"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
04-28-2021, 07:28 PM (This post was last modified: 04-28-2021, 07:33 PM by Nashua.)
(and it's harder than you think) telling dreams from one another
It had started with an argument (but isn't that always the way it goes with siblings?)
While Nashua hadn't been present for it - caught somewhere between his duty to the Isle and loyalty to Taiga - the triplets had quarreled about something. Noel had mentioned that Saffron had suggested something to Bravely and while their three youngest played, their daughter had (rather mischievously) gone invisible, and Bolder had become black with rage.
Quite literally, the colt had traded his chestnut coat for an ebony one.
That would have been easy to overlook, if one color change had merely been the end of it. But it had started a never-ending marathon of coat colors for the colt. It had even spread to his wings, which had currently turned evergreen to mimic the Taiga forest. Bolder was still too young to fly so Nashua had to lead his son through the Redwoods - past the newly growing mushrooms and around Yan's beloved Silvergreens - towards Hyaline.
It was the only place that he could think of for some kind of help. Nashua's experience with the way his son kept trading coats was limited and the rumors - that had been confirmed with meeting the Alpha at the Summer Festival - was that there were many shifters (Gale included) that lived in the Eastern kingdom. There are many reasons why the striped pegasus wanted to visit - an official one - but for now, he was compelled to find some kind of solution for Bolder.
Despite all those reasons, Nashua politely stops at the border and uses the opportunity to teach the colt about diplomacy. (He doubts that the boy will be a traveler like his older sister Elegance but it doesn't hurt to learn the intricacies of their world.) His brown wings dip and Bolder widens his smaller ones, playing with the colors that he finds in Hyaline. Shades of red dance across his feathers to eventually make its way towards the rest of him and even ripples of pink from the blossoming cherry trees. Bolder looks from one wing to the other, impressed with the array of colors that present themselves.
"Bolder," he mutters with a sigh. There's nothing that his son can do and all Nash can do is wait and hope that they are intercepted by one of the pack members that call this place home.
The off feeling that Mazikeen had noticed at the very beginning of her pregnancy had not gone away, though she couldn’t say for sure whether it was an actual physical feeling or just something in her head. It made her even more restless than normal - especially in the moments when Gale wasn’t around to distract her.
Feeling a little too embarrassed about her lack of knowledge to approach anyone else, she'd opted to quietly ask the floral bird Isilya had given them a few of her questions - and gained a little more knowledge about what she should expect as a result. None of it exactly made her feel better, but at least not everything was going to be a surprise.
Her naive thoughts about how being pregnant for more than a month was some kind of torture were pretty close to the mark.
Today she is patrolling as a snow leopard, her mind drifting in dozens of directions, when she spots two figures at the border. Mazikeen did not mind visitors in the slightest but she did have a preference for those with manners. And it is a bonus that she recognizes one of the visitors as Gale’s brother that she had met at the midsummer festival. She shifts into her horse self as she approaches, already with a friendly smile bright in her orange eyes. “Hey Nashua, it’s good to see you again.”
Her eyes flick to the colt. “Who’s this?” Though she supposes he’s probably one of the ‘dozen or so nieces and nephews’ Gale said he had. She grins at the him, and at the familiar colours she recognizes on his wings. “I like your wings.” And, because she’s not opposed to showing off a little - and because she’s trying to learn how to interact with foals before her own show up - she changes her coat to match the colours he’s displaying. It’s an effort not to glance at Nashua, feeling the same odd sort of nerves she had felt when she joined the brothers with their teasing - like maybe she's making a fool of herself.
MAZIKEEN
mazikeen
@[Nashua] you're just getting all the posts from me
05-01-2021, 05:09 PM (This post was last modified: 05-01-2021, 05:15 PM by Nashua.)
(and it's harder than you think) telling dreams from one another
Bolder is much as Nashua had been when he had been a colt; the young pegasus has a hard time staying still and while they wait to be greeted by someone, the boy bucks and runs in small circles while his striped father watches on. A smile twitches on his pale lips and tugs to one side when his son stops long enough to see who (or what) was approaching them.
