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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


    Run... Save Yourself from the Destruction [Open]
    #11
    He does not bother with the idea that the anger that boils within him might be irrational (he barely knew Levi, or the extent of his contriteness) but instead feeds into it, allowing the anger to be plain on his face. For some reason, it feels justified (he had injured the soon-to-be mother of his children, shouldn’t he be furious?) and he does not do anything to stop it as it grows and festers, the scowl on his face taking away from the handsomeness of his features; it is unbecoming. Perhaps if Tang were there, or even another friend, they would chide him and tell him to remember his manners, but the stallion is not with friends, even with Kolera’s presence – she is still practically a stranger to him, and from the looks of it, is not the same fragile and uncertain child he had found years ago.

    Warrick would not resort to violence, not this day, and out of respect for his King.

    She is gentle still, though. He believes her when she says that she is here to visit him, and that Levi’s presence is merely a ‘cherry on top’ type of surprise for her. The statement does not alleviate any tension, however, and the blue-bay stallion shifts his weight while still on coiled, taut muscles. He says nothing to her, not yet, for he didn’t need to. The bay and white splashed draft towering next to him responds first, which perhaps is a good thing. Warrick had been ready to bring her into the land and show her around, but the fact that Levi advises against it causes his teeth to grind with apprehension, wondering why Levi wishes her gone.

    The stallion listens carefully, auburn lids closing slightly over his burning blue eyes, narrowing questioningly. He puts the pieces of the puzzle together slowly, his train of thought slowly forming in his mind and getting him to where both Kolera and Levi are.

    Upon realization that Kolera had been a part of a ‘game’, Warrick’s unsure blue gaze turns fierce as a snort sharply leaves him, a single hoof stomping into the ground beneath him. It all made sense: with her ability and Levi’s fire, destruction and chaos would not be far behind. From behind Levi’s towering figure, Warrick’s eyes blaze brilliantly with disappointment and anger, still completely shocked as to why anyone would consider burning another’s home.

    He’s not sure why Levi has decided to inform Kolera that she should leave (or face Offspring himself). The stallion half-expected him to allow her residency, especially with their previous encounters. Warrick doesn’t question it, especially since Levi has mentioned his father. Obviously something had come straight from the King and now rolls out of Levi’s mouth. A few moments of silence pass before Warrick decides to say anything.

    “He may be right, Kolera.” A pause. “With recent…events, we have tightened our security around the borders; we are more careful and selective about who passes through.” His gaze shifts from Kolera to Levi, though he knows that the large bay will not see his intense stare.
    like the sun,
    swallowed up by the earth
    warrick


    @[Kolera] @[Levi]
    #12
    She remembers her first steps into Tephra.  The wilting grasses beneath her hooves as she was led here by her mother, her brother took to his skies. She hasn't seen them in years.  She wonders what's come of them but that's not what saddens her.  Her first steps had been tragic.  The poison flowed freely from her, killing everything she touched. The grasses. The mighty tree. She had hated herself for not being in control.  Now she was. She had learned. Strengthened her mind.  Shackled the unruly demons deep inside her.  Her inner turmoil painted on her features as her thoughts traveled back in time...

    The blue bay stallion shifts uneasily next to her.  Tension consumes his body in rigid movements.  She is brought back by the movements in time to catch Levi's words. No, he says.  Her brow cocks in curious confusion.  He speaks of a King and permissions.  She's never needed it before. The painted stallion steps forward between her and Warrick.  They confuse her - a game - it hadn't been a game to her.  If not for her time in the woods she wouldn't have learned control.  Hyaline was his plot, not hers.  She followed his lead and nothing more...

    Her bright brown eyes were brought to Warrick as he spoke now.  The concern in his tone was matched by the understanding in her expression. She smiles as kindly as anyone could before speaking, "I don't wish to harm Tephra." She almost giggles for him thinking she would want to.  Her thoughts turn to when she had - on accident - harmed the lands.  Her gaze fell for a moment before being brought to the landscape.  Her deadened trail had long regenerated with the coming of new spring grasses but what about the tree...

