[private] I'm a sucker for girls that are bad for me

[Obscene]

Don't look back, nothing left to see
I can feel you though, wake me from this dreamin

He could have stayed on that riverbank with her forever, hidden away from the real world and all it’s problems. With no land or kingdom of their own, no weight of responsibility, what would it matter if they simply disappeared again? Except he had made a promise. And his son was hopefully still out there somewhere along with Fyr and everyone else that had gone missing. So begrudgingly, after dragging their hooves a little longer, they finally head towards the redwoods of Cheri’s birth.

He has never been here and so it is the jeweled mare he follows who knows these lands better then he ever will. The tall trees that grow like giants had always sounded like a fairytale but he sees for himself, now, that the stories hadn’t been exaggerated. His red gaze seems to travel further and further upwards until they seem to reach into the clouds themselves. He pauses in his sauntering to get a better look and in doing so, catches a faint scent that instantly has him scanning the misty woods. A familiar scent of jungle flowers. It’s gone as quickly as it comes and he wastes no time in falling into step beside the once Loessian Queen again, a muscle jumping in his taunt jaw as he grinds his teeth. A cruel joke his mind must be playing on him, feeding off the small reserve of hope that’s left.

There is a thought of reaching for Cheri, of burying his muzzle beneath the silky layers of green and rainstorms, until his thoughts had traveled elsewhere. It’s not one he acts on although the temptation is still there. Instead, he throws her an infamous smirk (as if he had been thinking of illicit activities on a certain muddy bank instead of his lost sister) and by the time they are thoroughly in the territory his expression has become the usual one of indifference. He did have a reputation that proceeded him after all.

“Any sign of Aela yet?” He eventually asks, studying an overgrown mushroom of electrifying colors and wondering what eating one would be like. It wouldn’t surprise him if the golden mare hadn’t arrived yet, knowing there was no love lost for her when it came to this place. A hatred that he could fully understand, his own resentment towards a certain volcanic kingdom still stirring beneath his star adorned breast. As for Cheri, and here he can’t help but glance at her again out of the corner of a crimson iris, this had been a place she had loved. A place of bittersweet memories. This must be difficult for her too. He thinks of asking her about it, if it bothers her being here, but then thinks better of that as well. When and if she wanted to confide in him, she would. He would not force her hand, in this or anything. Not anymore.

obscene

@Aela
@Cheri

[Aela]

Aela has no love for the Taiga.

She had taken up residence on the Nerinian border, preferring to remain closer to the brother who seemed intent on making a name for himself. The cave she had found was not unlike the one that Heartfire once preferred and so the palomino had made her home there, content (for now) with the comparison. It was only when she left the moorlands for the trees that the emotion would fade and Aela would find herself staring up at the immortal trees that had once seemed like prison guards; as immovable and unyielding as the Mountain itself to a young filly told that she must stay quiet and hidden.

Taking over the Taiga was a necessity, she told herself. Their hold of it could only help Reave’s rule and he, in turn, could solidify their claim. It was not the Pampas, and it certainly wasn’t Pangea, but Aela had told herself that this was a start. (Her only consolation was her dark humor; if this next home also happened to sink into the sea, then really, they had done Beqanna a favor.)

Venturing further through the Northern forest, her mind drifted to thoughts of Fyr and others still lost. She thought of channeling that into something productive. A trip to the Field could bring in a new recruit as well as information for others displaced by the sinking of the South. Things were still washing ashore at the Ruins, even foul beasts like Wherewolf.

But her thoughts end there when a familiar baritone rumbles through the long-leaf ferns, stopping the small palomino. Turning her lovely face towards the direction of the voice, Aela slipped beneath one plant and then through a cluster of them before emerging in front of Obscene and Cheri, as if the very mention of her name had made her materialize. "Right here,” Aela sang out crisply while her blue eyes flashed between the pair.

@Cheri @Obscene just thought i'd throw her in this while i was getting posts done, but if thats not alright, just let me know!

