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  • Beqanna

    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


    not until we are lost do we begin
    #1

    not until we are lost

    do we begin to find ourselves

    The end of the war is when it all goes to hell. Not during the war. Not when it should have. No, in some ways, that had a been a beautiful time. Without her memories, without the weight of the life she should live, she had been herself. Completely herself. The moment was brief, but glorious, as all such moments are.

    There was peace for a while. Or as much peace as Rhy has ever known. But there was something that felt wrong. Like an itch she couldn’t scratch. Holes in her memory cropped up, inconsistencies ran rampant in her life. She ignored them though for the sun of the Deserts, for the nearness of Kratos. Perhaps, in some way, she let herself forget. Let herself forget Lagertha and Kora and her parents. Let herself forget her responsibilities, forget who she was. And in some small way, she became someone else. Someone with too many ghosts, someone who was a shadow of herself. But in the end, it never mattered. Like always, in the end, she lost it all.

    The raid comes and goes. Yael’s magic backfires. Kratos – her Kratos – crumbles before her eyes. She doesn’t know it then, but he’s not just leaving her behind. Yael disappears, and so too does the magic holding Rhy’s memories at bay. It all comes back in a flood. The realization of everything she had lost. Lagertha, flicked away to some other dimension by magic. Draconis, who Rhy left behind when her memories disappeared. How much time had passed? How much had she missed?

    Rhy couldn’t say if her sister was alive. But her parents were gone. Everything, everything was gone. Kratos, her parents, the Deserts. The only thing left was the Jungle now, and how could she go back? How could she face the life she had forgotten. Yes, magic had taken her memory, but she’d let the magic win. Perhaps she could have recovered. Perhaps she could have followed the gaps in her memory till it all came back. But she never did, and she didn’t know how to face home.

    She didn’t know if she had a home.

    Instead, she took refuge in beach in much the same way as Kora had hidden in the North so long ago. This is where it all went wrong. That quest. Flashes of Gail and Carnage come back to her here, and she wonders why she ever answered that call. Ever since, she has lived with one foot on each side of the line between life and death.

    Soon, she know's she’s pregnant. The knowledge washes away all thoughts of staying in the afterlife forever. She will live, for her child, if nothing else. Or children, perhaps. Her womb is a storm, cracked with lightning and howling wind. It's good, for once, that she has the powers she does. Most likely, most other mares would not survive the torrent that so often rages inside her.

    As always though, in Rhy’s life, when she finds the will to go on, the world steals it away. Beqanna comes to them, reprimanding them for their greed and their selfishness. But this time she doesn’t just flood a land – she takes it all. When Rhy swims back to conciousness, she’s on the top of a mountain. There are so many others around, but she hardly notices them. No, she cannot stay, cannot find those she’s failed, those she can no longer face. So she leaves, slipping down the mountain as fast as she can with her swollen barrel.

    Then it hits her. Wherever that magical line is, exactly, she doesn’t know. What she knows is her powers are gone. There’s no electric in her veins, no ghost or lion lurking beneath the surface of her skin. She is nothing. It is unbelievable. It is amazing. It is freeing in a way she has never known.

    And it will kill her. As all glorious moments are, this too was short. No longer than a flash of lightning. A timeline she knows all too well.

    The twins powers are slower to fade. They rage inside her, a hurricane. It tears at her womb, and she knows it’s not long before she will have to give birth. The contractions start, the trauma too much for her body to bear now. It is all she can do to get to the beach, though she keeps herself just on the border. She can hear the ocean, but she cannot smell death. As it is, her children will enter this world staring death in the face. She does not need to show them anymore.

    Oh, her children. There’d only ever been one other, and not by blood. Though it had never mattered. “Draconis.” The name slips through her lips, though she doubts there is anyone around to hear. The hope is foolish, but still, Rhy finds herself wishing her other child would find her now. But why would Draconis be here, in the place where only Rhy would deign to live and others died?

    The storm inside her has ceased, their powers stripped as hers were, but the damage cannot be undone. There are no healers in this world. No magical waters. She strains with the contractions, her coat already lathered in sweat. Time passes, and she cannot know how much, but it doesn’t matter. The boy comes first, buckskin as Riagan had been, splashed with white. The girl is second, harder with Rhy’s failing strength. She panics during the birth, afraid she will not live long enough to see it through. But finally, the girl slips free. Splashed with white as well, but solid brown unlike the boy.

    She's careful as she moves, staying on the ground but shifting so she can clean them. “Kry,” she mutters as she cleans the boy. After a few moments, she shifts to the girl, adding, “Rae.” Would Kratos approve of the names? Was he watching them now? Did he know they had two beautiful, healthy children?

    Children that would never know their father, though the boy is named for him. Children that would never know their mother. They would not remember this moment. It is too fleeting, too short. And for the first time, she does not want to go. For the first time, she is alive and she is happy and she is love. Pure, impossible love.

    And for the first time, she cannot stay.