His chestnut ears go forward and Nash is relieved to see the familiar face of Mazikeen (not that he would have minded another, Nashua has never minded company).
"@[Mazikeen]," speaks the Hersir and the boy glances up at his father, wondering if he should repeat the name. Nashua looks at his son long enough before lifting his green eyes back to the horned mare. Bolder watches the interaction, fascinated. "It's good to see you again as well." The start of their conversation is formal and then his smile broadens a little with the pegasus adding: "Feel free to call me Nash though, if you'd like." The rest of the family did and Nashua sees no reason to exclude her from that.
The dark colt beams up at her when Mazikeen's gaze flicks down to him, "I'm Bolder." He lifts his head proudly at this because that was his name; it was something that he didn't have to share with Bravely or Saffron. Bolder was about to tell her that he liked her orange eyes - (they reminded him of the sunsets that he liked to watch with his older sisters) - but then she changes her colors to match his. The colt's silver eyes widen and he quickly looks up, immediately curious. "You can do that all by yourself?" Bolder chirps at her and that was when Nashua's expression changed.
The smile on his face turns rueful.
His son is still a variety of colors - cherry blossom pink, Maple leaf red, Taigan silvergreen - as Nash starts to explain. "He started doing that recently," he tells Mazikeen quietly. "And he hasn't been able to control it." Nashua had tried to help his son as best he could but whatever advice he had given, it clearly hadn't worked. The boy draws his wings back in and as he intently studies their new companion - which keeps him conveniently distracted - splashes of white show up on the child's already multi-hued coat. "We...-," and then stops himself. Noel had said to give their son time. She couldn't know how uneasy it made him though, to see their son shift and change so quickly. "I was hoping that maybe someone here could help him."
Mazikeen grins when Nashua offers up a nickname and she is quick to follow suit, “Alright Nash, you can call me Maze, if you’d like.”
Bolder introduces himself and when he chirps a question about her being able to change her colour by herself she responds with an enthusiastic “Yup!” She’s feeling pretty proud of having such a successful interaction with a youth when she catches the rueful twist to Nashua’s smile and his quiet words draw her attention.
For a moment, she’s confused - wondering what exactly the big deal was. But then she remembers someone who had acted like the world was ending because he could shapeshift (and sure - maybe he had ended up being right). So then she wonders if Nashua’s reaction to his son being able to change has anything to do with the father he and Gale share. Maybe this golden-striped brother knows more about the curse than Gale thinks and is now worried about his son. Her curiosity is evident when her gaze lingers on Nash but she won’t ask those things, not here - and definitely not in front of Bolder.
Even knowing what she does about their family history, Bolder’s abilities could be utterly benign - just as hers were, just as every other shifter she had ever known until Gale. Mazikeen isn’t sure her brain could handle two curses so she quickly decides this is just some kind of everyday normal colour changing. And so she remains relaxed and, for the moment, unworried. This is very effective at distracting herself from her own situation, at the very least.
She cannot help but grin a little when she notices splashes of white mix in with Bolder’s colour and she does the same with her own coat - giving the colt a friendly wink.
Although this topic is one she knows well, Mazikeen has to swallow worries about whether she'll be an awful teacher because she knows immediately that she wants to try. She wants to help Bolder learn about what he can do and give Nash a little piece of mind, if possible. “I’d be happy to help. I’ve been shifting all my life - some parts, like the colours are a little newer so I’ve been practicing that lately too. We can learn together.” She changes again, but this time her coat is a familiar iridescent blue and her orange eyes shine as she looks between the pair.
“Most of just comes down to practice and patience but we can start now, if you’d like?” She steps back, reverting back to her natural colour as she does, and will lead them further into Hyaline if they'll follow - no point in standing formally on the border when they can find somewhere a little more comfortable near the lake.
05-02-2021, 02:15 PM (This post was last modified: 05-02-2021, 02:24 PM by Nashua.)
