"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
For one whose nature is to wander, it should ‘t come as a surprise that teleportation comes naturally now that he had magic at his beck and call. Still, it does somehow surprise him that sometimes, when something pops up in his mind, he is there before he knows he is going there.
Right now, Loess is covered in a thin layer of snow, and the ice mage smiles a little. At least his magic is only this volatile in winter, when cold air and frost easily cling to him and almost seem to beg him to make use of it.
The red rock beneath that little bit of snow has never invited Leilan, except now that it is inhabited and ruled by Oceane. His latest visit to Loess was fake, in the Afterlife, though Bane had seemed content with his death which was... kind of unsettling. Nevertheless, he now trudges through the canyons in the northern part of the kingdom, and finds that in winter, he doesn’t even stand out that much. The touch of red beneath snow is not unsimilar to the way the ice clings to his own red roan coat.
Leilan issues out a call, though it is not the echo between rocks that will reach the one he is looking for, but the mental one that tugs on Ledger’s mind - and Oceane as well if she’s nearby, but for her it won’t be that strong. After all, if she’s busy, all she needs to know is that he’s visiting to make good on his promise to give Ledger a better home.
You can’t just leave a polar bear in a desert, after all, and expect them to be content; not if he can help it at any rate.
old, but I'm not that old young, but I'm not that bold
@[Ledger]
@[Oceane] if you want
@any, if they feel like it
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
Help me out before I drown Save me now before I give up
Winter is the season where he stays in bear form the most. The ursine within him craves the cold weather, the icy environment, and greedily enjoys it as much as it can. Thick layers of shaggy white fur lined with insulating blubber keep him perfectly content in harsher conditions and having paw pads and claws to maneuver over ice are preferred compared to his skittering hooves. Loess’s low desert and access to cold water could be enough for the bear but it still longs for deep snow to burrow into and lounge upon. So when he feels the tug on his mind and grasps an image of the scaled host from the Isle, he rolls from his place in the surf and heads in the direction of the tug.
Although the ravaged one eyed stallion is wary of magic, he trusts his gut feelings about the tattooed Draft. He had found Leilan to be easy going and humorous. The fact that the other had looked at him with a lack of judgement had meant quite a bit as well. Just as Oceane looked at him. As if he wasn’t a destroyed wreck of a man and was just.. normal.
The bear ambles across his cove and spots Leilan just as he rounds past the curve of a canyon wall. The claw marks over his empty socket are more prominent when he is in this body, unable to be hidden beneath the wild fringe of forelock. The remaining beady dark eye flecked with gold takes in the frosted scaled stallion and a toothy grin spreads along the wide lips of the bears snout. “Leilan!” He greets, his voice huskier and rougher in this form. “You spared me a trip, I was just thinking about your offer.”
It’s nothing like the biting ice-cold winds of the Isle, but the snow in Loess counts for something. Leilan casually strolls on, mentally assessing his chances of succes - and it lasting through spring, let alone summer. Only one way to tell, he thinks; then Ledger comes close, and he waits for the shifter to arrive and speak up. The way this man had lost his eye is more prominently seen now, but he doesn’t dive into the way he looks or his traumatic past. There’s plenty of things that Leilan never really appreciated from most magicians and only tolerated when Brennen did it, and the intrusions of a mind were exactly that. Besides, his strength is perhaps not in empathy or mind reading, even if he could probably practise it now. Now, Leilan’s strength is closer to his own persona; strength in body, shifting, transportation and most of all, anything cold.
Which should make his little self-appointed task easy, as the base plan is to transport ice and snow from the Isle to Loess. When Ledger comments on the trip, the ice-scaled roan grins. ”There’s easier ways to transport than just walking,” he agrees - especially with bear paws which are better suited for swimming, digging, and shorter bursts of strength than a horse’s legs. Teleportation is one, yes, but Leilan hadn’t lost the habit of shifting into his dragon shape when he felt like it, either.
”So, have you cut out a piece of Loess for yourself?” he inquires of the polar bear. Ledger currently seems taller than the ice mage, but the latter doesn’t seem bothered by it - possibly because he knows he can rectify that situation whenever it becomes necessary.
But both Ledger and Oceane are friends of his, so he doesn’t think he’ll need it anyway - time to get to work, thenl
old, but I'm not that old young, but I'm not that bold
@[Ledger]
Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
Help me out before I drown Save me now before I give up
Although Leilan is familiar with him in this shape, it’s still not a body he feels comfortable flaunting. A handful of others knew what and who he was but he still preferred to keep that circle relatively small. The toothy grin fades into a whisper of a smile on a dark muzzle as the snout fades and claws retract into hooves. He peers out from beneath the wild mass of snowy tendrils with his good eye, warmth lingering in the tarnished flecks of his iris. “Oceane was kind enough to give me a space of my own.”
He gestures with his muzzle towards the way he had come and starts to turn in that direction, an invitation for Leilan to follow and see. He is quiet for a moment as they wind through the canyon and make their way to the cove but the silence doesn’t last long. “You and Oceane. How long have you two known each other?” It is not a question asked out of jealousy but merely curiosity. The twilight mare was still much of a mystery to him, her wings held secrets and stories amongst the finely preened feathers, and she seemed to hold the frost covered stallion in high esteem. Perhaps Leilan could give him some insight on her that he might not have the heart to ask her himself.
06-28-2021, 12:06 PM (This post was last modified: 06-28-2021, 12:25 PM by Leilan.)
Leilan
Change is nothing new to Leilan, having been born as plain as any - okay, besides his magical charm and insanely good looks of course - he has of course been gifted among the years that he had spent in Beqanna, not in the least with a shifting trait that he had worked for. Seeing Ledger’s different shapes doesn’t bother the scaled stallion any more than if he had yawned or blinked an eye, so the conversation continues smoothly. ”She has that warm personality,” Leilan agrees, smiling a bit at that; it’s no wonder she attracted all kinds of friends and allies.
As he opens a portal to the Isle and pulls snow and ice through, gathering it all into a cave (this is an ongoing process; he takes the time for the Northern winds to blow the snow and ice into the cave entrance, and turns to Ledger to talk to him while this goes on). The now-stallion seems curious about Oceane more than the ice cave that he’d promised to make, and he earns himself a cocky, knowing smile. Nevertheless, the roan answers the question. ”I think it was her first day in Beqanna, all those years ago. Or maybe shortly after. I may have interrupted. I think.” he muses, then shrugs it off. ”Anyway, I helped her in a few occasions, and she me. I didn’t think I’d ever set a hoof in Loess again after some fallouts with one of its former leaders. Or, some. I don’t know how many actually disliked me and who was pretending, but she made sure to invite me.” he offers a little insight into his personality as he grins like a mischievous teenager when he mentions his relations with some of Loess’ previous leaders hadn’t all been the best. As if to say that yes, he actually did it on purpose sometimes. It’s nothing but the truth.
”Is there something in particular you’re curious about?” his eyes sparkle with the same mischievousness when he asks this, though there is no malice to be found. ”This may take a while.” he nods to the winter storm that he is inviting into the Loessian cave. It’s a deep one, so it may last through the summer - hopefully - once it is filled. Or at least that is his hope.
old, but I'm not that old young, but I'm not that bold
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