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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


    [private]  So You Came All This Way For... [Adna]
    #1
    If there was one thing that the golden stallion prided himself upon, it was his initiative to walk along Taiga's borders and keep a lookout for any signs of trouble that might approach. He'd done it when he was a leader, and he'd continue to do so as the Protector. He wouldn't let his personal prejudice get in the way of his job.

    Even if he didn't like taking orders from the head honchos.

    It was an early, calm morning as Aten traversed Taiga's southern border, having already passed by Tephra and Sylva and now on the largest span of a kingdom line they shared. So far as the golden stallion knew, Taiga was on neither good nor bad terms with Loess. He didn't know the full story though; after all, Wolfbane and Lepis seemed to have come from there. Had they kept their ties with the kingdom good? Or had too much changed?

    He supposed he would eventually find out.

    Turul had decided to join Aten on his border walk, the falcon gently surfing through the air as the morning breeze kept him aloft above the stallion. Every so often he would dip and go close to his friend, but then circle back up and gain some altitude. He preferred being high in the air anyways, and Aten would not ground him.

    The mist Taiga was known for was still hanging over the forest floor, high and thick enough that Aten could've almost been invisible if one didn't know where to look. The golden stallion's coat blended in well with the forest. Given his history, it was almost as if he was at one with the kingdom he called home.

    If Turul knew what the stallion was thinking in that moment, he might even make a joke about ghost stories that would be told to future generations. But Aten would just shush him and plan a revenge joke later. Such was the banter between the two.

    Aten didn't expect anything of extreme excitement to happen this morning; it had been relatively quiet the last few. Of course, he never knew what to expect. Perhaps Taiga's mist would be concealing more than the stallion and falcon on this early summer morning.

    @[adna]
    Reply
    #2

    and if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones
    ‘cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs

    She does not know why she’s here.

    To be fair, on most days Adna does not know why she is where she ends up. Her days remain disconnected and sporadic, and she is left walking the line of anger and rage and utter sorrow. She feels it in her bones—the loss, the confusion—and it scrapes her clean, leaves her empty and wanting. This echo chamber of a heart drives her from whatever land she could consider a home (the truth is that Loess is not a home, not anymore) and toward the north where the rocky land becomes covered with trees.

    When she reaches the border of it, she pauses, lifting a scaled leg and then gently dropping it.

    She has no right to be here, she thinks, and she frowns as she looks into the shadows and to the land where others live. She has no right to trespass or walk further, even if it’s to cut through the border and make her way to Tephra where she has heard her family now lives. It leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, imagining her mother and father and siblings in the golden glow of their love, in the gentleness of it.

    That had once been her reality; she had once been the spoiled firstborn.

    Then she had been the loving older sister.

    Now she is the self-imposed orphan, a woman without roots because she forcefully yanked them out. She clenches her jaw to keep the pain from washing over her features and swallows hard, trying to ignore the tears that start in the back of her throat. Instead, she looks through the mist and sees the approaching form of a golden stallion. She’s never seen him before—which is not odd since she has met so few before—and she stiffens slightly, realizing that she is a stranger on the border of a strange land without a reason.

    Her fangs touch her bottom lip and she takes a step back, ready to leave.

    But for some reason, she stays.

    adna

    we're setting fire to our insides for fun
    collecting pictures from a flood that wrecked our home



    @[Aten]
    Reply
    #3
    Birds of prey were very well known for possessing keen sight, no matter if they were limited to soaring through the shadows of the trees or able to glide through the sky and the clouds on the wind. Their eyesights were naturally much better than many creatures that inhabited the kingdoms of Beqanna, whether equine species or not, which gave them a very large advantage in hunting their prey.

    The black-spotted white gyrfalcon enjoyed flying at all sorts of altitude in the sky, enthralled by the feeling of the breeze brushing through his feathers and whipping around his face. He was well equipped for his way of life, from the thick feathers that lined his sleek body, to the razor sharp talons that lined his feet to help grip his chosen prey. Despite being the biggest of his species and a naturally skilled hunter, he could not fly as high as some other avian that existed out there, specifically, a species of vulture that could fly many feet higher than the clouds.

