07-13-2017, 10:40 PM (This post was last modified: 07-14-2017, 12:27 AM by Ki'irha.)
There is something stifling about being consumed by everything and nothing all at once. The ground had been beneath her — she can still feel the scrape of stone and dirt beneath cloven hooves as she had struggled to remain planted on Helovian soil — and then it wasn’t, and she was falling, rising, suspended. Whatever is happening, wherever she was or was not, is terrifying, yet somehow there is peace to be found in the silence, in the blackness, hurtling through the shimmering void.
Is this death?
Everything she remembers is muffled, distant, though the fact that it has just happened, is still happening, and despite how it is somehow obscured, it races through her mind on repeat. Being ushered like sheep to the slaughter, Violent destruction. The death of gods. Mesecs screams. Vesper’s forlorn emptiness as she shares at a godless sky. Pushing them towards the portal, teeth bared, wearing her warriors garb. Not knowing what she pushes them towards, but knowing it is better than being destroyed in shadows and bright light. Again it passes by — Ushered, destruction, death, screams, emptiness, push. Ushered, destruction, death, screams, emptiness, push. The swells of violence lap at her consciousness like waves, and she is alone in a boat cast out to a stormy sea. Rocking, ebbing, flowing. Is this her deliverance? Is she saved, her sins forgiven, being carried to the next life? Where did the dead go if there was no afterlife waiting for them?
All the starlit mare wants to know, needs to hear, is that her loved ones are alright. So much death, so much destruction, and she prays that Mesec and Vesper had made it through to the other side. They wll be strong and brave and continue on without her. Hadn’t they already done that once before?
Suddenly she is gaining speed, and the gentle rise is becoming a rapid dive, and her legs flounder beneath her, mane whips around her face, her heart is in her throat and a whirlwind is in her head. Then, all at once, she is flung from the void of nothingness, and she hits solid ground. A pained unmph escapes her as she lands on all four hooves, which are about as stable as having jellyfish for legs, and she tumbles, hitting her knees painfully upon the grassy turf, ending up ass over tea kettle with her legs in the air, and finally coming to rest on her side. The curls of her mane fall in tangles, a wave of white upon the darkened grass, and no longer is she wondering if she is dead, because she didn’t feel like death would begin to hurt so late in the game. After a moment she catches her breath and slowly rises, shaking off the dust, and raises her head, silver eyes taking in for the very first time her new world.
Mists, silky and smokey, coil around the trunks of the trees. The risking pillars with their tangled canopies are dark, looming, silhouetted by an eerie hued glow. She shivers, thankful for the pelt upon her shoulders that shields wandering eyes from seeing the nerves that dance along her flanks, and glad it can help protect her from some of the dampness. She stretches every limb, ensuring that nothing is obviously broken, and looks to her side at the fragile prize she had found shortly before being called to the devastation. Hung within the wolf’s teeth is a lantern, and she is pleased to see that the glass is intact, and that the dust swirling within it still seems to cast a hearty glow. She reaches, lifting it by the chain rested upon the diamond teeth of the pelt, and holds it high. The underbrush shudders, and she can hear things wandering, watching, waiting. It’s best to get moving.
Her family can’t be far, at least she hopes. Who knew if they had even been cast out to this same place? “Mesec?” she calls, the voice slightly muffled due to the chain within her mouth, but clear all the same. “Vesper?” Ears twist, and she is careful to watch her step, but also look for any signs of her beloveds. “I am here, where are you?”
She will not fall victim to any who haunt this place, so she stands tall, powerful, a dauntless warrior, daring any to cross her path and separate her from her family. In her focus, her firm stance, she does not notice how her stars, spilling across her curves, have seems to begun to glitter like galaxies, how moonlight seems to illuminate her mane, how her forelegs appear to be dipped in stardust. It is barely there, a gentle pulse, a gift perhaps granted by the rift, or one to fade away in the moments following her entrance. But that does not matter. She cares not of any of these things. Only one thing occupies her mind.
In the inky darkness, she needs to find the Moon and Stars.