    Sifting through her minds memories she tried to revision the location.  Almost frantically her eyes darted about.  She wasn't far from where she saw the Raven perched in it's branches.  She broke forward through the gathering.  Collecting into a paced walk before breaking into a two beat trot.  Her crown high, ears thrusted forwards.  Approaching another treeline quickly just across the clearing where Warrick had found her.  Coming to a sudden halt as she saw it.  It's blackened carcass still upright.  A thinned skeleton of what had been a flourishing, living thing.  Ebony lips formed a thin pressed line.  She took one more step forward, head tilted to view it better.  Eyes falling in sadness and remembrance.  She wished she could fix it... But she can't... 
    Kolera
    Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.


    @ [Offspring] @ [Levi] @ [Warrick]
    #13


    When his father had said that none of the others would be welcome in Tephra Levi had not thought much of it. He never imagined he would need to be the enforcer, that one of them would stumble across his home. But one of them had, and now he felt like he must choose his side. 

    Confusion mists her dark eyes but instead of feeling pity he feels frustration. She had control, he had seen it, but did she have discretion? Before he can phrase his questions or ask why she chose Tephra she is moving - in the wrong direction. 

    “Kolera,” He groans as he turns to trot after her. The mottled stallion follows the flashes of ebony and auburn in the sea of green, keeping her in his sight but not making a show of chasing her down.  As he follows the twisting trail she blazes, the lines of his jaw harden in resolve. She has to go.

    Their trail ends at the foot of a dead tree as she breaks to stand before it and tilt her delicate face up to where its lush canopy used to be. Fitting. He thinks as he closes the gap between them. Levi halts when he reaches her side, his inky eye turned towards her, watching the emotions which flicker across her face.

    He observes her for a moment, thinking of the way he had found her- baiting Warrick and seeping poison into his home. Finally his voice rises above the sounds of the frogs and birds. “What did you expect? I find you in Tephra and the first thing you have done is destroy something” His words are clipped and but not agitated surely she must understand. “Things… are really tense right now, because of Hyaline.”  

    He know that she has no blame in that, he is to logical to ignore that fact. She had been following him, he had been the sole instigator. It was the only reason he hadn't already chased her to the border with flames and flashing teeth. But his father's word still stood, his own reasoning did not come above the King's expressed instructions.

    Despite the small part of him which wants her to stay, he has yet to relax. The layers of muscle over his shoulders and haunches remain taut and poised, if she ran again she wouldn't get far. “Do you want to live in Tephra, is that why you are here? Because that’s not my decision to make,” he gestures to the other stallion with a tip of his heavy skull “or his.”

    If she wanted to stay the King would have to make a special exception, and she was going to have to prove that it was worth the risk of Levi vouching for her.  
    Levi
    so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
    [Image: BQLevipagedoll-DONE.png]
    #14
    The bitterness that had overcome his features begins to waver, though the taste still lingers disdainfully on his tongue. Had Kolera not been there, perhaps the conversation would have gone differently. Perhaps if Warrick thought less about the good of the kingdom and more about his own selfish desires, the blue-bay stallion would not be standing so politefully next to the prodigal son now returned. But (and perhaps to Warrick’s downfall), he is ever aware of the kingdom’s forward motion; his duty to Offspring and his fellow residents overcame the powerful rage that lingers behind locked cages. Besides, Levi had yet to give him a reason for any sort of action, save for a few accusing stares and venom-dripped words.

    His eyes, a constant brilliant blue and sparkling with an unfamiliar wariness, continue to watch Kolera. He can see that she is digesting what they have told her, her mind spinning and twirling, and soon Warrick’s does the same. He remembers the soft brown gaze of the filly he had seen many moons ago, and even now, the same gentle look finds her features as she realizes that she may not be as welcome here as she had when she was just a foal. Almost at the same time as she does, Warrick turns his attention in the direction of the tree that had been a pivotal reminder of their encounter so long ago, still shriveled and dead from her accidental discovery of her ability. His gaze softens as she immediately turns to go towards the long-dead tree, where other plants and vines had begun to wrap themselves around it, overgrown with tropical foliage.

    Levi, rightly so, is disgruntled as he begins to follow her, but Warrick is merely thoughtful (and perhaps almost as sorrowful as Kolera, especially when he looked into her wide, saddened eyes). He follows silently, his wings shuffling at his sides as he moves beside Levi. The older stallion remains quiet as they draw upon her, his eyes focused on the young bay girl before them.

