"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
04-27-2021, 09:29 PM (This post was last modified: 04-27-2021, 09:30 PM by Yanhua.)
He’d come later than intended, but Yanhua decided to make up for lost time by staying a bit later after the festivities had worn down. The festival had proved a roaring success despite the setbacks from the Eclipse, and even his daughter and her paramour had showed up for a bit of fun. Yanhua had sat back and watched it all, even came to find his twin and the other half-siblings meandering about in the games after they’d engaged in some fair competition. “Sad to have missed that.” He thought sarcastically as he left them to their own devices, having been called over to the maypole Leilan had constructed for the closing ceremony.
He did hope that @[Gale] and his mate might stop by to say hello, brief as his own had been toward them, or that the other half-brother (@[Tiercel] was his name? He hoped he pronounced it correctly) would give him the opportunity to unfold a bit more like Yan had when Gale came to visit the redwood forest recently. Either way, he found himself distracted when @[Leilan] pulled out the show-stopper and announced that Yan was not only being metaphorically crowned in flowers, but also literally.
He did his best to smile, feeling awkward at having a moment’s worth of attention focused solely on himself. That realm wasn’t one suited for the gangly chestnut, and as the colorful wreath came down over his horns he tried unsuccessfully to keep from blushing and pulling his ears flat sideways in embarrassment. “So much for keeping a low profile.” He thought, happy when the painful announcement ended as quickly as it had begun.
Afterwards he mingled, accepting congratulations with half-mumbled “thank-you’s” and shy, downcast eyes. More than once he wished to disappear, but nothing like that happened. He guessed any residual luck of his had been dried up. So as the partygoers wound down and his own daughter gave him a farewell, Yanhua tucked his unused wings close beside him and looked out across the vast tundra of ice and snow transformed by the sunlight and Leilan’s magic. Truly, this kingdom had a strange, terrific beauty to it. He sighed happily, only looking away when another horse finally approached.
“Hey.” He smiled at them. “Did you enjoy the festival?”
Things hadn’t gone the way she had wanted in the Field. It was nothing like it had once been and so she had left after her conversation with Chemdog. She wasn’t looking to be a kept mare, she knew she had much more to offer in life then popping out children and wasting away under the gaze of a male. She had been born an Amazon and the jungle still ran thick in her blood. She wouldn’t settle for less then what she was worth.
It hadn’t been hard to find her way to the Midsummer Festival, following excited horses through the portal in the Meadow. She hadn’t been expecting the cold though and even though the sun warms her back, it never feels like enough. She watches with mild amusement as grown adults race each other through an icicle maze like children, as a goat like stallion (reminding her much of the fauns of old) becomes crowned in flowers, as they dance beneath a blue flamed tree. While she could appreciate everyones candor, there was too much of Tantalize in her to make herself look foolish in front of a large group of strangers. She was all for fun and parties but she had come here in the hopes of finding a lead, this had mostly been business.
With a sigh, she trudges through the tundra and goes to make her way back to the portal. It had been amusing but she hadn’t really found what she was looking for. Plus it was much too cold here. As she makes her way, she notices the faun like stallion standing not far from her. A slight grin finds her lips as she notices the flower crown that still sits on top of his horns. It was absolutely ridiculous. He seems to notice her then and she crosses over to him as he speaks, giving a slight shrug in response. “It was alright I suppose.” Pausing as her golden eyes consider him and then flick upwards to his crown with a teasing smirk. “I didn’t get a fun souvenir like you though.”
They may call me a sinner, but I am at peace with myself;
Yanhua’s eyes twinkled. He shared her sentiments about the festival but refrained from saying so aloud, not the kind to easily offend. Besides, he was trying to make an effort with Leilan and this ‘party’ felt like a hoofstep in the right direction. “Winds,” He muttered at her sarcasm, inclining the prow of his head toward her, “help me get it off, would you?” Yan asked.
She could have the damn thing for all he cared.
