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  • 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


    [private]  i'm not afraid of you running away, casimira
    #1

    Savior

    The guilt had crept in seemingly without his noticing it over the long months Casimira had remained in Tephra. 

    But he feels it like a phantom limb now, a thorn stuck in the center of his chest now. He had not meant for her to have to stay here so long, but it had made sense for them to stay together as the darkness crippled Beqanna. He knows that he cannot begin to imagine what it must feel like for her to be trapped here, that the thorn stuck in his chest does not compare to whatever discomfort she must be feeling.

    He has tried to give her space as often as he can, aware that his company can be stifling, his unyielding optimism exhausting. He has shown the children as much as Tephra as he could manage in the darkness, looking for any sign of shifting in either of them so that they might be able to travel to Hyaline with their mother. Worship has told him of dreams he’s had of great draconic creatures but nothing else and Rare’s only magic seems to come in the form of troubled sleep. 

    And now there are murmurs. Murmurs from the East of Breach’s passing and he finds Casimira, tucking himself easing against her side. He wonders if this will change things in Hyaline, if this means that Casimira will be able to take the children home and live where she is comfortable. If it means that he will be able to join them when the sun returns and he knows that Tephra is safe.

    He reaches for her shoulder, touches her gently, consolingly. They have not spoken much about Hyaline’s queen. He exhales a warm huff of breath. “I am sorry to hear about Breach,” he murmurs, careful, the very last thing he wants to do is upset her. “Do you think this will change things in Hyaline?

    YOU REMIND ME WHO I WAS AND WHO I WANT TO BE
    YOU REMIND ME THOUGH NOT WHOLE, I’M NOT EMPTY



    @[Casimira]
    #2

    CASIMIRA

    dragon-shifting daughter of ashhal and ryatah

    It was a strange thing, to find that she does not mind being in Tephra again—that it almost feels like home.

    It wasn’t the glow of the volcano in the distance or the way the air almost always  seemed to smell of rain and fragrant flowers that felt like home, though. It was not the tangle of vines or the far-off lull of waves meeting a pale shore that made her unsettled heart feel more at ease, because those are all things she has seen or heard or smelled a hundred times.

    Instead, it was the constant feel of him pressed into her every time she awoke in the night. It was the smell of the flowers woven into his dark mane and the way the sun would glint off the fire opal of his skin, or the way his eyes glittered like fractured gemstones in the moonlight. It was the chorus of his voice and their childrens’ acting as a constant lullaby, and this newfound sense of not having to be alone, because he is not going to leave.

    It was why when the dark came and the sun did not return it was not hard to make the decision to stay.
    Her time was no longer evenly split between Hyaline and Tephra—she was here, nearly always, except for the infrequent trips back to the kingdom to make sure that she did not fall behind in the happenings.

    Finding out that Breach was gone had been an unexpected blow; one that had stolen the air clean from her lungs when she had heard. While they were not especially close, she still owed so much of what she has become to Breach—her ability to at least maintain some control of her dragon form, and the fact that she had entered into the alliance at all.

    When Savior finds her she is standing and staring in the direction of Hyaline, quiet and thoughtful, and while she does not immediately turn her face to him she does not hesitate to allow her body to lean into him. He always felt warm, like the sun that was still missing, and his mere presence is enough to ease a sigh from her chest, taking all the tension she harbored with it. She does not say anything to him at first, and instead she only shifts to tuck her head beneath his own. She is not accustomed to dealing with loss—or at least not a loss like this, a loss so permanent. “Mazikeen is queen now,” is what she finally says, her voice quiet. “She said she does not plan on keeping the shifters only rule in place.” There is a part of her that is torn at that idea—that Sochi and Breach’s intention for the kingdom will be immediately changed, but she cannot say that she disagrees with Maze’s decision.

    Even though he cannot see it from where she keeps her face pressed against him, a small smile lifts at the corner of her lips. “Except, for some reason, I kind of like Tephra now.”




    @[savior]
    #3

    Savior

    He is not particularly well-studied in emotion, Savior. He has always dealt primarily in happiness. He has never had much use for anything else. He has certainly never had to navigate the darkness of this sort of loss, so he has no way of knowing how it might affect her. He has no way of knowing what storms might be raging beneath the surface, what her calm exterior might be hiding, if anything. But he can offer her a shoulder to lean on, he can be a steadfast rock for those storms to crash against. 

    There do not seem to be any storms, though, as she tucks her head up underneath his and begins to speak. He has heard of Mazikeen, though he has never met her. He knows of her accomplishments in the Alliance and now as queen. 

    He has never been particularly political. He’s never had to be. He has understood from a very young age that his purpose in life was to protect Tephra. He and his sister had been fashioned for that purpose specifically. It didn’t mean that their parents loved them any less, it just meant that they had seen a need for sentinels and saw to it that they were made. He has never thought much about Breach’s decision to make Hyaline a haven for shifters, never faulted her for it, but he feels a deep sense of relief to hear that Mazikeen has changed the rule. If only because it means that their children will be welcome there, that he will be welcome there, when Casimira chooses to return home. 

    Would saying something be insensitive? He cannot help the way his heart springs to live in the cavern of his chest. Can she feel the way it thrums in his throat? He tries to swallow it down but it will not be tamed, no matter the effort he makes to temper it. And it only beats harder when she speaks fondly of Tephra. He smiles, this he does not even try to stop. 

    Do you?” he asks, a thoughtful hum, “I think Tephra kind of likes you, too.” He shifts his weight. “But if you were to go back to Hyaline, it’s good to know we could join you.” 

    YOU REMIND ME WHO I WAS AND WHO I WANT TO BE
    YOU REMIND ME THOUGH NOT WHOLE, I’M NOT EMPTY



    @[Casimira]




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