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Home » Search » Roster » Whitepages » Records » FAQ » Guidebook
It's only forever, it's not long at all
Open Green Labyrinth 
Zahra
Currently championing:
#1
Zahra & Ilham
It was pride that turned angels into devils
True to its name, the Green Labyrinth, was proving to be a hindrance now that her father couldn’t fly - now that their journey was more or less bound to the misted, invisible contours of this, the western flank of the Rift. 

Explore, had been the directive from the many-face god, the centre of the jigsaw that they were slowly piecing back together. Zahra was trying to unravel the tangles of his world, the reasons, the reality, and section by section (event, by cold, callous event), the picture was beginning to shine through. 

"We haven’t much further…" she whispered, lied, hoped in vain, as they drew a blind path through the ever moving fog. After the Wolf, the shadows and their wicked apparitions, there had been little other option for the travelling duo, then press forward; continue, study the landscape which by now, seemed all but escapable - there otherworldly new reality. 

And before now, it had seemed rather alright. 

Manageable. 

Eyes glanced back, stealing a tentative view of the one-winged man who lagged behind. He’d grown so quiet, preoccupied, lost beneath a tsunami of thought, and for the most part, the awkward company that they had been sharing, had grown rather more uncomfortable; distant. Never the less she guided them forward at a gradual pace, examining the scenery with baited interest - for really, there was little else to do. 

"You look tired…" Zahra announced finally, swivelling upon lean pinions to confront the stallion. As though descending through his own version of fog, her father’s eyes lifted to meet her and she smiled with quiet reserve. "You wait here," she mumbled, realising as she spoke that he had very little option anyway (that it was probably a cruel direction given his predicament), "I'm going to fly ahead to find shelter." 

But from what?

The rain had eased a day ago, and though the stagnant air was pregnant with revolting humidity, there seemed to be no relief on the horizon. "I mean… food," she mentioned as an after thought, turning, spreading guiltily her glorious monochrome wingspan to venture off for a moment without him. But she did so regardless, and the rush of wind through her rippling feathers quickly overrode the weight of the remorse she felt for leaving. 

Unfortunately, there was little in the way of earth to be found from on high, and soon enough, Zahra was forced down once more, to make use of other senses instead of sight - sound, touch and taste, while the thick mist shrouded everything else. Far to the north (west), the silhouette of a something jagged jutted out against a golden, eerie sky blanket of sky, and she wondered perhaps if her father had the energy to walk far enough to find it. 

She sighed… "He isn’t injured..." The golden-bellied had made absolute certain.

Hesitantly she paused, raking whiskered lips across the humid, grassless loam, caught in time between the savage hand of indecision, and the bubbling, brooding urge to move forward.  
 
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Note: She's alone, any welcome :)
Dreadnought
Currently championing:
#2



The mist was so thick, so full, that it felt like a mother's warm embrace. With living walls all around, he could just as likely have been in the womb, curling up, making himself ready to go through pain to face the world. But he was not. Him curing up on the ground had as little to do with love as it had with the need to rest, as the voices from the past would not quiet themselves. He was halfway dreaming, while a warrior, a queen and a princess toyed with his feelings and making it hard to breathe. But at least he was alone - sheltered - invisible to the world, if only for a precious moment.

His breath was heavy when he opened his eyes, but they did not dart around the greenish surroundings as most would do to make sure they were safe. If some magnificent beast hid in here and suddenly decided to stomp him flat like a pancake, he would not fight. Hell, he wouldn't even care. What did it matter if he finally met his end in this godforsaken place? Would the Warrior care? The Queen? The Princess?

Possibly not.

They were most likely dead. Or fucking around somewhere.

He snorted when he finally decided to stop feeling sorry for himself. There was no time for it, honestly. And since he had not been killed by the Beast that supposedly lived here (in his head), he decided to take on that task himself as he got on his feet, slowly. Giving his body a firm, yet violent shake, he felt more awake than he had been in weeks. Well then.. If he was to take his new job seriously, then he should start to explore this misty shithole as soon as possible. He just had to decide on one thing first - where to piss.


@Zahra
{Image: pixel_commission___arxzero_by_feathercan...aw3iva.png}
“Are you as surprised as I am that I’m the only one here behaving myself?”
Zahra
Currently championing:
#3
Zahra & Ilham
It was pride that turned angels into devils
Often Zahra had paused on the western coast of Helovia to watch the ocean’s turning tide, mesmerised, especially when the full cheddar moon had shed gloriously golden light down to glitter the glassy, churning surface. There was a tranquility in its presence - even as the tempest wind harried it into a violent froth - the sea was bold and brave, constant and a dominant presence to behold. So too was there a memory within her mind, when the serenely natured God of the Earth, had posed upon the cliffs of his coastal kingdom to orchestrate his salty element into a grand sounding choir. 

