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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]  cuts you like an arrow
    #11

    Mazikeen’s thoughts could be dark on occasion, but it was usually directed inward. At her own stupidity or her own choices, at her insecurities when they grow so thick they choke her. But she’s never had anything but hope regarding the darkness being temporary. She believed absolutely that the sun would return and that they would not perish to the creatures that were trying to take over. How that would happen was not something she would pretend to know but this world was a strange one and the answer would be found by someone smarter than her.

    This colt does not seem to have any such hope. She snorts a humourless laugh through her nose at his comment because the darkness of it surprises her.

    She intends to be around for a very long time, though she doesn’t remark on this. Sheer stubbornness may or may not be enough to protect her from the monsters the next time she encounters one.

    His question is also a surprise and she doesn't bother to hide it this time either as her orange gaze takes in what she can see of him in the darkness. Say anything?” She repeats and then thinks about it - she knows for sure that the one on Islandres hadn’t spoken but it takes a little more concentration to remember if the false-Barrow had said anything or if he had just stood there while she and Wishbone had traded threats. “No. The first invaded from the ocean and attacked, the second… wore the face of a friend - I guess to lower my defenses or maybe just mess with me - and then, well… attacked.”

    MAZIKEEN
    mazikeen


    @[Reave]
    Reply
    #12

    There is inspiration in her hope. Reave has never lingered too much on any one thing. So seldom that hope had always been something of a superfluous thing for him. What need did one have of it when one never lingered on worries long enough to imagine consequences? It is only now, older and perhaps slightly wiser, that he has truly come to understand consequence. To recognize the concept of how something could so drastically affect the future.

    To see the reason for hope’s existence.

    He is disappointed when she answers in the negative. He had rather hoped they would have been able to talk, but he has yet to see evidence of it. Whatever communication they used amongst themselves was far beyond any scope of understanding he has.

    “Hmmmm,” is his response to her comments, eyes distant and slightly unfocused as he considers her revelation. For the first time, he also finally feels the frustration in his own inexperience. The feeling that, if only he were a bit smarter, a bit more worldly, he might be able to work out the answers that still elude him.

    But he is not given to dwelling on his own inadequacies, so, rather abruptly, he changes the subject. “If you weren’t here for the monsters, then why were you here, uh…” He pauses as he tries to recall her name, realizing only belatedly that they had never actually exchanged them. “I just realized I don’t know your name.” He grins abashedly, blue gaze flashing back to her. “I’m Reave.”

    reave



    @[Mazikeen]
    Reply
    #13

    She grins back at him when they belatedly reach the point of introductions - monsters first, and then names. Definitely the proper order of what to talk about in a conversation, as far as Mazikeen was concerned. “Mazikeen - or Maze, if you like.” She offers her usual selection of names first and then thinks about her reply to the question of why she was here.

    Mazikeen does not believe fear makes her weak but that does not necessarily mean she wants to go bragging about the fact that she’s a little bit afraid of the dark and has come here to face that fear. She’d hate to have to kick Reave for laughing at her.

    Then again, they’ve already talked about the end of the world, what was a little bit of fear after that?

    She hasn’t yet made up her mind about how to explain why she’s there when she just opens her mouth and starts speaking to see what comes out. “I suppose… I’m here because wanted to prove to myself I don’t need my shapeshifting to make it safely through the woods. I’m on a quest from the Mountain and they took it away until I can complete it - every other time I’ve been here I’ve been a lion or a bear.” Or a fox but that shape does not deserve to be brought up seeing as how that was the one she first wore when she had been attacked.

    MAZIKEEN
    mazikeen


    @[Reave]
    Reply
    #14

    In his still youthful view of the world, Reave has not yet developed a true understanding of fear. In a sense it’s ironic she wouldn’t want him to know of hers when it’s that very reticence that makes it plain for him to see. The memories linger around her, fireflies in the dark forest only he can see. Though he has never tried to hide the fact that he can see others' emotional memories echoing around them so clearly, neither has he made a point of demonstrating the ability openly. For Reave, they are a mere fact of life. Another facet of their Self, much like their eyes or ears as tools of expression.

    So it never even occurs to him to comment on them.

    Instead he listens, head tilting slightly as curiosity thrums a familiar beat inside him. He has heard whispers of the quests others undertake of course. Knows the fairies are wont to grant favors if the wind blows just right or the mood strikes them so. But this is his first encounter with someone actively undertaking such a quest.

    Naturally, he is curious, but perhaps not for the reasons one might assume.

