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    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]  it was not your fault but mine
    #1
    With his mother newly returned to Taiga, Nashua thought that it would mean his upcoming wardship on the Isle would be easier. He thought it would be easier to go knowing that she was back where she rightfully belonged. Nash could start those ‘grand adventures’ he had spent the first two years of his life dreaming of.

    So why then, when those adventures are literally days away, does he feel so conflicted about leaving? 

    ’Go,’ Lilliana had told him earlier in the day and Nash had smiled apprehensively at her. ’You’re sure?’ he had asked, both mother and son seeming to still be adjusting that one had to look down to the other now. He hadn’t been aware of how much he had grown, how much smaller his mother had seemed, until her arrival. (All Yanhua did was grow and Nash was used to having to look up to his younger brother now.) 

    If he wasn’t there, Yan could be. 

    The flight from the Taigan coast to the higher of ledges of Nerine doesn’t take him long. He could have taken the journey on hoof but then part of Nashua has always been a show-off and the young pegasus is proud of his wings, regardless if they came from Wolfbane or Karasu. In the spring sunshine, he is a chestnut gleam in the sky. The journey doesn’t take him long; a few strokes of his wings and some time spent in quiet thought as he soars and Nerine comes into view below him. 

    There is no mistaking the grey cliffs below him and Nash takes his time, turning away from the coast and gliding towards the heart of the kingdom. Perhaps he’ll find Ama or Fechin. Brienna was always a funny face from his youth. It’s been some time since he has seen Neverwhere or Eurwen and there is always the thought that he might spy his guardian, his Aunt Brazen. 

    What he spies when he looks down, though, is none of them. 

    Curious (always curious, inquisitive Nashua), he turns and lands with enough agility that he thinks even Celina might be proud of (though there is still quite a bit of noise). It makes his smile turn lopsided as he regards the alabaster pegasus as he approaches. ”You didn’t mean to be such a downfall, did you?” He teases, stopping before her. ”I’m Nash. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”


    nashua
    and the days you defend will turn to gold
    html by castlegraphics; art by KHARTHIAN


    @[Noel]
    [Image: jCdBK6.png]
    #2

    She’s not entirely certain why she’s back here again. Of course, she’d been born here, but that hardly seemed to matter. Her mother had shuffled them off to Hyaline quickly enough after her birth that she may as well have been born there. Only vague memories linger in the recesses of her mind. Memories of the tall cliffs and the man she believed to be her father, filtered through a blurred layer of time and bias.

    Sighing, she lifts her head, the fine lines of her features highlighted by the brightness of the sky. Though she’s not conscious of it, there is a simple sort of beauty there. Nothing that would draw any vast amount of attention, but enough to say she would at least never be deemed hideous.

    As she looks skyward though, it is not the clouds that draw her eye, but rather a figure rapidly growing larger with every passing moment. After a bit of confusion, she recognizes it as another winged horse. One who seems to be coming right for her.

    Taking an uncertain step back, she eyes him skeptically as he creates a backdraft with his wings in order to bring himself to a graceful, clearly practiced landing. “Showoff,” she mutters under her breath as he turns to grace her with a wide, dazzling grin.

    Shifting her wings uncertainly, she tilts her head slightly, as though that might help her puzzle out what had drawn him here. The flirtatious quality of his tone slips past her unnoticed as she frowns, trying to unravel just what being a downfall was supposed to mean. “Um,” she begins, still eyeing him uncertainly. “That didn’t look like falling to me?”

    He introduces himself, and almost automatically she does too, though her introduction is quite obviously a distracted one. “I’m Noel.” Maybe he’d seen her trying to land? “I uh, don’t live here. Technically.” She’s pretty sure she never landed anything like that. Was it supposed to be an insult? Abruptly, she stiffens. “Wait, what did you mean by downfall? Are you trying to tell me I’m clumsy??”

    - noel

    #3

    His ears prick eagerly (perhaps too eagerly) forward when the soft murmurs of a sound - her voice? - reaches him. He can’t hear what she says but that doesn’t matter much to Nashua. The smile plastered on his beaming face is far louder than anything she might have said, anyway.

    All it takes is her uncertainty to wipe away the steady confidence of it.

    Nashua’s boyish grin levels out, losing that lopsided quality. (It almost slips altogether but he is the son of a Diplomat. He knows how to recover it quickly.) The adolescent brings his wings close, quietly pulling them tightly to his sides from where he has stopped in front of her. Nash shakes his slender head, trying to stretch the tight muscles in his neck and shoulders.

