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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


    [open]  She waits from ledges for a voice to talk her down
    #1

    despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came


    Nervous. That is what I am right now, entering a foreign land, a new home. Why am I nervous? Well, to make a long story short, I didn’t have the best start growing up. I had made a lot of mistakes–mistakes with great costs. But that was the past. This is supposed to be my new beginning! And I would definitely try to make it a good beginning, with less mistakes. At least I hoped. Those nerves were still there, though, haunting me as a whisper in my thoughts. What will you do to screw up this time, Borderline?

    I shake my head, tendrils of blue mane gentle caress my neck and face as I do so. Gingerly, I step into the land of the giant, towering trees, awe plainly struck across my face. My mouth even gapes in a foolish sort of way. When Lilliana had described them, I thought I had understood how large the trees would be, but this was something different. As I amble slowly through them, I pass by at least one tree that is twice my length in diameter.


    A serene fog lay over the landscape, making it difficult to see more than a hundred yards ahead of myself. So every step seems to bring something new into view. I stop and stare for a few moments when an elk appears in the midst of the understory, busy rooting through the snow for vestiges of grass. It looks up at me for a moment, staring as a prey animal is want to do, then returns to its grazing, having determined that I wasn’t a threat. I move on as well, deeper into the fog.


    I could probably explore this land for a hundred years and still find something unfamiliar, something wild and untamed, about it. So after a while, I grow bored with exploring and stop in a small meadow. My stomach growls angrily at me, so I lower my nose to the ground and sift through a layer of snow to find if there is anything to eat. Thankfully, there is stale grass there. It is not the most appetizing, but nothing in winter usually is. 


    I would wait here, I decided, for something to happen. Perhaps someone from these lands would find me here and I could make a new friend? Or perhaps I would be forever alone in this confusing new world? The second thought was definitely more likely, I decide. After all, that is my luck.

    borderline

    Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Unsplash

     
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    #2

    Yanhua

    Taiga was an uncertain place these days, not the best for making new friends or meeting smiling faces. Her inhabitants had turned recluse, keeping to themselves after the attack from the East, and a few escapees might never return. Fear itself was enough of a weapon to damage an enemy; if horses couldn’t feel safe in the redwood forest, then they wouldn’t live here. How many nomadic horses would they lose, Yan wondered? Some of them had been on the brink of putting down roots here for good…

    “All ruined,” The flaxen-haired stallion thought, trodding quietly through the maze of giants, “by malicious design.” He sighed.

    It was a cold day, but not unpleasant. Snow had packed itself into thick, white layers overnight - Taiga had been transformed into a winter wonderland. The evergreens had never smelled more pungent and Yan had a pleasant hitch in his step despite the mood. He hadn’t set out this morning  to have his thoughts contradicted immediately by fate, but that was exactly when she struck hardest.

    Funny; the moment he’d been thinking about how quiet things were going to be around here, a pleasant echo interrupted his walk.

    Echos usually did interrupt him, all the time and everywhere the goat-horned stallion went. They were memories left behind, not something he could conjure out of thin air. They were very real and very present in Yanhua’s life, when he’d been a boy sometimes they’d been overwhelming, but now he could safely manage to filter them out. He could also recognize when an echo was ‘fresh’, newly made - often indicating that the creator of the memory Yanhua saw was nearby or had been in the same area recently.

    He turned his head and watched the ghost-like apparition of a mare - not the same Borderline, but the memory of her - walking just this way with her head swiveling around in nervous awe. Yan smiled as the memory walked past a trunk and disappeared. No one else could see Yan’s ‘ghosts’, he knew they were purely mental and part of his magic, but he felt their emotions in the moments they left behind. Living or no, the haunts of Taiga had always been Yanhua’s favorite part of living here.

    He stopped going the direction he was headed in, and turned to chase the old scent trail Borderline had left behind perhaps an hour ago.

    The blue-and-gray mare’s journey had led her out to an open meadow, one that Yanhua knew well enough after so many years growing up here. This was a place he and Nash had played together, when himself and his twin had been little colts with no father. Now, he materialized from the fog like an odd lantern, mane and tail barely glowing but still vibrantly yellow-gold, to see Borderline inhabiting the same space. She looked lovely in the pale snow, already part ice-princess with her shockingly vibrant, blue-colored hair, and Yan threw his horns and his ears up with a cheery, “Hallo!” her way.

