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  • Beqanna

    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "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


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    take a bullet to the heart just to keep you safe; jesper
    #1

    Through the morning mist, the sound of coughing might be heard echoing out from the cavern’s darkness. Leander lay against the cool rock, a feverish cheek pressed achingly to stone. His lungs felt brittle, dry – and there was crusted blood around his nostrils, though he couldn’t remember when the nosebleed had occurred. He had awoken fitfully in the night, only to find that Kora had gone.
     
    It hadn’t surprised him. He was getting used to her abrupt vanishings – the way she came and went without notice. If truth be told, his sister wasn’t exactly what he’d expected or even imagined. Of course, their parents had only known her before she’d become the wintry woman she was now, which meant the stories he’d heard had solely taken place prior to that point. Obviously a lot had happened since then.
     
    Still, whenever they had spoken of Kora, he’d envisioned someone meek yet well-meaning, perhaps nervous, but softly sweet – a conjured image that hardly bore resemblance to the icy mare who’d found him asleep in a snowdrift at the beginning of spring. This Kora was something of an enigma in comparison. She was odd, he thought; though perhaps a better word was incongruous.
     
    Whenever they spoke of their shared history, something in her whispery voice sounded distant and evasive. At times, she was so detached that he fell silent, though she hardly noticed. At others, he swore he glimpsed moments of substance fluctuating like cloud cover beyond the coolness of her gaze. When that happened, she would leave – almost as though she couldn’t stand to be near him – and yet she still returned.
     
    He couldn’t make sense of it, especially in his current state. There were hours when his mind spun, his thoughts dizzyingly fuzzy at the edges; he was getting weaker by the day. Though he had no appetite, he knew he needed to eat. Wearily spurring himself from the stone floor, Leander slowly made his way to the cave’s entrance. Tufts of hardy northern grasses peek out from the snow – there would always be snow this far north, no matter the season.
     
    Despite the rather mild breeze, Lee shivered. In the rising light, many of his bones were starkly outlined through splashed palomino skin. He nibbled inattentively for a while, staving off bouts of faintness as they came in waves. At one point, Leander glanced up to see an arctic fox crouched in the snow some yards away. “Don’t you look comfortable,” he commented offhandedly, envious of the animal’s dense fur as he continued to shudder with cold – his sickness more to blame than the actual weather.




    leander
    take a bullet to the heart just to keep you safe; like a dream in my arms but i’m wide awake

    hi @[Jesper] I hope this proves I don't actually forget about threads I've been meaning to write for ages :|
    Reply
    #2
    It is rare that Jesper did not have an agenda for the day. Today is one such day and, the Arabian-lined stallion took advantage in order to test his newly discovered power. He could not exactly will himself into canine form. Nor did the shift seem tied to an emotion but, rather, he had to succomb to the fox's senses; allow them to override his equine ones and, embrace them; become one with himself. This is not just an alternate personality. This is an alternate body. In so many ways, Jesper already thought and behaved as a fox would or, did. Now, he had to allow himself to see, hear, smell and feel as a fox does.

    The sensation is surreal as his aquamarine irises begin to see more depth and detail in his tundra surroundings. The frozen terrain is not just covered in white fluff or, powder. He can make out the individual crystals of snow which make up the topmost layer. They shimmer under the weak daystar and fly into the air any time a breath or, breeze pushes them. He stands closer to the snowy blanket as his canone stature is much shorter than that of his equine one. His bronze-tipped ears, despite the thick tufts lining the triangular pinna, detect the stiff rustle of grasses in the gentle breeze and, the not so far off crashing of waves against the icy shoreline.

    His heightened auditory sense also picks up the crunch of snow beneath hooves. His smaller, pointy nose picks up the scent of an equine approaching. The other's cologne is masculine and, unfamiliar. As the new male approaches, Jesper focuses on his similar Arabian features. His pelt is a mix of gold and white with a beautiful pair of wings hinged just behind his shoulders. Ears remain alert atop silvery profile and, lips curve slightly upwards. He remains aware that revealing any of his pointy dentition as a fox is actually more of a threat than if he were in horse form. The canine stands before the steed and, catches his comment. As gently as he can, the fox voices the following, "I would be happy to share my cave with you." After a moments thought, he adds, "Could you use your wings to deflect the cold and wind some?" Aware that there is little more he could actually do, Jesper resolves to waiting patiently for the other's response.
    jesper
    carnage x bethanie
    devin's∇designs

    @[Leander]
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    #3

    Leander blinked hard when the fox actually responded to him – was he really that delirious? Shaking his head, the overo stallion smiled a little and decided that it didn’t matter if he was imagining it. If anything, perhaps it would help to distract him from the sad state of his current affairs. “That’s kind of you,” he replied, his weakened body swaying as he lowered his head to better meet the creature’s bright blue eyes. “However, I don’t quite think I’d fit in a fox-sized cave.” Lee chuckled at that, though the sound immediately turned into a hacking cough.

