"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
Without realizing it, she had closed herself to the stars. In her anguish and aching pain, the swirling of her silver eyes had stilled. She felt broken, torn apart. There was something missing within her, she no longer felt whole. Still, she would not be that girl that pined her life away and spent every night sobbing into her pillow at night. Despite the constant ache, the heavy weight she carries with her everywhere, she picks herself up each morning and tries to get through the day. Sometimes she can find a rare smile and forget her woes for a few minutes. Sometimes she can even laugh. However it never lasts long, reality crashing back in around her.
She feels sluggish and has stopped looking at her reflection in the water. Unable to scan the ugly scarring wound along her face or the extra pounds she has gained despite her bare appetite. Jah-Lilah was constantly pushing her to eat, to take care of herself. It’s just hard to care. There has been no word from Amet since she had left and she doesn’t expect to see him again. Her thoughts travel to Castile and she wonders where he is. If he thinks about her, if he knows. She wonders if she threw her life away on the fancy of a handsome man. She wonders if either were ever worth her time to begin with.
Cradling her scarred body against the low branches of a ripped up tree, she tries to pass the day and enjoy the little warmth the sun provides as winter lays it’s heavy hand over the lands. It’s warmer here but she can’t help but envision what Hyaline looks like covered with snow. And how different things had been at this time last year. A slow exhale escapes her as she lowers her head and presses her muzzle close to her chest. When would this get easier? When would she be healed?
Just make this go away...
all of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was
And maybe, I'll find out a way to make it back someday. To watch you, to guide you through the darkest of your days.
The sun has already begun its descent beyond the hazy horizon, as the once vivid sky gives way to a gradient of auburn and ash as a cluster of thick, feathery clouds loom overhead, rumbling dangerously. His deep, gold-flecked hazel eyes observe the ridges and curves, noting the darkness of its shadows – as the raucous sea slowly lips at the shoreline, rhythmic in its gentle caress. It is a reminder of where he had been born; of where he was from – the roots that he had torn away from the soft, and supple ground of Tephra, so long ago.
He is so close to home, he can very nearly taste the sulfur – but he cannot bring himself to go.
The memories return to him, of warm evenings stolen away beneath a starlit sky, of the carefree afternoons spent bathing in the sea – of the many hours wasted away; a squandered youth of which his wild heart often pined for. The long summer days had long since passed, giving way to a smothering autumn and a frigid winter – but not on the island; never on the island. There is an emptiness within his heart that had never quite been filled after his captivity – he had lost so much time; the youth of his sons that he could never recapture. Still, their hearts are filled with bitterness and anger, and he can never reclaim their youth, just as he cannot claim his own.
His heart aches to return to Tephra, to find his mother – it has been so long, but he cannot bring himself to do it.
He chest is still too heavy with anger, too laden with heartache to see her yet.
Instead, he is quietly wandering the eastern border, savoring the sensation of the frothing seafoam lapping hungrily along his gilded legs while his long and lustrous tail of sienna glides along the surface of the incoming tide. He is quiet, contemplative, knowing that what he yearns to see and where he longs to be – he can almost feel it; the magnetic pull of where he had been raised, of the volcanic island that held some small, fragmented piece of his heart.
He is drawn from his quiet reverie by the stillness of a silhouette outlined in the pale, waning sunlight, seeping into the darkness of her skin, but the light cannot reach the shadow of despair within her eyes. His legs carry him to her, and slowly, a gentle breeze carries with him – stirring from deep within his chest, effortlessly pushed into the atmosphere as the wind caresses her shoulder, wrapping around her neck and brushing her tousled forelock away from her eyes. She is heartbroken; never has it been written more clearly – never had it be more obvious to him.
”You look like you could use a little company,” he murmurs quietly, cheek tilted as the heavy column of his neck is lowered, seeking her gaze to meet with his own. ”my name is Canaan.”
If a great wave shall fall and fall upon us all, then I hope there's someone out there who can bring me back to you.
Krone often lingered around the island. She had found a weird sort of solace in it - one that she hadn't found often. She was always so focused on making something of herself, of trying to please a father who...well, wasn't around anymore - who wasn't around at all - that she forgotten what it was like to just breathe once in a while. While Circinae's recruiting mission stayed lingering in her mind, she wanted to get to know the place she would be bringing others to. She roamed the shoreline and through the palms, she chatted with other residents casually, and sang back to the birds (something she had loved doing as a child, but never quite was able to do in her adulthood).
It stays rather quiet in Ischia, save for the squawking of the seagulls and chirping of the parrots, and it's easy to get lost in its luster. She knew she had a mission to attend to, but it felt good to give herself a little slack.
She makes her way through the trees, and stops upon seeing another. Krone has seen this girl before - she could often be seen with the red mare and her consorts, the golden stallion and Circinae. The smokey mare looks distant, distracted even. There was a gleam of sadness in her eye, and the green pointed mare tilts her head. Krone was a bitch, and didn't care about much, but the scarred mare before her sends a twinge of empathy through her otherwise cold heart.
And then another appears, the golden one, Canaan Krone thinks his name was.
"Hello," Krone approaches, careful not to startle her. She glances over to Canaan, giving a gentle nod in his direction. "May I join in?"
But watch the Queen conquer
@[Canaan] @[Ciri]
Hope it's okay if I pop in. If not just ignore me.
The soft groan of approaching thunder rumbles above her head. Her muzzle reaches upwards as she turns her metallic gaze to the sky, watching the clouds creep in above her. At least this weather would not reject her. Others would be looking for cover, would be looking to seek shelter from the storm. She remains, waiting for the cascade of rain to fall across her face. If she couldn’t have the stars, at least she could have the storm.
The water is growing choppy out at sea, it seems to raise higher as if it could reach the thunder itself and draw it down. Still she remains, pressing her extending belly closer to the rough bark. The changes in her body were only now starting to become more physically apparent. Her stomach seemed slightly swollen, as if she had eaten a barrel of apples. Her raven tresses grew longer, thicker. Her coat seemed to shine where it stuck out from her scars. Jah-Lilah had not been wrong, she was glowing. Glowing on the outside when she was dull and tarnished on the inside.
The sun is threatening to be swallowed by the creeping overcast when she feels the wind whip gently around her aching frame. It runs soft fingers through the thickness of her tendrils, pulling back her forelock and exposing the shattered reflection of her soul. Of the great loss she suffered within the eerily still silver iris’s. She had lost her moon and her stars. Revealing the male that approaches with a creased brow and gentle words. The breeze seems to come with him, as if it carries beneath the wings that are lined neatly along his back.
He offers company and she tries to find a smile, it flickers only briefly over dark lips before disappearing entirerly. ”Canaan.” She says softly, forcing herself to meet his gaze. ”I’m Ciri.” Pausing for a moment, weighing out if she would rather be alone. The haunting grip around her heart reminds her that she’s been lonely for too long. ”You’re right, I could.”
As if on cue, another joins them. This one a mare, russet and green, curiosity evident in her features. She suddenly feels overwhelmed, the growing life in her belly moving within her at her sudden stress. Making her wince, she hadn’t grown use to the feeling yet. Even thinking of her unborn child made her tremble slightly with dread. She had never expected to be a mother, let alone a single one. ”If you wish.” She finally manages, barely a whisper as Krone comes to join them. Once she had been the top greeter of Hyaline, welcoming others into the lands with ease. Now, conversation seems to evade her. Her hearts not in it anymore.
all of time and space, everywhere and anywhere, every star that ever was