    He’d just stopped at the edge of the meadow, but no doubt Borderline had already heard and seen him approach.

    “I was doing my rounds and I caught your scent,” The tall, young male ushered over his shoulder to the place he’d just come from, “I’m Yanhua; I live here.” He explained with a warm, animated smile. “Honestly, I could use some company… are you in the mood for conversation?” He asked Borderline, assuming that he wasn’t exactly interrupting her. She’d been nose-to-the-ground when he’d approached, and her echos made it seem to Yanhua that she could use a friendly forest guide, but he wouldn’t press the issue if she refused.

    To each their own; Yanhua just loathed the idea of being alone right now and he was hoping that maybe @[Borderline] felt the same way.

    I GOT | Extra | FEELINGS

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    #3

    despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came

    Time passes. Maybe it was only a little bit of time, but it felt like an eternity to me, as I sifted through the snows for the vestiges of grass beneath. Every once in awhile, I caught the scent of burnt trees, and I would lift my head to look over the trees in the direction the wind was coming, but no smoke said that I should panic. However, that did not stop me from thinking that maybe I would be alone here forever, which does cause a kind of panic, a different kind of panic.

    Time ticks on around me, and the panic grows within. What if the smell the wind had brought down was some kind of catastrophe that had sent the residents of this land had fled from? Did Lilliana know about this? Had she gone, too?

    I was just about to give up on foraging to go have a peek around some more when a figure appeared from the shadows of the trees. The movement from the corner of my eyes captures my attention, and my head darts up. It is a stallion, young and bright, a dull red in color with flaxen mane and tail with a star right in the middle of his chest. A thrill of excitement and nerves runs through me as I see that he is approaching me. To help rid myself of some of this pent up energy, I swish my bright blue tail so that it sweeps across my knees before falling back to its regular position.

    He says “hallo,” and another thrill of excitement and nerves passes through me. “Hi!” I manage to squeak out, past the nerves. I cough, and shift nervously on my hooves, “hello,” I say, this time more confidently.

    I nod fervently as he introduces himself and mentions that he could use some company. Am I in the mood for conversation? Well, yes, I definitely am, but I find myself feeling somewhat shy despite this. I give him a shy kind of smile in response. “Sure,” I say, and then, almost as if I almost forgot, “I’m Borderline!” My name rolls off my tongue a little more excitedly than I had meant it to, and I feel embarrassed now. Hopefully he would accept and welcome the excitement? I find myself figuratively crossing my hooves.

    “I’m new here. Lilliana invited me to come live in Taiga. It sounded like such a wonderful place, but I was kind of worried, because I kept smelling fire. I worried that everyone had run away and that I would be all alone!” Suddenly, I realize that I am probably talking too much, so I rein it in and now I wait for him, hoping that I didn’t just scare him off by talking too much.

    borderline

    Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Unsplash
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    #4

    Yanhua

    Yanhua was surprised at first how much he enjoyed the sound of Borderline’s voice. Not the second time she spoke (though he didn’t mind her voice either way), but the first time she’d said ‘hi!’ - all sweet and nervously high-pitched. Whoever she was, she peaked the young stallion’s interest and drew him in with a smile, as if she’d been waiting for someone just like Yanhua to come along and ease the loneliness. “Well here I am.” He thought, stepping a bit closer through the snowdrifts when she’d accepted his company with bright, feminine “Sure!”.

    Borderline she said her name was, and Yan didn’t think anything of it but to remember the word and the expressions passing over her face while she talked. She mentioned his mother and for a second his ears came together in curiosity, but he chuckled soon after and assured her that “Taiga can be lonely at first, but you’re never truly alone.”

    “Not while I’m living here, that is.” Yan quickly followed up his first statement with a more enthusiastic second one. He grinned sideways out of the corner of his mouth and shook out his furry back, stiff from waiting in the cold. “Nice to meet you, Borderline.” Yan dipped his horns politely and continued, “Lilliana is my dam, and the smell you’re picking up was from a fire.” He decided not to lie to the new Taigan mare. Being obtuse in favor of gaining a new horse from the Field went against Yanhua’s nature - better she found out from him now than later on from someone else.

