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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


    [open]  sitting pretty in the prime of life
    #1

    the would-be queen

    Morning is creeping over the Forest, long tendrils of light reaching between strands of stoic pines and heaven-bound oaks. It's still fairly early, but already the air is warming, the temperature rising quickly as the sun begins its ascent into the sky. At the base of a mighty oak on the outskirts of the Forest, Djuna has nestled herself into a bed of moss, finding shelter under the thick branches. It isn't the light that wakes her, but rather the cacophonous orchestra of songbirds that screech and sing from the highest branches

    Djuna lays nestled at the base of a mighty oak at the outskirts of the Forest, the light rousing her from a restless slumber. The gentle melody of the songbirds in the trees pulls her further away from sleep, jade eyes blinking open slowly. Confusion sets in quickly, a panic seizing her heart for a split second before she remembers where she is ― and why she's here. Beqanna, this land seeped in magic, is meant to be her new home. No longer is she welcome in the place of her birth nor in the kingdom she had once helped rule over. The life she once lived is gone, a consequence brought on by the same foolishness that got her into trouble as a child so many times.

    Perhaps some things never change.

    It takes the woman a few long moments to settle back into reality and gain a grip on her surroundings. The sun is well into the morning sky by the time she is fully awake and on her feet. The air around her is beginning to feel thick and swampy, a tangible weight against her dirt-covered skin. I must look a mess, she thinks, mane and tail all bedraggled, sweat gleaming on her brow, and her body smudged with dirt and mud. Where once she was an image of beauty and a testament to the rewards of meticulous grooming, now she more closely resembles a stray. More and more, lately, Djuna's felt like one too, feeding on any scraps of kindness or attention thrown her way.

    It's hard not to feel sorry for herself.

    Jewel-green gaze sweeps across her surroundings, attention directed towards the sound of running water. Intent on finding a place to wash the muck and mire from her body, Djuna ventures from her little nest and follows the gentle burble until a creek comes into view. With little hesitancy she steps into the crystalline water, one foot in front of the other until the water licks at her knees and washes away layers of dirt. For a moment, she pauses, content to simply be for just a few moments.

    djuna

    Image by VeerDesigns
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    #2
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    He wasn’t sure what he had become.

    Fae definitely. But this thing inside of him, this uncontrollable serpent who only had a mind for venom and hunger and anger, he’s not sure if it’s part of it or something else entirely. He had withdrawn into himself for a few days after his time in the storm with Revelrie. When he had become the serpent and lost all sense of self. He hadn’t known who he was, had not recognized anyone familiar, and anyone unlucky enough to meet the giant black snake instantly regretted it.

    When he had awoken the next day, there had been blood staining his lips and crimson splatter mingled in the dark fur and glittery gold of his coat. He had no idea what he had consumed but had felt sick for the rest of the day, his equine stomach unused to the digestion of meat and bone. He had told no-one what he had become, another dirty little secret that he hid in the cold refines of himself, and tried to pretend that it was nothing. Only Revelrie had seen the monster he could become and he intended it to stay that way. It was bad enough that she knew, that anyone knew.

    Of course denial was only delaying the inevitable. For in his dreams he knew that the snake would continue to get stronger, that the shifting would happen randomly until he was completely and utterly unable to get back to who he truly was and become the true villain he had always thought himself to be. He was immortal now, if the snake was killed would he die too? Unhappily he pushes those thoughts away.

    Into the Forest he goes, unable to think clearly in the heat and avoiding the company of the few that might want it. It is a dark mood that follows the black stallion like a storm cloud. So it is no scraps of kindness that he throws to her when he finds her.