    Our hands are tied, Warrick muses to himself, listening to Levi’s clipped and curt voice. He did not say anything, for everything he spoke is utterly true. Had it not been for Levi’s lineage, the fire-wielding sabino would be homeless as well, just as Kolera. Of course, Kolera’s contriteness is a little more soothing to Warrick than Levi’s stoic and silent way of rebuilding himself.

    “You must not go any further into Tephra without an escort,” Warrick says after what seems like a very long while of him being silent. As he speaks he steps towards her, guiding her away from the tree (for it has long since been dead and there was no fixing the past) with a gentle brush of his muzzle against her shoulder, both now facing Levi. “If your wish is to reside here, I will bring you to the King myself.” His brilliant blue eyes flash upwards to Levi but says nothing – he may join him if he wishes, but he had half a mind to think that the younger stallion will diminish into the shadows. “But if that is not your wish, you must go, Kolera.”
    like the sun,
    swallowed up by the earth
    warrick


    @[Kolera] @[Levi]
    #15
    Their approach is heard from behind her.  A few spoken words that fall on deafened ears.  Her attention holds to the tree before her.  She does not move closer, even though her snipped muzzle outstretches.  Longing to touch it as she had before but this time reverse the process.  She knows this isnt how it works.  Never has.  Always death, never life.  That's your curse Kolera.  

    Deep brown eyes sadden as she now looks away.  To her dear friend Warrick as Levi speaks of her intentions.  Her wants.  Delicate crown shakes in confusion and in protest.  A desperate glance is given to Levi.  His eyes hard but somewhat sympathetic upon her.  Her brow furrowed in frustration as she speaks quickly, "I... I am sorry.  I must go.  I shouldn't be here.  I'll just ruin everything." Her muzzle reaches for his rigid jawline to place a goodbye kiss upon his cheek before turning back to Warrick.  Deep eyes find his as she looks into them with new purpose, "I must fix this... Or at least try.  Goodbye Warrick." Her voice was soft and kind, convincing even.  

    The sleek auburn and ebony body of a lost girl turns to the borders.  Her pace is quick and steadfast.  She knows what she must do. Or try to do.  Coming to a stop just before disappearing into the treeline she looks back.  First to the solitaire sillouhette of the blackened tree against the tropical foilage consuming it.  Then to the two stallions watching her vacate the kingdom before she slips into the dense forest...
    Kolera
    Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.
    #16

    His words, the closest he will come to an apology, seem to never reach her deaf ears.  His own frustration is mirrored in her dark eyes as she turns her face to him. But she ends their conversation with a handful of remorseful words and a soft kiss to the hard plateau of his cheek. He was ready to explain to her why she can't stay, why she has to leave until he can discuss with his father the reasons she is different from the other hellions, but he is not ready to ask her to wait and let him explain. The explanations he isn't prepared to give come out blended into one word.
    "Kolera..." dark and faint.  

    The lithe mare turns to leave and heat wells up in his chest, turbulent and searing, like a bubbling hot spring. He had told her to go but he hadn't really expected her to leave. But underneath his uneasiness, there is something else. The sudden encounter with control leaves him simultaneously exhilarated and discontent. 

    He got what he wanted - but the rigid shelf of his brow and the set of his downturned mouth are certainly at odds with the usual look of someone who gets what they want. With his mind awash in conflicting emotions he doesn't make a move to follow her... not that the girthy draft stud could catch her if she was set on out running him. His fiery eyes simply watch the Kolera disappear before he turns his attention to Warrick.

    Thoughts of mares have no place in his mind as his gaze settles on the older stallion. Back to business, the flint has returned to his smoky voice. "So, comrade, now that we are alone - say what is it you actually wanted to tell me." 

    The expression he wears is stern but not cynial- subtly, his ever present curiosity flickers behind his detatched facade. 
    Levi
    so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.

    @[Warrick]
    #17
    like the sun swallowed up by the earth
    Warrick’s eyes soften and his heart hangs heavy in his chest as he watches her leave. He almost wishes there was something he could do, something he could say, but the chance is gone as she disappears out of Tephra. For a moment, he forgets that Levi is beside him. Both of them are extremely different, though their relationship with Kolera seems to have brought them together for the time being. If Warrick had taken the time to truly look at Levi for who he was, he might have noticed that the younger stallion felt the same pang of disappointment as he did, but his previous judgement of Offspring’s son keeps him blinded for the time being.

