• Logout
  • 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


    [open]  Embracing its starlit fate as we wait in the night
    #1

    It's amazing how different things look on the ground. Throughout spring and summer, Warstorm has done her fair share of exploration, flitting on nimble wings from this meadow to that forest, riding thermals over snowcapped mountains. She's flown over peaceful lagoons and raging rivers, soared over tropical islands rimmed by the clearest, bluest water the pegasus has ever seen. Warstorm has touched down in most of these places to rest and graze -- but only briefly each time, managing to avoid both predators and other equine alike.

    She is five, now, fully grown and filled out, and enjoying her newfound freedom. No one was telling her what to do or where to be, or what she could and could not do. Not even her father. Warbird is as much a nomad these days as she is, though he tends to keep close to the fields and rivers. It's sort of nice, as Warstorm knows where to find her sire if she decides she wants his company, but most of the time, she doesn't. She's selfish in that way, but her entire foalhood was basically wasted by the oppressive expectations of others. 

    Still, endless wandering gets old after a time. Icy blue eyes survey the landscape below, mane and tail whipping in the wind as she flies. She is the epitome of grace, lithe form curved into a gentle bascule with her long hind legs behind her and her fronts tucked neatly to her chest, spotted wings outstretched to catch every breath of wind. Spending so much time aloft, Warstorm is lean -- and she knows winter is on its way. There's a biting cold in the early mornings before the dawn that whispers of the coming bitterness, and she knows she'd better spend more time grazing before it comes. 

    The buckskin overo pegasus lands neatly in the field, pink nostrils flaring to take in the scent of nearby equine. The field looks different from above, as does everything else, so she merely drops her head to snatch up the late summer grasses greedily. 

    WARSTORM

    Reply
    #2
    i feel
    a bad moon rising
    There had been frost on some of the plants this morning, a sure sign that autumn has broken through summer’s grasp. While much of her home will remain warm for weeks yet, the common lands that spread beneath her are more affected. Their greenery has come alight, the reds and oranges still just an imitation of Sylva. Give it time, Lepis thinks, and they will rival the permanent autumnal realm. Some part of her is glad that it does not yet.

    She lands beside a broad-boughed oak whose outer leaves have just begun to yellow. Lepis folds her wings to her sides, tucking the mostly golden feathers tight as much for warmth as for ease of movement; it’s cooler here than it had been in Loess, even with the sun high in the sky. The navy-haired mare has barely begun to grow her winter coat, and there’s just a bit of fuzz to her mostly yellow hide. She shakes her windblown mane from her face, and looks around the Field with curious blue-grey eyes.

    There is a young mare not far from her, and at first Lepis wonders if perhaps Oriash has made a trip to the common lands this day as well. But no, she find as she moves closer, there are no blue markings among the white one this stranger’s sides, and the antlers she wears are of a curling type, not the tree-like horns that the buckskin Lepis knows. Still, she’s already drawn near enough that to bac kaway now would be rude, so Lepis continues forward. She must raise her head to meet the taller mare’s gaze, but that is not uncommon for the small monarch.

    "Hello there," she says with a friendly smile. "I’m Lepis." There’s much more she could say, an elaboration on her reason for being here, a presumptive request that this stranger come to Loess. But she says nothing more, waiting instead for a reply with a curious look in her pale eyes.

    @[Warstorm]
    n | l
    Reply
    #3

    Autumn's touch has already begun to grace this place, and many others will follow suit in the coming weeks. Fall is Warstorm's favorite season -- despite the biting winds that accompanies the later days, the early color change and crisp, fresh air make the cold worth it for her. Already, the mare is growing in her winter coat and blowing her sleek summer one, making warmer days a little more uncomfortable to bear. Fortunately for her, her wings can take her anywhere she wants to go, to any climate she wishes to be in, so being uncomfortable is only a temporary problem. 

    A twig snaps, and Warstorm's head jerks up. Another lady is approaching, light in color with lovely navy points, and herwings! Instantly, Warstorm feels a sense of camaraderie with the other peg, though she knows better than to succumb that easily. It's at that moment that the buckskin peg realizes she has a literal mouthful of grass, and looks absolutely ridiculous. Warstorm chews the massive mouthful and swallows quickly, trying not to choke. 

    "I'm so sorry for my manners," she chuckles. "My father would kick me to the next full moon for it. Hi Lepis." This time, a wide, true, earnest smile. "I'm Warstorm. Have you lived here long? I'm afraid I'm pretty new."