(and it's harder than you think) telling dreams from one another
Nash grins at the mention of her nickname and nods, a silent affirmation that he'll call her Maze from now on. And then his attention goes back to the reason why the Taigan-born stallion had sought Hyaline's help. His son is still shimmering an array of colors and the way it ripples across his skin is familiar; Nash knows that it won't stop anytime soon. Bolder is brightly looking at Mazikeen with her curling horns and the boy pipes up, "My Uncle Yan has those." His chestnut brow furrows thought, following the way it twists. "But they are a little different than yours," the boy adds as his curious expression smooths out.
The Hersir flashes their companion another rueful smile. His son had also inherited Nash's affinity for conversation and the colt appears more than happy to share his thoughts with the pale mare - with this Mazikeen.
It makes Nashua grateful at this moment, because as his son chatters on about her horns, he can make eye contact with the Alpha. Something is lingering behind that brilliant gaze and it makes Nashua wonder if she understands. If she knows. It's not a question that he had posed to Yanhua: if he had told Ama or Borderline anything about their sire. Noel knew some things but Nashua had always left it that he was the son of a monster and the conversation had never (thankfully) drifted to if he might have been anything before that.
A copper ear flicks towards his young son and then Nash again, unable to help the tender smile that spreads on his face. Bolder looks so excited that he can't contain it; the boy is trying to stay still, like he has been asked before but his small hooves lift, and when Mazikeen invites them to follow her into Hyaline, the colt doesn't hesitate. He takes a step or two ahead and is following Mazikeen in a heartbeat. The smile tugs into a grin and the striped pegasus follows, lifting his wings slightly and moving off to follow after them.
@[Mazikeen] has been a shifter her entire life - just as he had been born with his wings - and Nash listens quietly as she continues to speak to Bolder. His small wings flutter with excitement and he beams up at her, "I've been doing this pretty much forever." He tells her and by forever, he means the entire span of his six months of life. There are still some things that she's learning and it makes him tilt his head curiously because she looks far older than him.
"Okay," Bolder says and after looking back once to his sire who nods encouragingly, the dark colt slows and lifts his head to glance up to Mazikeen. If she is still learning, this is something that might take longer than lunchtime but Bolder surprisingly doesn't mind. He likes Hyaline - its colors still showing on every inch of his still-changing coat (with a few flickers of iridescent blue after she shifts). Then he remembers manners - something that he has been reminded of a time or two - and adds, "please."
She leads them down to the lake, near where the large wisteria grows - though it’s yellow with autumn instead of bright purple with blooms right now. Mazikeen isn’t quite sure what it is that young Bolder can do, but the open area of the shore should give them plenty of space just in case his shifting is like what she has - shapes and colours and, so far, whatever else she can imagine.
Now, where to start?
Mazikeen focuses on Bolder mostly but she glances to Nash from time to time too, keeping him in the conversation. “The nice thing about practicing is that it’s fun. It can be a little frustrating at first, when you’re trying to do something and it doesn’t cooperate. When I was around your age I got stuck as a deer for almost two days.” Even as she says it, Mazikeen is not sure when that memory became something she would willingly share, and though she still feels a flush of embarrassment at her incompetence (nevermind that she was a foal) there is a bit of a smile as she shares this information.
Since she’s not quite sure what Bolder’s abilities are yet - either the scope or the control of them - she hopes he’ll find playing around with them a bit as fun as she will. “I’m going to change my colour and I want you to try to copy me exactly - okay?” Mazikeen doesn’t want to over teach, just in case the boy already knows about focusing and all that, so this is just a first stepping stone and then - she hopes - she’ll be able to adjust from there. She knows how annoying it had been when someone had underestimated her when she was learning (still is annoying, really) and wants to try to avoid that with the winged colt.
So standing before Bolder, Mazikeen turns herself a warm, friendly yellow - the smile in her orange eyes just as bright as the colour she’s wearing.