    A mare has started to edge herself into the crystal waters of the creek. Dirt pools around her hocks and his red gaze lingers on the tangled strands of her mane that’s begun to look like a birds nest, the derelict state of her coat covered in mud. Perhaps beneath all that muck and mire she might be pretty. However his mood isn’t nice enough to acknowledge that, all he wants is to unleash his frustration, fear, and dismay. It’s easy enough to escape into the biting armor he’s built within himself and launch cruel words at her, an innocent merely minding her business. “You’re dirtying the drinking water peasant.” He gives her one of his famous sneers, glaring at her from the other side of the bank. Long pointed ears begin to fold back but refuse to become hidden in the fine raven strands of his forelock.

    Looking between the two of them (her a dirty vagabond and he with his immortal handsomeness), it’s almost a case of the Prince and the pauper. A voice in his head reminds him that once he too was a sad lonely mortal, lost and alone, and perhaps he should be kinder. He kicks that thought out of his mind with a hard boot and only narrows his gaze of distaste on her. “Do you like drinking mud? Perhaps you should have a taste.” That impish spark is back in his eye as the predator in him hones in on new prey.  Could he get her to consume the foul dirt using his wit and wiles? He thinks he would like to try just to see how far he might be able to push her. In any case it's a distraction and already the worry on his mind seems to lighten just a little.


    obscene


    @Djuna
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
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    #3

    a bright and dangerous spark

    Cheri had come to the spot where the stream wound through the Forest before, on a merry day where Anubias the stallion had met her and given her company. She stops there again on her long journey home, weary already though she’s flown a short distance from whence she came. The Forest, unlike its counterparts the Meadow and Field, was no place for a winged horse to stretch her feathers and flap about, so Cheri arrived upon the two equines at the very end of the scathing torment Obscene had begun to unleash. She only heard this: ...drinking mud? Perhaps you should have a taste.” Before she rounded the bend of the treeline and saw who it was that gave such a heated threat.

    “Obscene.” Cheri hissed, even then the sound was lovely. Her ears had turned down in acrid distaste of the tone she’d caught him using, but there was very little that could mar the expression of a budding immortal mare. Especially one like Cheri. “I hope you have a reason for sounding so utterly disgusting.”

    If he thought she would give him space he was wrong: Cheri made an obvious display of her anger as she approached the two, making no effort on her part to distance herself from the black and his spot on the creek’s banks. He could dislodge himself any time he liked. Her eyes, vibrant with green electricity, sparked with animosity when they ran across his handsome visage. “Fuck off.” She thought, and she honestly hoped he could read between the lines of her frown.

    “Ignore him if he’s bothering you.” Cheri assumed as she turned her attention toward the mare knee-deep in water. “I wouldn’t allow him to lay a hoof on you, believe me.” The blanket appy mare tried her best to smile through the bile rising in her throat as Obscene’s scent permeated the air around her. “Cheri.” She introduced herself, deftly pretending as if the gold-streaked stallion had simply disappeared off the face of the earth altogether.
    Full-sized image link


    @Obscene
    @Djuna
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    #4

    the would-be queen

    She hears him before she sees him, the rustling of leaves and sharp snap of twigs alerting her travel-muddied brain to his presence. Jade eyes lift towards the sound and she watches as he appears at the other side of the stream, an amalgamation of horse and shadow, a dark smudge against the bright backdrop of yellow-white sand and emerald leaves. But the shadow seems to glimmer, and at first she's not sure if it's the sun playing tricks on her eyes or — no, the gold markings impressed upon his coat are no trick of the light. They're nearly mesmerizing in the way they glimmer under the morning sun, accentuating his handsome features. He's undeniably attractive, but the vile words he spits her way do little to add to his appeal. He reminds her far too much of haughty kings and egotistical knights.

    What a shame, she thinks, sky blue eyes meeting crimson red ones. They should scare her, and some little part of her mind knows that, but fear isn't what she feels when she looks at him, lips curled in a contemptuous smile.