If I had only felt how it feels to be yours, I would have known what I've been living for
{SAFE} :: [ Magic: LightxSpark | Can summon white sparkling light animals that give electrical burns on contact. ]
:: [ Restrictions | 3 small apparitions (dog or smaller) or 1 large apparition and range 10m from body. ]
Enchanted items
{SAFE} :: [ Item: Enchanted Lantern | Medium-sized lantern filled with stardust that hangs from a chain around the neck; glows from within. ]
:: [ Restrictions | Glows with the brightness of fire from a torch ]
{SAFE} :: [ Item: Hairpiece Comb | Crystal comb with a sparkling, living flower from Heart Caves encased within. ]
Rift-god / Kaos items: Nada
Amulets : 1 Spark Amulet
Companions : None
Species change : Nope
Requests: All white areas (mane, spots, socks) glow and sparkle softly, with spots twinkling like stars
^^ -crosses fingers for above- And if you desire to add anything temporary to mess with her, I’m game!
*Editing for regular items as proof of transfer*
:: [ Item: Clothing | Hood lined with soft fleece and repels water, covers base of neck to horn when up and looks like a scarf when down ]
:: [ Item: 2/4 Horsehoes | Defensive. 2/4 of platinum diamond-studded horseshoes. ]
:: [ Item: Cloak | Defensive. White wolf pelt with diamond canines and sapphire eyes. Secures in place white gold clasps and a leather strap connecting the paws. ]
:: [ Restrictions | Offers limited protection ]
:: [ Item: Jewelry | A blue-tinted diamond shaped in the form of a six-pointed star, in a white gold setting with a white gold chain. ]
:: [ Item: Trinket | A slice of agate with rings of dark blue, grey, and black, with speckles of clear quartz studding like stars within it, and center is jagged milky quartz. Rim is dipped in silver. ]
:: [ Item: Trinket | Feather bundle with black feather from Mesec and Silver feather from Vesper ]
Tiny critters—none of them familiar, let me assure you that—skitter in the underbrush. They're brave, for being so close to the roiling mass of energy that is the Portal.
Or curious. Or stupid. Or not as harmless as the rabbits and mice you're used to.
The earth groans and turns beneath you. It shifts. It quakes.
You don't have much to feed this place with, and it's disappointed.
Magic:
Offensive: Can summon animals of white, sparkling light. Touching them causes electrical burns.
Items:
Vanity: Medium-sized lantern filled with stardust. It glows from within and hangs on a chain.
Vanity: A crystal comb with a sparkling, living flower from Helovia's Heart Caves encased within it.
Amulets: The amulet dissipates in silence.
You might think that is the end of it, that all is calm, that the worst is over—no one is bursting in clouds of black and teal, no voice is yelling at them, no creature is dispassionately murdering a world.
Don't trust things that go silently, easily. You twitch, then jump; every white area on your body sparks and arcs with little lightning bolts. It burns and tickles and jolts. It rises in a crescendo, until you can barely feel your body for all the interference, and then.. it fades. Left is a glow, like the cold brightness of the moon, but take it easy, tiger; when your pulse races, the lightning races, too.
Mortimer was silent as he crossed through realms, worlds and portals. Leaving his father behind to die in the carnage that had ensued had left him numb with grief and confusion. The edges of fear that had crept up on him during the death throes of battle had given way to a sadness he didn't want to acknowledge because it hurt too much to do so. Why? Why had Sacre, his father, died? What for? Would these questions plague him for the rest of his life? For however long or short that was? He stared at his surroundings, the mist and creepy neon glittering, he felt like he'd simply been transported from one nightmare to another. He had run blindly from the chaotic scene that had befallen Helovia and hurtled headlong into this fucked up disaster. In simple honesty, it looked like something his Grandfather might've dreamt up when high on whatever narcotic he was into at the moment. There were twisting vines and trees if one could make them out through the swirling smoke and the dark shadows. Mortimer scowled at the blinking eyes that ominously flashed through the ethereal scene, his slim honey ears slid back, challenging them to blink again, as his body went completely rigid in startled shock at his new surroundings. His eyes squeezed shut, this wasn't real, it couldn't be real, Sacre wasn't dead, he was still in Helovia and this was just a stupid nightmare. Yet, no matter how many times he opened and closed his eyes the scene never changed, he never woke up, the dream stayed the same until reality became a possibility.