    He considers her words for only a moment before asking with barely restrained curiosity, “If you could already be a bear or a lion, what are you on a quest for?” It doesn’t occur to him just how personal such a question might be. But he does wonder what is so tempting she would risk losing the one thing she felt made her safe in these woods. Wonders if perhaps he too has been missing something he should have known earlier.

    reave



    @[Mazikeen]
    Reply
    #15

    The orange of Mazikeen's eyes shine a little brighter with a smile at Reave's question, though there's not much happiness in the action. Still, just as it doesn’t occur to Reave that his question might be too personal, it doesn’t really occur to Mazikeen that she could just… not answer or come up with something that was satisfactory. There are topics she’s becoming very good at avoiding in her own mind, but her reasoning behind going for her quest was not one of them. The surety that she was not enough that had driven her up the mountain had been both reinforced and challenged recently.

    But she still believed it with all of her heart, still feared that one day a monster of one shape or another would threaten someone she loved and if she could only be strong enough she’d be able to save them.

    “I was - or am, I guess - worried that one day, a bear or a lion might not be enough when it really matters. So I wanted to quest for something... more. What exactly that'll be, I guess, is up to the fairies. I left it up to interpretation.” Which may not have been the best idea but, here she was.

    She’s curious about his reaction, if he has one. Though she can't see him well, her head and ears remain tilted in his direction. Both Sabal and Breach had made it clear that she was perfectly fine as she was before - which was some relief, knowing her friends didn’t think she was weak, but she didn’t quite believe them. She’d faced death in these woods and she’d hunted monsters and she felt it was being completely practical to want to come out on top the next time her strength was contested in a life-or-death situation.

    MAZIKEEN
    mazikeen


    @[Reave]
    Reply
    #16

    He’s never wondered if he might be enough. There is a sort of arrogance that - to be so sure of one’s own place in the world not to wonder if you are strong enough, or fast enough, or powerful enough. An arrogance and naivete. Even now, in the wake of her comments, he doesn’t pause to wonder if he might need something more.

    Instead he eyes her openly, chewing thoughtfully over her words. What he does wonder instead, is how she had ever come to the conclusion that more would somehow solve all of her insecurities.

    “That makes sense, I suppose,” he muses slowly, his blue gaze fixed on her with an almost unnerving intensity. “But do you think that will be enough still?” On the surface, it is an almost thoughtless question, but he can’t seem to help himself from prying. “I mean, it seems like there is always someone stronger or more powerful. Surely there will always be threats?”

    For someone so young, it is surprisingly insightful. But then, Reave has spent most of his youth in observation. And in his limited experience, there is nothing truly all powerful. Even the most powerful of beings hadn’t been able to defend themselves against the yawning abyss. He should be fearful, but in the face of all that could kill him out there, what would be the point?

    reave



    @[Mazikeen]
    Reply
    #17

    Reave’s question is so much like something Maze would think of herself she laughs, the sound light and easy as she shakes her head. When it dies and she speaks, there’s still a teasing warmth there. “Well thanks for putting that in my head, Reave.”

    She looks to the shadows around them, and considers the colt’s questions a little more seriously. Of course that was always a possibility wasn’t it? That even after all this she still wouldn’t be enough - that even if she had all the magic in the world there was still a defective heart at her source that did not have the strength.

    Mazikeen thinks such thoughts could drive her insane and she does her best to not let them take root. There are already too many uncomfortable things flitting around in her mind and it is all too easy to add another to the list of ‘we’re just not going to even go there’ thoughts.

    She replies with an honesty that’s made easier because of the darkness around them - and maybe this ease is the final sign that this place does not hold any power over her fear anymore. “I guess it’s impossible to know for sure, but I can hope.”

    MAZIKEEN
    mazikeen


    @[Reave] we can probably end it here?? Or with your post if you want to reply again. But I absolutely request that they meet again in the future please
    Reply
    #18

    i am the mace, the map, the fall and the high

    He can’t seem to help the grin that stretches his lips at her wryly teasing response. But then, he seemed to have developed quite the talent for plucking out the uncomfortable truths and shining a light on them. A talent he only found himself leaning into rather than shying away from.

    Though he can see the discomfort and worry her teasing tried so hard to hide filtering through the space around her, he is not privy to her thoughts. Cannot know that these are things she tries so hard to avoid considering. He might have held himself in check had he known. But then, he might not have either. He has never been very good at doing the sensible thing.

    When she continues, his grin slowly fades as he nods his understanding. Then, with a shrug, he quips easily, “That’s what I do.”

    He may not be a beacon of hope, but he still manages to house plenty of it in his breast. A buoy that keeps him afloat through his darkest and strangest musings (though, as time would undoubtedly tell, they could get far stranger and darker).

    “I’m glad we met Maze,” he continues after a moment, head tilting slightly as another grin quirks his lips. He moves then to slip past her before pausing to add, “Watch out for those tree branches!”

    reave



    @[Mazikeen] I would LOVE for them to meet again!!
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