable really. He was who he had been the day he found her laying within a circle of dead grass. That confused filly who hadn't learned to master her abilities yet. Oh how she has grown in those nearly two years since that day. So she smiled in remembrance. His actions suggested to her he did not remember her though. Why should he? It had been years and she has changed... But so has he. The wings at his sides now, where none had been before, but how could she forget the way he presented himself. Always alert, cautious...
His first words were expected, harsh, judgemental, suspicious. Her delicate crown cocked in amusement waiting for some form of recognition. Having stopped as he wanted she stood squarely before him, ears thrusted forwards. Waiting...
I know you...
Lips curled in a devious grin as a spark entered his navy eyes. "I think you might," a playful guessing game tone to her voice. Ebony forelock draped across her vision so she flicked her muzzle upwards, tossing it to one side. Her gaze fixated upon the stallion, examining his new 'look'. "I see you've changed slightly over the years. Impressive set of accessories you have", her eyes sliding from his glare to his sides as she takes a step closer. Tassels flicked gently across her matching auburn hide.
"Need a clue?" She hadn't waited for him to answer before the honey brown of her eyes yellowed. The poison she called upon woke from it's slumber in her veins. Clawing it's way out as she looked to a nearby fern. It's massive span of leaves began to brown and wither away at her command. Soon there was nothing left of it. Cutting off the poison it settle again inside her. The yellow of her eyes faded slowly back to the natural born brown he would know...
Levi has never been stagnant. He is continuously on the move, watching, learning. Maybe it is the fire barley contained within his walls of his bones and flesh which fuels him, or simply his naturally curious mind.
His curiosity is what had lead him to Kolera the first time, on a damp winter day in The Forest one year ago. The thud of ancient elms hitting the earth had drawn him out of dark solitude and he had found her alone in the wood, making a game of her deadly art. He had been drawn to the tiny filly and her bold mannerisms.
And now, on another winter day, her scent is carried to him on the wind. Without hesitation he turns to find the little bay; her presence does not please or displease him, but he is curious why she has come to Tephra. Her visit could mean trouble for him. But he withholds any emotion, even from himself, as his heavy legs carry him over the volcanic landscape to where her scent has originated from. In the time which had followed their joyride (terrorizing Hyaline simply for the thrill of it) he had come to realize, with some help from his father, the foolishness of that night. The thrill had not been cheap, for him at least. But the full cost was yet to be reviled to him.
As he emerges from the thick greenery he finds that he is not the first to find her, and the corners on his mouth turn down in irritation. He models his self-carriage after his father as he approaches the pair, his mismatched eyes burning as he evaluates the stallion who blocks Kolera. He spares her only a quick glance before he halts, a little too close to the winged stud, ears pinned and head high. His burning gaze is unwavering as he waits for what the blue-bay will say.
From his glance, he can tell Kolera appears much less the fawn and more a mare than the last time he saw her, but her body still clings to its girlishness. And Levi too had undergone some changes. After the sacking of Hyaline Levi had used his fire to cut the thick black locks of his mane, only his forelock remains. The weight of it on his neck had irritated him, as did the mats which inevitably gathered there. It served no purpose, so he had removed it. What remains of his mane forms a black line along his topline, accentuating his heavily muscled neck and thick crest. At nearly four years old, he had mostly the look of a stallion with only hits of the colt he had been lingering in his movements.
He is suspicious of the other male, his stance and demeanor sets the kings son on edge. And Levi was always, ever so close to that shaky proverbial edge.
There is a difference in him, a difference that wouldn’t be caught by those who did not know him well; but he could feel it. It wasn’t an obvious change, unlike the great navy wings that are now pulled in quietly to his auburns sides, ruffling involuntarily as they react to every slight thought in his mind, a tiny glimpse into his thoughts. It is an emotional difference, purely mental, and it pools in the pit of his stomach, simmering with heat as it rises in temperature; it shows in the once soft features of his face, that were now slightly harder and a little bit less trusting, while the blue of his eyes holds a certain wariness that has never been seen before.
