"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
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
How long had it been since the Dragon King had visited Tephra to see Tangerine and Warrick? Since the birth of their twins, the blue-tinted Solace and Svedka, he realizes. Too long. But now Tang is gone, set off on an adventure to her homeland, and Amet has, admittedly, been affected by her wanderlust. Since the twins' birth, the Akhal-Teke stallion has seen them as much as possible, though Svedka less than Solace. He is fond of the young girl and the way she views the world - in some ways, she reminds him of a younger version of himself, though for some reason he can't quite put a finger on it exactly.
He moves easily into Tephra, the humid air welcoming him as it always had. His golden scales soak in the heat as his amber eyes rove for any of his acquaintances, though he's sure they are busy (just as he usually is). When he calls for the daughter of Warrick and Tangerine, the leather-plated King's call echoes over the volcanic island, carried by a gentle breeze.
There are aspects of Solace's facade that are Tangerine through and through. The kindness in her eyes draws him in and Amet smiles fondly at the filly as she heeds his call.
"Solace," he says warmly as he extends his muzzle to her cheek, "How have you been?" He's unsure of her feelings towards her mother's departure, though the dragon-scaled stallion can only imagine that they aren't entirely positive. Being in love with the epitome of wanderlust is not an easy thing to bear.
She is never far from the ocean these days, with her mother gone and her twin scarce, their double absence as left an aching in her young heart. Smoak had been her only companion of late and when she was lonely she was drawn to the western shore of her tropical home to gaze over the channel and wonder what was out beyond Tephra's borders. Here, with the gentle waves kissing her ankles, she hears Amet's first call as soon as it leaves his lips, and she is soon by his side.
"Amet!" she smiles and speaks his name breathlessly after cantering over the distance between them. The sight of the golden king was always a welcome one, even when she wasn't missing her family. With a toss of her tri-colored forelock, she slides to a halt in front of him. At two years old she is at the crossroads of womanhood and childhood, some days she is all one and other days the all other. She is a petite mare, well muscled under a softer layer of fur and flesh, but girlhood still clings to many of her gestures and the excitement in her tone. She returns his greeting, pressing her own muzzle to his cheek briefly to take in the scent of all the lands he had passed through, before pulling away to find his amber gaze.
"Well, I'm very well now, with you here to walk along the beach with me!" Her voice is light, and happiness shines through in her brilliant blue eyes - Warrick's eyes - but the smile is all her mothers.
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
Her smile is warm and welcoming and, for the time being, it helps to quell any restlessness that the gilded stallion has begun to feel recently. His own polite gesture is returned and his amber eyes sparkle as he watches her, young and excited and comfortable in her skin. Laughter falls from his lips at her statement and the Akhal-Teke nods affirmatively before tossing his own forelock from his gaze. "Lead the way, my dear," he smiles as they turn and head closer to the shoreline.
"I've never seen this side of Tephra, you know," he confesses casually as they move side by side. He falls silent for a few moments as the ocean comes into view, lost in thought and worry as he is apt to do. When he finally turns his attention back to the buckskin splash girl (the sun reflects of her coat beautifully, drawing attention to her developing muscles, but also to her lanky legs). He remembers being stuck between childhood and adulthood.
It hadn't been so long ago, after all.
"Tell me what's new, Solace. How has Tephra been treating you?"
Maybe her perception of him is changing as she is slowly blossoming into an adult, or maybe he had always been this way, but in her juvenile glee, she had never noticed before. Something does seem different.
Aemt seems more somber, almost brooding, reminding her more of her father today than her care-free brother and she settles her own bubbling emotions. She was not ruled by feelings and impulse like her mother.
As they turn to walk along the beach she steps to walk along his shoulder which faces inland, so that he can appreciate the sea and the endless expanse of the sky over her water. "I didn't know that. I guess I assumed you had seen all of Tephra already." The sound of waves and ocean birds hover in the air around them and she pauses, waiting for the question which seems poised on his lips. When he speaks, she gives a little sigh and bumps his shoulder with her own. She had always felt comfortable with the scaled stallion, he was a better listener then her brother but he didn't give her the funny feeling that Smoak did which sometimes made it difficult to say the right thing - it was the perfect balance for a confidant.
She knows she can tell him anything.
"It's different. Probably not for anyone else, but it is for me... And I don't really like change." She laughs gently glancing down and tossing a seashell with her toe as they walk. Solace realizes that most fillies her age relished adventure and that she was different. "I always thought we would all be here together, forever. But I know that was a nieve thought now." She lifts her blue eyes back to his, having to look up a little, "But, still, Tephra isn't the same for me anymore without them."