It was strange though, she didn’t ever recall the moment from the tangle of her own life’s experiences…

Like that surging tide, the mists of this wonderland rolled like tortured waves across the surface of the earth around her, leering and leaning nearer whenever they thought her guard might have lapsed - but Zahra was wary as she turned back to find Eleos, and with a swerving face, constantly on the move, there was little around her that remained unnoticed. Carefully and quietly she walked back the way she had come, but dense mist cloaked the ground even as each hoof found the supple soil below, and it became quickly apparent that this clandestine world had the upper hand. 

She paused, head turned to the sky as though that darkened expanse might unleash a bolt of sunlight at any moment to spare her the way - of course, since the death of the God of the Sun, there'd been nought but this dank, humid, greyness. Finally, they golden-bellied mare decided to steal back through the air, but as she unfurled her broad wingspan and gathered strength through her thighs to launch forward, the voice in her mind whispered concern, that another was approaching; listen, beware, the little spider implored as she threaded a silken path towards the burrow behind her sister’s ear. 

Zahra turned swiftly to find the familiar figure of a man discovered previously, and fear gripped her heart, purging a throbbing flood of adrenaline down through the labyrinth of golden veins throughout her frame. "Oh no…" she whispered under her breath, ears slipping rearward as the menace loomed closure - perhaps yet to notice her inconspicuous self (in comparison). But he was there, easily near enough to outrun any attempt she might make to flee, and certainly lofty enough to knock a flighted bird from her ascent. 
Image

@Dreadnought
Dreadnought
Currently championing:
#4



It was done and he felt ten pounds lighter. With the scent still lingering in the air like a perfume, he allowed his body a nice, long stretch. Joints popped and cracked, before he eased into his normal stance. Small things like that made him feel like a new man. A piss, a stretch and boom! The day seemed lighter and brighter and with endless possibilities just waiting to get turned into something horrendous. Well, where to go first then?

With no way of deciding which direction to take (as everything looked the same), he decided to go forward. It was the easiest option and the one that demanded the least amount of energy, which suited him well. No point in wasting time on choices that did not really matter, right? So he walked at a leisurely pace. his head swinging gently from side to side, while some of his silken tail hairs danced in the faint breeze. His mind always went blank when he walked like this, his body taking over and everything worked perfectly. There was no conflict, no inner demons screaming for his attention as he just walked. This, however, did not mean that he turned into a braindead zombie that only walked and did nothing else. No. He still had his focus on the surroundings, picking up every piece that seemed to not fit, especially the smell that almost was hidden in the heavy air. Without knowing it, he changed direction slightly, following it like a dog until her form appeared out of the fog.

He did not recognize her. Had it not been for her perfume, he would have thought it was someone else, someone new, but it was her, the Little One. Seeing her made him halt maybe a bit too close, but he had to be sure it was really her, as her appearance did not match what she had looked like before. It puzzled him, and more so when she so clearly showed fear. "You look like you have seen a ghost." He said, trying to not let his faint amusement creep into his voice. This was the reaction he was used to seeing when others spotted him and not the cocky, stupid shit she had done when they first met. Finally some respect, eh?

He stepped closer. "Do I look that horrendous to you?"


@Zahra
{Image: pixel_commission___arxzero_by_feathercan...aw3iva.png}
“Are you as surprised as I am that I’m the only one here behaving myself?”
Zahra
Currently championing:
#5
Zahra & Ilham
It was pride that turned angels into devils
The shadowy figure, as it loomed and lumbered before her like amassing black storm clouds on the horizon, was a formidable sight to behold and frozen to the spot by burgeoning apprehension, Zahra began to tremble. 

The previous meeting between them, which she knew she’d approached rather poorly, rang through her mind like tolling alarm bells; deafening, ominous. Her approach had been brash, obnoxious and misleadingly confident, for behind the ostentatious presentation of wit and quick-footedness, the golden-bellied had been but a wraith of life itself. So much had changed in the meantime, life changing moments to set new purpose and motivation, hard in her mind, and as she watched him near, now, her newly found resolve began to sway. 

The thick, swirling mist did little to conceal her chalky-hued face (or the fear strained along its curves); nor did they serve to slow the long, ground devouring of even this most lax-natured stride - he continued well after eye that glowing white eye had trapped her own. 

"N-no…" arrived her stammered response, partly choked by the thick musk of his hot, humid breath as it avalanched down upon her. Sooty ears hastened rearward, easily betraying her discomfort there before the mammoth beast, and her throat angled upwards, backwards, in a meek attempt to regain space. Magic, pulled from slumber in the labyrinth of her veins, began to bubble - the need to defend, protect them (for Ilham rode aloft), survive, was swelling through her tingling, twitching nervous-system. Like the heat of adrenaline, the rising feeling shocked her awareness, and one wasp hummed, and then another hummed through the narrow sliver of air left between them. 

"I uh… I was not myself - want to apologise…" she panted with a noticeably fraught tenor igniting each fragment of word. With golden eyes fixed to the flying insect, she forced the prickle of leaking energy down and out of reach - at least until she could gage better the intimidating stallion’s intention. 
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@Dreadnought
Dreadnought
Currently championing:
#6

Was she about to shit herself due to fear?