    No, instead irritation worms its way from within her chest, a nasty wriggling little thing that sets her own mouth into a defiant smirk. There's a sharpness to her gaze, a cutting edge to the way she glares at him from behind charcoal lashes. One, two, three more steps she takes into the water till it's brushing against her belly, its cool touch sending a shiver down her spine. More of the muck is washed from her coat, forgotten about in the steady currents. Djuna meets his gaze with an upward tilt of her head and opens her mouth. There's a retort perched on the precipice of her lips but before the words can tumble out another voice interjects, this one distinctively feminine.

    Another shadow, this one smaller and more slight, metamorphoses from between the trunks of the trees. Djuna's gaze slides towards the mare, the vivid green of her mane and tail nearly blinding in their intensity. She makes Djuna think of the baronesses back home, regal in the way she carries her frame, and for a moment the horned mare almost does feel like a peasant.

    Almost.

    It takes only a few short strides to cross the remaining length of the stream, making a point to follow the onyx woman's lead and ignore the brute standing nearby.  "My heroine," she coos, saccharine but not entirely insincere. "I hope all the men in Beqanna aren't as terrible at first impressions." Whether it's meant to be a clever quip to the mare or an abrasive comment to the stallion isn't clear. Perhaps it's both, but she doesn't deign to provide clarification. "It seems the women certainly aren't." She smiles airily at Cheri before continuing, "I'm Djuna. I'm also a little lost, I think. Could you help me, Cheri?"

    djuna

    Image by VeerDesigns


    @Obscene
    @Cheri
    sorry this took a hot minute to get up, work has been crazy!
    also i have literally no idea what the current tagging format is >_>
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    #5
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    This one has some fight. He can see it in her eyes as she stares him down, unflinching, and sinks further into the water. His grin only seems to settle more firmly in its smugness and he is rather glad that doesn’t cave to his rudeness, doesn’t cower in the face of him. It keeps his attention from other darker things and it is almost a relief to have something to focus on, someone he can unleash his temper on. Someone who might bite back.

    Before she can fire whatever smart remark (or what she thinks is smart) back at him, they are interrupted by another. Oh of fucking course. Of course it’s her. His red gaze is instantly drawn to her and that sneer is back as she rounds the bend chiding him like a petulant schoolboy. “Always.” He snarls, wanting her nowhere near him. Not like this. He can still smell him intwined in the stormy dusty scent of her. He wonders if she can pick up the threads of Aela that winds through his own. That thought gives him some sullen satisfaction as he fully focuses on her, the stranger momentarily forgotten.

    She seems to be growing into those crystals of hers, her mane longer and more vibrant then he remembered when he had last seen her in Loess. And because he cannot help himself he gives her that familiar twist of his wicked lips as he asks, “Have I told you how absolutely abhorrent you look today?” She doesn’t of course, she is achingly beautiful, and if looks could kill he would die on the spot before her stone hooves. He didn’t think it was possible for them to reach new heights of hatred and yet, here they were.

    She is sickeningly sweet in this…role of savior and he almost gags with disgust. The strange mare seems to fall hook, line, and sinker for this display as she coos back at Cheri and he can’t help but roll the red of his eyes as this exchange has gone in the exact opposite direction then what he had wanted. “Only if you’re into the boring ones.” He gestures to the green and black mare with a sharp jab of his muzzle in response to her sappy comment regarding terrible men. “Like this one.” A knowing look in the scarlet depths of his eyes, a comment meant to cut to the heart of her. Oh he knew all about Prayers now. All goodness and sincerity and…. dull. So very very dull.

