"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
Anywhere, the scarred stallion had mused and it strikes a chord in Oceane. It was a very her answer — anywhere — and it reminded her that she, too, understands that insatiable drive. Even if it had not been pure and true wanderlust that had torn her from Nau-Aib, it had blossomed within the depths of her with each day she'd spent journeying further and further from her homeland. By the time she had reached Beqanna, Oceane was more nomad than royal court.
She had assured the dapple grey stallion that most Beqannans held no ill will towards wanderers (she had, in fact, seen more here than in any other civilization she had come across on her own journey) and then he had gone on his way — to familiarize himself with Beqanna, she had hoped, though a melancholy feeling has begun to grow in the pit of her stomach over the last few months, spurred by the thoughts that perhaps he had sated his thirst and left for new lands without coming back to say goodbye.
Why she cares enough to linger on Soran after months of his absence Oceane is unsure, but when his scent arrives on the springtime breeze that wafts over Loess' rocky foothills, her striped neck is raised immediately and her ears are swiveled to attention. Rustling the feathered wings at her sides, the pegasi pivots over the dirt and sandstone pathway and lumbers herself in the direction of the scent.
It, thankfully, does not take long for the heavily-pregnant woman to find him. She graces him with a warm smile as they make eye contact before she comes to a halt, allowing the dappled stallion to close the remaining distance between them. "I was beginning to think you'd explored everything and then left on a new journey," she says with mock accusation, though kindness still shines through. Her nostrils flare at the plethora of smells on his gleaming coat and she side-eyes his expectantly.
"I haven't been able to explore much recently so," she pauses, pinning him with her amber eyes, "Please tell me you have interesting tales to share."
01-22-2020, 12:41 PM (This post was last modified: 01-22-2020, 12:42 PM by Soran.)
soran
he dreams of water
And anywhere he went, however, he did not speak to others. He simply walked and looked, keeping to himself and handing another a gentle smile and warm greeting when spoken to.
He did not stay in any place for long. He had no reason to. He was not one step closer to knowing anything overly specific about the kingdoms. He knew nothing of Pangea, Taiga, Brilliant Pampas — he knew only what he had seen.
Perhaps, it was best to keep it all that way. Even then, with not progressing in the way he imagined, Soran stayed.
The ocean rumbles, and he is so very tired of hearing the gulls above.
During his time, he has not been back to Loess, yes, he has wandered through her lands, but he has not stopped in it once. That is what he is doing now, in fact, but with the ever-changing spring breeze comes a scent. It draws him to a stop. His eyes slowly turn towards a new direction and his feet follow.
The sight of the opalescent coat and wings brings a small smile to his face, but still, it does not distract him from the very obvious distention of Oceane's body. Soran already knows he will not be commenting on it, for it is not the place of a simple acquaintance to do such.
As Oceane stops, Soran removes the rest of the space between then until he is standing a friendly distance from her front. He chuckles lightly at her greeting, his smile true and warm. In a fashion Soran assumes it typical to Ocean, she subtly hints at her current condition, and so Soran chooses to follow her lead.
"Yes, I suppose not." And how her curiosity is ever-burning. "Curious until the very end, though, hm?" He jokes, his eyes staying kind.
"And while I have seen some interesting things, sadly I don't think I have much in the way of interesting tales." No attackers, no untoward encounters. "I've come to see that I'm quite decent at remaining out of trouble. Though, I am sure that will change." The world has a way of bringing unexpected things towards him.
"I can tell you of what I have seen if you wish, but other than that I am sorry to disappoint." He cocks his head lightly, "How have you been?" The question is kind, for he truly wants to know if she has been taken care of and safe.
"Always," she responds swiftly and with a sanguine curve of her lips. Come hell or high water, dragons or kelpies, arithmancers or nereids... the list extends endlessly, and never does she or her curiosity consider herself deterred. She settles comfortably in front of Soran, resting the tip of a hind hoof onto the hardened earth to adjust the weight of her distended belly. He smells of the whole of Beqanna, this fact registering pleasantly in Oceane's flaring nostrils as her pricked ears wait expectantly for an account of his travels.
"Well," she says with something bordering on wiliness, "it sounds like you probably would have gotten along just fine without my helpful tips." Her playful tone ensures that her observation will not be interpreted as an irritation; she had helped him happily, and would again in the future ─ especially if it meant that the dappled stallion would continue to come visit her. But that's a hopeful expectation that the opalescent woman does not allow herself to linger on, at least for now. "Oh, please," the pegasi says with an exaggerated roll of her warm amber eyes, "you've yet to disappoint me." Feeling suddenly restless, Oceane scrapes a front hoof against the ground before pivoting at a comfortable pace and beckoning Soran to fall in step beside her.