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
The sand sinks beneath his hooves, reminding the young stallion of his homeland. It's been some time since Amet had allowed his thoughts to turn to the Dunes, but with Tangerine's explanation of her departure he had found himself thinking of the way he had felt when he'd run away from the sandy hell. To finally escape and find Beqanna had been the best thing that had ever happened to the golden stallion, though he is not unfamiliar with Solace's preference to leave things unchanged.
Her tentative, almost sheepish, laugh draws his amber eyes back to her. Amet bumps his shoulder gently against Solace's as a nicker falls from his maw and he nods his head, "Change has always scared me," he tells the daughter of Tangerine quietly, "but don't tell anyone I said that, okay?" The leather-plated stallion chuckles quietly, his eyes drawn to the seashell that Solace has kicked in front of them. A small frown pulls at his lips for a brief moment. "I thought that about my siblings. I thought that the three of us would always be together, but it seems like no matter how hard I try..." Amet sighs and shakes his head, letting the words trail off as a hint of a smile returns to his handsome face.
"Have you thought about leaving Tephra? I'd love for you to come back to Hyaline with me, Solace. Perhaps it's time that both you and I try to embrace a little change."
"You know I won't tell!" The buckskin and cream girl returs playfully, but with an underlying sincerity. While growing up she had sometimes felt as if her mother favored Svedka, or atleast admired him more, for his adaptability and appitie for adventure. But she had developed her own brand of indipendance, even if she couldn't be found scaleing mountains and far-away sandbars
Solace listens to Aemt intently -piecing together what he says with stories she had heard from her mother. She knew of Iset, the defiant and brave queen, and she feels sorry that he too was unable to do what she had hoped was possible for her family. When he trails off and shakes bronze and gold head she does not press him, she thinks she knows what the next words would be - for both of them.
But a boyish smile overtakes his features, changing the mood and his next words caused her to draw in a little gasp. Those were not the words she was expecting.
Involuntarily she looks away, over the jungle and up to the far-off volcano and giving herself a moment to think as they walk. What he offered would be the biggest change of all - yet somehow the idea did not frighten her.
"Hyaline."
She turns the name slowly, truly tasting it for the first time.
The mountainous land had been the centerpiece of so many of her mother's stories that it had taken on a mythical quality in her imaginings. The lake there had held a place in her heart for a long time, and even if she had never been there before she felt as if she knew its crystalline depths already.
When her young face turns back to his, her face is alight with a new and ardent enthusiasm. "I think, I would like that."
if there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
"I know you won't," he says with a laugh and with absolute trust - Solace is Tang's daughter after all, and while she may not see her mother in herself a whole lot, the bronze stallion does. It's an admission that he has only told Ciri up until this point, though he's sure his painted mahal would be able to read it across his features just as plain as day: he misses his siblings, and he feels at fault for their estrangement.
He can only hope that in the future, maybe...
Their conversation turns to the topic of change and Amet voices his reason for coming to the volcanic island today: Solace's residence in Hyaline. Her swift acceptance of his offer catches the scaled stallion off-guard and he nudges her happily, a bright glimmer in his amber eyes. "Well, to be honest, I had expected that I would need to do a little more convincing," he says to the buckskin girl before slowing his leisurely walk to a halt, hooves sinking into the warm oceanside sand.
"Should we go now, before you change your mind?" he offers to her with a lopsided grin, his narrow legs prancing with youthful excitement, "We will have a lot to talk about when we get there."
10-28-2017, 06:50 PM (This post was last modified: 10-28-2017, 06:51 PM by Solace.)
Solace
Seeing the familiar glimmer return to his eyes warms her cheeks. She suddenly hopes she hadn't agreed too easily- maybe it wasn't right for her to leave behind Tephra without more prolonged and careful consideration.
But Solace had known Amet for nearly her whole life, and all the others, where were they now? He was here, extending his metaphorical hand to her, and her heart told her to take the chance. Anyway, she was sure Svedka and her Mother would be proud of her for taking such a step. And her father, well, she was sure he would understand. Never once had he raised his voice to her, he had always encouraged her, and she couldn't believe that he would look down on her decision to finally step out into the world and try something new.
She lifts her head as she halts beside Amet, there is a glint of determination in her blue eyes and a storm raging in her chest. "I'm ready if you are!"
But before he can respond, before she can change her mind, she nips his cheek and takes off at a gallop int the direction he had come from - the direction of her first true adventure.
She hopes that Svedka will be proud.