    @[Lepis]

    WARSTORM

    Reply
    #4
    i feel
    a bad moon rising
    Having interrupted the stranger while she grazed, Lepis is less than perturbed by the grass that remains in the overo’s mouth. She’s not expected her to drop it at her approach, after all. Still, the delay, and then the rapid attempt to swallow does elicit an amused smile from the dun mare, and she easily joins the antlered mare’s soft laughter.

    Lepis, who has never considered raising a hoof to her children, can still appreciate the humor.

    "I’ll be sure not to tell him then," the dun mare replies with a matching smile.

    Warstorm, the other woman, introduces herself, and while Lepis rarely gives credence to names, this one does cause a curious raise of her brow. A foretelling during the other’s birth, she wonders, or a parent with high hopes of raising a warrior? There’s not time to inquire, for the overo poses a question of her own.

    "In Beqanna?" She clarifies with a tilt of her head, and then a nod. "My whole life. I was born in Loess, and though I’ve sepnt some years elsewhere in between, I’m glad to have returned home." The words come easily, nearly two decades of life compressed into a simple mention of years spent elsewhere. The ease with which she says it has been a hard-earned thing, though there is no sign of that in her blue-grey gaze.

    "And welcome to Beqanna then, Warstorm." Lepis adds. "Do you plan on staying here? Here in Beqanna, I mean. I don’t think anyone would enjoy making a home of this Field. " At that she smiles again, her attention flicking to the milling crowd. This is a place of transients. Beautiful, at least at first, but the stream of ever-changing faces must surely grow tiring after a time. There’s no sense of permanence here, not like in the ageless red cliffs of Loess.

    @[Warstorm]
    n | l
    Reply
    #5

    Beqanna. That's right. Warstorm had forgotten the kingdom's name, if she ever knew it at all. Her days have been filled with glorious wandering, fulfilling that craving for a vagabond's freedom she's had since she was a weanling. That desire to go wherever the wind takes her that her father stomped into the dirt from the never moment it presented itself, because she had dUtIeS to fulfill as the king's only daughter. Gods above, did she ever hate it. 

    But here? Here, the young mare has studiously avoided her father and enjoyed the wind drifted life for the last year or so. But so long alone will take it's toll on most well-adjusted equines, and Warstorm was never an antisocial pegasus. It's time for her to find and make friends, forge new family ties, do something with her life she can be happy with. 

    "This place is lovely," the mare admits, shaking her head a little to get her wild black forelock out of her eyes. She pauses, blue eyes unfocusing a little, ears going sideways as something else catches her attention, but she shakes it off quickly. She's never felt the foal kick before now, and it's a weird, weird feeling. "But maybe not home material. It seems like horses come here to find a home." Warstorm focuses on Lepis, smiling kindly, earnestly. "Is Loess nice?"

    WARSTORM

    Reply
    #6
    i feel
    a bad moon rising
    "Just pretty enough to lure you into staying,"Lepis replies, speaking of the Field and its pleasant charms. Tall grass, enough to fill a starving belly even in the heart of winter. Trees from shade and protection from the wind, running water that does not freeze over. It is a good place to recuperate, but there is no long-term appeal. Is that some work of the Fae, Lepis wonders when her horizon-surveying eyes pass over the distant Mountain’s peak. Do they infuse passers-by with the desire to move on? When Warstorm pauses, Lepis glances back to meet her gaze, but the buckskin mare is already shaking off whatever it was that had given her hesitation.

    Had she spotted a stranger in the Field, Lepis wonders, or perhaps worse, someone who was not a stranger? This is the time of year most prone to awkward encounters, after all. But no, the younger mare doesn’t seem bothered, and so Lepis lets the moment pass without comment. There’s no need to pry, not this early, not when they hardly know each other.

    "The best of all the kingdoms," Lepis answers. "Though you will have to take my word that I mean it, and that I don’t just say it as something I’ve memorized for my recruiting efforts." There is amusement on her face, knowing what she asks of a stranger, but it hadn’t stopped her from speaking up anyway. "It’s the prettiest at least. Red stone and rolling hills. The company is not too shabby, if I do say so myself." Again a brief flash of a grin before adding: "Whether you like the kingdom life or want to be left alone to roam the wilds; I think it suits most anyone." Lepis has done her share of both in the crimson canyons. "Good food too," she adds, thinking of the patch of pineapples she’d found while with Alcinder earlier this morning.

    "That’s not my usual recruiting speech," she admits to the overo beside her as she takes a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. "It’s usually much more impressive and elegant."
    n | l


    @[Warstorm]
    Reply




    Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)