Their destination is the small canyon to the northern part of Loess that she has decided will be where she births her child, but she doesn't share that aloud. Instead, she answers his question and allows her playfulness (which is mostly uncharacteristic, except, apparently, when Castile or Soran are nearby) to succumb to a more genuine tone.
"Stir crazy, but well. There are still parts of Loess I've yet to explore and finding them does just enough to take the edge off, but," she sighs quietly, listens to the sound of their hooves fall rhythmically against the sandstone, "I will be excited when I'm no longer carrying this child." She bites at the inside of her cheek, pensive, and then ─
His smile is tender, and he laughs lightly, "In all honesty, without you I doubt I would have gotten far at all." He reciprocates just as playfully, and for just a moment it is a little easier to breath. He also doubts that, if she had not left so abruptly and left him wondering he would not even still be in Beqanna. The politics and land interested him, but he had no foothold here to gain enough knowledge or ground within all of it.
Beqanna had nothing for him right now, and he doesn't know if it ever will.
"Yet?" He mutters to himself, tone teasing as he watches her move gracefully and abruptly despite her obvious belly.
She beckons him to follow and, ever the gentleman, he does. Apparently he is unable to deny her silent command.
While he does ask questions, ones that she is more than willing to answer, he never asks where it is she is taking him. If she is comfortable enough going there, then he has no reason to worry. The companionable atmosphere between them settles gently and he finds himself relaxing and enjoying her presence.
Inside him, the ocean does not roar. The only thing he knows is a constant are their hooves walking in rhythm with one another.
Her restlessness is understandable, however, he cannot truly understand it. "When are you expecting the child to come?" He asks, unaware of the fact that she has her own question for him. It immediately sends a wave of dread through him, settling in his chest alongside the guilt he will always carry. Just like the scars he has.
He chuckles, but it is filled with gloom. He keeps his eyes ahead.
"Of my own? No. My time in Melitusa did not allow me much time to have a family. But," he sighs, "There was a child back in Melitusa, one whose mother I knew. I helped take care of them" He can remember the long days, walking to where they lived in the dark tired but excited to see them both. The gentle smile from the mother and the squeal of pleasure from the child at seeing him.
"The mother and I were simply friends, but I cared for them both in any way I could." He further explains, knowing that while the mother and he had thought of forming a family together it was not possible. Then, while may not know Oceane well, he can guess where her next question might fall. He quickly turns towards her to deflect it.
"I know you might wonder why I left Melitusa when they were there, but I ask that you don't." His tone is gentle, begging for her not to ask him. "I will simply say that they left, and so did I."
Fire crackles, they push him to the ground and make him watch.
"I'm sorry that I steered our conversation down such a dreadful path." He quickly apologizes, hoping that they will be able to salvage it together and turn it towards better things. "Again I've.. never had children of my own, but I enjoy being around them." He enjoyed the wonder in their eyes and the smiles they gave so freely. He sends a soft smile towards her.
There’s a warm contentment that Oceane begins to associate with her time spent in the company of Soran. The scarred stallion is easy to speak with, to confide in, and there’s a comfortable kindness in his eyes despite the iciness of their pigmentation. She finds herself peering at him from the corner of her own amber eye more frequently than not, searching expectantly for shifts in his expression as Loess continues to unfold before them. But he seems more interested in their conversation than in the scenery ─ and while this makes warmth flood her face, she holds a certain amount of pride in her home ─ and sometimes she catches his eye when she doesn’t intend to.
Shrugging with false dismissiveness, the Loessian woman chuckles under her breath. “There’s still time,” she asserts playfully before finding a brief moment of silence where only their hooves and their breaths creep into her swiveling ears. When she and Soran both speak again, nearly at the same time, she can't help the smirk that finds her lavender lips ─ "Any day now, truly," she says with a sigh, before quieting at the dark shadow that passes over Soran's handsome, rigid face.
He avoids eye contact with her as he speaks of Melitusa and the pair he'd left behind, and this alone keeps her silent ─ even before he pleads with her not to ask why he'd left. Slowly, with understanding, Oceane nods her gleaming azure head and offers him a small, but kind, smile. "I left behind someone close to me in Nau-Aib," the Loessian woman offers him information about her past as payment for what he had been willing to share with her; she thinks of her two dead sons and the stallion who had fathered them, and it makes her heart ache beyond repair ─ maybe someday she will find comfort in the ability to share the demons of her past, but not quite yet. "Perhaps eventually we can commiserate together."
