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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


    i've never fallen from quite this high; anyone
    #1
    The world spreads below him, wide and impossibly green.

    After time on the Icicle Isle, Pteron has an enhanced appreciation for the springtime flora that paints the forest below him. He soars across the Taiga, darting low between the treetops now and then. Next he soars over the mountains of Hyaline where his breath once more freezes around him and ice forms in delicate crystals along the white hairs of his eyelashes and whiskers.

    The northern air he rides flows southeast from Hyaline's lake, but the dun tobiano can see land across the expanse of open sea. There is land there, probably the Silver Cove, and Pteron wants to see it. Neither of his parents have, and the thrill of being the first in his family, of getting to tell them and the rest of the kingdom all about it, is an exhilarating prospect to the young pegasus.

    He lands along a pebbled beach sometime in the early evening. Before folding his feathered wings he stretches them, practiced movements that indicate that he has been in the air for some time and is more than a little sore. The movement of his other limbs is less languid; his hooves paw lightly at the round stones of the beach. He has only ever seen the shore of the Brilliant Pampas before, and he cannot help but turn to look behind him at the sea.

    The daylight has already begun to fade, and the sun hovers over the Hyaline mountains visible across the water. How long would it take to walk there, Pteron wonders? Or to swim? It occurs to him, not for the first time, how much swifter flight is in terms of transportation. He'd been sure that it would take him years to visit all of Beqanna, and he is realizing now that might be untrue. He's already been to Icicle Isle this morning after all. That and Silver Cove (if that it what this place is) make two lands visited in a single day.

    He turns away, shaking his wings one last time before tucking them tightly to his pale sides. The tiny drips of melting ice from his mane mix with the sweat of exertion on his sides, and the olive-eyed colt contemplates jumping into the water. He glances up and down the beach, but sees no one, and takes a few steps closer to the lapping water of the cove.
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    #2
    She takes the opportunity to slip away while her momma was busy with two brand new little babies. There was no doubt in her mind that she probably should have let either her momma or her daddy know where she was going but, well she would take a little heat to have an adventure. Besides she was just going across the water to see what was on the other side. It’s not like it was that far of an adventure anyways. She waits till later, flexing her wings experimentally before she takes to the sky.

    She’s not very good at it yet, but there is a stubborn tilt to her mouth and a look in her eyes that says she won’t take any answer but getting better. And so she does, working hard to get across to the water. At first she stays along the edge, using the ground that’s beneath her to use as some kind of safety net. But she grows bolder and before she knows it’s she is flying in the middle of the water. She laughs, breaking her concentration and falling a couple feet before she catches herself. The pain makes her heart race in her chest but she grins when she steadies herself out.

    Her muscles are screaming at her when she sees his pale form on the shore. She dips sharply when she gets closer to shore, finally falling into the water. She surfaces with a gasp just before him, the water up to her belly when her legs finally find purchase on the rocky bottom. She flips her wet mane from her face, walking towards him on legs that weren’t quite used to the ground any more. “Did you see that?!” Despite her fall, there is a smile on her face. “I flew all the way from over there to here!” She points her nose in the direction of Hyaline.

    “Oh man that was awesome!” She stagger-slips up the rocks until she is closer to him. She shakes her now heavy wings out, but even the tips still touch the water until she reaches the shore. “Hi! I’m Astarielle, or Star. It’s much shorter.” She beams.
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    #3
    Before he can take a step into the inviting water, he sees something reflected in it. He glances up, not entirely sure what to expect, but not entirely surprised to see that it is another pegasus. What is puzzling is where it seems to be coming from. Had she been following him, Pteron wonders? And if so, for how long?

    And concerns about her machinations is dashed when she dives into the sea.

    That certainly hadn't been intentional, he surmises. Pteron waits until she surfaces, his olive eyes carefully flicking across the water. When she emerges a moment later, directly in front of him ,the yearling is grinning. Her tone of voice is contagious, and melds well with the adrenaline that still flows in his veins from his own flight.