    But Turul had yet to meet a bird of that species that existed here, despite living in Beqanna for a long period of time by now. For the only place an avian of that species would find a suitable place to live would be in the desolate kingdom of Pangea. They would roam anywhere in search of food, true, but Turul figured they would be hard pressed to make a home in a kingdom like Taiga or the Icicle Isles.

    For all his well-equipped tools of survival, however, it was Aten would would spot the mare standing on Taiga's border a few yards up ahead. It was easier for him to see her since he was on the ground and had no reason to look anywhere else but straight ahead, even if that wasn't where he could see due to the placement of his own eyes. Millions of years of evolution led Aten's species, unlike Turul's, to have eyes placed on the side of their skulls so they could spot predators approaching in a wider range than other species could, giving the equine species a good advantage to escape danger. Due to this, even if it appeared Aten was looking straight ahead, his head was slightly tilted one way so that he could technically see in front of him with at least one eye. The other would keep an eye on the world, and every so often, he would switch, allowing one side to both see and hear for danger at the same time.

    The mare's attention was solely on Aten as the golden stallion approached, and he took in her appearance as he neared. She was a good deal shorter than Aten was, but he knew appearances could be deceiving. She had a healthy deep bay coat the color of earth after a long rain, and, upon closer inspection, dark green eyes that matched Taiga's grassy meadows under the spring sun. Her mane and tail were a rich obsidian, and a slender, tapered muzzle attached to a fine face. Her stature was proud, but he sensed a tension that might not normally belong. Her skin was stretched over her bones and muscles, but not in the least bit gaunt, and finely shaped legs led down to dark black hooves that spoke of her speed and strength.

    Aten was careful to calm his tension as he neared the mare, showing he did not wish her ill intentions and would not confront her for simply being on Taiga's border. The golden stallion would always prefer to exchange words before assuming the worst of any nomad wandering Beqanna's lands, especially if they were searching for a better purpose than some that might wish others harm.

    The golden stallion stopped a few feet from the mare and dipped his head in greeting, lightly pawing the ground with one hoof before stretching his head and neck up high, standing proudly as he spoke in his rich, baritone voice. His words were authoritative, but calm and gentle, in an effort to help the mare's steel break and realize he was a kind soul.

    "Greetings on behalf of Taiga. May I ask a lovely mare for her name and why she has come to the redwoods?"

    @[adna]
    Reply
    #4
    ADNA

    I wish I could take the hands of time and turn them in reverse
    I'd take back every long goodbye with venom in my words

    There is a part of her that immediately wishes that she had not come.

    She feels it twist in the back of her brain; she feels it like smoke between her fingertips. It is something that immediately closes around her throat, and she wishes that she could just slip away. But before she can pick up her hooves and turn back toward where she came, he is coming and she knows she’s been caught.

    Seen.

    Greeted.

    She has to remind herself that attention is not always a trap.

    Still, she remains deadly quiet as he approaches and her sage green eyes are glittering when they flick up, the serpentine depths of them unblinking as she studies him. Her forelock curls down her narrow nose and she breathes in steadily, feeling that strange sensation of her vision switching to thermal.

    There is no rhyme or reason to when she uses it, but there’s something comforting about it. Something disconcerting. It feels like peaking behind the curtain—feels like cheating—but she gives nothing away that she is doing it. Instead she just tilts her head, considering him, chewing on his words.

    There’s something about him that feels older, as if from another time, and so unlike those she has known. It’s refreshing and disquieting all at once and she finds that her walls rise just a little higher in response to his genial nature. “Hello,” her voice steady but not overly warm. She wants to laugh when he calls her lovely. Wants to lift her lips and bare her fangs but instead she stays her hand, holds her tongue.

    “My name is Adna,” her voice feels stilted, thick, and she shakes her head.

    Her eyes focus on him again and she frowns a little. “I need a home.”

    A brief laugh as she rolls her shoulder.