    Levi’s voice cuts through the air and Warrick’s ears flick towards him passively, the once frown on his blue lips now a thin line absent of any true emotion. His words – so clearly an attempt to accuse and draw out the true thoughts that lie deep within Warrick’s mind.

    A sharp snort leaves Warrick’s navy nostrils in a near-laugh, his blazing blue eyes rolling to meet Levi’s mismatched irises. A fire rolls in his chest, the thought of giving the other stallion his request – his true thoughts of him – so very tempting. He is loyal and will always require justice, though in his instance he wishes he was the one giving it. He is torn – his respect for Offspring and his blatant ‘could care less’ attitude for his son leaves him feeling not at all himself. Warrick ruffles his wings as he notices them bristling, attempting to smooth them as he flexes the lithe bone and brings them back into his sides.

    “No need bringing up the past to remind you of your mistakes,” he says to him thinly, his eyes darkening slightly beneath a furrowed brow. “However, I will say this: you hurt someone very close to me. If you were not Offspring’s son, this meeting would have gone very differently.” He pauses, his heart thrumming loudly against his ribcage, heat flowing through his veins. If there is a next time, know that my respect for your father will not outweigh my anger.”
    Warrick


    @[Levi]
    #18

    Levi huffs, a mix of a grunt and laugh, in response to Warrick's quip. But as the navy and auburn stallion continues Levi grows more serious. The king's son is maturing, and the winged stallion's comment about injuring someone close to him taps a nerve. 

    "I agree, we should leave the past behind us." His voice is steady and straightforward as he meets Warrick's blue gaze with a glint of stubborn pride.  "I will only ever serve Tephra and my father in the future, not myself." Levi is not one for apologies, but he feels he is treading too close to one and his ink and wine eyes cast off in the direction Kolera had gone. 

    That night in Hyaline may have been rash - but it helped to form him into who he is and he still did not regret it. Levi lets the threats of the other roll off his back, even as several retorts come to mind. He refuses to acknowledge the chastisement from anyone other than his father, so he chooses to ignore the scolding tone Warrick uses. In his mind, the only other option is to demonstrate to him that he is not in a position to deal threats. And Offspring made it clear that he should be building bridges, not burning them. 

    Anyway, he wants to know a little more about the man he shares his home with. "And you, Warrick, you are a loyal soldier? Or a diplomat? How do you serve Tephra?" 

    Where do you stand? 
    Levi
    so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
    [Image: BQLevipagedoll-DONE.png]
    #19
    like the sun swallowed up by the earth
    In truth, the short time Warrick has spent with Levi has been rather uneventful, despite the anger that boils within him as his chest cries out for justification. But the blue-bay stallion trusts Offspring and will not question his leader’s judgement nor his decision in how to discipline and mold the painted, larger stallion that stands before him. He rather expected the son who had caused so much damage in Hyaline to be…easier to dislike. Of course, there is plenty that Warrick knew about him that could have made it simple to walk away from him the moment he saw him, but Warrick had stayed, and even now without Kolera, he lingers. 

    Levi’s response surprises him, but he does not let the hardened lines of his face give way to that of astonishment. He remains stoic and poised, his clear blue eyes not wavering from the bay and white’s face, even though it is now turned from him. There is perhaps no trust between the two as they stand within the sweltering heat of Tephra’s thick foliage, but perhaps there is a newfound idea of respect. 

    He relaxes, but only slightly, as Levi shifts the conversation. “I am whatever Tephra needs me to be,” he says simply, his blazing blue gaze still staring deep into Levi’s features. “I am a man of words and peace. War should not be normalcy, but anyone who is logical knows it is not always avoidable. I will stand where Tephra needs me to stand.” He pauses, a single ear flicking towards Levi. 

     “Perhaps that is something we have in common.”
    Warrick


    @[Levi]
    Okay so I think he hated Levi for like .2 seconds D:
    he just can't not try to be friends with everyone, he's such a dingus




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