She leaves the offer there, making it noncommittal, and hopes that it will push away the nervousness that shines on Soran's face. She presses forward, moving the conversation along as he asks if she's excited and Oceane gives him an enthusiastic nod. "Absolutely, but nervous, as well." She shrugs her winged shoulders dismissively as their journey finally brings them near to the northern border of Loess, where the foothills give way to a small, winding sandstone canyon.
She leads him into a small gully that offshoots from the main canyon, where Lepis had led her to the prickly pear earlier in the spring. Sandstone rises like a natural barrier, effectively roping in the slightly-brackish pond and the sweeping willow, whose roots dig into the canyon wall. Beneath the boughs of the large tree lay an acacia that grows towards the pond, with a barren prickly pear bush at its angled trunk. Oceane sighs as she is suddenly awash with comfort at the sight she has chosen to birth her son. She turns her amber eyes to Soran, "Whenever you come to visit, this is likely where you will find me," she tells him kindly, though another question lay at the back of her throat. "Of course, you could always decide to call Loess your home, instead." She side-eyes him, giving him an out with the playful light in her molten eyes.
02-20-2020, 10:29 PM (This post was last modified: 02-20-2020, 11:22 PM by Soran.)
soran
he dreams of water
Before his brief tale of light woe, a surprising glimmer shines in his eye at the vague but rapidly approaching time frame she gives him. He knows it will surely be a busy time for her, and were he more encroaching he might offer his help. He is but a stranger still — a distant acquaintance at best. He knows the invisible boundaries that are in place, and whether or not those boundaries are upheld in many of the kingdoms of Beqanna, it hardly matters. Soran will not waver from them.
He appreciates her silence and willingness to not speak or interfere when he speaks about something that is already hard enough to think about.
His steel gaze drifts to her, not finding pity but rather an empathetic eye. They both understand, in their own ways, the weight of such loss. And while it is clear that neither wish to reveal too much, it is something this silently bridges that gap found between those that know little of each other.
A gentle, albeit duller smile pulls at the edge of his lips. He lets his eyes look away from the cool colors she wears.
"Yes, perhaps one day indeed." He finds himself thinking that doing such a thing would be pleasant. Although he does know that were he to allow himself to do such a thing there was the possibility he would succumb to the crashing waves of memory.
After all, he still has trouble with fire sometimes. Its heat is no longer welcoming, rather he can remember the smell and the cracking sound of precious objects meeting their end.
He forces his stomach to settle, appreciative of the fact that she allows his terrible change of subject to land. He finds a far more genuine smile tinging his lips at her enthusiastic nod, and he finds himself feeling joyful for her. While he understands every child comes with their own set of troubles, each is something to cherish.
He's happy for her.
As the canyon makes way to a more secluded, secure area he finally finds himself looking around. It's a nice, almost picturesque spot. The calmness of the place relaxes his muscles despite the thoughts that prod the back of his mind.
His eyes fill with surprise once again, however it is for a different reason.
The disbelief is easy to see on his face as he looks back at her. He can't understand how she is willing to tell him this precious piece of information, after all, he is someone she hardly knows. He's but a man and his character could still be left up in the air in terms of whether or not he is harmless or not. He knows he would never dare to harm her — would never even dare to come here, even if she has practically invited him to return, but still.
Amusement then forces a single chuckle to arise. Her skillful tactics know no bounds it seems. He can't say he isn't impressed. He doesn't take his eyes off of her. "Do you find yourself asking many that question?" He teases kindly, but his expression calms down quickly as he truthfully begins to tell her how that might not be a possibility.
"I hardly know a soul here," He begins to explain, "And I am sure this Castile of Loess you told me about during my first time here would find my presence suspicious." While he is still unsure of the decorum of Loess, he knows that were Oceane to be found leading him about and such, it would call into question certain things. This is her home, he does not want to bring about unwanted consequences to her. His tone then takes on a gentleness, "It's a pretty thought, Oceane, truly. Perhaps one day, however, I know the feelings that often get aimed towards those who are new and unknown."
He left Melitusa to escape the watchful and scornful eyes, left so that he would be a simple stranger never in one place long enough to be remembered. He has already failed the latter.
"Even then, I appreciate the offer and thank you for letting me see where you plan to be while you wait for your child. I would say I would visit again, but I know you probably have others that will be around." Again, he is but a simple individual on the outermost ring of her circle, and while her presence might have him gravitating towards her he knows his place. "I would hate to incite rumors about you." He says in a teasing tone, however, there's an all too truthful tint to his words. "If you find it acceptable, though, I would enjoy meeting your child one day."