    She doesn’t know what damage the storm inside her wrought. What she knows is that her children will grow up without anyone. She thinks of Riagan and Rayelle. Of the way they smiled. Of the way Riagan, in their short year together, taught her to use her electric. Of the burns on his hide he took from her. Who would teach her children, if their powers ever returned? She doesn’t know exactly what they are, but together, she knows they are a hurricane. It raged in her womb for months. Their powers were her end, but they would be their beginning. Together, she imagines they would be unstoppable. Even more than their parents once were.

    She thinks of Kora and her fear of electric, and so, Rhy. She hopes the same won’t be true of her children, but they already seem too close for that. They both try to stand, though Rhy stays on the ground. They poke each other when they fall, both a silent encouragement and a bit of a tease. A smile lights Rhy’s face. “I will watch you, sweet children.” They look to her with confusion on their tiny little faces. She remembers the moment Kora first hugged Rhy. She remembers telling her of their parent’s death, of visiting their parents together. She remembers that bond, when finally forged, and knows how strong it can be.

    “We both love you, even if you won’t ever know it. But I hope you will believe it all your lives.” Her voice is faint and tired, fading. Somewhere in the distance, she thinks she can see them. Riagan and Rayelle, waiting for her to come home. Because in some ways, death has been her home ever since she failed to save Gail. Kratos, proud and looming large, as he always does, a wild look in his eyes. Something she always interpreted as his version of love. It had been a wild, electric love.

    “I hope you have as much as I did, my children.” She had lost it all, and it broke her heart time and time again. But then, she should count herself lucky. She’d had so much to lose. Her children stare at her, puzzled. Though also sad, as if they understand the meaning of her whispered voice but not the meaning of the words. As if they understand why their mother is still on the ground when they stand.  She smiles, her vision blurred blood loss and tears. The world sways, and for a moment, she thinks she sees Draconis in the distance. But she cannot tell if the fire-breathing girl is waiting for her on the other side. Rr if she was alive and somehow, impossibly, here.

    In the end, it doesn’t matter, as so many other things have no mattered. Rhy will not live long enough to know. Her eyes flutter closed, her breathing slows until finally, it no longer comes.

    For a brief, beautiful moment, she was alive. For a brief, beautiful moment, she was powerless, and she was herself with her children by her side. For a brief, beautiful moment, the world was perfect. Until the moment burned away. Too bright, too glorious, to last longer than a flash of lighting.

    Here lies Rhy
    April 3, 2014 – September 4, 2016
    Daughter of Riagan and Raylle
    Twin to Kora, sister to Leander
    Mother to Draconis, Kry, and Rae
    Once Erinak and Ville of the Jungle

    rhy

    the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle



    @[Draconis]
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    #2
    The days are unnumbered; they wake to a gray dawn and when the light fades, they close their eyes and hope they are well enough hidden. Survival gives her no time for other thoughts, no momentary indulgences to wonder about a heart-and-blood sister and whatever became of her.

    She keeps Wessex alive, and her daughter, in turns, keeps Lagertha alive when the monsters tear her flesh into long, bloody ribbons. Their magic is unreliable, at best - but they are opportunists, and survivors, and nothing if not hard-headed. Too stubborn to die here, they jest.

    The monsters are stupid - the men, less so. But dreams fuel their legs, even when it seems their lungs might burst as they choke on their own spittle. On edge, always on edge, ready to fly at a moment's notice. Beqanna, they whisper at night. Home, Lagertha thinks. And Not Today is their rallying cry.

    One night, when the light of the double moon highlights the ageing whiskers around her mouth, Lagertha pauses mid-bite, gasping for air. A bolt of pain shoots through her chest and though she’s endured spikes and claws and razor-sharp teeth, this seems to start at her core and radiate outward. She falls to her knees, and Wessex is immediately at her side, her nose trying to find some invisible monster that must have gotten past their fine-tuned senses.

    Whatever the cause - it does not last long. As a lingering ache replaces the pain, the stiff and stern old Warrior Queen is consumed by the utterly unfamiliar urge to weep. And in this moment, she thinks of Anguisette and Vidar. Of Dalten and Crito and Tiphon. Of Yael and Vanquish. Of Rhy. Tears seep from the corners of her eyes, and with the first sob she’s ever allowed herself to loose, the world seems to close on them again.

    Somewhere down the Beach, Rhy exhales for the final time.
    Somewhere else, Wessex takes her first breath of Beqanna’s air.