In his chagrin he sparked to life his stiff posture, not wanting to remain on his own he searched for Tandavi, pleading that his mother was here somewhere, that he wasn't alone in this freaky world.
With every step he took, the more he felt like the Rift was alive, alive in a different way Helovia was, more conscious of his movements, like a painting on the wall watching him walk by. Perhaps it was simply his mind playing games on him, it was easy to succumb to the brains mental tricks when surrounded by mist and smoke that obscured what the eyes could see. In the absence of clarity, his mind got creative and made up what might be there or indeed what could be here.
Hearing a call he chased after the sound, only to find a white maned mare at the end of it and his shoulders drooped in disappointment and trepidation. Yet, not wanting to be on his own, Mortimer lingered near her, shuffling his cloven feet on the surface below and shooting the odd glance at her from under his burnt red eyelashes before finally his brilliantly blue eyes glazed with forlorn desperation. "Have you seen Tandavi?" he asked her, pleaded her, praying that she had, that mother was here and he wasn't alone. That they both hadn't left him alone at the mercy of Kaos.
:: [ Magic: Light (P) | A golden moon henna tattoo that travels up his right foreleg in direct moonlight. ] SAFE
:: [ Restrictions | Of no use in battle. ]
Enchanted items
:: {Item: Enchanted Figurine | A figurine of the Sun God that glows. ] \n\n:: {Item: Enchanted Red Arrow | Glows crimson whenever Sacre\\\'s twin (Roux) is threatened or endangered. ]\\n:: [Restrictions | Glow fades with distance. ]\\n\\nNot using my safe pass on either :3\\n \\nRift-god / Kaos items\\nnone \\n\\n Amulets : (provide number)\\nnone \\n\\nCompanion/s : \\nnone\\n \\nNormal Items\\n[Item: Figurine | A glass figurine of the Moon Goddess}\n[Item: Time God Flower | Small blue flower from the God of Time}
Without Ki’irha encouraging him forward, biting at him to drive him into the portal, Mesec truly wasn’t sure if he would have gone. The twisting, confusing mess that summed up the trip into the new world was a welcomed distraction and relief. The sick feeling in his gut as he got tossed and jolted through before landing on the other side was bliss compared to what he had been experiencing.
Or maybe he was feeling sick because every time he closed his eyes, he saw someone else he loved explode in light and smoke.
Lyra was with him, whining softly as she scrambled onto his back - using her teeth and claws to scratch at her skin at some phantom itch that was burning her skin. He cast his mind out for Lucius, but felt nothing - a hollow hole where his bond with the zephyr had been.
Mesec’s breathing started to grow ragged, his heartbeat so loud and consuming he feared he was going deaf. He felt like he was dying.
It was only when he heard a familiar voice call out his name that he started to catch his breath - only when she called out the name of their daughter that his head stopped swimming and he was able to focus. “Ki’irha!”
He hurried over to the star-lit mare, noting that she shone a little brighter here than she had in Helovia, and he didn’t stop until his neck was wrapped around hers. “I’m glad you’re safe.” He whispered the words into her neck, clinging to this small mercy. The rest of his family had to be okay, they must have made it through. Virga could still find them - he had faith in their son, that they might be reunited in this strange place.
Weirder things have happened.
Pulling away from Ki’irha, he answered the questioned posed by the colt - trying not to drown in the realization that this was likely his nephew, the last piece of Sacre to survive. “She was near us when we went through… We can help you look for her while we look for our daughter.” Of course, Mesec wanted to look for Tandavi too - to make sure she and their twins got through - but his mind was still reeling from everything he didn’t even think to mention it just yet. “I’m Mesec.” He offered, unsure of whether the boy knew who he was or if it had been complete coincidence that had caused them to drift over this way.
