[open] To Be Alone Or Not?

[Aela]

There is a pleased quirk to Aela's coy smile as she watches the other mare. A quick glimmer of confusion dances in her blue eyes and then there is nothing. The Seneschal flicks her flaxen tail and takes a step forward, coming close enough that the frenzied thoughts of the other are heard in her mind until there was nothing at all.

"You should be scared of him," Aela says as she comes to stop directly in front of the other mare. She tilts her head slightly, studying the lines of her face for some trace of something. But she's always been a perfection, and the absence of anything tells her that she has succeeded.

Her smile tugs again, "but you should also be scared of me."

Gale is off to her side, and she catches a glimpse of the brindled stallion near her golden flank. A hoof has become a talon and there is a griffin where a pegasus had stood moment before. She catches the brilliance of their grandmother's knowing gaze and her expression never falters. It takes a great deal of her willpower to push all their surrounding emotions out - what had been Nerica's anger, the curiosity that not-Gale always seemed to carry - and for a moment, she considers swapping them.

It would certainly be a test of her precision, of what she could force to make another feel, the scope of that emotion, of how many she could do it to.

There are too many unpredictable factors, but those unpreditabilities give her an idea. Still looking at her brother, she shrugs her slender shoulders and says, "as you wish." The anger and the confusion come in slowly, rolling back to the trio like the fog does in the morning within the misty Taiga. It seeps back into their hosts but there had been one that Aela had sensed during Nerica's desperation - the comfort that she had wanted - comes now to warm them like the sun and the palomino no longer bothers (or is able) to direct it back to only the appaloosa.

So Aela - like the kind and caring sister she is - comforts Gale as well as their new friend.

@Nerica @Gale

[Nerica]

Nerica

    The black mares shudders when the Aela approaches, her words send chills through her body. How does she know? Was her first thought, followed by a strong defiance of her fear. Nerica's body is weak, without her emotions she has nothing to keep her going. She watches the mare and creature before her, her head barely turning. She is quickly giving up. Her mind and body are swept up in a storm of cold and confusion and she is drowning. Her long forelock covers her eyes as her head sinks lower. Her vision is blurred as she tries to close her eyes. But a small motion and three short words jerk her back to attention. Because as the golden mare spoke, Nerica could feel her fire of emotion igniting once more.

   Like a small flame suddenly fueled with gasoline her emotions flare. Nerica's head flies up, her eyes widened in shock and relief. And now anger. Her ears quickly fly against her head and her teeth are bared, ready to strike out at the small mare with such monstrous power. But then another feeling overpowers her. One she knew well. A familiar and nagging feeling that she fought with every day. That she pushed to the bottom of her heart. She didn't need it. She was alone. She did not want to comforted. She did not want to be with others. And now she fights with it once more. This is an emotion that she despises. She is a hateful, angry being who does not need comfort. The mares dark blue eyes are a turmoil of emotion. She tries desperately to repel the warmth that is creeping into her heart.

   But she fails. Her anger is dimmed. The comfort and warmth she has always sought, and always hated has filled her heart. Her flared nostrils let out a soft sigh and her eyes lift to gaze at the horses before her. Her head tilts, her body still slightly trembling. She doesn't know what to do with these new feelings. Her mind keeps telling her to lunge for the horses before her, to shout and scream at them. To unleash her anger. But the warmth that has been forced upon her is taking over. Her words are stuck in her throat. Not a sound reaches her lips. Her emotions are calming, she is giving in to the comfort. She begins to feel safe. And...not alone.

@Aela @Gale

[Gale]

@Aela
@Nerica

i hear the wicked get no rest, but when you do ---------- i hope you dream of me He can still sense the roan’s emotions, but they are dampened by the power of Aela’s ability. They are quieter than her gasping breaths, but not even the sound of someone choking softens the ice in the griffon’s blue eyes. Choosing to not make him feel Nerica’s anger has been one of her better ideas, though Gale is only passingly aware of the possibility. Instead, he focuses instead on what she does choose to do, returning the emotions that she’d swept away moments earlier. The ease with which she does it is impressive, though Gale would never tell her. She is more skilled than she’d been when she’d left Hyaline, more Powerful. For once, it is not an ability that he desires. The last magic he’d stolen from Aela had resulted in him having to carve out his heart and send it north, and he is not eager to repeat that. Or anything like it. So when he feels the soft brush of comfort, he reacts immediately, and defensively. The griffin leaps forward, his powerful feline hindquarters propelling him toward Aela. His taloned forelimbs claw at her face and head, while his massive white wings flare wide and the shadows that spiral around his forelegs lift him high with impossible ease. He kicks along her topline before he is airborne entirely, hoping to catch some of her perfect golden skin with his claws. The comfort is gone by the time he’s reached the treeline. He makes his way back to Tephra, far away from the pair in the riverlands and the horses far below. GALE

[Aela]

She's come to learn enough about Gale to expect the unexpected.

Her empathic abilities are nearly sapped by the time that the last vestiges of comfort leaves her. She will have to draw her emotions - or perhaps some from her brother or Nerica - to cast more out. But the brindled stallion launches himself at her and Aela spins, snaking her lovely neck towards the ground and sends her hindlegs kicking out at the creature.

There are gouges along her back - and some on her legs - but none are deep enough to seriously injure her. It's something that even a simple healer like Obscene should be able to handle.

But her sides heave after the exertion of it all, and she moves a little slower than she had done before meeting Nerica. Lifting her head, the slender palomino glances back at the blue roan. Her feelings should have returned by now, and Aela hopes she's reeling.

It was a fitting introduction to Beqanna, she thinks.

"You should find a safe place to rest," Aela tells her, realizing that they had never mentioned the kingdom that Gale ruled. "Tephra is to the West. You'd be welcome there."

@Nerica