    He also thought it best to stop there and let Borderline process what he was saying to her, in case for some reason or another the picture of a new home in Borderline’s thoughts didn’t quite match up with the facts about this forest. She would have questions, he thought, and Yan kind of had questions for her about what his mother had said of these woods. Maybe Lilli's words had been true at the time of their meeting - the Taiga of the past wasn’t so different from the Taiga of the present: they were still united and still a family of dreamers, it was just that the world had started to change and unfortunately for them, Taiga was one of the first lands to feel that change.

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    @[Borderline]
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    #5

    despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came

    He was right about something; that I had been waiting for someone like himself to come along to take away my loneliness. It was with a breath of relief that I had looked up to see him ambling toward me from between the redwoods, especially with the dangers of fire still rolling in on the soft breeze.

    I smile when he says that you’re never truly alone in Taiga. It’s a shy smile, the kind that is fleeting and innocent. I find myself liking this stallion, Yanhua. I repeat his name in my head, carefully trying to store it so that I didn’t make the embarrassing–and in my opinion, unforgivable–mistake of forgetting. Granted, I could forgive anyone else who forgot my name, but I live to a different standard.

    “Does that make you Taiga’s mascot?” I ask, giving him a slightly playful grin, though I immediately feel slightly embarrassed to be playing with him. What if he didn’t like my playfulness? What if he finds me obnoxious? I act like I have an itch on my face in order to hide my eyes behind my knee for just a moment.

    He mentions that Lilliana is his mother, which perks my ears, and my head shoots up once more. I was about to say how nice she had been, but then he mentions that the smell I had been smelling was from a fire. Alarm suddenly shoots through my veins like a burst of ice, chilling me to my hooves. I toss my head in alarm, almost dancing back away from him, and it might certainly seem as though I might be ready to turn tail and run, but I don’t.

    My first worry was not for myself, not for any danger that I might be in, but rather for the residents of Taiga, residents that I haven’t yet met (well, except for Lilliana and Yanhua); residents that I had been so excited to meet only moments earlier. “Oh no! is my first sentiment, followed closely by, “Is everyone okay? Please tell me that everyone is okay. Is your mother okay?”

    borderline

    Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Unsplash


    @[Yanhua]
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    #6

    Yanhua

    Yanhua’s brief laughter overtook Taiga’s natural silence, making the meadow he and Boderline were standing in a bit warmer from the sound. A pair of birds fluttered off, disturbed by the noise, but Yan hardly paid them any attention. He was too busy appreciating Boderline’s shy, knee-jerk response to teasing him. The blue-haired mare acted like he might be offended, when he actually appreciated the candor. After all, she was right. Yan was the only horse here to greet her. If those were the requirements for being Mascot of Taiga, he fit the bill.

    He was naturally very curious about Borderline. Where she was from, how she’d met Lilliana and why, of all places, she’d chosen Taiga. He wondered if she was from farther south, or maybe even the Islands to the far West - a place he’d never journeyed himself. “Wherever she’s from, I hope she stays.” Yan caught himself thinking, meanwhile he told her about his dam and the fire that had ravaged these lands, among others. Borderline and her bashful humor would be such a relief to the quiet sadness.

    Her reaction to the news left Yanhua doubting, though. Borderline did what anyone would do when they learned half their new home had been razed by magical fire: she balked. Her smaller head jerked up in a flurry of blue forelock and her whole body seemed tense for flight, but she didn’t run. Borderline stayed, doe-eyed, and Yanhua reacted by lowering his own horns as gently as he could manage until both he and Borderline were of level sight.

    “Yes! Yes,” He promised her earnestly, “my mother’s okay. There were some injuries, but nothing too serious.” Yan reached for Borderline with his nose, but stopped himself - she wasn't his family, or even a close friend. At the last second he realized his advances might be taken inappropriately, so the young stallion hesitated.

    Most of the Taigan’s were accounted for, save a few, and the Nerinan horses had re-grouped after the scuffle by the cliffs. There was the matter of his missing sister, Aela… a few other unaccounted names as well. Brennen had disappeared, but Leilan and Izora were home again.

    “We Taigan’s stick together through difficult times. Most of the damage was superficial.” Yan withdrew his nose and looked around them at their world, at the glimmering snow and towering redwoods, vibrant and alive despite the smell of ash in the wind. “The forest will grow back, and we'll be alright. I swear on my honor as the Mascot here.” Yan turned to look at @[Borderline] again, smirking kindly.