Magics:
{*]:: [ Magic: Dark (U) | Ability to teleport through shadow and shroud himself in it to disappear. ] \n:: [ Restrictions | May be used to evade an attack or travel quickly across the battlefield and can turn invisible for 20 seconds at a time ]\n^ protect please!\n{*}:: [ Magic: Dark (U) | Can transform into a shadow beast; retains memory and control while in this form. ] \n:: [ Restrictions | Transformation is painful, rending him immobile for 10 seconds and the beast form is still solid. ]\n^ protect using SWP participation pass!\n{*}:: [ Magic: Dark (P) | Demi-god ability: minor healing ability using shadows ] \n:: [ Restrictions | Can only heal minor injuries on themselves ]\n\nEnchanted items\n{*}:: [ Item: Poisoned Dagger | Offensive. Curved iron dagger laced with green poison blood ]\n:: [ Restrictions | Dagger has similar potency and effects to normal poisons. ]\n^ protect\n{*}:: [ Item: Golem | Offensive. Small and made of black sand, titanium, with a gold inner skeleton; gives out electric discharges on command (made by Zekle Orangemoon 6). ]\n:: [ Restrictions | Degrade over 1 site year without maintenance; can respond to commands but lack any real intelligence. ]\n{*}:: [ Item: Enchanted Key | A one-time use key that can be used to lock away a memory; sparkles as if coated in stardust. ]\n\nRift-god / Kaos items\n{*}:: [ Item: Glowing Black Fang | Small fang from the body of the Rift Wolf God ]\n{*}:: [ Item: Vial of Crocodile God Blood | Blood from the Crocodile God of the Rift ]\n{*}:: 3x Kaos amulet\n\nAmulets : 5 (1 x moon, 1 x sun, 3 x kaos )\n\nCompanion/s : \n{*}Lucius - royal roc zephyr - Early Drench 1170 - May 27, 2015\n[*}Lyra - common kitsune, dreams - Mid-Drench 1172 - December 17, 2016
^ protect Lyra
Species change (if applicable) : nope! Still a tribrid
Requests: I wouldn’t be opposed to the rift shrouding Mesec’s heart in darkness/shadows (could even be a corruption of his passive healing magic? his heart is pretty broken right now and could use some healing and/or could be the effects of the removal of his divine blood). Rift can take out some revenge on Moony on him for being her son/he helped her kill the wolf god!
Regular Items:
:: [ Item: Charm Bundle | Five small gemstone charms on a silver chain bundle ||1 sun (fire opal), 1 flame (red jasper), 1 lightning bolt (hematite), 1 birch leaf (petrified wood), 1 evening primrose (aquamarine). ]
:: [ Item: Wing Blades | Offensive. Jointed metal wing guards of four blades spring activated with a button (stolen from Adria) ]
:: [ Restrictions | Cumbersome to wear and heavily affect flight stability ]
:: [ Item: Trinket | A figurine of a black dragon with smoke coming from its jaws. ]
07-14-2017, 06:12 PM (This post was last modified: 07-14-2017, 06:13 PM by Tandavi.)
TANDAVI & NATRAJ we walked a lonely road
beneath the fire of a thousand suns
Somehow, we become separated.
In the surging sea of shoving bodies; in the looming dark of a shrouded sky; in the searing pain of my lover's demise I am lost, split away from the all I hold dear and isolated, a hanging figure, the still frame of a story I cannot fathom to be my life. And yet is it truly surprising? Is it hard to believe that this should happen to me, to us, to the souls I hold dear and the hearts that nestle close to mine? When have things gone well for me? When have I been happy - well and truly happy, euphoric and blissful, at peace and unafraid - for more than a season at a time? Certainly not while I dwelled in Helovia. The land of my birth is a wretched place, a cursed place; it takes joy and crushes it, smirks at light before snuffing it out. My home is a betrayer, a vicious lover, a cooing voice sweet with the scent of rotted flesh and corruption.
And now, my home is dead.
We land alone, my brother and I, the foreign soil curling under our hooves like ash and smoke. For a moment we pause, trying to gain our bearings- but the moment is fleeting, quickly overwhelmed by movement and life. Where are the children? we question in tandem, black eyes meeting gold in sinking realization, fear and anger snaking through us like an electric shock. There is no time for stillness, no opportunity for shock. There is only find and protect and fear, the horrible, encompassing fear that crawls around in my belly, the terror that Mortimer and my twins have gone the way of Sacre, of Ampere, of so, so many more.