    “I mean, I have one, but it doesn’t feel like home anymore.”

    the only way to being found is getting lost at first
    but all I find are more bridges to burn



    @[Aten]
    Reply
    #5
    There is something unnerving almost about the mare's silence as Aten walks up to and greets her. The stallion's body quivered at the steely look in her dark green eyes, and it was when he was within range he noticed something different about them too. They did not appear to have the same wariness, the same searching of normal equine eyes. He couldn't see that her pupil instead had the slit appearance of the deadly vipers and constrictors that inhabited Beqanna's lands, but had he, the stallion would've felt a chill, for he had encountered the devil's pets many times before.

    Luckily, he'd only been bitten once, by a serpent that could not lay claim to the venom Aten knew could kill as soon as it entered the bloodstream. He knew they were out there though, in hiding, warming themselves in the belly of the earth as they lie in wait for the unsuspecting prey to pass by.

    There almost seemed to be a chance to the mare's eyes as she continued to look his way, her breathing steady as if she was focusing on something. Aten's own breathing shifted in the slightest, just in case this mare was onto something. She could be brewing one of her gifts inside her, should she possess any, letting them bubble up under her skin and muscles until she was ready to use them.

    His nostrils widened a pinprick amount, adjusting to his breathing, but his eyes were calm, his tail hanging lazily between his hindquarters so he was not showing any sign that he was nervous.

    Finally, the mare takes the time to greet Aten in return. It was a simple hello, followed by her name. A moment passed where she seemed to forget herself, but quickly refocused and, at first said, she was in need of a home, before correcting those words and saying she had one but that it did not feel a place she could call home anymore.

    Aten felt a shared sympathy with her words, for he had experienced similar conflict himself. It had been many moons ago, shortly after he had been removed from his older sister's herd by the lead stallion. As he had been born only a summer before the Reckoning, the colt did not have enough time to really become accustomed to his home. It was enough that, had it been the same after the Reckoning, it would've felt familiar to him. He would have returned.

    But Sylva, where it had been located, over his old home, it was foreign. It felt like he was taking a step into completely new territory, abandoning all he had known and trusting everything to nature, his instincts, and luck. Had he known that Sylva was where his dam had gone, before the Plague struck and things were 'normal', he would've gone to the landlocked kingdom to find his family.

    But how could he have known, when he was out by himself and didn't know who to ask? Instinct had driven the colt in search of the two things his body craved, required, pulling him further from Sylva and the family that had gone there. Leading to today, a full grown golden and handsome stallion who was more than capable of looking after himself and his loved ones.

    Aten's eyes searched the mare, wondering what he could say to make her feel better. But perhaps that wasn't what she needed right now. Not false hope or comfort, and maybe even not the sympathetic words of one who understood her plight. Perhaps what she needed was... a direction, one she could choose to follow.

    "I understand," he confirmed, but gave away nothing more. "Whether this could be a long-term dilemma of yours, I won't ask, for that is your business to share with me if you wish. If you'd like, you are more than welcome to stay here in Taiga, until you have decided what you would like to pursue. There are not many of us, but they are all very welcoming and happy to meet a new arrival."

    @[adna]
    Reply
    #6
    ADNA

    I wish I could take the hands of time and turn them in reverse
    I'd take back every long goodbye with venom in my words

    He is still but not in the same way as Bethlehem. He does not have the same granite in his expression; does not provoke her even when he says nothing at all. Instead, he is calm, peaceful, and she relaxes just slightly in his presence—her instincts that so usually flare to fight instead neutralizing when she realizes that he is not interested in fighting her. She stays on edge, her sage green eyes still flittering to the border every so often, but she tries to relax her muscles—does her best to not look so ready to fight.

    “It’s been as long as I can remember,” she replies with a wry smile, although she knows he is commenting more on her future than her past. She doesn’t comment on it further, or elaborate, but instead just lets the stillness settle around her. It does not occur to Adna that when she is still like this that she looks more like her serpentine roots than ever; it does not occur to her just how much she looks like a snake coiled.

    Such things do not cross her features.

    Instead, she lets her lips spread into a cold smile made warm on the edges.

    “I appreciate the offer,” she searches for his name but realizes he has not offered it yet. A frown furrows her brow for a moment and something genuine flashes behind her eyes. “What is your name?”

