[private] there's a thief on every corner of the street

[Mazikeen]

m a z i k e e n . After Bolder’s parents leave, she gives him a few days before seeking him out. The threat that she had made towards Nashua, combined with banning him from the east, all of it went against the supportive, doting aunt image she still wanted to maintain. Mazikeen finds it satisfying to have the hatred and fear of anyone else in this world - but it does not suit her for Bolder to view her like that. It is easier with him than it was with some of the others that had known her before. Her bond with the youth had been forged over shifting, and her enjoyment of that ability is one of the few things that had not changed when the rest of her did. And it will remain a thorn in Nashua’s side every single day Bolder chooses to stay here in Hyaline. No longer a captive but a willing member of the kingdom. That thought is enough to inspire a small smile in Mazikeen’s red-orange eyes as she moves to the lake. She is just herself today, a white mare marked with scars and crowned with glowing horns that burn bright underneath an overcast sky. Will he be beneath the surface, practicing? She wades into the shallows - the icy water providing a welcome bite - and calls out in her best mimicry of her old, warm tone. “Bolder?” The fact that he was still here was a good sign, she was sure of it - now she just needed to make sure he still trusted her.

 

@bolder

[bolder]

He'd taken to the sky as a hawk, but once he had perched at the top of a bare tree, Bolder had tried the shape of a golden eagle. It suited him, it would seem, as the sun shone against his red-gold feathers. He had spent a few days in that shape, preferring to be in the air than on the ground. It made things easier to see this way, and it allowed him to remain alert (just in case his parents came back).

As the young raptor balances on a branch, he thinks that he understands Mazikeen and her reasoning for banishing his father. It had hurt him to hear that, and cut deeper than Bolder ever would show. But this would give him the space he needed to grow. It would give him the time he needed to become strong - to become Powerful like his Uncle - and then he could return to Taiga.

Bolder could return home and show his father how wrong he'd been all along.

Lost in thought above the water, a familiar voice calls him back to the present. The sound is familiar and Bolder immediately recognizes it as the Alpha, as his Aunt. He cranes his head down to the ground, turning it so that a silver eye peers down towards her. Flaring his avian wings, Bolder leaps into the air and spirals down towards the water and landing in the shallows as himself, a young stallion with stripes and a crescent marking on his face, while trying to prevent splashing Mazikeen.

The water splashes around him, deterred away from the horned mare from the auburn wings that Bolder had spread open, and offers her a rueful grin in apology.

@Mazikeen

[Mazikeen]

m a z i k e e n . Bright eyes catch movement and they latch onto Bolder where he flies as a golden eagle over the water. Every shift the young stallion makes feels like a victory and her enjoyment of watching him move so easily as an avian is not false. He lands with her in the shallows, some water splashing her way despite his attempts to deter it and she covers her instinct to hiss in annoyance by shifting for a moment into the same dog she had turned into for him once - letting her long pink tongue hang out of her mouth. It is so easy in this shape to feign joy - a few twitches of her face does the trick. Her deep orange eyes shine as she looks up at him and she shakes the long fur, sending water back towards him with a short laugh. The compliment that she offers him comes so readily. “You get better every day, you know.” It’s true - and her delight in that helps feed into a smile when she returns to her equine shape. He is tall enough now that she does not need to look down at him anymore - and she wonders whether he will continue to grow anymore. What will he be like in another year? Already he has changed so much before her eyes. And Mazikeen’s smile deepens when she thinks of how Nashua will see a fully-grown stallion the next time he meets his young son. “How are you?” Like the compliment, this question is genuine - she does want to know, after all. That was the whole point. And the fact that it helps keep up her charade of being an attentive aunt makes it all the better.

 

@bolder

[bolder]

He'd done his best not to get his Aunt wet, but even with his advancing shapeshifting, the adolescent pegasus still manages to splash her. But the black-and-tan dog that looks up at him with a hanging tongue doesn't look displeased. Bolder gives a playful shake of his head, sending water droplets off his short-bristled mane. He doesn't remain a horse for long, and changes into a more stream-lined, sleeker animal in case Mazikeen encourages them both into a race.

The fox with gold points rather than black beams at the Alpha, hearing the compliment in her voice.

Bolder does know. Each day the shifting gets a little easier, becomes a little quicker. Thanks to Maze and Gale, his young mind can not only fathom more shapes, but the ability of which one to take becomes quicker and quicker. He only needs to imagine what he wants to be and a moment later, he is.

Stepping lightly through the chilly shallows, Bolder made his way towards the Alpha. When he reaches her, the lean fox tilted his vulpine head curiously. "I've been alright," he tells her and then grins again, "Practicing, mostly." The young shifter peers up at her with silver eyes, hoping to see her approval shining out. She had been his first mentor - the first who had ever shown Bolder how to properly shift - and he hasn't forgotten those lessons.