    "Yeah that was cool!" He confirms with a rapidly bobbing head. "I'm Pteron.

    He sidles a bit to the side to give her more room to dry on the rocky shore, but doesn't move too far. He is curious about her after all, and why she's come her from Hyaline, a lucky coincidence, he thinks, that they both arrived just now.

    "Is this Silver Cove, do you know?" he asks her, his plan of diving into the water dimming against the more exhilarating prospect of adventuring.

    @[Astarielle]
    Reply
    #4
    He agrees with her and she cannot help but smile some more. “We are friends now right? That’s how this works?” She knew his name and he knew hers. They agreed on something. That practically makes them friends. This was easy! I don’t know why momma wanted them to go out and meet friends and allies. It wasn’t that hard. She reaches her nose towards him, some instinctive response that she doesn’t question. Her nostrils flare as she takes his name in to go with his scent and his face.

    “Oh I do not know. I know that that place is Hyaline. Momma and Daddy adopted me and took me there last year. Now I got another sister and a brother! It’s so exciting.” She turns to look at him, her body rainbowing through the colors in excitement. Something that she didn’t seem to notice nor had any control over. She had nodded towards their mutual home before she met his eyes. She took in the olive color in his pale face, the pale blue that tinted his point.

    Her horn was just a small nub on her head something that itched occasionally as it grew. But other than that she was just just long legs and a body, something that would grow and grow in the next few years to come.

    She almost asks him the silly question of whether or not he lived here and then she realized if he did, he would know where they were at. “If you don’t know then where do you live?” She is quiet a moment, waiting for an answer but her brain thinks of another thing to say. “We should go find someone and find out! Or maybe, maybe we can see if there is anything silvery about it. If there is it should be Silver Cove right?!”
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    #5
    The formation of friendship is easy in Pteron’s world, with only two steps. The first is meeting someone he has never met before, and the second step is declaring them his friend. Or in this case, being declared a friend. The dun colt nods his head as the firehaired filly asks if this is the way friendship works. As far as he knows, it is. He’s not met very many people of course; the pegasus hasn’t even met a half-dozen horses, including his own parents.  Friends are still easy, an advantage of youth.

    Star explains that she has just flown from Hyaline, and Pteron nods, having flicked his curious ears forward to hear her speak over the sound of the waves along the shore. She mentions being adopted and the tobiano tilts his head, reminded for a moment of his own adopted Wombat. Thinking of her makes him miss home with a sharp and sudden pang. Pteron takes a deep breath, and refocuses on what the spotted girl is saying.

    “I was born in Brilliant Pampas,” he tells her. “In the south, by the ocean.” This is a good answer he thinks, and then remembers what Mother had said about always telling the whole truth, not just part of it. Star has told him about her Momma and Dad too, and her two new siblings. “I have a baby sister too. I don’t really know her yet because my mom and dad had to leave and they took her with them. They’ll all come back soon though.” He says this confidently, as though it is a given and not simply something that he desperately hopes for. Pteron still thinks Vulgaris rules, after all, and is unaware of how the world has changed while he has been traveling.

    Having now shared most of his life story, the winged colt cedes the speaking to Star, who suggests that they find someone to ask if this is Silver Cove. Pteron nods enthusiastically, and picks his way carefully along the stony beach, raising his blue muzzle to call out for someone. The boy knows better than to tread to far into this unknown world, even if it seems obvious that he is no threat. He’s just a boy nearing two years old, lanky and awkward behind his mussed blue and white wings.

    “Hello! Is anybody there?” He calls out.

    @[Astarielle]
    @[Aegean]?
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    #6

    love is my religion. i could die for that.

    The Cove is often busy with guests and those seeking refuge. It is the only thing that Aegean has ever known and he thus does not find it particularly strange; it does not rouse any suspicion.

    Still, when he sees the two walking in on the border, they catch his gaze.