05-09-2021, 06:22 PM (This post was last modified: 05-09-2021, 06:26 PM by Nashua.)
(and it's harder than you think) telling dreams from one another
Nashua is content to hang back and allow the pair some space. His green eyes look up, admiring the blazing yellow and orange hues that adorn the wisteria by the lake. They have no trees like that in Taiga and certainly none like it on the Isle. He's openly admiring it though an ear is carefully trained toward the duo, Nash ready to step in and assist should Bolder become too rambunctious.
Not that he doubts Mazikeen's abilities with the colt, but the young pegasus is the more boisterous of his five siblings.
But when glances back towards them, Bolder is watching Maze change carefully. His silver eyes move over her once-white coat that has now turned a shade similar to the nearby wisteria leaves. The hue of it ripples along his pelt but it looks like a stone cast into Hyaline's lake: there is the yellow that @[Mazikeen] shows him, the vivid orange of her eyes, and a shimmering shade of gold bleeding from his leg stripes. He turns his now-yellow head to look behind him and when he sees that his coat hasn't cooperated exactly as hers had, he huffs in frustration.
Flicking both his ears back, he glares down the orange shades and focuses. He imagines himself much like the Hyalean ruler, a single color: the bright color of the sun. It takes time, Bolder learns, because it seemed like Maze blinked and she changed. He's blinked several times and while the orange is gone, his legs have retained gold points. Not completely yellow, but he's very close.
"How do you decide?" Bolder finally asks her, still marveling at the way she held such control of her ability. His small head tilts and he looks behind him again, picking up a glowing, golden foreleg to show her. What he means though is that, "there are so many colors." And then he glances curiously at her again, because not only are there many colors but there are many shapes as well.
Mazikeen stays quiet when Bolder huffs in frustration, though a corner of her mouth twitches up in a knowing smile. She’s pretty sure she knows exactly what he’s feeling because she’s felt it too when her shifting did not cooperate with whatever she was trying to do. She watches as he glares at himself and she can see him focus - see the concentration take over and she is not faking the smile that grows when almost all him is a sunny yellow except for his points. She nods her approval - it is absolutely an improvement on the unconscious rippling of colours across the colt’s coat.
At Bolder’s question, her expression turns thoughtful as she considers it. How did she decide? Sometimes she let her shifting choose for her - like it filled in the blanks. That was how she had discovered the Haast’s eagle, and the smilodon she had recently become quite fond. But that is not exactly a helpful answer. “Well, one of the fun things about being able to control it more, is you don’t have to stick with your choice. You can change as often as you like to whatever you can think of.” She shapeshifts then, becoming an obscenely pink cat. Any annoyance at being so small at the moment is eased by how comfortable she feels with Nashua and his son (and the fact that this shape has needle-like claws).
They could be her family, she thinks. The twins could grow up knowing their cousins and more blood relatives than Mazikeen had ever thought possible. They'd have the pack and so much more. It is surprising to feel that she would like that future. But also, if it were safer for the twins to be away from their parents, she wonders if Nashua and his family would take them in.
Mazikeen stops herself from drifting on these darkening thoughts as she continues. “And one of the fun things about practicing is you can try them all. It’s never felt like work to me, trying to control my shifting. I enjoyed trying new shapes, new sizes, new colours. I still do. And then you’ll discover favourites as you practice too.”
She tilts her feline head to the side, her orange eyes moving between Bolder and his father - either one of them could answer her next question. “Has it only been colours so far?” There was nothing wrong with it being just colours, of course, but she is curious if there is more to it.
05-15-2021, 05:30 PM (This post was last modified: 05-15-2021, 05:32 PM by Nashua.)
(and it's harder than you think) telling dreams from one another
Bolder is focusing on the color of his coat and so he stares intently at Mazikeen's, trying to replicate that exact shade of yellow. His silver eyes narrow again and though it takes him a moment - a moment where he misses almost everything that the Alpha has said. But one sun-colored ear moves and then the young pegasus looks up, catching the last half of her sentence.