    "Then the practice paid off,” he says. That smile quirks again at one corner of his pale mouth, tempted to return to its earlier skewed curve. He’ll accept a compliment where it’s due. The pale girl introduces herself - appearing somewhat preoccupied - and the copper pegasus gives a small nod in response to her name. @[Noel].

    Nash tilts his head when she says that she’s not from Nerine. That’s a curiosity but he doesn’t question her on it, as he has done to a few other horses that come to the borders of Nerine and try to slip through Brennen’s magical barrier. There is something about the gray filly that distracts him from asking. "No?” he says, bantering her (though maybe she misses this) with a raised brow.

    A gust of wind blows across the moorlands, whipping past them and reminding Nashua of exactly where he stands. He tears his emerald gaze away from her to look at the jagged, grey cliffs behind him. The view of them (and the breeze) stirs an idea up in the thrillseeker. The day is pleasant and there are a few more hours of brilliant sunlight left. Why waste them?

    The smile on his face that greets Noel when he glances back at her is as daring and as broad as the sky that is calling to him. "Are you?” He asks, hoping that she might show him otherwise.


    nashua
    and the days you defend will turn to gold
    html by castlegraphics; art by KHARTHIAN
    [Image: jCdBK6.png]
    #4

    She might have found his wry acknowledgment about practice paying off amusing, if not at least a little eye-roll-worthy, had she not been so preoccupied with trying to figure out whether or not he’d meant to insult her or was just making a joke. When he denies implying her clumsiness, her ruffled feathers begin to smooth as a faintly sheepish expression crosses her pale features.

    At least, until he asks her if she is clumsy.

    Bristling again, she scowls at him. NO! she shoots quickly back, though it is tinged perhaps by a bit of uncertainty. She had definitely never tried to practice like he clearly had. In fact, she’d never really thought too much about her flying skills until this very moment.

    Truth be told, she had absolutely no idea if she was clumsy or not.

    Huffing, she eyes him suspiciously as he glances between her and the cliffs looming nearby. She couldn’t very well tell him she didn’t want to fly. After all, that would mean admitting her own ignorance, and she definitely didn’t want to do that. Scowl deepening (adorably, though she had never seen her own scowling face to know it was more amusing than intimidating), she snaps her wings wide. Throwing him one final glare for good measure, she shoves forward into an easy canter, wings beating until she can get enough lift to pull herself into the air.

    Though her movements are economical and unpracticed, her naturally small stature gives her speed and agility in the air that (while perhaps not the most graceful) are at least not embarrassing.

    Looping once, she brings herself up to the stony cliff, wings arched and stiff as she slides to a landing, dust and stone spraying around her. She hisses at the burn against her fetlocks, but by the time she turns to face the direction she’d come from, her features are once more set into mulish lines. She would entirely ignore the scraped, stinging, slightly bleeding skin of her heels if it meant proving him wrong.

    - noel

    #5

    @[Noel] leaves him grinning in the dust.

    The winged girl had scoffed at him and then promptly turned on her pale heels, leaving Nash to watch as her form grows smaller on the horizon. He wasn’t sure what he had expected but when she takes off cantering towards those cliffs that he had been inclining towards, he decides that he admires her initiative to prove him wrong (even if he was joking). Being young and thrilled to have another Windwalker to tempt his competitive side, Nash doesn’t waste any more time to consider anything else. He races into a steady canter after her.

    The white filly has the advantage of a head start and while she beats her lovely wings, Nashua flares his open. When Noel takes off, the chestnut pegasus isn’t far behind. His pink nostrils flare with each exerting beat that propels him skyward and the young stallion huffs from the effort. He wouldn’t normally attempt such a steep incline but he’s eager to keep up with Noel who has quickly looped in a downward spiral by the time he reaches her zenith.

    Already?

    Nash dips one brown wing and cuts a smaller circle (Nashua will never miss a chance to demonstrate what all those flying lessons with Popinjay and Celina and Elio have taught him) and winds below to where his companion had come to a sliding stop. He attempts to land as well and skids much as Noel had, kicking up Nerinian dust and dirt. The ground burns him as well but the pegasus is fueled on the adrenaline of their flight and doesn’t feel it. Nashua is already looking over the ledge they have perched themselves on (already soaring ahead) and his wings are still partially open, ready to catch one the updrafts that come roaring up from the crashing ocean below.