    Of course someone like her would love someone like that. Predictable, reliable, and bland. He doesn’t get it and doesn’t want to understand it. He feels that strange stirring within him and instantly looks away from her, leveling his haughty gaze back on Djuna. “Yes Cheri, the dirty damsel needs help. Why don’t you get in there and assist her while you give directions.” The mischievous glint still flickers in the hard corners of his crimson eyes as he smirks at the sooty chestnut. There was still some fun to be had here and by god he was going to get some relief to this thrashing feeling in his body one way or another.


    obscene


    @[Djuna]
    @[Cheri]

    I think the square brackets around the name is the only one that works again now ;p
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
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    #6

    a bright and dangerous spark

    He plagued her. Obscene was the constant thorn in Cheri’s side, the open wound that bled whenever she thought of it. Not long ago they’d been close to something inexplicable. Had it been love, she wondered? Or just lust? Whatever it was had faded since he’d visited Loess with that Aela mare, and since then Cheri was determined to think of him as the most horrible thing in creation. He was a cad, a playboy, but worst of all he was still so arrogantly handsome. That little fact always rubbed her the wrong way.

    Tch, she rolled her eyes at his back-handed comment. Part of her wanted to throw it back at him - challenge the question by forcing him to say it as a fact - but the more reasonable part of her feared it might come out exactly the same. And besides, in doing so Cheri would unveil exactly how much she remembered everything he’d said to her during those tense, mind-numbing interactions. “Better to stew in it.” She told herself, feeling a bit better once Djuna confirmed the obvious: Obscene was a clown.

    He was Fey, truly. The kind that liked to trick and tease their prey into agony. The kind best ignored, which Djuna seemed intent on doing. Her reaction lightened the atmosphere and roused a pretty little laugh from Cheri, though Ob did his best to stifle it afterwards.

    Cheri's nose swung around to her shoulder, allowing the green-haired pegasus to shoot Obscene a look so dirty it would take more than a bath or two in order to clean it off. “Why you -” Her thoughts were as clear as if she’d spoken them, cut off the instant Ob looked away from her.

    Yes, he goaded her after the sooty chestnut had kindly asked for help, why don’t you get in there and assist her? The Pampas Prince said, likely as an attempt to shame the lot of them. Unlucky for him, because Cheri took inspiration from it rather than embarrassment. Her nose turned ‘round again and her eyes, lovely and viridian, alighted on Djuna chest-deep in the water. She gave the other mare an impish wink and without saying a word, slid deftly into the pool herself.

    “Unlike others,” Cheri’s voice was high and clear, sharp in its intended jab at Obscene, “I’m not so high-and-mighty as to think myself above even the ‘lowliest’ of tasks.”

    An ear flicked back toward the stallion on the shore, the rest of her focusing on the task of dipping her svelte nose into the cloudy water so that she could casually dash it against the muddier sections still remaining on Djuna’s skin. Clear and crisp, Cheri thought one splash would do the trick of revealing the smokey, coppery gild of the wanderer’s pelt underneath. She didn’t want to chill the nomadic horse or overwhelm her; merely, she wished to make a fool out of Obscene.

    With droplets still clinging to her whiskers, Cheri spoke up again.

    “It would be an honor to help you Djuna, in whatever way I can.”
    Full-sized image link


    @[Djuna]
    @[Obscene]
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    #7
    Djuna
    the would-be queen
    Djuna stands there in the middle of the stream, the cool water biting against her skin, but she's too preoccupied with the scene in front of her to care about the currents. Jade eyes flick between Obscene's tight sneer and Cheri's cutting gaze and then back again. Even if she were blind there's no way she wouldn't see the bad blood here, the atmosphere shifting into something a little too close to awkward for her liking.

    The two continue to exchange thinly-veiled insults until their attention turns back to her waterlogged figure. She wants to make a remark about how boring he must be if all he has to do with his day is pick on strangers, but the less she has to hear him talk, the better.

    She remains unflinching when his crimson gaze settles back on her, managing to eke out one last jab at the veridian-haired mare. Djuna scoffs under her breath, teetering somewhere between curiosity and annoyance. The part of her that's too nosy for its own good longs to know what kind of history these two share, but another part is less than thrilled that she'd been dragged into whatever petty game they were playing.

    'Who are you to judge?' a little voice in her mind chimes in, 'you had more than your share of petty games and had no problem dragging others into them.'

    Fair.