Tight as a top I wander on, dark gaze seeking any sign of movement, any flash of familiar gold. Where are my children? Where is Amaris? They must be safe- they must be, because any alternative is impossible, because the thought of more death is a knife to my throat. Onward we stumble, deeper we search, tireless, relentless, for minutes that feel like days, until - there! - a spark of silver, the outline of wings, and we run, we run, my voice rolling thunder of hope and fear. "Mesec!" I cry to the familiar figure, ready to say more, wanting to know more, to confess I lost our daughters, to assault him for failing to fight, but then, then, beside him...
"Mortimer."
My voice is a sob, a laugh, relief flooding through me with the force of a tidal wave. The distance between us closes in steps; I fling myself at my copper son, neck reaching out to wrap around him, tears falling freely down gold-slashed cheeks, while Natraj wraps around the boy's legs, weeping his delight. Relief fills me up, but sorrow, too, because my oldest son is fatherless, abandoned, and how can I ever make up for that? Sacre is dead now, he's dead, and I watched his body twist and explode, watched him vanish into nothing as I stood there like a coward before running, fleeing, abandoning him to find my own safety, to make my own way, to maintain my own life as though it meant more, as though Imean more, as though he was nothing while I-
Sharp pain interrupts the downward spiral of my thoughts, and I look to find Natraj biting my fetlock, his expression just as forlorn as I feel. No, he tells me gently through our bond. His pain is a visceral, miserable thing; it taints the sunlight he tends to exude, and I cannot help the guilt that fills me, the anger at the world that it could do this to my brother. His gold gaze is dull, the fire of his tails and eyes burnt out. Not run. Save. Mortimer safe- do that for him. For them.
He's right- I don't believe it, but that doesn't change it, doesn't make my knowledge any less certain. Sacre is dead and we are alive, but so is Mortimer.
So, too, perhaps, are his sisters.
At last I look to Mesec, dark gaze flashing, barely registering the familiar woman who stands with us (is this Vesper's mother? I wonder blankly, and though the identity of the mare matters little to us, a twinge of sympathy pierces my heart - her daughter is missing, too). Rage is blooming bright in my lungs, the antidote to fear, the only thing that can overpower the howling winds of grief. It is all I can wield in this moment, all that keeps me from breaking into a million shattered pieces; passion lights me up in the night; the embers from my coat swirl and flow across my son, looking for any sign of injury, blanketing and caressing him as I glare at the father of the errant girls. My voice is flat, straight foward, a short snap -"I can't find your daughters." Your daughters - because in this new mischief, in whatever shit they're pulling (because they must be hiding, they can't be dead) they are his problem, his fault.
There is anger in my eyes, but there is also hope, and a plea - tell me it's okay, we're going to be okay, just help me now and we can make this okay.
SWP participation
Magics:
:: [ Magic: DarkxLight (U) | The ability to copy someone's magical ability by touch or being exposed to it ]
:: [ Restrictions | Can remember only the last 3 magical abilities at a time; in battle, she can only steal and use another magic once per post ]
^ SAFE
:: [ Magic: FirexLight | Can create glowing sparks, which can be manipulated to cover wounds and heal on touch ] (if the wording could be changed to embers instead of sparks that'd be RAD)
:: [ Restrictions | The larger the wounds, the more sparks she has to generate, and the greater the physical toll on her ]
^ SAFE
:: [ Magic: DarkxLight (P) | Able to sense magic in others and she experiences it as a series of flavors and colors, with each ability having its own distinct properties ]
:: [ Restrictions | Cannot tell what magical ability they have nor details without being told or having copied it ]
^DANGER WILL ROBINSON
Companion/s :
:: [ Companion: Kitsune | Mythical, plain | Fire | 4 yrs 1 mo ] - received 05-18-2013 - Late Scorch 1167 (this should also be Tandavi's age WHOOPS)
Oh, now, that's interesting—you can all feel the air go still and sharp and kind of pointed in your lungs, like you've all inhaled a lungful of brambles. It's like the entire world is a predator, eyes locked on the target, poised to strike, but you're just deer in the headlights; for a moment, the otherworldly forces in the Rift cause all of you to freeze, whether you want to or not. It's a command that defies your own inner natures, like some deity's hand has swooped down and pressed on your spinal cord, making you physically unable to move.