    Once recovered, he shrugged the heavy set of wings which he found he could barely lift from his sides anymore. “I’m afraid I’m not quite up to the task, friend.” His brown eyes contemplated the small white animal. It certainly looked real. The mind was a funny thing, wasn’t it? Still a bit amused that he was somehow conversing with a fox in the first place, he said to himself rather wryly, “Dad would get a kick out of this.” Leander didn’t think to consider that this was a shapeshifter – after all, his thoughts were blurry and muddled by sickness. He simply carried on believing he was imagining things. Not the worst daydream to find oneself in, he mused. “What’s your name? Mine’s Leander.”



    leander
    take a bullet to the heart just to keep you safe; like a dream in my arms but i’m wide awake

    @[Jesper]
    Reply
    #4
    Aquamarine gaze catches the stallion's smile and, he manages one while keeping his lips closed (so he is still conscious of his pointed teeth). Bronze-tipped ears note the subtle disbelief in the gold-and-white male's tone. Jesper puzzles for a moment before he remembers his first encounter with a talking animal that was not a horse - Merida. She was the first fox, and only other, he had met. He, too, found himself initially baffled by his ability to converse with her. That is until he figured out her trait allowed her to shift from equine to canine. For a moment, the white fox wondered where the red female fox was now. He would love to reunite with her and, show her a proper 'sit'. Maybe on his next venture to the mainlaind. He chuckles, mostly to himself but, soon realizes that the stallion had done the same moments before. Hopefully, the overo would think Jesper is just laughing along with him and not lost in his own thoughts. He might not have actually heard exactly what the joke was but, he did catch the tight-chested cough that shook the overo's body afterwards.

    Jesper says nothing until after the equine asks him his name. He smiles, apologetically, this time before opening his maw to reply. "It is a pleasure, Leander. My name is Jesper. I live here on the Isle. I can shift between horse and fox which makes living here a whole lot more comfortable." There. Let's hope he cleared that up! He continues, "I am sorry you aren't feeling well. What brings you to the Isle? If you aren't sticking around; if you return to the mainland, I could ask my grandsire to help. He lives in Nerine." Jesper grows more curious on this steed's intentions. There is little the Isle has to offer. And, why would you venture through and to the most extreme place in Beqanna, when your health is already compromised?
    jesper
    carnage x bethanie
    devin's∇designs

    @[Leander]
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    #5

    While his newfound fox friend provided a logical explanation for what Lee had half-believed was his own hallucinations, he emitted a self-deprecating laugh – though it rasped from his throat somewhat excruciatingly. “Well, Jesper,” he coughed, “I’m relieved to know that I’m not going crazy.” Not yet, at least. He knew the sickness was advanced in him, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before his mind slipped away on the plague’s black tides before well and truly finishing him off. Giving a weak shake of his unkempt mane, he stubbornly returned himself to the present.

    “My sister, Kora, is somewhere here on the Isle, and I…” he paused, drawing breath, “I won’t leave without her.” He could have said ‘I can’t leave without her,’ but that wasn’t entirely true. Leander might very well be able to muster the last dredges of his strength and make the short flight to Nerine alone, as the fox-shifter suggested. If he went now, chances were that he would get the help he needed. Then again, if he went now, chances were that Kora would disappear on him forever. “It’s a generous offer, though. Thanks,” he managed amidst a hacking cough, working to bring what was meant to be a reassuring smile to dry lips.

    A wind rose over the tundra, stirring up flecks of snow and dusting them across his too-thin frame. Lee did his best to ward off a shudder. “Perhaps you would help me pass the time until she gets back?” Weakly, he rearranged his wings in an attempt to deflect the sudden gale. It wasn’t really that cold of a day, but his illness made him feel chilled to his very bones. “You could tell me more about your family,” he suggested, “You mentioned a grandsire? What about parents, or siblings..?” It felt a small comfort to be in another’s company, and Leander didn’t want to give that up just yet – especially when a part of him feared what might happen if he were left alone in his current state.



    leander
    take a bullet to the heart just to keep you safe; like a dream in my arms but i’m wide awake

    @[Jesper]
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