"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
you said you'd wait forever, but I blinked and the world was gone
Light had well begun to retreat through the flowers and the roots, through the wild vines and all the fields of briar and roses, and the sun nearly finished sinking below the horizon just as the silver colored moonlight poured in and throughout all of Beqanna. The darkened sky bled with starlight and clouds, and with a shimmering pulse of color as auroras stretched from the mountains beyond the meadow to somewhere else within the lands. A babbling river glistened as scaled fish, metallic in color, leapt along the mossy rocks and through the rapids scattered along it’s way: the banks eroded and the vines dredged along the edges.
Imperceptible movements haunted the shadows and caused heads to flit one way or the other as the nightbirds and deer remained alert. Such it was that they bore the sight of the girl poured from the darkness and the way she stepped in and out of time as if it were a tangible fabric. Her breath came with steam and it billowed along her face as Briella flitted her gaze to and around the darkened wood- accustomed and able to note the crickets and locusts hidden in the leaves.
She moved gracefully, but there was a kind of lull to her steps and she drifted beyond the deer and owls with little mind to them, and when finally Briella had reached the edge of the meadow she could hardly help but step into the moonlight.
Glistening and glittering the gemstone hooves thudded heavily and refracting light as if the stars themselves were trapped in the facets. Thin strands of icy formed the curls and waves of her mane and tail and the girl couldn’t hide the prismatic shimmer they gave within the moon’s guiding reflection. Those pale blue eyes, gem-toned and jewelike shined and she blinked several times as she danced and drifted… a sapphire tiger’s eye of milky pale blues and whites with spattered markings, all atop a glossy black.
Delicate as she seemed, she noted the company not far off and found herself startled and chuckling: smoothing her gait as she glided to and closed the distance between them. Pale golden and softer toned, a sheen of strange blue coloration splashed across him in an almost opalescent fashion. Cooing softly, a name, she spoke with mellifluous tones and exhaled a sigh at the end.
“Santana,” she breathed. “I’m sorry, I- it… it doesn’t matter. You must think me rude, how are you?” she paused, chewing nervously on her lip and finding it impossible to break the gaze she had upon him. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat, and she felt the heat boiling in her cheeks and upon her face: felt the whispers in her ears and the girlish pangs in her heart. A crush? She could hardly understand. Still, she tried, settling and allowing the world to slow around them… or at least it felt slowed to her. “My apologies for leaving before.”
The edge of the forest where he'd passed the summer, where sunlight was only a filtered breath of its true heat. He was not feral, but had certainly given in to his more predatory inclinations as the summer wore on. Why not? It was what he was built for and there was so much more satisfaction to be had in the taste of flesh than in the ease of grazing.
But winter would be coming along soon enough, and with it the cold and the dark. These were not things that would harm him, but loneliness cut far deeper in the snow than it did in the sun. It was coming time to return, to try to integrate himself in a family he barely knew. This was why he was so far East today, stretching his legs past the tree line, past the river, watching tree's take on their copper coats as he went.
He was a horse today, not wishing to draw undue attention to himself. He stood out enough with his moonstone body, all white and gold and blue. In the moonlight he shone like the stars themselves. He could move faster as a dragon, but on a night this fine he craved the slower pace his hooves afforded. His wings still shrouded his back if walking lost its charm, but he didn't figure it would. Not tonight.
Sometimes a feeling takes you, and you have to go with it. Intuition, wasn't that what they called it? He was going with his intuition, and it brought him through fields of faded flowers that threw their bruised scent into the still warm air. He inhaled deeply, and froze. A scent mingled with the old briar roses, a scent he'd not caught in a long while. A slow smile drew across his face, picking up the trail. With predatory grace, the moonlit stallion picked his way along, tracking his way to the ice touched scent he remembered so well.
Then she was there, a figure half hidden by shadow, half illuminated by the full moon. She was light and dark and lovely as the evening they were enveloped by. His own name came across the space between, a soft voice that filled his head with warmth. "Briella," he rumbled, head dropping to brush the hair from her dark brow.
