"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
Golden coated and firey maned, Raul gleamed in the evening light. He working, after a fashion. Gathering wild mint now that the bees had gone back to their hives for the day. It was a cooling herb, handy for those incautious folk who spent too long in the sun. When mixed with honey carefully borrowed from the aforementioned hive dwellers, it made a decent burn treatment.
As he worked, though, he couldn't hero but wonder why. Why was he laboring over herb and salve when the very waterfall he was working by cured all? As grateful as the stallion was for the magic that saved the lives of those it touched, he couldn't help but feel that it had made him obsolete. The title the queen Isilya had given him when he and Warlight had first returned to the kingdom now seemed just that. A title, with no job attached.
His pile of gently nipped off plant stems lay forgotten at his feet as the stallion found himself lost in thought, staring at the waterfall's cascade. The setting sun caught the falls on fire, and if one didn't look too closely they might think it simply another pouring of lava from the volcano. But no. It was water, and it was magic, and he didn't know what to do with it.
His mate had found herself somewhat lost without a battle to fight. Raul was beginning to suspect he knew how she felt. Though their callings in life were as opposite as could be, still they complimented each other. The Warrior and the Healer. They needed each other to survive.
With a barrel deep sigh, the blood marked stallion resumed his task, if only to have something to do.
No, but that doesn't stop her from traveling in. She travels in her crow form, the large bird soaring from above. It has been so long since she was in Tephra....some days she misses it, the memories she spent with Aedan...meeting her sister!
But all of that was gone now, she hadn't seen her sister in years...was she even here? Her and Aedan claimed the common lands as a home, but still...she liked to visit Tephra, even if it was from afar...
She had wings to fly as a horse...but being a crow is more discreet. She planned just to soar over a few times....but as the waterfall got within earshot, her eyes were attracted to a colorful being.
His body was pale...but his mane and tail...they were bright and vibrant! She couldn't resist a conversation, perhaps his personality would be matching to that of his hair.
She nose dives towards the ground, pulling up only when she reaches the top of the trees. Her body shifts from the small bird back to her teal and white equine form. Her wings gently lower her to the ground, only a short trip from the stranger.
If it weren't for Laia, he might have startled at the girl's entrance. One moment he'd been alone, lost in his own mind, the next he was being greeted by a feathery young female. It was very similar to his teleporting daughter's modus operandi.
Instead of jumping at the sudden break in quiet, the burly stallion merely switched an ear, finished dropping the bushy stalks of herb in their neat pile. Only when this was done did he lift his head to look at his visitor.
She was as splashy a paint as he'd ever seen, bright white and verdant teal. The corners of his blood red mouth twitched with a hidden smile. Oh yes, she might very well be a look into the future for his girls. Lovely and lively and apparently fearless.
Raul coughed once to clear his throat, the hoarse rasp of his words soft on the evening air. "Hello," he greeted her, head bobbing lightly. "We have not met. I am Raul."
She smelled only faintly of Loess' jungle, more thickly of the wild lands beyond. Still, visitors were welcome sights in these parts, and he would not turn her away. Perhaps she even had need of the waterfall's magic, though he could see no obvious reason for that. But you never knew what wounds were held out of sight.
He was certainly not as eager to converse, as Vita was. He took his time to respond to her, although Vita didn't really notice, those small details go unnoticed to her.
In the few moments of silence they shared, she was able to appreciate his coloring more. He was certainly nice to look at, his colors so vibrant! He had dark red across his chest, and matching on his nose.
Only when he speaks does she draw her optics to his. He notes that they had not met, and introduced himself, Raul. What a pretty name he has! No! My name is Vita, I used to live here... She pauses for a moment, an odd feeling to sat it aloud.
I hope I didn't intrude...your mane and tail...they're just rather eye catching. I noticed it from the sky! Her head glances up before falling back to his eyes.
Raul nodded as she declared herself, explained her situation in words tinged with uncertainty. He glanced at his work and shrugged in the back of his mind. The mint would keep. Young Vita seemed to need his attention now more than the pungent herbs.
