[private] it was the wicked and wild wind

[Gale]

@Divest

i hear the wicked get no rest, but when you do ---------- i hope you dream of me The jungle is dark, but it is far from silent. The dawn calls of the monkeys perched above the canopy have not yet begun, but the voices of the night birds grow less numerous as they settle into their nests. The soft click and whirr of insects never ends, nor does the rustle of steam and fog dampened greenery. This almost-morning the fog is heavy but low - hardly to the knees. The air is thick with the scent of spring flowers, and Gale breathes deeply of the warm and humid air as he floats in the waters of the entity. The brindle stallion is emerging from the water after an unusual night’s kill. The magician most often feeds on tapirs, monkeys, and birds, but tonight he’d slain a horse. Blood still rests on the back of his tongue, but all signs and even the scent of it have been pulled from his skin by the lava warmed water and the cloying floral scent. At the sound of movement, someone coming closer, he disappears. The magic of Invisibility is simple, pulled from where it had been hidden within his host’s genetics. Teleportation is harder, but the power of the mare’s recent death has made even the most difficult of magics feel simple. Gale recalls the portal he had shown the green mare, a flashy display that only hinted at his abilities. Divest had not shared her own with him either, perhaps equally cautious. He’d not had the opportunity to ask her again, and the Gale that Divest had known was not the sort to pry despite his immense curiosity. A season has already slipped away since her arrival, and Gale knows little more than when she’d arrived. He’s been careful around her, using the caution that has kept him alive for nearly four years. He has always played the Gale she’d known, awkward and occasionally charming, and rather prone to staring and becoming lost in his train of thought, only ever approaching her when he was well fed and unlikely to lose his focus and slip up. “You’re up rather early,” he says, stepping out from beneath a hanging vine, appearing silently in a way that might have been magical or simply knowing the jungle well. He smiles sleepily, blinking away manufactured sleep in his eyes, and appearing to hide the start of a yawn against his white-stockinged foreleg. GALE

[Divest]

don't come find me, I won't be here waiting

The jungle felt like an endless hustle and bustle when she first arrived. It was far different from the silent nights she had grown customed to before returning. Although, with the passing season, she has come to grow comfortable with the sounds of the jungle. Songs of the night birds and the soft clicks of insects became a lullaby that sent her into a deep slumber.  The humid weather was relaxing, and she enjoyed it far better than the temperate climate back on Islandres. With Gale’s invitation for her to stay, Tephra had soon after became her home. The dark hours of the night slip away, as the morning light barely lines the horizon in the distance. Divest should have been slumbering away peacefully, but she has found little sleep during the night with unrelenting thoughts. She decides to rise from her resting area near the waterfall as the night songbirds quiet down—the early morning had finally come. Her body aches with a sleepless night of tossing and turning, and the pastel mare quickly decides a nice dip into the healing waters would soothe her. The morning air is thick, especially with the spring flowers that have blossomed, and the low fog clings to her as she pushes through the last bits of the jungle to where the spring and waterfall lay. Her ear flickers at the warming, familiar voice that breaks the morning jungle noises. Divest turns her silver gaze to meet the brindle stallion, who appears out of thin air. She does not question his sudden appearance, only taking him for someone who knows the jungle well, or off guard with her thoughts that are rather nosier today than usual. A soft curious smile slips across her pastel lips with ease. “And so are you,” she adds with a teasing tone. She falls into a comfortable position with Gale’s presence, still unaware of the monster he was behind his mask. Gale was much the same since she had last seen him on Islandres—awkward, but charming in a way she had grown most fond of many years ago. “I could not sleep,” Divest says with honesty. She had been vigilant with Gale during her arrival to Tephra, but the passing of the season had only made her feel captivated by him. His charming nature was enchanting as it had been years ago. Her curiosity could not be stopped either, something new and wild pulled her in, wanting to discover more.

Divest

@Gale

[Gale]

@Divest

i hear the wicked get no rest, but when you do ---------- i hope you dream of me There is no suspicion in Divest’s silver eyes, no wariness in the way she smiles up at him without pulling away. He Looks closer, to what is not said, and finds no sign that she disguises her intentions from him. Nor can he find any indication of what her abilities might be. That won’t be a problem for much longer, he soon decides, tasting the curiosity that his host elicits in the silver-haired mare. Gale’s intent has been to win her over, and it seems he is making good progress. She’s less likely to be suspicious of someone she is close to, he thinks; it is not a difficult role to play, even if the Gale she had known was the oblivious sort. He is no longer capable of love - or whatever it was he’d felt for the fire-eyed Alpha - and if he were to touch Divest, it would be with the intent of drawing blood. The brindle stallion keeps his distance intentionally, but there is no indication of that in the warm way he smiles back at her. ‘I could not sleep’, she tells him, and Gale wonders if it had been the nightmares. He’s careless with them, and he supposes some of the shadows might have crept into her dreams. He remembers to keep the heart of the kingdom free of dreams most nights, but distracted as he was with the body that rests beneath the waterfall, a few might have broken free. She doesn’t seem distressed though, so rather than pry, he says instead: “I was going to watch the sunrise.” The lie comes easily, something his host would have enjoyed, and he glances up toward the canopy for a moment before returning his blue gaze to hers. GALE

[Divest]

don't come find me, I won't be here waiting

It was easy for her to fall into the long-forgotten sense of comfort she had felt around Gale. She feels every layer of guard falling. But there is a whisper in the back of her mind, a warning tells her something was not right, something was wrong. Divest does not let the instinctive feeling slip away, she grasps onto it and makes sure she doesn’t reveal everything about herself. There was a danger in revealing everything about yourself her mother had told her once. She had not thought of it until now, but it wasn’t until now she realized she might heed her own mother’s words. Divest wouldn’t allow herself to fall into the hands of danger so easily. She had wondered if the nightmares that Gale had mentioned had infected her yet. He had said the nightmares were not here in the heart of the kingdom, but something trickled into her thoughts warning her, distressing her to where she could no longer find sleep. It had felt different than the nightmares she had been and the unrelenting thoughts that hid within the shadows of her mind. The pastel mare, however, does not show any indication of her concern. She holds herself together, wearing a mask of confidence that comes with ease to masquerade her insecurities. Divest would not allow herself to falter so easily until she was certain she was safe. “I’d like to see the sunrise too,” she says with a warm smile. Divest had never seen the sunrise in the humid jungle yet, most days she had been able to find sleep and awake after the sun and risen well past worth watching. She takes a step towards the brindle stallion, waiting for him to take the lead to where they would watch the sunrise.

Divest

@Gale Just a quick post to close things off Feel free to reply to close it on your end if you want or we can leave it here.