Her stumbled apology flitted on bat wings through the air and he snorted in reply. She had gone, and so had he. Even footing, as far as he was concerned. His wings rustled against his sides, fluttering in the night as he moved closer to the frosted girl. "I'm much better finding you here. And you? How have you kept? It's been far, far too long." He sighed against the curve of her neck, kissing the swell of muscle that stretched so elegantly there. It felt as natural as breathing, to caress her so. Even after so long, she fit beautifully against him.
you said you'd wait forever, but I blinked and the world was gone
It felt akin to slow motion at first, to something she could hardly understand: time slowing and the world almost as if it failed to spin. She feels this moment where seconds become minutes, and where the footsteps echo so loudly in her head that she cannot hear them properly: they just roar and strike… grass ruffled and wind slicing. His breath becomes a tangled melody and she finds herself drawing in a sharp inhale that carried with it a sound of surprise.
Santana touches her, and Briella’s skin burns. Or at least, she imagines it does. Though there is no pain to it, only the tickle of the velveteen nose and the breath that blew upon her and left strand of the hair half melted before they refroze. Tender kisses and touches, his attention playing upon her neck, and in return she can hardly stop herself from reaching her own upward and allowing the same delicate sensation to find its way to his cheek and neck… to whisper against him in stifled words.
“I- it’s just, ah, I can’t really remember. It felt like I was dreaming.” she admitted, her pale blue and jewel-like eyes glistening in the refractions of the light. “There was a place… water instead of air and shadow instead of light. I saw a thousand stars and the reaches of places beyond this… petrified trees and rocks made of sand. It’s hard to tell if they’re truly memories or if I haven’t simply gone mad from dreaming.” it’s overwhelming to see him… to be touched and kissed, to have comfort.
Somewhere in her mind she regrets admitting everything she had.
Yet Briella soldiers on, resting and easy in his grasp and by his side, her every muscle relaxed and the world at ease where she stood. Patient and calm as she was, she could hardly help but struggle to stay silent… to keep to herself, and she’d have admitted that? Had she the ability and a way, she’d have almost certainly tried to grasp his jaw and kiss the lips once more.
“I’m sorry, that was all rambling, I’m truly well- promise.” she mired in it, a simpler answer.
She speaks as he embraces her, and what she says is frightening. It is nothing he could have expected to fall from her mouth. One ice veined wing opens to enfold the jewel bright girl at his side, his faintly glowing eyes intent in the night. This was unexpected, but it was also Briella. She had had a talent for the unseen and the unknown as long as he'd known her.
The blue shattered stallion thrummed deep in his throat, a draconic purr that vibrated in the air. The cream velvet of his muzzle pressed comfortingly into the tangles of her mane, warm air enveloping the little space between them. "Ramble all you need. I can listen, even if I'm not certain I understand what you speak of." For truly that seemed to be what she needed.
The words burst from her like bubbles beneath water, unpredictable and wet. If these were dreams, they did not sound like happy ones. If it was real, he hoped it was nothing near. She could be mad. He himself had seen the ease which insanity could dig into a mind, the way it took over with such insidious stealth. Until there was nothing left of the one you had loved.
If this was the case, it seemed truly cruel. Briella had long held a soft spot in his heart, the way she kept herself beyond the world. Perhaps that in itself has been the stress needed to give her such strange visions. That she knows his name is a little bit of luck then. A bit of luck and a bit of magic. For time certainly hadn't been on their side.