    He snorts and then grins again with that dimple emerging. His green eyes spy a craggy seacliff that remains separate from the coast and since they have already come this far, why not further? Nash goes searching for her dark eyes and asks, "Up for an adventure?”



    nashua
    and the days you defend will turn to gold
    html by castlegraphics; art by KHARTHIAN
    [Image: jCdBK6.png]
    #6

    He is quick to follow her, almost to her chagrin. But in another sense, perhaps it was for the better. After all, being preoccupied with her own loop and landing meant she hadn’t had time to watch his much more practiced effort. Given her own niggling uncertainties, she might have been much less willing to continue this odd game if she had witnessed it.

    Even without that adding to her already mounting questions, she’s not entirely sure why he had taken such an abrupt and keen interest in her, much less why he was trying to lure her into some unknown activity.

    Is he a serial killer? Does she seem like an easy target?

    Abruptly shaking her head, she scoffs at her own far-fetched antics. Good gods, what the hell is wrong with her? Nash couldn’t be any older than she was. While she can’t claim to be any kind of serial killer expert, she’s pretty sure he doesn’t fit the bill (of course, when one’s only template for relationships are her own mother’s ill-fated attempts, she could hardly be expected to know anything of what resembles a healthy relationship).

    Still, she can’t help but find his invitation suspect.

    Eying him warily, she shuffles her wings for a minute to buy time before asking slowly, “What kind of adventure?” She pauses before clarifying quickly, “You don’t want to do anything… weird, right?”

    - noel

    #7

    stars when you shine, you know how i feel
    oh freedom is mine

    They kick up dirt and stones between them. The sound is drowned out by the crashing waves below but Nashua might not have heard the sound of falling rocks just as he didn't feel the burn at his heels. His days on the Isle are filled with routine - a spar with the Freyr or his hellhound Commander, patrolling different parts of the once-frozen island to observe the signs of regrowth and to see what parts might (still) need the assistance of Magicians and time spent in the company of Alcinder and Cormorant.

    @[Noel] is a literal breath of fresh air.

    The white pegasus shakes her head at him and Nash tilts his curiously, not realizing that his enthusiasm for the open sky might be misconstrued as something. A seaward breeze blows past them and tussles his flaxen man, momentarily shielding the pale from his green-eyed gaze. He gives his head a sharp shake to move the forelock out of his face and tries not to feel disappointed by her reluctance. He shouldn't, he knows. They've barely known each other longer than a few wingbeats.

    "You're sure your not a Northerner?" he teases with a quirked smile.  The inhabitants had a reputation for being distrustful of outsiders since the usurping of Taiga. It had escalated and only became worse after the attack on the Nerinian queen. Now an outsider was more likely to be intercepted by someone wearing Noel's scowl instead of Nash's easy smile.

    His slender head nods to the direction of the offshore crag before he looks to her. "The ill-advised kind, probably." Understanding that his joke about his own recklessness might not be as explanatory as his pale companion would like, Nash elaborated. "A trip out there. It'd be easier to reach if the tide was low but...," the young pegasus shrugs his shoulders. The tide was nearly high and any kind of beach or sandbar that they might have made use of was under several feet of water. Noel doesn't outright refuse his opposition and it brings a bright glint to his eyes. "Scout's honor." He tells her and eagerly flares his wings, ready to take to the sky.

    Looking over his shoulder, that eagerness broadens his boyish grin. "Besides it'll be a great spot to practice your landings."


    NASHUA

    html by castlegraphics; art by MirrorLands
    [Image: jCdBK6.png]
    #8

    In many ways, their lives are completely opposite. Just as his days are filled with routine, hers are filled with… well, nothing. She’d never been given a purpose in life. Never truly sought one. Nothing in her life is decided. And though she may have fallen into some rather quirky patterns, she has no true normalcy. Nothing to define the driftlessness of her days.

    She is little more than the flotsam floating on the waves that crash against the shores far below them.

    And, oddly enough, in the same way that her life boasts no routine, it also boasts nothing that speaks of true happiness either. She’d never been offered the opportunity to know lighthearted play. She’d never had other children around to teach her, and certainly her mother hadn’t been interested. Sure, she’d kept Noel alive and healthy enough before leaving her to drift in the world once she could care for herself, and Noel had always thought that was sufficient. Always thought that was the way the world works.

    Still does, in fact. So this encounter? Well, she’d never been quite prepared for it.