Worry is something that Warrick is rather familiar with (worrying about Tang and whether she would ever come back to him, and truly be with him, worrying for Ellyse’s wellbeing…these were all very familiar to him), but the type of worry that shadows the corners of his face, bringing a hardened contour across the hollow of his cheeks and beneath his eyes, were a very different type of worry. Almost a type of protectiveness that seeps through his very being, rumbling darkly in the cavity of his chest. The feebleness within him is beginning to scrub away, new responsibilities and duties causing him to shift away from what once was, and turn to what he knew he needs to become.
His words muster no reaction from the bay mare besides a gentle curling of her lips into a knowing smile. Warrick immediately realizes that his hypothesis is correct, he did know her, but his blue eyes continue to search her features for something that would trigger a name or bring the memory of her into focus. She notes the feathers that form from the points of his withers, and he snorts softly in response as the great wings shift involuntarily, their blue color ruffling gently.
The second the foliage around him began to wither, the light of realization sparks in his eyes. The navy of his lips now match her smile, the edge of worry lessening and bringing a soft look to the auburn features of his face. “Kolera,” he says simply. He had not thought about the once-young filly that had found her way into Tephra many moons ago, a sweet child who was just learning of her ability and was separated from her mother. It was a nice memory, something that brought a slight gleam to his brilliant blue gaze. “You’ve wandered in here before, you’d think you have learned some manners by now,” he chides her gently with a laugh, bobbing his head towards her. She is different than he remembers of course, now nearely fully grown and with a mature, cunning look in her eyes that reminds him of her mother most distinctly.
“What brings you to me again today? Not lost your mother again, have you?”
Another emerges, joining them with a silent march and positioning himself nearest to Warrick. The bay stallion’s look of confusion was not easily hidden as the auburn of his eyelids narrow, wings shuffling in response. Warrick has never seen the bay sabino before, but the young stallion has emerged from within the depths of Tephra, not from outside of it. The stranger’s stature is frigid, not in a way that made him look uncomfortable in front of the duo, but almost unwelcoming. Warrick mirrors the stallion’s pinned ears with his own, immediately set back on edge by the presence of the stranger that obviously knows Kolera as well.
Navy nostrils flutter as he inhales deeply, snorting sharply as he exhales. The scent that covers the younger stallion is familiar: smoke and sulfur (most likely from the volcano), as well has hints of what only Warrick could place as his king.
The realization causes his muscles to grow taut beneath his auburn flesh, the feather-light bones in his wings stretching reflexively as he becomes overwhelmed with the newfound displeasure of his presence in the group. Warrick’s jaw clenches, the muscles jumping as his teeth grind against each other, his inky tail flicking against his haunch. Acrid words build up in the cavity of his mouth, desperately wanting to demand an explanation for Hyaline, for Tang, but Warrick bites his tongue and merely presses his lips into a thin, unpleasant line. The look did not suit him.
Of course, Warrick only knows of Offspring’s son’s involvement, and the only thing keeping him civil is Kolera that stands before him. How might his demeanor change upon realizing that Kolera had been a very important key player in what happened that night?
The bay is content to stand in silence, but finally breaks it with forced pleasantries.
“I’m Warrick,” he says to the stallion, “This is Kolera. Who are you?”
Oh, but he already knew; probably more than he would like to.
The remembrance reflects instantly in the indigo of his eyes. A small flame of memory stoked to life by a simple dying plant. A one-sided grin of satisfaction played with the edges of her ebony lips. She has very few memories in her short life but this was one of her favorite.
She chuckles in response to his banter. Manners wasn't her strong suit and to think her mother would have taught her any was comical. He mentions mother and a shrug rolls off her gently sloped shoulder, "I haven't seen my mother since returning home that day." She had wandered off shortly after returning. Having crossed into Pangea before it fell from under her. "I have been wandering the Forests mainly," she says factually. It was true.
Sort of
Ivory and onyx dipped legs draw her nearer to him. Passing down his left side her snipped muzzle reaches to graze across his ruffling navy feathers. The soft edges tickle her nose. "I've met some friends," she adds as she rounds his rear. She had sensed him approaching. The heat surrounding the pair had shifted and she was quick to notice.