    He has never seen them before, and he is certain that he would have noticed more his age. So he watches quietly, feeling the edge of the fever brushing against his consciousness, his amethyst eyes a little too bright, a flush rising beneath the impossibly white of his coat. When they do call out, he lifts his antlered head a little further, something passing across his features before they even out again.

    Aegean has never fancied himself a diplomat or a Prince. He knows his blood is royal blue, but he has always had his mind set on other things—the stars, the dreams that his mother weaves, the hearts that have so consistently stolen his own—and he doesn’t have the time to play the part often.

    But it seems strange to let these two wander without introducing himself.

    It seems strange and he is interested enough that he picks himself up from where he had been curled on the ground, shaking the dirt from his otherwise pristine coat and begins to make his way toward them. The antlers have begun to grow considerably—going from mere velvet-covered stubbs to something closer to the proud, wicked curves of his mother’s—and he swings them in his direction as he walks.

    When he nears them, he comes to a stop, his handsome face still wrapped in a dreamy smile, his purple eyes washing over them both. “Hello there,” his voice is lyrical and soft, almost feminine in the sweet way it wraps around his tongue. “My name is Aegean. Is there some way that I can help you both?”

    i could die for you.



    @[Astarielle] @[Pteron]
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    #7
    “Brillliant Pampas. That sounds lovely. Is it beautiful there?” She questions, curiosity lighting up her eyes. “Is the ocean there as cold as this one?” She nods her head to the water in the cove and turns to look her head in the direction where it had opened into a never-ending pool of blue. She did love to fly, it showed her all kinds of wonderful things about the land she lived on that she didn’t know. Her first long journey had tired her wings out there, and there was a good chance she was going to get in so much trouble for not letting anyone know where she went. She hoped that she could make it back home across the same way.

    Or maybe she would have to walk it home. She didn’t know yet. “Having little ones is fun. Hildy accidently sets things on fire. And has butterflies follow her everywhere. She’s a walking conundrum, but it’s so amusing. Crynn is just little. He don’t talk a lot and really is just staying with mom and dad most of the time, but I ‘spect it’s because our birth momma just dropped him off. So he’s getting used to them and stuff.” She sighs, turning her eyes back towards her new friend. “I just wish our birth mom would have given me as much of a warning as he has gotten.” A shrug and a shake of her head. “Oh well, turned out for the best. My parents are the best.”

    Quite a talker apparently. She would blame it on being home alone with only her siblings and her parents for too long. “Of course they will come back. They wouldn’t leave you alone for long.” Even if she worried a bit for him, because her biological mom had left and hadn’t come back. But she doesn’t say this out loud, doesn’t even let the thought register in her brain before she pushes it away. They had been walking while she talked.

    Because she was talking a lot.

    So she quiets when he calls out and jerks a little in surprise when he is answered not long afterwards. She turns to look at him, and is immediately impressed with his horns. She steps forwards, her lips going out to touch them, lipping at them. “These are cool! How big do you think they will get?” She steps back, her eyes on his antlers a little longer before she looks at him. A small laugh. “Whoops, sorry. I’m Astarielle, but you can call me Star. This is Pteron. Nice to meet you Aegean.” A small pause as her head bobs in a greeting. “We were wondering if this was Silver Cove?”

    She takes him in while she waits for an answer, noting the purple eyes and the purple, sparkling hooves and her body shimmers with the same color purple. But she waits, even if she gives off the appearance of an excited puppy.

    @[Pteron] @[aegean]
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    #8
    When Star asks if Brilliant Pampas is beautiful, Pteron nods without hesitation. He has not seen anything like its endless fields of billowing grass anywhere else in his travels, and his memories of it are viewed from the rose-colored glasses of childhood, where everything is perfect. Her query about the temperature of the ocean is met with a shake of his head - no, the water is warmed by the not-too-distant Tephran volcano. While it is no tropical resort, the water is never icy except in the very heart of winter.

    Astarielle is a talker, it seems, and Pteron is content to listen to her describe her siblings and her family. He's not quite sure what she means by birth mom, but he is distracted by her reassurance that his family will return soon, and he fixes her with a grateful smile. He thinks they will too, but it is nice to hear it said aloud, and by someone other than his reflection.