[Cheri]

For the first time, Cheri thinks she might understand what her father had meant about walking with “ghosts”. Taiga’s scenery was nearly enough to elicit daydreams or nightmares about wisps and wights floating around, since the woodland acres were nearly constantly covered in either fog or darkness. But the spirits Yanhua often mentioned to his brood of younglings (Cheri’s half brothers and sisters, and the many cousins who joined them during lessons) were not of the physical kind. They were memories, forgotten by time and left to disperse among the misty silvergreens until new ones were made.

Those spirits of Cheri’s past would’ve been laid to rest forever, had the young mage not returned home. And she had never intended to - not really. A visit here or there was usually enough, but her duties and dreams always seemed to take precedence. The redwoods would always be here, she remembered telling herself. Her family would always be here.

How stupid and naive she’d been.

Now she’s left to recall those brighter days and darkest of nights, picking them up like the wetness clinging to her soft pelt as she and Obscene made their way deeper into the heart of the - no, *their* territory. She kept having to remind herself that they were here to assume power, though any second she expected to see Memorie or sweet, strong Reynard appear from the shadows to welcome her back.

They never did.

Now and then she turned her cheek, catching Obscene’s eye as it idly swapped expressions. When the pair could not avoid one another’s gaze, Cheri would smile warmly, boldly, to encourage the behavior and ensure that there was no lingering regret over her and Ob’s time by the River. In fact, she would’ve readily stayed there had he asked - but the Fae Prince hadn’t. They had business to attend to, and no doubt a waiting emissary who didn’t like to keep her striped legs idle for long.

“Speak of the Devil.” Cheri couldn’t help but to laugh at Aela’s showing up on cue, amused at the blue-eyed beauty.

This was it, then. No sense in delaying the inevitable with small talk.

“Have you spoken to Reave?” She wanted to know, curious if the trouble-starter had time or not to seek out the new King of the North. Part of her wanted to mention Nashua as well, but on that matter the black-and-green pegasus remained quiet.

“Not that I think he’ll have any objections, but I’d rather us start out on the right hoof.”

@Obscene @Aela  better late than never lol

[Obscene]

Don't look back, nothing left to see
I can feel you though, wake me from this dreamin

His mother had told him a story of Taiga once. It had happened years ago, around the time she had met his father. An Uncle of his had taken the Taiga and following the chaos that ensued, the land had sunken much like their homes in the South had. She hadn’t seen the disaster for herself but it had been much the talk at the time. Rumors of wolves made of waves and strange thorns barricading the land from even being seen until the gods had deemed Beqanna worthy of it again.

He wonders if they will be met with the same resistance but it is not something he worries about. He had simply strolled into the wildflowers and taken it for himself and between the three of them, snatching this place should be just as much of a cake walk as the Pampas was.

The moment he mentions his former golden Seneschal’s name, she appears from the foliage as if she had been there the whole time. A flicker of amusement follows Cheri’s laugh before he smoothes himself out again, an ear swiveled in their direction as he redirects his gaze back to the forest before him. A muscle jumps beneath his dark skin as he rolls his broad glittering shoulders, exhaling slowly as he listens to the two mares and their talk of Reave. His smirk returns, having no doubt that the bone-clad stallion who could see futures had always known exactly where his luck would land.

How fitting for the Dark Fae to come take a land of mist and mysterious woods beneath him.
It wasn’t what he really wanted of course. He wanted what belonged to him as much as he wanted it to fall to the sea as the South had. It was a strange place to arrive to after so many internal arguments but he glances in the direction of the West with a thoughtful look in the depths of red.

”If he does, I’m sure we will hear it from him soon enough.”

He says roughly and by the time he turns to them, there is nothing but the hardened indifference, a chill in the depths of red despite the burning intensity of his gaze. “Shall we?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, now being the one to push past overgrown ferns and weave through giant trunks and as he moves, he pulls from his powers of the feast and wildflowers spread through the path he takes before his hooves. If anyone was still here, they would be aware of them soon enough.

Even Reave couldn’t deny that he wasn’t running anymore.

obscene

@Aela
@Cheri