It still seems so daunting now, all these different colors and variations that he could take. But something is comforting about the idea that he could change his mind as quickly as the thought came to him. The approving smile that he spies on the face of the pale shapeshifter helps him as well. To Bolder, he imagined that she changed her mind often and what could be wrong with that?
His delight broadens into a bright smile as she shifts into a small feline.
The color is rose-like and makes him think of some of the flowers that he has seen growing in Taiga, some of the newer variety that had been sprouting up of late. His dark nostrils are flaring wildly because this shape is not something that he has ever seen and even his father seems to be regarding Maze with some quiet sense of wonder. Bolder opens his fledgling wings in excitement and they rustle energetically with the emotion; he tries to keep his lanky striped legs still and so shaking out his wings makes it that much easier for the colt.
Lowering his head, he reaches down tentatively towards her pink pelt. It's a wonderful color, he thinks. A shade that he has seen at sunrise.
Looking down at his golden points shimmering in the sunbeams, he decides to try it on. Bolder narrows his eyes again and focuses, imagining the shade on himself. It blooms on his legs and his gilded stockings blossom into a floral shade. This is the first time that he has ever summoned a color on his own - one that he has chosen to wear - and he lifts his head abruptly up to see if his father saw. Nashua had and nods, trying his best to replicate the smile that @[Mazikeen] had worn moments before.
Trying his best to swallow the dread he feels. (This hadn't bothered him with Gale. Why? Why does it bother him so much when it concerns his son?)
Glancing down again and lifting a light-colored foreleg to show off to his teacher, Bolder grins at her next question. "So far," Nash's voice cuts in until the young pegasus states, "Well, there was that one time with Saffron and Bravely." Nashua looks down at his son and the yellow-and-pink colt answers: "I tried to nudge Bravely with my wing." Bolder explains and flares out the brilliantly-plumed wing, "She went invisible." He tells them both, "so it uh, stretched a little."
His smile turns sheepish towards Maze while an ear flicks towards his father, "do you have any brothers or sisters?" Bolder asks, suddenly curious about the orange-eyed cat.
NASHUA
i realized that i just basically made a Jackel look-alike lmao
Mazikeen grins at the response her shift - the energy that practically radiates from Bolder is endearing. She doesn’t move when he lowers his muzzle and will let him brush the pink fur if he wishes. This shape requires a gentle touch, but despite his enthusiasm she does not think Bolder will be overly rough - and if he was, Mazikeen knew she wouldn’t break either.
She watches with delight as he narrows his eyes and focuses, as the pink appears on his legs and a small ‘mrow’ of approval precedes the enthusiastic “Good job, Bolder!” That comes right on its heels.
Mazikeen’s pink head tilts as Nash and Bolder answer her question - and she considers the idea that his wing had stretched. Could he manipulate his form like she was learning to? She was still discovering her limits - and had accidentally turned into a stallion one time while practicing. A truly strange sensation she couldn’t say she was fond of. She makes a mental note to try stretching her wings once this pair leaves - to see if maybe Bolder’s ability to change was closer to her current gift. Even if there was no indication that he could change into animals yet.
She blinks at the change in subject, a little surprised by the question, but answers honestly. “A few, I’m not close with any of my blood siblings, though. We didn’t grow up together.” She knows there are probably plenty of them, though if Agetta had told them about them she has forgotten. She’s met the younger ones once, but it’s been a few years now since she’s seen them and she frowns for a moment before finding a smile again and moving on. “But I have the ones I found here amongst the pack. Sabal is a kelpie, and Daye a wolf.” And Breach, her heart clenches at the thought and she cannot bring herself to speak the true alpha’s name. “And there's Barrow, he’s a dog.” She says this with a laugh and shifts again, becoming the black-white-and-brown Bernese Mountain Dog that her friend could shift into, a smile easy to come by when she thinks of him and she lets the bright pink tongue of this form loll out.
![[Image: jCdBK6.png]](https://img.nickpic.host/jCdBK6.png)
