[private] .:Bloodfeather:. (Lepis, Marni)

[Wolfbane]

Gods, he’d missed home and Pteron so damn much! The striking variety of Loessian flora, her winding rivers both fresh and saltwater. Even the nest where Pteron had been ‘hatched’ still remained, only a bit roughened by the immortal turn of the seasons. All of these things (perfect and wonderful in their own way) gave Wolfbane a constant reminder of the mare he’d shared them with, and when the first spring rains had fallen in the North it meant that the final piece of his life would fall back into place, completing the puzzle.

So much had changed, though.

That’s why he’d flown directly back from Nerine, as quickly as he could manage despite his exhaustion, just to intercept his wife and daughter on their flight home. Home was not how they’d left it, sadly. Bane had left Loess in incompetent hands when he’d fled for safety, expecting (stupidly) for things to be maintained and waiting for him. Now a dragon sat on his throne and their position in the kingdom was unsettled.

His lack of judgement spelled failure, and Lepis deserved the news from his own mouth before seeing things with her own eyes.

Poised at the southernmost border of the Pampas with the sea crashing in his ears, Wolfbane stood against the wind and trained his vision on the horizon, expectant. Marni should be capable of good, strong flight by now which was why he’d left before them. Partially because he was terrified of being confronted by Wyrm immediately after arriving here, mostly because his youngest child had yet to molt into her adult feathers.

Pteron was basically a stallion now, Marni not far behind on her journey to becoming a mare, and once again Lepis carried their child. Scanning the bright heavens, Wolfbane felt his age like never before and resolved, first and foremost, to hold his beloved spouse close and then his daughter. Regardless of what was to come, they had each other. He was bound and determined to make the most of that situation before these quiet hours became memories, lost to time.

Refugee of Loess : Member of the Southlands

Wolfbane

@[Lepis] and @[Marni] I’m tagging you just in case you want to get in on this family action

[Lepis]

I had not taught Pteron to fly, and I cannot help but feel that I am failing Marni as well - though in a less obvious sort of way. Our flight home has been dull, many monotonous hours of flight in a straight line. I wanted her to enjoy her first long flight the way I had, and I fear that our return to Beqanna has been anything but exciting.

But at least we are home.

I can feel it, a warmth at the center of my chest as the familiar horizon comes into view. I let out a sigh that I did not know I'd been holding at the sight of it. I gesture toward it to Marni with a happy wicker, and adjust the course of our flight ever so slightly. We arrive at the very peak of the afternoon, and land with our shadows covering only the red earth below our hooves.


The land here at the edge of the realms is a blend of the Pampas and Loess: sloping hills and tall grass growing in thick bunches large enough to hide a half-dozen horses, with just as much room between them. It's an odd sort of place, but I give it no thought as I move toward the golden stallion. Burying my head against his shoulder, I breathe deep the familiar spicy smell of Bane's flaxen mane. It calms me, as it always had, and I am able to pull away and give him a bright smile.

"I thought we'd never get here," I tell him. "I swear the trip going out was so much shorter." It's odd how time passes in worlds that are not our own, I think. There's an odd haze to the recent past, but it is one that I have no interested in looking at too closely.

"How are you? And Pteron, did you find him?" Are my first concern, and a glance back at Marni to reassure myself that she too, fares well. And then, because it is never far from my mind: "How is Loess?"

@[Wolfbane]
ooc: well, i did tell you i'd post by this weekend and tonight is before this weekend lolol

[Heda]

She hadn't met any of grandchildren during her stay in the pampas, if anything she's a lousy excuse of a grandma. She had made no effort, which wasn't a surprise. she had always been an absent parent, it seems the same has settled onto her role as a grandmother. But she means to work on that, maybe not to Pteron, or to her daughter's latest child(Marni) whom she had yet to meet, but perhaps there was still time for her to fulfill her grandmotherly duties to both of her grandbabies.

The golden women wanders the pampas aimlessly, she found that she had begun spending most of her days floundering over the many species of flowers that bloomed across every inch of the pampas. She would pluck scarlet poppies, mustard daffodils, and alabaster oxeye daisies and intertwine them within her feathered plumage, creating a floral bouquet within her own wings. Every day creating a different arrangement, as the flowers beauty never lasted. 

Today she finds herself fussing over a rather large patch of daisies, when her attention is drawn to the sky, the faint sound of flapping of wings reaches her navy tipped lobes, and her hazel gaze follows, to find a small gathering of winged blue pointed equine. Her heart skips a beat, her daughter had returned, and she wasn't alone. 

With a flap of her wings, she prances over to the small gathering, wild flowers showering off of her wings as she steps, a sugar dusted smile lingers on her navy lips. "Lepis! Your home!" She expels her tone sweet, and fluid as it flows out of her lips. Her grin widens, as her eyes dart  to the stallion whom Heda assumes is her daughter's loving husband, "Hello, you must be Wolfbane right? I'm Heda." Her words remain sweet, she always wanted this for her daughter the very thing that she never had, and perhaps never could have. Her attention fixes upon the young girl that stands beside hr daughter, she resembles the very spitting image of Lepis, there was no doubt this was one of her grandchildren "Hello there! I'm your grandmother." She exclaims with excitement.