    His bright-eyed, easy teasing is comforting in a way though, and she finds herself offering him the faintest glimmer of a reciprocating smile before gruffly replying, “I mean, I guess… technically, I was born here.”

    How he might have come to any sort of conclusion that would inspire him to ask her if she was sure she wasn’t a Northerner, she’s not entirely sure. But she’s also not especially keen on finding out why. Mostly because she’s pretty certain she wouldn’t care too much for the answer.

    But he instead delves eagerly into his idea of adventure. Though he asserts it would be both ill-advised and somewhat difficult, Noel finds herself almost unwillingly intrigued. The thought of danger is appealing in a strange way. Almost too appealing. But the way her heartbeat increases with anticipation even as her senses buzz with an unexpected liveliness is all the convincing she needs.

    “Ok,” she says abruptly, accepting his challenge before she can think better of it. She barely glances at him before bursting forward towards the edge of the cliff and flinging herself off.

    - noel

    #9

    stars when you shine, you know how i feel
    oh freedom is mine

    Nashua's upbringing isn't something that he likes to reflect on often. The first year of his life had been traditional. Nash had been raised alongside his twin brother, Yanhua, by their mother Lilliana. It had been Nash after that trip to Ischia, after they had met glowing Velkan, that had asked and asked after their sire. It had been him who had asked why he had wings and about the sprouting horns on Yan's head. It had been who had asked why he had stripes and Yanhua, like their mother, had a shining golden marking.

    And then like a wish (ill omen), Wolfbane emerged from the mists. Wolfbane with his lovely, white wings and shining blue stripes. As a young colt, Nashua had thought here was the answer to all the questions he had. The palomino had even promised to teach him how to fly, had acted like he planned on staying long enough to teach his chestnut son how to fly. (Those lessons had come from an older sister and then more lessons came from a red-feathered brother.)

    He tries not to think about it often.
    (And the one time he had broached the topic to Lilliana, she had only shaken her head. The Commandant? he asked when he had been old enough to understand the rumors and his mother had returned from Pangea.)

    The young stallion doesn't have to think about it now. His present company finally smiles at him and there is a thrill inside Nash that he has never felt before. It feels like that first shining moment when he first spied Tephra, that first proud moment when he had finally spread his wings and learned to really soar. Noel is an adventure to Nash and the grin that he throws her way is beaming; "Ha!" He nearly barks the laugh and then smiles wildly again. (Something in him is pleased that she was born in Nerine. Perhaps there is a touch of Northern pride in Nashua, after all.)

    Noel dashes off the edge, spreads those magnificent wings wide and wild. To Nashua, it looks as if she is daring the sky. (How could it not catch her?) The striped pegasus is quick to follow, a trot step and then he dashes off the edge of the cliff like he has never been afraid of the edge of the world (he hasn't). He unfurls his large wings and they catch the sea breeze that races upward from the craggy shore below.

    Shifting his weight back, Nashua waits. If @[Noel] looks back, she might see the young stallion observing her, watching to see what she does with leaping from great heights.


    NASHUA

    html by castlegraphics; art by MirrorLands
    [Image: jCdBK6.png]
    #10

    The air rushes exhilaratingly past her as she unfolds her wings to catch the wind that buffets the seaside cliffs. There is freedom in the sky, a rush that cannot be found elsewhere. It had always been there, but she wonders why she had never truly appreciated it before. Of course, there is a simple answer to that question, but one she’s not quite ready to acknowledge yet.

    As she swoops low over the waves before flapping her wings to gain more height, she glances back to find Nash far above her rather than racing close behind as she had imagined he would. It’s disconcerting, though she can’t quite put her hoof on why. She’s quick to shake it off however, instead giving herself over to the beauty of flight as she rushes over the waves dancing beneath her.

    She reaches the small, rocky outcrop quickly enough, but rather than landing immediately, she loops around the island. Coming around the back, she drives herself hard up the tall, craggy rock with large, confident strokes of her wings. Breaking over the edge, she flares her wings wide to slow her momentum before dropping onto the uneven surface.

    As she turns to find Nash, she cannot help but be rather proud of her flight. Perhaps she is not the most practiced, but she is strong and capable. She had never put too much stock in beauty anyway. Practicality had always suited her far better.

    Still, her heart beats with the thrill of the moment, and for the first time, she understands that perhaps she has been missing something important in her life.

    - noel



    @[Nashua]




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