Afterwards he carefully lifted his nose again, aware of how cumbersome his own horns could be in close-quarters. The last thing he wanted was to gouge an eye out or rough up some skin, and he’d always been purposefully slow with tilting his head this way or that for fear of making contact. Appearances often led other horses to think otherwise, given his athletic stature and somewhat reserved manner, but Yanhua was truly a peaceful recluse. He fought when necessary, preferring to avoid confrontation. Being harsh had never suited him; growing wise was his mantra.
“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting before.” He guided the conversation easily, glancing down at the buckskin mare with an insightful grin. She reminded him of Lethy, only by the color of her coat. Yan knew this horse wasn’t of the same lineage. “I’m Yanhua, obviously.” The chestnut laughed briefly.
The laughter comes easily, a sound similar to the tinkling melody of wind chimes, giving a slight grin to him as he becomes embarrassed and asks for her assistance. He lowers his head carefully till she can reach and she responds by cautiously gripping the crown with her teeth, working it over his horns until he’s free of it. The flowers all seem edible so she chews on one thoughtfully, considering the stallion before her. “Better?” She asks with a raised brow before offering the rest of the crown to him, no point in wasting the thing.
The goaticorn easily steers the conversation back to her and she doesn’t mind, angling her head slightly as she looks up at him. Goodness he was tall wasn’t he? “No we haven’t.” She responds with another soft laugh, giving a roll of her shoulder. “I’ve only come back to these lands recently.” He was very polite, reminding her of days long gone when chivalry was still alive and kicking. “It’s a pleasure Yanhua.” She means it. “I’m Bardot.” A glimmer of faint golden jaguar spots along her neck catch in the faint light as she tosses her head and sends her raven locks flying. “So what made you the lucky guy to get all that attention?”
They may call me a sinner, but I am at peace with myself;
“Much better, thank you.” He murmured from the back of his throat. With a polite tilt of his chin, Yan managed to grasp an uneven half of the flower crown and he ripped the thing apart gently, leaving them both to chew over the bouquet of interesting tastes. “Not bad at all.” He considered thoughtfully, eyes crinkling with mirth as Bardot introduced herself to him. Her mention of only just having returned to Beqanna sparked a curiosity inside of him, but he dampened the interest in favor of staying on topic. If given the chance, he’d circle back to that later.
“A sad tale, unfortunately.” He warned her, swallowing the last cherry-pink bud. “The previous Guardian passed into the realm beyond.” Yan explained as delicately as he could. Bardot had no way of knowing what had occurred, and he was positive she knew nothing about his personal connection to Lilliana, so it was a fruitless endeavor trying to shame or embarrass her with the details. The mention of his dam’s untimely death does sting a bit, however, and quietly he bids her soul swift travels on the winds of fate. Lilli deserved a peaceful rest, wherever she found herself now.
It didn’t make the knowledge any easier to bear, though.
“The Eclipse took many good souls, but we Northerners are made of tougher stuff I think.” He tried to lighten the atmosphere, gradually smiling back at Bardot. Their loss was not the only to be felt throughout Beqanna, he was sure of it. He didn’t want her to think she’d made a mistake by asking. “You actually remind me of one of my predecessors, you know.” He tried flipping the morose subject into something a bit more entertaining. “Are you sure you haven’t been this way before?” Yan badgered her playfully, one blue eye narrowing while the other widened in suspicion.
He speaks of a sad tale and the Eclipse but she does not press him for more information, assuming that she wouldn’t be familiar with the names involved anyways. She had not been a part of the endless dark, having been wherever she had been before appearing back in Beqanna. Yanhua seems momentarily affected, a thoughtful sadness lurks in the back of his eyes and she offers an extended muzzle to his shoulder, lingering only for a moment. “I am sorry for your loss.”