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    #7

    despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came

    I find myself really enjoying his laughter. There is something pure and innocent about it, melodic and much welcomed. And he didn’t seem to protest my jesting with him, which warms me up slightly to him even more. I could feel my nerves melting away, like the snow beneath the warm spring sun. I smile broadly and dip my head ever so slightly so that a lock of blue mane falls into my eyes.

    I find myself wanting him to ask about me, and I feel like I would have no problems telling him about myself, even though some of it wasn’t all that pleasant or nice. I want him to know that I am not from these lands, that I have felt alone in life ever since I could remember, that my mother had been neglectful, and when she wasn’t being neglectful, she was mean. I want him to know these things about me, and in turn, I want to know more about him.

    However, that moment passed quickly when he speaks of the fire, and I instantly feel frightened and saddened. Yanhua, however, knows exactly what to do. He lowers his head to look me in the eyes, and I stop, instantly draw in by them, and it calms me considerably. He also reassures me that everyone is fine and that there were only a few injuries and that Lilliana is okay. I breathe a sigh of relief.

    He reaches towards me, almost as if to comfort me, but then stops. I find myself wishing he hadn’t stopped. For some reason, I find myself wanting his touch, his comforting. He just felt so comfortable already, even though I had just met him only moments earlier. When he stops, I wallow in a moment of disappointment, though I try to keep that sentiment to myself.

    “What happened? I mean, how did the fire start?” I ask, trying to distract myself from the disappointment.

    Then he mentions that Taigans stick together. This sentiment sends warm thrills through me. It was almost like a family here, and I hoped that one day I would be a part of that family. I smile, a soft smile that radiates warmth into my surroundings. “That sounds nice,” I say in an equally warming voice, then quickly add, “That Taigans stick together. And I’m glad that everything is alright. Yes, the forest will grow back, though I can’t imagine it will grow back very quickly! I mean, look at these trees! They’re huge!” I smile, a bright and cheerful smile this time, especially since he referred back to my original jest. I definitely think that I could be happy here, and perhaps, for the first time in my life, I might not feel so lonely?

    borderline

    Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Unsplash
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    #8

    Yanhua

    “We call them ‘The Giants’ around here.” Yanhua explained, feverishly catching onto Borderline’s good humors. He’d never had the privilege of really introducing another horse to Taiga before… this was fun. Being born and living his entire life mostly in the forest of ancient fog and massive trees, Yanhua must’ve begun to desensitise himself to the splendid wonders of his home, and only now was Borderline re-opening his eyes to the majestic wonder of it. “If only all horses could be so receptive to this place!” He marveled at her genuine smile, finding his own expression brightening to match.

    But the moment faltered as soon as he considered answering her first question, about the fire.

    “Walk with me?” Yan requested of his newfound companion, motioning with a jerk of his bearded chin toward the far side of the Taiga meadow where a narrow deerpath led off into the shadowy forest. If Borderline wanted him to start from the beginning, this was sure to be a long sort of tale. He hoped (more than hoped, he planned) that once they started he and the newcomer might share stories for a while as they went. Yan could re-spin the events of the Nerine attack, maybe even show her magically if she was up to the idea. He was aware that mythics and their powers weren’t always accepted outside of Kingdom borders - maybe Borderline would reject the offer, or maybe Borderline had magic of her own, there wasn’t any way Yan could be certain until he asked. For now he resigned to crossing that bridge when they got to it, and favored waiting quietly on Borderline’s “Yes” or “No” concerning the tour he was offering.

    Gentle-stallion that he was raised to be, Yanhua never expected any horse to simply follow him because he asked. He wasn’t like his mother, commanding the room with her eyes and dreamer’s whimsy, and he certainly wasn’t like their self-styled King Leilan, who was covered in icy scales and could change the color of his eyes to reflect his current mood. Yanhua was tall and lean, imposing when he had to be but otherwise a gentle soul who guarded these woods like a haunt. He wanted Borderline to say yes, that much was obvious. His eyes were practically gleaming with unspoken hope. But to force her by playing the upper hand and taking advantage of her loneliness? He refused.

    Some would say that made him a pushover. Yan would say he had an inbred respect for others and the unspoken depths of their feelings, more so than most stallions could begin to understand. He’d rather play to that strength, and find a mare who appreciated rather than mocked him for it.

