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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    [open]  “What do you fear, lady?' he asked. 'A cage,' she said.”; any
    #1

    BETTER BEWARE, I GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
    DEVIL-MAY-CARE WITH A LUST FOR LIFE

    The change from summer to autumn was a mesmerizing spell chanted in the colors of oranges, reds and yellows. The salmon and chestnut toned woman moves effortlessly over the green moss and brown leaf carpet of the forest as dappled sunlight highlights her features and muscles.

    Her youngest, sweet Zai, was growing bigger everyday and it would not be long before he towered over his mother. A smile absently pulls at her orange-pink lips as all her children's faces came to her. Each girl grew strong and independent with a strong heart and even stronger will. But Marlyn was so much like her father that it tugged at the queen mare's heart. Her spotted girl, her little wilding. Marlyn already stood over her mother. She was statuesque and beautiful. The twins were off on their own adventures and Josselyn was long from the kingdom. Beautiful Raene would be a mighty fighter like her father and Zai had the world at his hooves.

    A soft sigh escapes her lips as she thinks of Kreios...of the distance between them...the cold of his touch. His eyes no longer burned for her but yet they still tried. Ygritte moves to the forest to clear the cobwebs of her mind, to allow the king room for himself. She hoped for things to change, to better themselves but only time would tell.

    She blames herself for letting him down, pushing him away. She blames herself for the kingdom's silence. The strength in her shoulders slips off and her body sags slightly under the weight of her thoughts. Amber eyes gloss slightly as she maintains her composure and presses forward to allow the chilled air to soothe her soul, tend to the wounds that ached her heart.


    Ygritte.
    Reply
    #2
    In a world with no tolerance,
    We do what we shouldn’t have to
    He is watching her, ever closely. He sees how proud she is and how it decidedly wavers beneath the weight of her own thoughts and doubts. Without her ever seeing him Adriell observes and inclines his head. His beak clicks and his wings shuffle at his sides curiously. Had he been an empath he would melt beneath her sorrows and regrets, but alas, he is left wondering her troubles. A slow breath is drawn in as he teeters toward the end of the branch, anything to keep her in his vision as her body slumps in near defeat.

    His heart reaches out because he is far too kind, too loving, to comfortably see anyone in distress. The world is sinking beneath wars and tribulations and so he can only strive in raising those who need it. The blood pouring through his veins quickens, his heart pounding harder against its cage. It’s almost unbearable and so his wings unfurl and he descends in silence. With years of practice, he has finally grasped his own abilities. His claws are exchanged for hooves and feather for fur. What was an owl is now a horse standing near her with golden eyes that drink in the sight of her as though for the very first time. They are strangers – her scent doesn’t even warrant any familiarity – and yet he approaches as a friend, as a lost lover. Her breath coils and flares across his skin. A smile stretches across his lips at first, but then it nearly tumbles into a concerned frown. ”No, no, please don’t be sad,” his voice is honeyed, gentle and reassuring. He does not yet touch her; their closeness is enough, even if a bit much for her (never for him as he loves companionship). ”What ails you?” But what could possibly make her tell a stranger? Why would she ever indulge in someone she’s only just now meeting?

    ”I promise not to tell anyone,” a smile is his signature for his sincerity.


    ADRIELL
    And silently step to their dance
    picture copyright Yslen



    hope this is okay ><
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    #3

    BETTER BEWARE, I GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
    DEVIL-MAY-CARE WITH A LUST FOR LIFE

    The mare does not notice the owl hidden within sweeping branches but instead her attention is on the flutter of wafting dead leaves. They grow brittle and starve as the tree regains her sap, her blood in her veins. In turn, the leaves dry up and crumple to the ground below.

    The salmon pointed bay woman is not special. Very little sets her apart from equine to equine. She is not tall and statuesque. She is not intimidating nor a fighter. Ygritte...daughter of Nativity and Texas, was just like everyone else other than the simple mutation in pigment. Yes, she was a queen and had been for sometime but the distance that had grown since the birth of Zai ached in her breast. Kreios had spent time more away and even more so now that Zai was gone from her side. A low sigh conjures up from her throat and is passed over the coral lips.

    When the owl morphs to a horse, the amber of her eyes gaze with placid features. She was accustomed to many things but this was not one of them but with the reign of her queenship brought steadiness like a warship on calm seas. Pools gaze at the now form dark horse while a curious little smile plays upon the edges of her lips. "Oh no, no...-" when he asks her to not be sad, her gaze dipping away, "I...well...things change and it's inevitable." She finds her voice coming easily to her as she speaks and looks into the kind eyes, The stallion surged a sense of comfort and understanding but Ygritte bites back on the jumble of words to suppress their desire to be spoken and confess all her woes.