He continued the gentle stroking of her mane, the easy rubbing of his forehead against her neck. "Wherever you've been, I'm glad you've returned. Do you know where you are or where you're going next?" His questions were light enough, curiosity piqued with her of odd descriptions. Had she only appeared here for a night, just long enough to let him know she still was? His shooting star, illuminating the night for a bare heartbeat before vanishing once more into the endless sky.
you said you'd wait forever, but I blinked and the world was gone
Inside her mind she races with the imagery of moving shadows and abyssal darkness, of stars and dust scattered through a lifeless and voidal land where even the moon hides from the bizarre denizens crawling in the murk and grime. Yet? She draws some strength insomuch that she is not there, not now, and instead there is warmth and comfort… life and a pulse beside her: the shimmer and skin of another. Hot breath twists with the icicle strands of hoarfrost that make up hair and they melt with the purr and lavished attention. Water drips along her neck and the frigid things simply reform each time… curled and wavy.
Shimmers of pale gray and blue, of white, splotch the darkness of her body and Briella relaxes into the company she keeps now: listens and looks up at him with wider eyes… pale and refracting light as if they were fully spherical gemstones. “I’ve… it’s hard to explain.” she commented, her head gesturing to the darkness of the brush and to the moonlight and world around them. “Imagine if you will that the shadows are like the entrances of caverns, inside of them is a tunnel and a place all its own and ruled by nothing but itself. It sits atop this world… part of it; but separated.”
Mellifluous and soft she speaks with a patience and charm all her own and an accent familiar to those much older than himself. “Some can enter, some, but others cannot and for some reason… I can sometimes slip away into them. The first time it was when Expelliarmus ruled the Valley, I was younger and he had just brought me home to adopt me. I stumbled into them and when I next managed to find light free of them? I saw Dovev and the world was different. That was when we met… I, grew shortly after, and it may’ve been time catching up but--”
She paused and contemplated it: realizing how much this was to say. “No matter, I don’t know when or where I’ll go next, how even. Right now, I’m just alone, I suppose I could go to Heartfire but surely my Aunt would want me to find my own place.” had she been able, she might’ve shrugged and laughed, but she cannot and instead she flicks the hair from her eyes and tries her best to remain upbeat. Touch and kiss, soft brushes of her nose kept to his neck and shoulder and she nibbled playfully at the edges of his jaw before speaking again.
This time, Briella’s voice did not hide the suggestion of affection or even dull the soft coo undertoning her words. “This time it seems I’ll be here longer, and-- I’m fine with that. I’d rather not go back.”
The things she spoke of seemed too fantastical to exist, even in a world where dragons flew and horses of every color roamed. It was beyond his own imagination to understand what she was describing. The world tray existed was the one he knew, and while it was certainly possible that what the gemstone girl spoke of existed on some plain, that plain was out of his reach.
Did it matter though? So long as she returned to his side when time and space allowed, he would listen with rapt attention to what she knew. He would hold her close as one of his own. As strange as the words she spoke, he knew she wouldn't be Briella without them.
His broad leathery wing swept over her shoulders, a cloak of creamy skin threaded through with gold and ice. The veins of cold that wove through both of them were a sign to his mind. A likeness that they had earned together when they were young. "I see," he mused aloud, following as well as he could. "I think you are wrong on one point though. You are not alone anymore." He grinned at her, nuzzling the soft skin of her neck.
Her own touches were welcome, the edges of their forms meeting again and again as they drew closer together. "I've only just got you back, my treasure. Do you think I'd let you go again so soon?" He kissed a trail along the curve of her throat, biting gently at the thin skin at her jaw with predatory teeth. His tongue lapped at the tiny mark, erasing any pain he may have caused.
"Come with me, to Loess. I intend to winter there with my kin. We can pay your aunt a visit, if you like. But I'd rather not lose you again." He murmured. To have her against him felt right and good, and he hated the idea of her leaving. For now, in the silvery light of the moon, it was enough to have found her again.
you said you'd wait forever, but I blinked and the world was gone
Had she a sense of fear for the scales and fangs, for the wings and great Draconic features… it was absent in these moments, and Briella curled herself as close as she could to Sanatana’s side with her head lifted and velveteen maw brushing against his neck. Though affection lingered between them it was the pulse and heartbeat she paid attention to more, the warmth of his skin and the stark contrast of frost that clung to him and as such was commanded by him. Ripples of a blue oil-like sheen colored the otherwise creamy scales and wings and she noted the glitter of light upon them.