He seems to come back around a little, smiling at her and she meets it with an encouraging one of her own. An ear twitches as he states she seems familiar, as he prods her on if she’s been here before. She merely grins slightly as she looks around the arctic land they stand on, considering. “I highly doubt it. My mother ruled the jungle when it was of a different name. Same of my father. This land I’m assuming was the Tundra once…” The Tundra, where her grandfather had served passionately from the stories Tantalize had told her. She muses aloud, lost in past thoughts for a quick second as her molten gaze scans the northern lights that play behind him. She wonders if her dam is still alive, where she might be lurking. Deep in the heart of a jungle more than likely. Her sire was long gone she assumes although she hadn’t seen him much after the “incident” anyways.
A soft sigh escapes her as she looks back at him, pulling herself back to the present. “I’ve not come this way since the lands broke and reformed. So I don’t know if I would know your predecessor. I’m not really familiar with how everything is now.”
They may call me a sinner, but I am at peace with myself;
The land of old, a time before the Great Reckoning - Yanhua knew about it from his mother and sometimes, when all the world was quiet and he was in a perfect state of peaceful contemplation, he could sense the echoes of that past whenever he came to landmarks resembling the forgotten world. Those were rare occasions though, memories long forgotten by others and probably only seen by him and those horses like him who shared the gift of reaching into the past, and even then it’d only happened to Yan less than a few times.
Bardot adds onto that tally. He notices the way she glances out across the ice fields, lost to the memories Yanhua receives like small waves on the surface of a quiet pond. Places she had seen, horses she considered and then let go of when another memory came to her instead. They are like flashing curves of light in his thoughts, akin to the northern spectacle of color weaving itself across a dusky sky above them. He smiles.
“I was raised with the superstition that everything in our present was connected to our past.” He offers Bardot whimsically, the shade of blue in his gaze softening. “Our memories, the stars, the wind and life itself: connected like the roots of a tree. We may only see the branches of that product, but without the support below the surface, the tree itself is nothing. Familiarity and a sense of purpose, well …” He shrugs.
“I would say you should let your past guide you in those respects, even if you can’t see them in the present.” Yan grinned, and like Bardot had done for him he reaches down to nudge the pale, golden skin of her shoulder. It’s then that he sees the faint jaguar spots, primal and lovely along the lines of her neck, and he withdraws hesitantly from them again when the time for unfamiliar touching grows too long to be considered polite. He is a stallion after all; an honest stallion who encourages the thin lines of connection between horses wherever they’re to be found. But Bardot seems intent on another purpose and Yan isn’t the kind to push where prodding wasn’t necessary.
“What did you want for yourself back then, Bardot?” He asks her afterwards, sincere in his curiosity because it’s distracted him for the moment.
It must be a blessing and a curse to be able to see through the eyes of another. The things you could discover, for better or for worse. However Bardot is blissfully unaware of the pictures that she paints for her new companion, she is not magic blessed much like her onyx half-brother. Unlike him, she is unbothered by her lack of abilities and her mortality. These were things she feels are out of her control so pointless to worry about. Besides she had been born in a time when magic was more of a rarity and it hadn’t slowed down many in her family before, being traitless.
As her memories spill out on a canvas before him, he speaks and she finds herself looking at him with a new perspective. A soft laugh escapes her, pleased with the way he speaks so elegantly. “I think that’s beautiful. And that you’re probably right.” His muzzle finds her shoulder but she doesn’t shy away from his nudge of reassurance. Being natural flirtatious in her own right, she doesn’t mind unexpected touch now and again as long as the intentions behind it were good. “Where did you learn to become so wise?” She gives another sparkling laugh, golden eyes glittering as she listens to his next question and starts considering.
What had she wanted for herself back then? “My mother wanted me to take the Amazonian throne after her, I was raised for it.” A soft sigh, that same longing for the lost sisterhood overwhelming her. The Amazons had been her whole life, now nothing was certain. “That was what I wanted, when it existed. Or at least to serve the Sisters in some capacity. Now?” Another pause as she chews at the inside of her lip. What did she want? What did she want now? “Now I’d just like to find my place in the world, my purpose. And hope the path I’m on is far from boring.” She graces him with a dazzling smile as she finishes, feeling that her answer holds just enough ambition without being threatening. Being Khaleesi of the Amazons had been a daunting task that she wasn’t sure she could ever live up to and it had almost been a relief to no longer have that pressure when her mother broke under the weight of Lion’s betrayal and the role was no longer an option. She would have been happy though, to serve as a second or lead in some capacity for her Sisters. It’s the only regret she has, that she hadn’t been able to do more for them.