    "I'm Ygritte." The mare says her name -and only that- not queen of anything, not anyone's daughter.

    Just Ygritte.


    Ygritte.
    Reply
    #4
    In a world with no tolerance,
    We do what we shouldn’t have to
    He had hoped she wouldn’t be startled by him. Every fiber of his being waited on bated breath, wanting so badly to be accepted and when she doesn’t turn him away, a deep sigh of relief runs through him. A reassuring wave settles across his body and his muscles all immediately relax. He smiles still, unable to frown when she peers up at him. Despite his heart wrenching in his chest (hold her, comfort her) Adriell stands motionless with his eyes hardly wavering. He listens closely and notices how she tries to hide it from him, but then her voice falters and a shadow of the truth tumbles reluctantly off her tongue. ”Yes, things change,” he admits and glances distantly toward the horizon while trying to firmly grasp what changes life has forced on him. It’s minute in comparison because he has simply followed the stars, wandering to wherever the wind guided him. First it was the Dale with his family but then he wandered astray and found himself in a void so far from where he wanted to be. Unlike Ygritte, he has never experienced true love nor even the blessings of fatherhood. In that respect she is above him, but it doesn’t stop him from reaching out to catch her as she falls peril to her woes.

    ”But it’s usually for the best,” he adds with hopefulness, ”because it means that there is something even better waiting for you.” With having her still at his side, still not shying away from him, he reaches over and delicately presses his muzzle against the curve of her shoulder. ”Things happen for a reason,” or so he often tells himself in hopes that it’s true. It gives him something to believe, something to look forward to when he is faced with obstacles. And so he tries to incite that in her and tries to kindle her hope and happiness. Where there is looming darkness in her heart he tries to be the light, the beacon. It’s all he can do but even then, he feels it’s not enough.

    The confusion, the hurt, in her eyes draws him in but he can be no closer. He has already pulled his muzzle from her skin (he didn’t want to, but he doesn’t want to crowd her) and is trying to search her dark eyes for more, but he is fulfilled when she offers him her name. ”Ygritte,” he tastes it on his tongue and lifts his head fondly, ”I’m Adriell.”



    ADRIELL
    And silently step to their dance
    picture copyright Yslen
    Reply
    #5

    BETTER BEWARE, I GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
    DEVIL-MAY-CARE WITH A LUST FOR LIFE

    The dark stallion, a shadow of a distant past, an inky glimpse of a prospective future. Ygritte allows him to near her, she does not play the role of her usual stature. Her head is not lifted achingly high but instead sits comfortably at an incline with the sienna of her neck curled and allowing the salmon mane to fall like a dark peach curtain.

    For the first time, Ygritte sees the peculiar marking in gold on his side but she does not inquire as to it's purpose or how it came about for she feels the touch on her shoulder, the wrapping of warm breath against her skin.

    This startles her.

    The reflexes beneath her pelt made her jump, surprised. Did this man know her? Did he have her mistaken for another? No creature other than the king would ever dare to...but then she remembers. She is not a queen, no, not in his eyes. A small knowing (but bashful) smile plays upon her lips as the length of her lashes falls over her eyes.

    Lobes flicker as she smiles from the corner of her eye and lips when he offers his name and she laughs softly. "I suppose you are right, Adriell." She pronouncates her words slowly, meothodically when her own gaze shifts to the horizon and they drift dreamily from her lips.

    With a sigh to follow, her attention returns to her new companion. "Where are you from, Adriell and what brings you to the meadow on this lvoely day?" Ygritte admits (quietly) to herself that she is enjoying his company, though her thoughts drift to the spotted king and his whereabouts,

    (was he thinking of her? did he miss her?)

    but for now the bay woman welcomes the ebony male's company by the show of the warm smile that he had drawn across her coral stained lips.


    Ygritte.
    Reply
    #6
    In a world with no tolerance,
    We do what we shouldn’t have to
    He notices how she jumps underneath his soft touch. It startles him in turn and he reels back a step with curious eyes that find her gaze. ”I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,”it was a forward gesture, but it had been light (not light enough) and he keeps this larger space between them despite how much he aches to hold her close and comfort her. The pain and the uncertainty she endures leeks from her voice and betrays her smiling face, but he says nothing of it. Adriell has drawn her out enough, pulled her from a self-induced spell of solitude, and so he tries to comfort himself that this is helping her – that he is helping her.