Briella was astounded, in truth, mystified by the beauty and by the danger that yet loomed.
Shadowed by his wing, she felt the weight of it and the way it staunched the bite of the breeze that had picked up… her jeweled, hemimorphite eyes widening and exposing the refractions of light within the faintly translucent surface though still opaque to a degree. Ice too, glistened and gleamed, and the mane and tail shone in a manner suggesting sparkles as Briella felt herself further swept up in the blaze that lingered in her chest. Blood roared through her veins and while not angry, she seemed perhaps overwhelmed, unaccustomed to the affections of another.
The same of her hooves was notable, the refraction of light and the gemstone surfaces glistening as she shifted her weight and listened to the rumbling voice and their tone: to Santana as he kept her close and made no attempt to disguise his intention; but she did not mind, pangs of strange feelings overwhelmed her… a crush that seemed to cause her mind to race. Kisses became nips and nibbles and she felt the pinch from teeth sharper than her own… still she inhaled sharply when there were bites too harsh, and she chuckled at the thought of his possessiveness.
Trying to find her words she spoke up softly and with a tender kind of affection, “There’s something to be said in it, if you think about it. We both trekked up a mountain and across the world searching for something important. Now here we are much later in life- a Dragon and his Jewel.”
She paused, swallowing the frog in her throat before hesitating to laugh. “I’m not alone, you’re right. You’re here now.” she admitted it with a weak smile, not lacking enthusiasm or wanting; but girlish and her head turning away as she felt a pang of heat on her cheeks. Had she been capable, she’d have been scarlet from blushing. No matter though, Briella had listened and considered it… Loess.
Yet? She knew that place. Once ruled by Wolfsbane and she herself brought there when her father had been stolen… Heartfire had despised it. There was a hint in her gaze of insecurity, of question, and she nodded in agreement after a moment. “I… wouldn’t mind going back to Loess, it was very nice there for the time I was around with my siblings and father. You won’t lose me again, Santana, I promise.”
She was lovely, even as changed as she was from their first meeting. Every inch of her was spectacular. Like a piece of night sky made solid, and given a shape the gods would envy. Even her eyes reminded him of the midnight heavens, deep as the sea and shimmering with unknowable light. She was his jewel, his treasure. A triumph of nature and magic, and she played on his possessive nature as no one else could.
He wanted to devour her, to consume the beauty that had so completely enraptured him. To make her as enthralled as he was, so that she'd never leave him again. Velvet lips traveled the curve of her neck, scalding breath mingled with the cool night air as it hit her skin, and he did his best to tease shivers from the nocturnal hide he caressed.
The way they pressed against each other, light and dark and eternally shining. A groan emerged from his lips, the desire for more clawing at the tightness in his belly. He wanted her, needed her, but it seemed to soon. They had only just reunited, and already his hunger roared for satisfaction. It took massive effort, but he pulled away, stepped a pace away until the heat of her skin was only an impression on his own.
"Ah, my treasure. We should go, in that case." He smiled wickedly at her, wings held taught at his sides. He wanted nothing more than to pull her beneath him, to plunder her deepest reaches and see what beauty she held within. To draw the faintest lines in her skin with gripping teeth, and admire the red of her as it shone on the midnight of her pelt before he lapped it away. The pale stallion's head shook in an attempt to rid the delicious images from his mind, to focus on the here and now.
He could take her where she stood, and it was so terribly tempting to do it. But he bit his tongue instead, the sting of pain sharpening his thoughts. "Let's go home, Briella. I want to take you home." It felt wonderful enough just to say those words, her name and home. His mouth decended on her's once more, far more chastely this time. Just a pressing of his lips to hers, a claiming thing. Such a night, to bring his pretty one back to him.