    Cheri takes the jape in stride, clearly well-versed in dealing with this (or maybe just him specifically). 'Unlike others, I’m not so high-and-mighty as to think myself above even the ‘lowliest’ of tasks,' comes the smooth response, and pale lips arcing sharply up into an amused smirk as Cheri slides into the burbling stream beside her. The water sloshes and ripples against the pair and while Cheri's help isn't unwelcome, there's a nagging, wriggling question in the back of her mind that chews at her: is she only doing this to spite the stallion in front of them?

    She's not sure she'd entirely mind if the answer was 'yes.'

    She accepts Cheri's help without protest, humming contentedly as the last bits of dirt slough away from her skin and hair. "Thank you. You're a darling," Djuna replies in the same syrupy tone as before, this time accompanied by a coquettish wink and a half-smirk. It does not fade or falter as her jeweled gaze swivels back to Obscene, who's still just a glimmering statue against the dark backdrop of the early morning forest ― though not for long. The sun, never ceased by time or the squabbles of mortals, has continued its ascent and as it crests over the canopy above them it chases away the shadows, revealing more of his smug and definitely-not-attractive face.

    Ugh. Why was it always the best looking ones that had the worst attitudes?

    "You know," she begins, "I think Cheri here might have a point. You really ought to consider lowering your nose before it rains and you drown. It'd be a shame to see a handsome face end up wasted." She wonders if he's quick enough catch the meaning behind her statement, the implication that he's far too arrogant for his own good. Is it something he's heard before? Would she be surprised if it were?

    Djuna turns her attention to her companion then, sensing opportunity to cause mischief of her own. "Don't you agree, Cheri?"


    @Obscene
    @Cheri
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    #8
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    Cheri slips into the pool and he has half a mind to drown her for being such a pain in the ass, stick that pretty face of hers beneath the water and wipe her smile clean off. That flickering rolling feeling in the pit of himself begins to stir and his muscles tense beneath the glittery trails of gold along his shoulder. Perhaps the two mares might think they had gotten to him as a muscle spasms in his jaw, unaware of the sudden turn of events and inner battle he suddenly faced. His crystal adorned nemesis begins to help wash the other mare and perhaps he would have found the scene erotic as well as amusing if it wasn’t for that strange stirring in his gut. Hazy memories of blood, water, and cracking bone come back to him and he fights through his confusion, latching on to Djuna’s insult attempt like a buoy.

    “Ah, a quip of my arrogance. Very good. So… original.” He says with a grin although there is no warmth in the burning depths of his eyes. “Cleverness doesn’t seem to be your forte, perhaps you should stick to what you’re good at…. if you’re even good at anything.” It’s obvious that what he thinks she’s good at is being a dirty wench of a woman who isn’t even fit to glance at the dirt beneath his hooves. Despite the biting words, his usual smooth indifference has started to change into something else. The dark pupils of his eye begin to narrow into slivers, a dark slash among a sea of red. His tongue morphs into something thin and forked and he can feel that slithering sensation rising to the surface.

    “Cheri, get out of the water.” His voice is tight and demanding as he takes a step towards her, stops, hesitates. ”Cheri!” He snarls at her and maybe she might see something in the slits of his eyes, something akin to panic. But then it is gone and so is he.

    A large black serpent, its underbelly tinged in gold, rises on the bank where he once stood. Thick layer after thick layer of black scales wrap beneath the rising head of the dark snake who towers over them and looks down at its prey with vibrant red beady eyes. That forked tongue slips from its mouth, scenting the air and tasting the steaming wetness of flesh. Hungry, so very hungry. With a hiss it slips into the water, its body uncoiling as it begins to attempt to wrap itself around the horse closest to it. Whatever remained of the dark stallion is lost beneath the scales. There is only one thing on its mind, to satisfy the craving for meat and blood and to feel the snapping of bones as it squeezes its prey until empty of life.


    obscene


    @Djuna @Cheri
    Whoopsy  Big Grin
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
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