    And then she smiles.

    His heart leaps and he returns it with a broad, cheeky grin. ”Oh, good. I was hoping you wouldn’t find my logic silly,” in his perspective he has great advice, but that’s very subjective to who he shares it with. In this situation Ygritte grasps onto what he says and thoughtfully considers them (he hopes she isn’t lying). His body shifts back and forth, one side to the other, and his exuberance shines brightly in his eyes. ”Don’t lose hope,” not that she had said she was, but he reflects on her slumped shoulders when he first laid eyes on her. I’m here for you, he wants to say, I’m a friend, but his lips purse together to avoid the unnecessary blabber until she asks him a question that slowly wipes away his joy.

    ”Well,” he begins after a long pause to consider it, ”I guess the Dale originally. My grandfather was the king at the time and he took me in, but I left there years ago. I’ve mostly just roamed around,” it hurts that he truly has no home, no children, no love. How can he offer her such hopeful advice when he can’t even admit to having experienced what she has? ”I was just hanging out in the branches when I saw you. You looked like you needed a pick-me-up so it’s a good thing I was here,” the honest answer is that this is mostly where he lives. Family and a home are concepts he hasn’t yet been able to embrace and hold; loneliness is his best friend most days. Although he says she was lucky he was here to lift her, in reality, it is Adriell who is lucky to have had her stroll into the meadow.

    ”And you,” despite being nervous as to why she came here so placid, so sad, he still asks, ”What brought you here?”


    ADRIELL
    And silently step to their dance
    picture copyright Yslen
    Reply
    #7

    BETTER BEWARE, I GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
    DEVIL-MAY-CARE WITH A LUST FOR LIFE

    This man, this stranger. Ygritte is confused by her own self. Her mind knows she is a queen...a respected mare amngst others. But Kreios...where was he? For a moment there is a cloudiness in her eyes as she felts guilt for even conversing with another outside her home but when looks upon the genuine face of Adriell with nothing but eager kindness in their depths, well...Ygritte can not simply push him away.

    "Oh it is fine, Adriell...sometimes I get lost in my own head." She offers him a smile accompanied by the lightness of her laugh. Ygritte notices when he smiles that his whole face seems to brighten and it was contagious. "Of course it isn't silly. Sometimes hope is all we have and sometimes we must just accept things as they are." She concludes the like minded thoughts with the dark stallion with a simple not to conclude it.

    It is when he begins to talk of his beginnings does she incline her own crown towards him, lobes moving as she listens carefully. The mentioning that he is from the Dale ripples across her features like a flash of light. "I am thankful I decided to visit the forest then, Adriell. For if not, you wouldn't have found me nor I would have you!" Ygritte can not help the soft peals of laughter that follow, her eyes closing. "You certainly did pick me up." Ygritte smiles with her lips as well as her eyes.

    But now it was her turn.

    "I am from the Falls. My family is there." Ygritte is not ready to break the spell, the web weaved around them yet by announcing her queenship. Truly the bay woman enjoyed the simple conversation, the need to only call another by one's name. Here Ygritte is like any other mare and he like any other stallion...though she will soon enough have to reveal herself completely if he asks.


    Ygritte.
    Reply
    #8
    Finding the bay and salmon mare with another, the warrioress watched the two converse for a time. She had a slight limp on her left hind leg because of a drop she landed wrong on going down the cliff-etched mountains they had landed on. It was difficult at first, because she was exhausted and the air was thin - providing little oxygen for tired lungs. "Ygritte! Is that you?" She called from a few horse-lengths away, her ears forward as she limps forward. She wondered what had happened, where the kingdoms had gone.

    A shaking, a splitting and groaning of sound as the realm herself took what they had wanted, and what she had started to take into herself again. A fading. overwhelming blackness spreads in the mare's vision and time goes by for an unknown length before she awakens..

    The memory holds strong in her mind, of how she had lost her family's location - her sisters, her mother, her friends - and especially her mate Jedi. She shook her head slightly before walking forward, limping and pausing each time she placed weight heavily upon the leg, trying not to further her injuries. "I haven't seen anybody else from the Falls yet, Ygritte. Have you seen any of the other members?" The mare asks her queen - or, as she does not yet know, her former queen - as she dips her head in respect, looking her and the horse conversing with her in the eye bravely. She wasn't going to let her injury disable her ability to protect herself and keep her from seeming the strong, brave, mare who will fight for what she believes in anytime soon.
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