"You are not interrupting much," the sunset stallion assured, shaking tangled lengths of hair from his cool toned eyes. Spicy evening air filled his lungs on a deep inhale, to be breathed out again in a steady gust. This really was a wonderful time of day. His favorite, perhaps. Warm light made every color richer, more vibrant, and it seemed that very factor was what had brought his visitor near.
Tail whisking at mosquitoes, he smiled faintly at the girl's comment. "Thank you," he said, weight shifting on the mossy earth. "It is vibrant, isn't it?" His smile turned rueful. The flame colored locks were the clearest clue that he was his mother's son, and he had not always been very fond of that fact. For all that he had fought very hard to maintain a relationship with his dam, the mare's instability had turned her very adept at burning her bridges. History, now. A past he was moving away from with every new day.
Instead of dwelling on what he could not change, Raul wuffed a hot breath and returned his gaze to the girl's shining eyes. "May I ask why you left?" He inquired softly, knowing it was perhaps a sensitive question. Folk left their homes all of the time, for any number of reasons. He only hoped hers was pleasant.
She didn't truly need to stop and talk to him...she could have observed from afar, but then again..Vita is far too friendly by nature.
When she mentions his mane and tail he doesn't flinch. He must be used to it and the idea nearly makes her giggle. Oh yes, very lovely. She imagines his parents in her mind, her own parents two very vibrant equines.
The boy who still had not named himself was not of the friendliest. He wasn't as excited for a conversation with Vita, then again she was thankful enough for him holding one at all.
He asks why she left and she took a moment to ponder the circumstances fully. A boy I guess, she says with a giggle following. It wasn't fully true, it wasn't exactly for him...more or less they agreed on it. I lived in Ischia for a while...and then I moved to Tephra when I met Aedan. She pauses, wondering if this firey stag had met Aedan before. My sister used to rule Tephra...but she doesn't anymore...seemed like a good time for me and Aedan to venture off on our own. She shrugs slightly, there was so much more to the story. She could go on and on about how much she loves crashing into territories and exploring beqanna, but she'd save him the banter. And why do you stay? She says, truly curious, what ties one to a specific home?
06-16-2020, 07:38 PM (This post was last modified: 06-16-2020, 07:38 PM by Raul.)
Raul was stoic, it was true. Never as outspoken as his twin had been in childhood, the year he'd spent mute -sacrificing his voice in an unholy quest- had made him downright quiet. In the decade or so since those events had occurred, the scarring internal to his throat still made him incapable of much more than a rough whisper. Louder only made him hurt.
So he took his words slowly, and typically only said what seemed necessary. Words were measured and judged before being allowed vocalization. If his quiet ways were considered rude by some, well that wasn't his intention. Raul had simply grown into a stallion of few words, and liked it that way.
That did not stop him from smiling warmly at the girl who seemed far more comfortable with speech. Like his daughters, she had an observation for everything. A deep chuckle feathered through his throat at her admission, fatherly amusement in his eyes. Ah yes, a boy.
There were worse reasons to leave home, of course. And heavens knew there was no talking a heart out of what it wanted. Still, the golden stallion couldn't help but spare a glance for the lush foliage and sparkling waters that they stood near. "I lived in Ischia, too. For a short time." From the time he and his brother were no more than a moon old, when their mother was swept away by magic that meant her no good. Until the time magic came again, and that time sought the twins.
The past shone in his eyes, ghosts of times so far gone he had almost forgotten them. That they haunted him now when he had finally found the peace he'd been seeking all along seemed cruel. Some kind of joke. With some effort, he dragged his mind to the present. To the girl who only wanted to talk to him.
With a sigh, he leaned back on his heels a moment, stretching the stiffness his back had begun feeling recently. Age, creeping up on him.
"My wife brought the magic of Healing here," he said softly, nodding to the water falling from the volcano's side. It was catching fire in the evening light, reds and golds glittering so brightly he thought they might burn should he touch them. Instead, they healed all who had need. Magic, in its purest form.
"I stay for family, for friends. For home." He paused, turning to fix the winged girl in his steady gaze. "Home is the most precious thing, when you have looked for it as long as I have." Home was where his beloved curled against him at night. It was where their daughters grew and played and laughed. Home was wherever they were together, and he would not trade it for prayer or power.