It almost seemed so, as his head swayed far over her like a dragon flew over a defenseless sheep. He did enjoy it, partially, until stuttering and an attempt at regaining more room suddenly made him change his mind. Had he not decided to stop using fear to get what he want? He was sure he had, especially after taking part of that horrendous slaughter years ago. Size was not everything and he knew that damned well. So he pulled his massive body back and stepped to the side so she could breathe, if that was what she wanted. He was not on the search for vengeance nor an apology, as words had as much impact like tears in rain.

"Who was you then?" He asked in a quiet voice, one bereft of threats and anger. It was not like he did not want to hear those sweet words of remorse, but in this moment, it did not matter. Her dark side had been revealed too soon and he would, despite not recognizing her appearance, forever remember her recklessness and harsh words. It had not suited her, as fear did not suit her now. And sometimes, just sometimes, the ones with the coldest of hearts were the ones that had felt the heat the most. He had - and he was burning still.


@Zahra
{Image: pixel_commission___arxzero_by_feathercan...aw3iva.png}
“Are you as surprised as I am that I’m the only one here behaving myself?”
Zahra
Currently championing:
#7
Zahra & Ilham
It was pride that turned angels into devils

As he withdrew, like rolling black clouds behind the storm-front, Zahra couldn’t help but suck greedily at the flood of (humid, dank), fresh air as it spewed into the gap left between them. Pastel eyes narrowed frigidly upon the swing of his over-sized jawline, the jugular more or less unprotected, and the fleshy, ebon breast between the motion of his forearms - this, she mused with a tinge of hidden bitterness, is probably his prettiest side. There was constructive, sensible silence as her bonded ignored the snideness of the thought; Ilham watched from beneath oily ashen wires of the mare’s unkempt mane, undecided whether the brute before them was truly as mean-natured as his behaviour implied.

They had seen a good number of egotists through the years (predominately with horns), who really had nothing to back up the rottenness of their spirit. 

“Play safely,” she bid her sister at last, and Zahra began to count at once - a skill learned to unravel built tension. 

One, two, three, four, five…

And she might have made it to six, except the smooth thrum of Dreadnought’s quietly mannish voice slithered forward first. Sooty ears flinched forward to meet the unexpected sound, and her gaze snapped hither, scrutinising his stance, posture, presence from beneath the cunning veil of greying forelock. She couldn’t help but snot softly at his question - even Zahra struggled with the unbalanced, leaking faucets of her personality. "Still Zahra…" she announced, the reappearance of some confidence, slipping through her tone. "Just…" less crafty; “No…” The spider whistled a red warning through her mind. "Sick," she informed him, in a very controlled fashion. 

"It doesn’t matter anyway," she continued, aiming the first hint of a cosy smile in his direction. "Dreadnought, right?" She couldn’t remember which bridges were crossed last time - certainly a big one had been burned - so she played an easy card and approached their fresh start with a bolder, brighter, safer beginning. "I think we’re kinda stuck down here (again a smile), the rain is dumb, but there are a few cool places around. What’d you think?" Zahra made a bold decision to severe her (mistrusting), eyes from his skin, and thoughtfully she spanned them across the length of the horizon to the east. 

His horns still look stupid, she mused against her companions better, smarter judgement.
Image

@Dreadnought
Dreadnought
Currently championing:
#8

There was a lot that could happen in the blink of an eye.

Emotions could change, minds could be set and anger could spark like lightning. Calmness rarely arrived that quickly and neither did the realization of understanding, but sometimes, only sometimes, did they mark their presence at once. His thoughts mixed with her words, set the situation in a whole new light when the personal space was restored and minds could run freely. He knew he was daunting and the glowing marks and ice tinged horns did not help to make him seem mellow or kind. He had been bred for blood and guts and glory, molded from a young age into something that should have been killed before it left it's mother's womb. Years had been spent fighting against everything, until fate finally knocked the ground from under his feet. He had just about found his footing now, but he knew painfully well that only a few misspoken words could make the world bloody again.

But she would never know that.

He breathed calmly as he kept her in his white gaze, always noticing how she moved and the seconds of silence she so often stole. Zahra. So that was her name. He thought it fit her perfectly, just like his name fit him. It did not seem like she would waste time on the sickness, so he offered her a slight nod when she spoke his name. Sometimes it was odd hearing those exact letters slide from the throat of others, as it once had meant so much. Now, they were almost hollow.

"I think you are right." It was not hard to play nice, not even when he threw on a chuckle to lighten the damp mood. Dish sized hooves sunk deeper into the ground as he stepped to her side, lifting his head to follow her gaze. "If you lead, little one - I will follow."


@Zahra
{Image: pixel_commission___arxzero_by_feathercan...aw3iva.png}
“Are you as surprised as I am that I’m the only one here behaving myself?”