The Rift has many, many eyes; it can tap into the visual feed of any animal, but it also has eyes without bodies. They're the neon flickers around you.
All of them are trained on you, Mesec—for your blood runs hot and wild. You may no longer be in a realm which favors you, but you are still half God, and that, my dear, smells very, very nice.
And something's noticed.
It's hard to spot at first, but not hard to hear. Some kind of feet pound against the rain-slick earth, never once faltering—an alien scream rips through a narrow throat. Maybe you cast about wildly. Maybe you think it doesn't concern you—any of you.
But oh, it does. It does. The first thing you'll see are the lantern-like eyes, burning sharply blue, and then, the rest of the monster follows.
Monster is all one can call it. Teeth as long as your cannon bones. Jaws as long as half of you. Three times as tall. It walks upright, on sturdy legs, thick claws burrowing into the churned mud. Flexible forearms curl against its chest. Neon colors swarm across its scales, ever shifting, dizzying to look at.
The alien sound rips from its throat again, and without hesitation, it dives for Mesec, aiming to bite him clean in two.
Magic:
Transformation: Can alter his own appearance, but cannot add new appendages. This can be subconscious.
Items:
Vanity: A golden, vaguely glowing, animated figurine of a Sun God from another world. It is a sad, sad figurine, always weeping, always looking so.. down, but he never answers when you ask, just shakes his head and cries more.
The red arrow vibrates once, and then the magic in it dies. Now, it is just a pretty arrow.
[ TRANSFER NOTES: MESEC ]
Magic:
Defensive: Ability to merge with shadows. He becomes incorporeal and can move through them.
Transformation: Can transform into a shadow beast.
Healing: Can heal others, at the price of losing a happy memory each time.
Items:
Offensive: A curved iron dagger. It is laced with green poisoned blood.
Offensive: A small golem, made by Zekle. It is made of black sand and titanium over a gold skeleton. It gives out electric discharges on command, but only ever targets Mesec.
Vanity: A key that sparkles as if it was coated in stardust. It can lock away a memory.
God Items: Some kind of violent, vibrant dinosaur is trying to eat you. Do you really need to register, as well, the cackle in the air? And the fact that the vial of godsblood has grown very warm? Or that the wolf fang is jittering?
Amulets: But the Rift does not care that the half-God is about to be devoured by something three times its own size. It only cares about the due course of things, and thus, the amulets fly open, and the blood in them fly at one another in a small, sizzling burst. One drop, pitch black, flies to the fang, and that's where it gets interesting.
The fang flies straight at you, into you, between the ribs and straight into your heart. Maybe you're shocked you're kind of dying right now, but don't worry, it's a gift—the darkness wraps around your mind, with quite awful timing because that monster was just about to take a bite from you.
For a moment, your delirious mind wakes up in a pool of silver water, and you see your mother above you. On both sides of the pool sits dark wolves. One is you, the other has lantern-like eyes, and a strip of red down his throat.
The one thing you have in common is that right now, all of you are dead.
Reszo's apparition gives you a tired smile, as does your mother. None of this is real.
You're jolted back into your own body, your mouth full of sharp, glowing black teeth instead of a horse's, and the wolf in you is coming out of the cracks. The soft, silky fur, the weird, distorted edges of the hair, like it's poking into another world—it's coating you from your withers down your shoulders, tangles at the front of your chest and runs in a thin line up your belly. And, the final, subtle crowning piece; the tip of your horn looks like the head of a snarling wolf, finely crafted down to the minute detail. The fang, cause of all this, is in your mouth (you might want to spit it out), the hole to your heart gone.
Frozen:
Lucius: Zephyr
Obtained: May 27 2015
Birth Date: Early Drench, 1170
[ TRANSFER NOTES: TANDAVI ]
Magic:
Transformation: Can copy another character's magical ability.
Healing: Has the ability to create glowing embers. The embers heal on touch.
Knowledge: Ability to sense magic in others. She experiences them as a series of flavors and colors, and each magic has its own unique properties.
Companion:
Natraj: Kitsune
Obtained: 18 May 2013
Birth Date: Late Scorch, 1167
Mortimer and Tandavi both get a small gift; their hooves leave a trail of gently glowing gold dust and harmless sparks where they walk.