    Lagertha cannot stop herself, and so she unknowingly mourns with complete abandon. Beqanna goes unnoticed.
    Reply
    #3
    YOU NEVER SAW IT FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, THE CRAFT THAT I PERFECTED GOT REJECTED
    AND THROWN OUT THE WINDOW WITH NO PROPER EXIT.
    I WAS HUMBLE, NOW I'M NOT AS PLEASANT. I'M DROPPING WRECKAGE ON YOUR SHADY DYNASTY.
    BITCH I'M NOT TO MESS WITH.
    She's not sure why she is stepping hoof here, of all the places in Beqanna. But, on the other hand, it was literally the last place for Draconis to go to in search of her mother. The kingdoms were gone, including the Jungle that had been her home since early childhood, and her firebreathing ability had disappeared along with them. The young mare had made her way back down from the mysterious mountain where the apparently entire population had been driven, even more desperate now since a lengthy scouring of the masses had failed to turn up Rhy. The star-blanketed mare had overheard many frightened, conflicting stories about what had happened and how they had all found themselves huddled together on the top of the strange new summit, and is unsure of what to name as true and what to proclaim as falsehood. Whatever, she'll worry about it later, after she has found the ghost-shifting mare.....and wait, what was that up ahead on this tragedy-laden landscape? The scent of fresh blood stings the dark girl's nose, sharp and coppery, bringing even more unease to her brain.

    She approaches the fallen form slowly, as if each hoof is being pulled forward by a power not her own, and she is trying but failing to resist it. When she is nearly upon the silent equine, her own heart nearly stops from shock and sadness, for Draconis can see now that her quest has come to an end, successful but, also, equally fruitless. The mare she had come to love and know as her mother would never move nor speak again. She would never hear Rhy's voice again or hear her laugh as she had when they had played together in the days of her foalhood. Tears beginning to flood her eyes, she walks the remaining distance, stretching her head and neck out and down to touch her mother's cheek. Already it is cool to the touch, and she is about to turn away and depart the Beach, when her gaze catches movement. The mare's eyes widen with astonishment when she spots the source: two tiny, newborn foals; her now-orphaned siblings, and she cannot leave them here alone. Draconis presses her muzzle carefully to each wobbly form, taking in their scents. She speaks to them, hoping that they will understand and respond. "Hello, little ones.....Mommy's.....Mommy's gone to sleep, but I'm here to take care of you. I'm your big sister, Draconis. Can you tell me what your names are? "


    Reply
    #4
    breaking waves of change
    It is a place she never ventured to before, her feet guiding her though, for some strange reason. Though something in her heart felt achy, and her intuition telling her she probably should take a trip down. Down the the far south end of the coast...where the borders of her kingdom have ended and the scenery turns dull and somber. The mist hangs low, every step in the sand here feels....odd. Our dark queen wonders why in the world she has kept going this far, but her heart tells her to keep going.

    She can smell faint traces of jungle scent here, she worries now...what if it was Draconis? Little does she know that Draconis had been here just before her...she now notices two smaller sets of hoof prints in the sand leading the opposite direction of her....her mind is curious now. She follows the trail nervously and intently...what could this mean...

    Though soon her heart breaks..no....shatters into a million, terrible pieces. There, in the sand, lie her beloved Rhy...

    ......no.....NO....It can't be...IT CAN'T BE!!! RHY!! RHY!!"

    Naga wails, her voice of which was usually smooth and silky was now shaking with sobs, she began to choke on her cries.

    Rhy....she was there the night Naga had been found at the Jungle's borders by Scorch. She was the one who let her follow her around as a filly, learning to shift and enjoying feline life in the jungle together. She was also the one who brought Draconis into her life. Rhy was the mother Naga never had. Her dream mother. One of her dearest sisters. She lay down beside her now cold body, touching her muzzle to Rhy's cold one. Her voice is softer now, yet still a little choked up.

    "My beloved mother I never had...Thank you for all you have done for me. I hope you passed on with happiness in your heart and without pain. May you rest in peace...and may we meet again someday. Just know....I loved you as if you were my own mother...goodbye mom..."

    It hurt her to say it, to say goodbye in this life to her. Though as she finished her sentiment, she happened to notice blood behind Rhy, with marks within the sand, and remnants of birth...it was then Naga realized, the hooves from the path she followed, were none other than the hoof prints of Rhy's newly born twins. She begins to sob again...but she hopes Rhy got to meet them. The biggest question was...who came for the children? It was then she made it a personal mission...she would find these children...and their new caretaker..and she would try to bond with them and make sure they knew of what amazing things their mother had accomplished and what she had done for her.

    With that, she said one final goodbye to Rhy, before filing back up the coast line. Her heart filled with sorrow, and yet a small glimmer of light...

    GOOD BYE DEAR RHY....YOU WERE AN AMAZING AMAZON SISTER, MOTHER, AND FRIEND. YOU WILL BE GREATLY MISSED.
    Naga
    Reply
    #5
    Welcome to the afterlife, sister. It is peaceful here; I will help you to feel at home... Though for how long I will be here to do so, I cannot in good faith say. For now, it is good to see your face; I have missed you too entirely. Perhaps you'll find comfort in a familiar face, even an ugly hairless one; but then again, I am sure there are others here who too long for your attention. As it is, to see you is enough. I've missed you, Rhy. It will be easy now. Just breathe.
    [Image: scorch2.png]
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