Her attention shifts again, back to her daughter and to Wolfbane, "How have you two been?"

HEDA

Love Is Weakness

Mega grandma happiness welcome back <3
@[Lepis] @[Wolfbane] <3

[Marni]

Her life was anything but normal, she was born in the Pampas and almost instantly she left with her family. She vaguely remembers her brother Pteron, but he stayed behind in there home kingdom.

When mother and father announced they were returning she was estatic! She loved being around them, but it was quiet lonely being without any friends her age. Perhaps this move will grant her an opportunity to make friends!

It seemed like weeks that they traveled, but then again Marni has a short attention span. When they finally reached the Pampas she could have collapsed she was so tired. But at least they flew! Marni loved using her wings, flying in the sky was so freeing to her.

Mother and father talked but she didn't really pay attention, not until a stranger approached them. Marni found herself tucked tightly against her mothers leg as the stranger approached. She had a striking resemblance to mother and even herself....

Marni listens as she speaks her mothers name, they must know eachother. This quickly soothes the young foal and she stays beside her mother but steps out a bit. She turns to speak to Marni, claiming to be her grandmother. Marni turns to look at her mother for confirmation, still wary she turns to give a greeting. H..hello, my name is Marni, , she steps closer to her mother again when she finishes speaking.

@[Wolfbane] @[Lepis] @[Heda]

[Wolfbane]

Bane almost looked away before they’d appeared like two far-off birds in the sky. Lepis and Marni grow from dark specks to hazy outlines, soaring in from the sea and soon coasting right above Wolfbane’s head and beyond. He’d heard his mate’s confident whicker and watched Marni soaring, feeling a twinge of pride at their flight that seems bittersweet after having seen Pteron changed into a man, and twisting around to follow them at a gallop the three are reunited after having spent so many weeks apart.

Never again the male pegasus promises himself, peppering Lepis with a kiss here and there once she’d curled into the protection of his shoulder. Beqanna seemed so empty without them, and the changes they would face were insurmountable without the idea of his family there to guide him. “Not to say I was worried, but I was tempted to head back and meet you halfway.” He smirked casually, letting Marni catch her breath before reaching out to press his nose against her cheek. “Pteron is fine and Loess…” Bane drops off with just the hint of an edge.

He inhales to continue but the sound of feathers and his wife’s name give Wolfbane reason to pause and curve his head over one shoulder. “Hello,” the golden mare interjects, no doubt catching the puzzled look on Bane’s face. For a second he mistakes her for a sibling of his spouse; the two seem similar in age and strikingly mimic one another in color. “I’m Heda.” The stranger tells them, and a spark of recognition widens Wolfbane’s eyes.

Heda, Lepis’ mother.

What he knows of Lepis and her family is what she knows of his: they’ve told each other stories and by now the couple is familiar with names. He thinks Sawtooth has met his nesting partner, and at this point he’s met Castile, her ‘uncle’. Heda, however, is a character he doubted the pair would ever meet - but that doesn’t show on his face. The puzzlement smooths over into a calm smile, he tilts his gaze towards Marni when her grandmother tries an introduction and that smile widens when Marni puts her best foot forward in return.

“We’ve been better.” Bane laughs politely, shifting around so that Heda wouldn’t feel excluded from the group. His hips and the curve of one wing touch against Lepis with silent support, the all-too-familiar bulge of her pregnant belly a welcome feeling. “I was just telling Lepis that things in Loess have changed. Castile has taken control.”

Heda was a part of Lepis’ past - she might know Castile and have input on how best to handle the situation. Still, the corner of Wolfbane’s eye shifts imperceptibly to catch his wife’s response and expression at the news.

Refugee of Loess : Member of the Southlands

Wolfbane

@[Lepis] @[Marni] @[Heda]

[Lepis]

The sounds of her name startles the wild-haired mare, and Lepis raises her blue-grey eyes to find the source. When she does, the edges of her lips pull up in a smile that matches Heda’s in both their navy color and shape. As her mother greets Wolfbane, Lepis takes the moment to give Marni an encouraging nudge on the side of her neck. ‘Say hello to your grandmother,’ she says without words, and it seems that her daughter understands when she follows Lepis’ unspoken direction.

The three women bear a striking familial resemblance, but it is a portrait that Wolfbane matches well, though he is flashing gold and iridescent blue against their more muted shades. It brings Pteron to mind, and Lepis is accutely aware of his absense as Wolfbane tells her mother that they’ve been better. The edge of the perlino mare’s expression hardens at the reminder, though that shifts quickly to confusion when her husband speaks her uncle’s name.

“Castile? Back in Loess?” Lepis has not seen her uncle since their brief meeting in the Forest. He’d not seemed interested in returning to Loess, though she cannot truly blame him. The hilly kingdom hadn’t ever been his home. It was simply a place that her father had tied him to with cords of friendship and an anchor of responsibility. Yet in their absence he has not only made Loess home but himself the king.

It is not a title so different than Regent, Lepis thinks to herself, but it feels uncomfortably strange to have the world so thoroughly shifted on its head. Where does she belong in Castile’s Loess? Where does her family? Aware that she is still frowning but not inclined to hide her emotions from her family, Lepis glances back at her mother. Her brow is raised curiously, for she wonders what her mother might know of the change in power.