She imagines them as stars, the eyes, blinking and twinkling, and stars don't have teeth, so neither must the eyes. It is the sudden happenings that interrupt her, a jarring sense of darkness, and the amulet woven into her mane, the beautiful ice blue stone set within its sterling setting, vibrates for a mere second before disappearing into a breath of black smoke. She had found that small prize jutting from the ice shortly after her arrival to the Basin, so its vanishing pulls at a heart string. But across her skin she feels lightening, and the electricity buries into her muscles, and for a moment she believes it will overtake her. It subsides nearly as soon as it begins, and she notices the pallid glow across her mane and tail, and she is enamored with the new galaxies strung out across her curves. But now is not time for vanity, so she shakes herself free from the self-reflection, and continues on her way, again calling out those two names.
A crashing pulls her attention, something thrashing in the underbrush, but before she can bear her sword, out emerges a yearling. Fright has rimmed his eyes with white, and though her defenses remain guarded, she smiles, though the expression is markedly sad. Who is Tandavi? A parent, a sibling, a companion? She never quite got to names upon the Thistle Meadow when she had happened upon the copper mare. "No, darling, I haven't. But I'm looking for loved ones, myself. Come," she gestured, pulling her head towards her, beckoning him closer, "we can look together."
Her own name cuts through the clearing, and her heart sings. He emerges from the darkness, and as he wraps himself around her, she nestles close, pressing a kiss against his neck, and the rhythmic twinkling on her hide seems to increase its tempo to chase the fluttering in her chest. "Oh, Mesec, I thought I had lost you again." The pain of separation eases, and though their daughter is still missing, he is here, and together they can find her. They will find her. He pulls away from her, and she turns to face the colt, keeping her shoulder close to Mesec's, close enough that either may lean and feel the other, and she finds comfort knowing that he is so close.
The trio turns to four, and the Firedancer emerges from the forest, yelling for Mesec. And then, the first beauty she has seen in this place unfolds as mother is reunited with child. Her heart aches for Vesper, for Virga, but despite all of the destruction, these two have been brought back together, one more strand reconnecting, one less bought of grief. Then the copper speaks again.
'I can't find your daughters.' Daughters? Plural? No, that can't be right. But maybe it is. Maybe it had been foolish to believe that she was anything more than just a one night stand that ended in something less-than-fleeting. Maybe her children were an accident, and he was simply being a good man, a good father, treating the mother of his children with chivalrous respect. Still, her heart breaks at the thought. It makes her heart sink, makes her stomach convulse, and she casts a look at Mesec. The look is gentle, but her face is sad, despite the smile that touches her lips. Despite the confusion and hurt that settles upon her shoulders, she reaches out again, placing a reassuring touch upon his neck. "We will find both of them," she softly promises. "Don't worry." Easier said than done. Vesper and a nameless daughter, hopefully lost together, so neither needs to face this new world alone. That is the best she can hope for.
The earth seems to shake, and churn, and it reaches out at the three who have joined her, culminating in shadows and darkness. The air seems to vibrate, and the celestial mare dances backwards, eyes wide in fright and shock, as it overcomes him. Before she can react, missing the tooth sailing in between his ribs, barely having time to take in his transformation, she notices the ground is shaking, and her eyes shoot towards the heaving nightmare as it steps clean into the pale glowing light. But it doesn't have eyes for her, it craves the one who has held her pieces together.
"NO!" The word is screamed, thundered, begging, and she leaps forward. She moves to defend him, fight beside him, die with him. She may be cast aside, and she knows there is a chance that she may meet the same fate as those left behind in Helovia, but she doesn't care. She doesn't care because even if she is an afterthought, even if she was just a womb, even if she was no more than a friend, she wouldn't stand by and watch him die. She wouldn't live knowing that she hadn't done her best to protect the one who she loves. She rears, whinnying a fearsome battle cry, and from the darkness beside her springs two glittering illuminated electrified wolves, snapping and popping crackles erupting from their toothy jaws, and they leap forward, aiming for the monster, and she hopes that as they erupt upon its hide that they burn with all the fierceness that burns within her.
She will not face more loss. Not today.
If I had only felt how it feels to be yours, I would have known what I've been living for
The Portal