    There is another moment she lets stretch out, as she does her best to ignore the pain that always simmers just below the surface. The ghosts that haunt her. The concern for her future child that just now barely has begun to stir in her belly. “Would you mind showing me around? I have never been here before.”

    She had been to so many lands by her father’s side but never this one.

    The wood feel familiar but it is the strangeness of it that she craves the most.

    the only way to being found is getting lost at first
    but all I find are more bridges to burn

    Reply
    #7
    So it seemed she was indeed capable of emotion, even if it didn't seem to show itself outright. Apparently this mare had been looking for a home for quite some time, a place that actually felt like one and deserved the title, rather than just being a place she could stay in temporarily until things were sorted out.

    The two were still for a moment, the silence returning. Things were peaceful however; neither horse was looking at the other with hidden anger or the will to fight. Each only exhibited peace, the willingness to become friends perhaps, if Aten suspected correctly in that this mare just needed some 'help' in letting her guard down so he could get to know her.

    The mare's posture, while not defensive or angry, wasn't that of a regular equine either. In fact, looking at her, she almost reminded Aten of a serpent, the devil's pet, but there was something nice to be said. He knew that this mare wasn't like those reptilian creatures; they had their own language, a way to survive that was different. It would always make them different from the much taller single-toed animals that ran with the speed and the grace of the big cat.

    A small smile makes it's way onto the mare's lips, still guarded, not cold in Aten's thoughts, but bordering on warm and friendly, showing perhaps that the stallion's efforts were not going to waste. She expressed her appreciation before, not only asking Aten for his name, but also requesting to be shown around the kingdom for it is a foreign land to her.

    Aten did not find an issue with fulfilling either of those. He smiled back and respectfully dipped his head, "Well met. I am called Aten, and, as you request, I would be more than happy to show you around. Perhaps I will have gained enough of your trust that you would grant me the privilege of knowing your name as well."

    He could just be upfront and ask for it, but he sensed there was a lot to this mare. She could share her name, even a false one, if she wished. He wouldn't press her for it, not until he began to show her there was truly nothing to worry for.

    Deciding he would take her in the direction of the main meadow, stopping by a small lake near this section of the border in case she wished for a drink, Aten turned to lead the way. Turul had taken to the skies again, flying back into the forest ahead of the two horses.

    Aten would like to make conversation while they traveled, but would stick to simple topics. His voice not betraying him, he carefully questioned, "May I ask what land you hailed from before? A number of us in the kingdoms here have a scent from our home, but I can't seem to figure yours out."

    @[adna]
    Reply
    #8
    one touch will make you so nervous you might stop breathing
    one touch will make you so reckless you might start feeling
    one touch will finally show to me what you can't hide

    The light catches off of Adna’s scales as she tips her head upward to look more fully at the golden stallion, her serpentine eyes unblinking as they study him from the curls of her forelock. He seemed steady, she thinks. Like a river or the ancient trees that live within this ancient forest. He seemed like he could weather a storm, and she finds herself hoping that he never has to—that he can remain untouched.

    She, herself, has never been able to avoid such things.

    The storms live within her more than she is affected by them and she feels herself swallowing the chaos down every day. Just trying to get by. Just trying to find her feet and move forward with her life.

    But he offers her something like a second chance, or a fresh start, and she knows that she will need one. She could not give it to Rupture and Bela. They had been born into her agony (how she had cried over time), but perhaps they could live with her here. Perhaps she could find some peace before—

    Well, before she needed a home for another child.

    She does not divulge such things to him though. Instead she just tilts her head in thought, curious about his formal way of speaking but finding no offense in it. “Adna,” she says, thinking briefly about how similar their names are, but before she can mull it over too much, the thought is gone.

    Instead she takes a step forward to fall in next to him, glancing upward briefly to look at the bird that had so far just observed quietly. When she realizes that he had asked her something, she shakes her head to clear her thoughts, swallowing. “Oh, mostly Loess,” she says. “My father Vulgaris raised me there with my mother Leliana while he was Champion and then, briefly, King.” She doesn’t mention the year that she lived by the river when she was kicked out of her home or the fact that part of her stay had been when her mother was held captive or even that they had both left to live in Tephra now.