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    @[Borderline]
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    #9

    despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came


    “Giants…” I echo the sentiment. My eyes trail the small meadow, looking up at these giants. There is one tree behind me that is at least twice my width around, and another to the left that is a long dead and gone tree stump that has rotted out in the middle that I could probably squeeze myself into. I have already come to appreciate–and even enjoy–these giants. They feel like home. Yanhua makes them feel like home.

    He invites me to walk with him, and the offer sounds like a dream, if only it wasn’t attached to an air of misery. Something tells me that he is about to answer my question about the fire, and I may not like the answer to it all that much. But I nod, a soft movement that causes a lock of blue mane to fall forward on my face, tickling the bridge of my nose. I shake my head so that the tendrils fall back to their usual spot around my ears.


    Yanhua may have requested that I follow him, but he didn’t need to. I would follow him just about anywhere at this point. He could demand that I follow, and I would happily oblige. His smile enchants me, his voice enthralls me, and I feel intrigue for whatever he might want to show me. So before he could even move, I step in the direction of the little deer path on the other side of the meadow that he had motioned toward. I throw my head back over my shoulder to look at him, as if silently asking if he’s coming, a light and cheery smile plastered across my face.


    I stop and wait for him to show the way, eager to have a tour of the forest, while also slightly apprehensive about what I might see. It’s not that it would scare me away. On the contrary, my heart breaks to know that my new homeland had just gone through something so…tragic. My homeland…the words echo in my mind for a moment, and the smile that paints my lips in that moment is my own, though I hoped he would notice and ask, because I want him to know that this is where I believe I belong. I finally think I’ve found a place where I could belong. The thought sends thrills of excitement through me.


    “So, Yanhua, I say softly, almost shyly, “Tell me about yourself. Were you born in these lands? How old are you, anyway? What do you like? That’s a lot of questions, I tell myself, but then again, I was starting to feel like I could be myself with this stallion. He’s such a nice soul, and it made me feel at ease. Still...that worry haunts me like the whisper of wind that always sweeps through the trees.

    borderline

    Photo by Sharon McCutcheon from Unsplash

     
    @[Yanhua]
     
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    #10

    Yanhua

    The day wouldn’t be bright for much longer, and Yanhua didn’t waste any time following Borderline's quiet smile. He picked his unusual forehooves out of the snow and pushed off into an ambling walk, harmessly eyeing the gray mare when he passed her by. Something about the way her forelock fell into place over her pretty doe-eyes made Yan’s heart stumble, and he looked away again hastily. “I should really thank Lilli sometime for bringing her home.” He thought to himself with a damning grin, leading them both from the meadow into the redwood forest. This blue-haired beauty could end up being a dangerous attraction for him.

    And yet, knowing all that didn’t keep Yanhua from savoring the exciting feelings Borderline was stirring up, what with her smiles and her shy laughter he suddenly wanted more of. He pondered them both (and the way she looked at him) enthusiastically, following the trail as it went.

    “I like you.” He told Borderline abruptly, side-stepping off the path a bit to make room for her on his left. The fog closed in behind them and the meadow disappeared, but Yanhua lit their way with his bodily glow and turned to peer down at Borderline with a warm, noble grin. He kept talking after a very brief, but very heavy pause. “I’ve just turned four and yes, I was born in these lands.”

    He didn’t lose his footing or look back at the trail; Yanhua knew exactly where he was going. He’d rather look at her, instead.

    “I have a twin brother actually, named Nashua. My earliest memories are of us growing up here in Taiga. He left a few years ago to make a life in another land farther north, and I pledged my allegiance to these woods not long after that. Been around ever since. Now you’re here…” Yan teased Borderline, acting suspicious of her without warning. “I’m curious you know. Why’d you come alone to Taiga? What’s your story, newcomer?” He wondered, scrutinizing Borderline’s expression with a charming wink, finally glancing ahead. In truth, Yan was captivated by her - she shouldn’t worry at all.

    The path cleared out a bit. Beyond the edges of the meadow, smaller pines couldn’t grow up in heavy shade. Yan and Borderline could easily walk beside one another and pass through the seemingly endless maze of trees without having to be so close, but Yanhua barely moved away from her side. He was perfectly content to stay close if @[Borderline] wanted him there, one ear tilted in her direction as Yan took them slowly westward.

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