To feel him
Warrick is put on alert instantaneously. His muscle coiled under his dark auburn hide. Hers does not. A smirk crossed her lips as she draws up the stallions other side to face the stranger. The splashed fire magician was no stranger to her but how would Warrick know that. Warrick speaks and before he finishes with introductions she steps forward happy to see another familiar face. "Levi! Surprise to see me again so soon?" Her question more of a statement than anything. She was pleasantly surprised to see him and she wonders why he had been here, "What brings you to Tephra?"
Attempting to relax tensions that was arising between the two stallions she smiles contently. Her gaze falls upon Levi as she stands beside Warrick. Something about him had changed... And she didn't mean his new and improved choice of hair style.
The silence Levi created stretches and groans under the tension both stallions seem content to let linger. But it does not last. In the moments which pass, each male eyeing the other, Levi realizes he had been rash again. This stallion could be a high-ranking member of Offspring’s military or a valued councilor for all he knew. He had been gone too long, he had much to learn.
Warrick’s physical reaction does not go unnoticed by his mismatched eyes - the line of his lips pressed thin, the hard mass of his jaw muscles and the twitch of his pulse in the veins of his face and neck. After the scrutiny of the auburn and navy stallions features his own apprehension is fading.
In the distance the Volcano rumbles, but Levi does not hear the earths thunder - he hears his father’s voice.
I will not tolerate insolence within my kingdom, least of not from my son.
Maybe it was time to stop making enemies.
Warrick breaks the silence, but the mottled stallion is saved from a response when the winged creature’s pleasantries are interrupted by Kolera’s banter. Her tone is light, as if everything in the world was going her way, and Levi uses her friendliness as his escape. His gaze finally rest on the lithe little mare and he musters a grin, (it is a valiant attempt but not altogether convincing) unsure how to properly answer the rhetorical question. Luckily it is quickly followed by another inquiry which turns his grimace towards a genuine smile, even if his eyes still gleam with something more base than amusement.
“Tephra is my home,” he says simply. But she would have had no way of knowing; they had never spoke of their homes before. Despite the time and traveling they had done together, they hadn’t talked about much. He had always just imagined her as a forest nymph, a satirical cross between fawn and she-devil. He saw her as Kolera a child with ought family, gender or lineage. It seemed stupid now.
“What brings you to Tephra, Kolera?” Again, he thinks of his father but looks to Warrick. Offspring had been firm with Levi but not harsh, he wasn’t sure that Kolera would experience the same generosity if, when, she meet the King. Tephra was probably the last place Kolera should be.
Levi had no way of knowing that Warrick knew of his and Kolera's involvement in the Hyaline turmoil or, that he was personally touched by it. But he does know that anger and unrest had rippled threw Beqanna after that night. The unknown terrifies Levi and he has no idea what Warrick is capable of or if Kolera is safe in Tephra.
07-15-2017, 09:20 AM (This post was last modified: 07-15-2017, 09:21 AM by Warrick.)
The tension in the air is palpable with the presence of the other, hanging thick and snug against his flesh just like the intense heat and humidity that sits so heavily throughout Tephra. Slender yet muscular blue legs shift uneasily beneath him, mirrored by the rustle of the navy wings that outstretch uncertainly at his sides before settling there once again. Warrick’s abundant amount of information that came from his many conversations with locals and leaders alike has already led the bay stallion to believe that this stranger is really no stranger at all, possibly something much more hostile if his intuition turns out to be correct. For the sake of Kolera, the seemingly delicate and gentle young mare, Warrick remains stoic and solid, despite the taut muscle jumping in his jawline as he clenches his teeth together harshly.
Levi.
At the announcement of his name by Kolera, Warrick’s blue eyes flash fervently to the other stallion, ears falling into the thick tendrils of his tangled, black mane. The fire that boils in his stomach doesn’t let him even realize that Kolera already knew him, distracted by the sound of his pulse thumping painfully in his ears as anger rolls through him.
He knew it was only a matter of time before he would cross paths with Offspring’s son, and many nights he had wondered what his reaction would be. Conflicted by his duty and respect for Offspring and by his urge to aim a swift kick to the solidity of the stallion’s shoulder, Warrick merely stews in his anger, becoming frigid and mechanical in his movements.
