[complete] watch this madness, colorful charade (magnus & faeries -trait petition)

[Aranea]

watch this madness,colorful charade

A nod and they had been off. A simple, slight bob  of her head and they had left Tephra and set out to change her life. The smallest of gestures with which she would seek the largest impact.

Fire and ash, fire and ash. Burn bright, brilliant, and then fade to shadow. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust - burn, burn, but to dust you will always return.

It was her turn.

She could have taken the easy route - she could have used her new wings to reach the top of the mountain in the span of a breath, or two. It was not a path she had even entertained; in Aranea's eyes it would be cheating. This journey was too important to fly, and in all honesty she was in no immediate rush to arrive. Fear burned hot in her chest and were it not for the stoic companion at her side she might have turned and fled long ago.

Bravery lived within her, as did passion and fire and all things bright and beautiful. For so long, though, silence had been her nature. For so long she had lived without a voice, being heard only through the mind or by the mouths of others. Decades had passed (so it seemed) since she had lost her voice to the wretched beast she had sought to slay - decades since she had gained the orange scars and his SIGHT in trade.

Today (though it was night, now, again) she came to see if they would allow her to trade it back. Take the sight and return the voice - Aranea had so much to use it for.

At times she paused and on one of those pauses she turned her head in his direction as if to seek comfort and encouragement. He was her guide as much as her strong shoulder, and though she did not need to cry she did need his reassurance. Every time she would find it and together they would press on until, finally, they would reach the summit of the towering mountain.

Now she did not hesitate.

Aranea pushed her thoughts forward with all the mental force she could muster and sought to project them. Perhaps not necessary - the faeries surely knew she was here - but it seemed the right thing to do. "I come asking your favor. I am most grateful for the sight that I have been given but I ask now for the return of my voice. I wish to serve Tephra, the first of your kingdoms. I wish to seek to maintain peace with the rest and to do so I have need of my words. I offer my infrared sight in return, the sight of the beast i once tried to stop. Please, grant me this."

It felt silly, but it was genuine. "I have worked hard and wish to also petition for the return of my immortality." This added almost as an afterthought, as she felt the ache in her bone and was reminded of her shortened time. With bated breath she waited and felt the thrum of anxiety in her chest - a mix of excitement and fear that would have driven her mad, but she leaned instead against the stallion that had accompanied her and felt peace.

Aranea

HTML by Call

Aranea's point tracker: click
39 pts available, 10 for immortality return ^_^
@[Laura]

[magnus]

He followed her here—of course he did. He had made a promise and those were not things he took lightly. So when she made it clear that she was ready to begin their journey, he nodded toward her and then set his sights upon the Mountain that seemingly could be seen throughout all of Beqanna. Even the grand majesty of Tephra’s volcano was dwarfed by the sheer size and presence of the Mountain. Magnus could not say that he looked forward to ascending it again, but he did not dread it either. He had made the journey before, and he could do it again. It was an easy choice if it meant getting her voice back.

They traveled in silence, Magnus used to it in her presence and feeling no great need to fill the moments with the sound of his own voice. The night hung heavy around them both, and he knew the magnitude of what they were doing. So instead he just walked quietly beside her, reaching over every once in a while to touch the velvet of his nose to her neck to let her know that he was there, that she wasn’t alone in this.

When they finally reached the summit, he remained quiet, his gold-flecked eyes burning beneath the ink of his forelock. He had been here before, he had stood here and asked things of the faeries that he had never dreamed the would give him. But they had—they had gifted Tephra to Offspring and him, and he could not fathom a world without it. So despite all odds, despite the bite of cold, all he felt was hope.

out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know
I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll

Magnus is just here for emotional support.

[Wysteria Fairy]

Granted.

Database updated to reflect the loss of her infrared vision and the fact she's no longer mute. Points total updated to reflect the return of her immortality.