"I've been thinking," he starts, "about going to the Mountain."

How did Mazikeen feel about it? Had she ever been?

"To be able to do more, like you and Uncle Gale."

@Mazikeen

[Mazikeen]

m a z i k e e n . Bolder shifts again, becoming a fox, and her smile grows a little more. It’s coming so easily for him now - leagues of improvement over that first lesson by this very lake. He comes closer and Mazikeen knows how easy it would be to catch him in her teeth while he beams up at her. She’s pleased to hear that he’s been practicing - so the visit with his parents didn’t dampen his ambitions about shifting. Her red-orange eyes shine a little as Bolder tells her he’s been thinking about going to the mountain. “That’s a great idea, Bolder.” She reaches out to give him a playful shove and she needs to actively remind herself not to use claws or too much force - that wasn’t the game she was playing with Bolder. He seemed to be no more afraid of her now than he had been before and that was exactly what she needed (even if a part of her is a little annoyed about it). “I went to the Mountain too, for the same reason. That’s how I’m able to do more.” It bothers her now to think of her limitations when she had been younger - and even more so to think of when she had been without shifting altogether. She had still been strong without it, that had been the whole point of the lesson she had to learn, but compared with what she was now, those past selves were such useless things. She wonders what sort of task Bolder will get. Will he lose her shifting as she did? Mazikeen doesn't know if she wants that or not so she avoids those uncertain thoughts by continuing to speak. “When you get back, let me know if I can help with any of the tasks the fairies give you.” Especially if it meant turning Bolder into a more powerful shifter than Nashua would ever imagine - Mazikeen would truly be delighted to help.

 

@bolder

[bolder]

The young fox glances at Mazikeen and gives her a rueful smile. She reaches out to give him a playful shove and he turns his body, feeling his excitement come out in a youthful twist of limbs. He rolls onto his back, and extends a paw towards the Alpha. Bolder had been unsure of her reaction - as he had been unsure about many things lately - but to see her genuine pride reflecting at him assures the young shifter that this was the right choice.

He stills when his Aunt mentions that she had made the journey to the Mountain, that it was how she was able to do more.

"I've never been to the Mountain," the young shifter says and brings himself back onto four paws. He rises steadily and his silver eyes lift to Maze curiously. The journey to the Mountain wasn't what scared him; it was what would happen when he reached it. He had heard stories from his sisters, and while he never knew what Luminesce had asked the Faeiries for, they had apparently surprised her with a pair of wings.

Bolder glances towards the purple mountains looming in the distance, reverently looking at the tallest one.

"What did they ask of you?" he asks and then sits quietly, while his shadow begins to pace.

@Mazikeen

[Mazikeen]

m a z i k e e n . A quiet laugh escapes Mazikeen when Bolder rolls onto his back, extending a paw her way. How readily he trusts her, exposing his belly like that. It would take no effort at all to turn his copper coat a deeper red. But while she does think about it, it is not with any serious contemplation. If the time ever came for Bolder to die, it would not be without a particular audience. Her grin fades when he asks about her task and she turns her head to scowl in the direction of that distant peak. “They took away my shifting, and asked for me to become comfortable in my own skin.” Her aggravation flares to life on her white coat, a few markings cracking down her spine. The memories sit so uncomfortably with her now, the weight of all the emotions she had experienced during the eclipse contrasted with the wasteland currently inside of her. It takes a considerable amount of effort not to be scowling when she turns back to her young ward, her face instead carefully neutral. “It was difficult, but worth it in the end.” She considers cautioning Bolder against ‘cheating’ as she had and flying up the mountain instead of walking up but decides against it. If he makes that choice, it will be something he needs to deal with.

 

@bolder

[bolder]

Bolder doesn't think about exposing his belly to Mazikeen. She is his Aunt and all the family he has known (despite the way that his father had doubted his shapeshifting) has only ever been kind. They looked out for each other and the young shifter has never known a family that would intentionally harm one another. They had been like a Pack, he thinks.

Like the Pack here in Hyaline.
Like he was now, with his Aunt and Uncle.

A paw reaches out to playfully bat Maze, an adolescent pup still longing to play and one who struggled to stay still for long. But his question about the Mountain and his desire to quest had left her scowling and so the boy turns his head towards the source of her frustration. Was it a mistake? Was he wrong to think about petitioning the Mountain?

But Mazikeen eases his doubts when she glances back down at him. Bolder nods, as serious and solemn as he considers his upcoming quest. It would be worth it, she tells him, and that is all the encouragement her young pupil needs. His skills as a shifter had continued to grow while he had stayed in Hyaline, and what better way to repay her tutelage than by to continue to develop this gift?

What better way to be a credit to Mazikeen than by being one of the best shapeshifters that Beqanna has ever known?


@Mazikeen just a little closer for them <3