    The boy that appears on the shore is impossible to miss with his bright coat and crown of antlers, and Pteron's curious olive eyes meet Aegean's amethyst ones with a bright smile. He introduces himself and asks if he can help, but before Pteron can answer his spotted companion is already pressing toward the other colt's growing antlers. Her daring is not something that Pteron can match, so he watches from where he stands, his head tilted in interest for an answer to Star's question.

    They remind him of the horns of the impala that live in the Pampas but they look far more dangerous, which is - inexplicably - much more exciting to the dun tobiano. He's always had a fascination with battle, and he cannot help but think that those antlers would be jolly good to have in a fight. Since Star has taken care of the introductions for the both of them, Pteron is quiet, but it is clear from the interest he shows in any response that Aegean has that he is invested in the conversation, though slightly less enthusiastically than the girl beside him.

    @[aegean] @[Astarielle]
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    #9

    love is my religion. i could die for that.

    Aegean is quiet as he watches them. Not because he is shy, but because he has always been one to observe first and talk second. His words are elegant but rare, the dreamy boy always content to observe and watch over engage. Still, the spotted girl is enthusiastic and bouncy and he finds that endearing, his glowing head angled in her direction as she reaches out to lip at his antlers. Obligingly, he dips his head further so that she can explore them, the bone beginning to grow palmated in some areas and sharp in others.

    “I don’t know,” he says softly, his voice lyrical. “My mother’s are quite large. I imagine mine will be the same.” There’s no boasting in the words but rather a simple bluntness, an accepting of the fact that his antlers will one day stretch to be as impressive as his mother’s. He has no way of knowing the young boy’s thoughts about his antlers, but Aegean has never been one to consider them made for war.

    He wasn’t a fighter, not like his mother.

    Still, when he lifts his head back to look at them both, his lips are spread into a kind smile. He watches them patiently, waiting for the filly to finish speaking. When it is quiet again, he nods, his movements always just a little slow and deliberate. “This is indeed Silver Cove.” He casts his gaze around the kingdom, the only home he has ever really known, before bringing it back to the two of them.

    He doesn’t know what would bring two children to his home without knowing where they are, but it piques his interest—more than it already was—and he watches them more closely. “Astarielle, Pteron,” he enunciates their names clearly, choosing her more formal name over her nickname.

    “Would you like to see more of the Cove?”

    i could die for you.



    @[Astarielle] @[Pteron]
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    #10

    this house is rust and wreckage, holding on by just a hope
    but I believe in dust and magic and every word you ever wrote

    He earns another friend for life when he angles his head so she might explore a little farther. She obliges happily in her curiosity. She wonders how large they will grow, even when he answers her about his mom. She wonders how big his mom’s were and perhaps one day would find her way to meet this lady. Just to indulge in the curiosity of how large her antlers were. Had Pteron said his thoughts out loud about them she would have disagreed as well. She was not a fighter, not in the typical sense. Fighting for those she loved and cared for? Well that would perhaps be a different story.

    She was more worried about everything that would get caught on them. She had been worried about her own small nub on her forehead. How big it would get and whether or not it would get caught on everything.

    Anyways the conversation continues on.

    When he confirms that it was indeed Silver Cove, Star is even more excited. She hadn’t known any place other than Hyaline as a home, so it was exciting to her to realize that other people lived here all the time. The playground and the adoption den were different, no one lived there all the time. And so she didn’t really count them as exciting adventures.

    She steps back, settling into the conversation and forcing her thoughts to focus. Focus self. A word of sternness that disappears almost immediately when he offers to take them on a tour! “Oh yes! That would be exciting, wouldn’t it Pteron?” She turns towards him, lips brushing against his wings briefly before she steps back her lips almost reaching out to touch Aegean again. “What an adventure!” She says randomly her coat flickering to randomly match both of their coats.

    Astarielle


    @[aegean] @[Pteron] sorry about the wait. :/
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