Kolera comes to stand beside Warrick, his eyes flickering momentarily to her as she continues to speak, but he does not let his gaze stay away from Levi for long. Back to the bay splashed stallion, auburn lids narrowing over the brilliant and blazing blue of his irises, cobalt lips twitching into a smile that also doubles as a grimace. Warrick has not put two and two together (quite literally) when it came to Kolera’s involvement with Hyaline, but he knew certainly of Levi’s. How long will it take for him to burn Tephra to the ground as well?
Warrick snorts sharply, simultaneously snapping the navy of his tail against his haunches. A diplomat at heart, a peacekeeper for all intents and purposes, the blue-bay was not feeling very peaceful at the moment.
“We all know your reason for being here,” Warrick says flippantly to Levi, his ears still solidly against the curvature of his neck, unable to stop the words as they flow like venom from his lips (it tastes bitter and did not belong on his tongue, and did not ease the boil riddled in the pit of his stomach like he hoped it would). Eyes flash to Kolera, the memorable smirk on her lips now bringing him a sudden feeling of dread, hoping that maybe she knows Levi for a different reason, but knowing it is foolish to think she would know him any other way. “But yes, Kolera, why have you returned?” His voice softens somewhat as he addresses Kolera, his eyes slowly peeling from Levi to look at her as she stands next to him.
like the sun,
swallowed up by the earth
warrick
omggg he is being a sassy butt, please forgive him
Tensions fan into a raising inferno around them. Hoofs pace anxiously. Judgemental glances turn to narrowed hostility between the two stallions. She did not join in. Her muscles relaxed under taunt auburn. Ears swiveled as each exchanged words. Those directed to her in questions, then others directed to each other as jabs of sarcasm.
Golden brown eyes shifted to Levi as he questioned her but before she got a word in Warrick was speaking. Asking her the same. Ebony lips creased a smile, "I came to visit you Warrick." Her words soft and true, "I did not know you lived here Levi." Her gaze shifted to the splashed stallion then to the landscape, "It is a beautiful home you have." She thought to her own birthplace and hardly considered it home. Her home was within the shadows of the trees. Usually a lonely existence but she had met others in her wandering. Two of such stood before her. Which she was grateful for.
Looking to each for their reaction then shifting to the landscape. The towering formation that was the lands centerpiece rumbled and spewed ash from it's middle. Her brow cocked in wonder, "What's that?" Her snipped muzzle bobbed in it's direction as ebony tassels swished at her hocks. She hadn't remembered seeing it when she first visited Tephra as a foal. Maybe the trees had blocked it's view from her, she had been much smaller then. Her curiousity of it coaxed her next words, "Can we go see it?"...
There was one place on this planet that Levi would not burn. No amount of convincing by men or gods by women or angels could tempt him destroy his home. And that was what Tephra was, an island of stone and fire, his family and his home.
The venom in Warrick's voice, causes his gazed to slide back to the stallion. The petty comment does not suit him, the flippant tone was unbecoming for one his age.
But he quells the flames which rise in expectancy, there is no follow up. He wonders if, with proper coaxing, he could foster insults until they grew to violence. Snide and sneers rolled of his hide, but could they blossom into blows which pierced him? He could not start a fight, here, in the kingdom of his father, but hmm he would like to finish one. Or maybe that was her.
Today his head was clouded. Why did Kolera have to show up today?
I didn’t know you lived here, Levi It’s a beautiful home you have
He doesn't have to look to see the destruction she has already brought. He doesn’t have to search his thoughts to hear his father’s voice.
“No.” She can’t stay, we can't go sight seeing, she shouldn't be here.
His inky eye, wild and dark, watches her with a hard glint. She used her powers as fodder for conversation, a cheap party trick, and he could not trust her in his home.Her talents had fascinated him in the forest, but here in his home, they unnerved him. The mischief in her voice has faded, but he can’t trust her before his father can trust him.
“You will have to see King Offspring if you are doing anything other than leaving.
...those involved with you will not be welcomed here. Don't let me down
“And I can’t say I recommend it.”
He takes a step closer, placing himself between her and Warrick. They stand face to face - Tephra and the volcano are at his back. He takes one more step and their shoulders touch, his head is high, his mouth nearly level with her ear. "We aren't kids in the woods anymore. I'm not a lost boy and I'm done playing games."
That's all Hyaline had ever been to him. A game to test his power.
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