    She just lets the silence take over again, staring hard before her before asking her own question.

    “Is the bird your friend?”

    ADNA
    Reply
    #9
    The mare was more than willing to offer Aten her name before walking forward to fall into step next to him as they traversed into Taiga's territory. There was a moment of silence before Adna answered Aten's question, providing that she was raised in Loess by her sire and dam during the former's time of being Champion and King.

    Aten almost thought that was a heavy sense of irony; his own foal would be able to say the same story if he had any offspring, since Aten himself once held the mantle of King in Taiga, and now held the Champion title. The roles were reversed, but Aten hoped that his own foal would not be disappointed with hearing the stallion's role when the foal was old enough to understand.

    Another period of silence followed where the two horses walked along in pleasant companionship. It wasn't a tense sort of silence in the air, there was no ill will or feelings between these two new friends. They didn't feel awkward about not speaking, for they had a goal in mind and Aten was eager to show her the pond before going to Taiga's main meadow.

    Adna decided to ask a question again regarding the raptor currently flying above their heads. Aten's eyes drifted skyward to watch Turul fly away from them in the direction they were heading before circling back and flying off to their right, a screech exiting his beak.

    Aten smiled at his friend before answering Adna, "Yes, that is my friend; his name is Turul. We became friends about a year ago. It was a bit of an unusual circumstance; I was walking through Taiga's meadow one day and discovered him grounded by a large redwood. Apparently he'd bruised his wing when he hit a branch chasing his food. I found a plant I know is good for pain, and gave him some. He spent a week recovering, and by the end of that time, we... suddenly discovered we could talk to each other within our minds. It happened by accident, when I thought about how he may still have a difficult time flying, and he told me that he would be fine since he had rested enough.

    "From that point on, well... one, I didn't question him about his own health, and two, we were friends."

    The rest of the way to the pond, Aten filled the silence with small questions here and there to have conversation. He asked personal questioned, but tried to avoid any potentially sensitive topics. Instead, he asked Adna if she had a pleasant foal hood in Loess, if she had any siblings, aunts, uncles, and so on. He also left open ended ones in case she decided to turn it back on him and ask the same; he was not much of an... interesting fellow with secrets.

    When they had reached the pond, Aten decided to stop and ask if she wanted a drink. This pond wasn't as grand as the much larger one up Taiga's main stream that had a waterfall and rocky cliff, but it was pretty nonetheless. The sun was glistening off the water's surface, the stillness in the air reflecting like the pond was a mirror. The grass was a beautiful emerald shade, a few patches of flowers growing along the bank. Off on the far side, a large clump of redwoods sat together, creating shade in case one decided to escape the sun but still enjoy the tranquility.

    Aten glanced back at Adna, "Here, if you are thirsty. The main meadow is not very far from here."

    @[adna]
    Reply
    #10
    one touch will make you so nervous you might stop breathing
    one touch will make you so reckless you might start feeling
    one touch will finally show to me what you can't hide

    He does most of the work filling the silence and she is more than content to let him.

    She answers the questions that he asks her, but it always quiet and just a little short and guarded. She is careful to not give away more than necessary and although perhaps she could be described as being cagey, she prefers to think that she is just being guarded—trying her best to protect a heart so ravaged by life.

    Still, he is kind, and she does not resent him his questions or his politeness.

    In many ways, she is grateful for his manners and the casual interest he shows in her life.

    So she doesn’t bite or show her fang and instead walks by his side, muscles still tight but relaxing slightly with every step. It is not until they reach the pond that she takes a full breath though, and she gives him a grateful smile as she steps forward. Silently accepting his offer, she bends her graceful neck down and takes several drinks of water, feeling the clear and clean feel of it wash over her tongue.

    Swallowing, she lifts her head and angles it back to him, studying him silently for a moment.

    “Taiga is truly beautiful,” there is a moment of hushed appreciation as she dips her head back, smiling at the bird he had told her about and the trees as they rise up like a castle toward the sky.

    “I very much appreciate you taking the time to show me around today.”

    Then, taking another breath, she steps in line next to him, ready for him to show her the rest of it.

    ADNA
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