They may call me a sinner, but I am at peace with myself;
He knew the answer to her question, light-hearted as it was, and blurted out, “My mother.” Before he could stop himself.
Lilliana. The wisest, most inspiring of mothers. Yan was lucky to have been born her son, even luckier to have been born as a twin with his brother Nashua. It was only because of her perseverance and guidance that he was standing here tonight, looking down into Bardot’s sparkling eyes with as much wisdom as he could muster from what she’d taught him. “By the winds,” He thought to himself, blinking. “She reminds me of her.”
He had supposed that her color was reminiscent of Izora Lethia, but the more Bardot reveals about herself and her intentions for the future, the more Yanhua sees a parallel between her spirit and the everlasting flame Lilliana had left in the North’s history. She, too, was a part of the old world Lilli talked about. Her story of the Amazons reminded him of the tales his dam would spin from thin air and her perceived memories, weaving both into a bedtime tale for him and his brother when the nights were dark and cold. Those, along with the lore about her home outside of Beqanna - of Murmuring Rivers and Yanhua’s distant ancestors there - come rushing back to him with a grin.
“Well,” He murmured, “I think walking into a magical portal is as good a start as any.” Yan laughed.
Certainly not boring.
“I’m not sure if you’ve found that place yet, but I’d like to offer you one on the journey to finding your purpose.” He shifts, turning slightly so that he can look properly at her face-to-face. “You’re more than welcome to consider Taiga your home, as much as it is mine.” Yan beamed, fluttering his unused wings. “I should also mention that it conveniently borders Tephra, which is about as close to a jungle as anything I’ve ever seen in Beqanna.”
05-16-2021, 03:19 PM (This post was last modified: 05-17-2021, 12:57 PM by Bardot.)
Bardot
I know what sin is
“Your mother has my respect then.” She says kindly, the smile lingering on her lips as she twists her skull to look up at him. “I’m not sure whether my dam still lives but if she does then I’m sure she’s not far from whatever jungle remains.” She laughs lightly as if the memory of the jaguar mare wasn’t a painful one. Cersei and Vindictive (her older half-sister) had never gotten to experience the warmth and love from Tantalize that she had gotten as a foal. She’s unaware of the presence of the half-brother, the only other child that had been created out of love but neglected just the same. She had never hated her mother for how she had acted towards them in the end. She can still remember the day the jaguar Khaleesi had appeared back in the jungle, bloody and broken in the soul but absolutely beautiful and terrifying in her ferocity and rage. She had only found out later what had happened, when the Sisters captured her father. When they made him pay for what he had done. She’s not sure she blames Liz for that either, as if she wouldn’t have done the same. They were cut from the same cloth after all.
She giggles charmingly at his comment, giving a toss of silky tendrils that fall like black rain against her sleek dappled neck. “I thought so too although I certainly wasn’t expecting all this.” She gestures with her muzzle to the party behind them before tucking it close to her chest. It was worth it though, she thinks, when Yan extends an invitation to visit his own home. Taiga sounds interesting but what calls to her more is how it borders this Tephra. “So parts of the jungle remain…” She says quietly to herself as her golden gaze sweeps over him again. Easily coming to a decision. “I can’t promise to settle in Taiga without seeing it first.” She grins at him, unwilling to attach herself to a land without seeing all the pros and cons for herself. There’s also that nagging thought in the back of her mind and so she voices it, feeling at ease with Yan and sensing he might be a helpful friend. “I wouldn’t mind seeing Tephra at some point as well.” There’s a feeling in her gut that Tephra might hold a secret for her, that maybe… just maybe… the jaguar mare had concealed itself in the vines, ferns, and humidity she had always loved.
They may call me a sinner, but I am at peace with myself;
