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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


    keep a little fire burning; svedka, any
    #1
    Keep a little fire burning;
    however small, however hidden.


    Since arriving in Hyaline, Smoak has neglected to travel very far from the heart of the territory, instead opting to meander lakeside for opportunities to see and speak with Solace. Part of him always hesitates to distract her from her new duties, but the son of Ellyse and Dahmer can't keep himself away for long ─ she reminds him of his childhood, of goodness, of adventure (even though she had always feared adventure herself), and her light is contagious.

    Today, in an attempt to force some separation, the bone-armored stallion has begun to venture through the parts of Hyaline that have so far gone unseen by his hazel eyes. He moves east, twining between red maple trunks and orange flamboyant blooms. The air is fragrant, though devoid of the slight sulfur tinge that he had come to know in Tephra, and it mixes with the salty brine of the sea as he reaches the easternmost point of his new home.

    The wind rustles his tousled mane and tail and brings with it a memory of Tephra. He thinks on the raging storm that he and Solace had endured by the shore, challenging the powerful squall with their own shouts and youthful bravery. It was the first day he had seen Solace in a new light, the first time she had revealed her powers of light, and the memory of the downpour and Solace rising to meet it draws a faint smile across his lips.

    Here, he thinks, is where he will spend his time ─ oceanside, but still close enough to the center of Hyaline that he will be able to make it back to the territory's glittering lake in only a matter of minutes. Smoak's hooves sink into the warm sand as he steps nearer to the water, hazel eyes regarding the ocean as he loses himself to his thoughts.

    Smoak


    @[Svedka]

    Smoak has chosen the eastern side of Hyaline, just north of the estuary that runs off from the lake and into the sea (per @[Solace]'s first task) as his own little home. Anyone is welcome to come say hi!
    #2

    the secret of our world is written in the stars

    He had told Solace where she could always find him - beneath the willow that overlooks the giant, never-ending lake - but if she is to search for him there on this day, he would not be there. He had started his journey that morning, however, beneath his willow - for his nights were mostly kept beneath its shade, with the stars peeking out from above its branches. Some nights he was not alone, which he prefered. Solace has kept him company recently, and on the nights where she is gone, Corvus would find his way there and the two would keep each other company, staring up at the starlight. 

    The salt on the wind carries him to the east, the taste of it on his tongue familiar and comforting. He hopes that perhaps the winged stallion would be somewhere along his journey and would join him in the ocean, but Svedka’s trip seems to be one he would enjoy alone. The wind picks up as he nears the ocean and he thinks of Tephra’s briny and harsh shoreline, black from smoke and ash. Here, however, the water is welcoming and the sand is bright. In the distance he sees a figure (perhaps he would not be alone today!), and curiously he moves forward at a quickening trot, his head held high as the wind pulls at the milky and navy strands of his mane and tail.

    It had been a long while since he had seen his childhood friend - the boy he grew up with - and when he sees the pale gold and the stark white of bone protruding from his skin, Svedka cannot help the whinny that leaves the ivory of his parted lips. 

    “Smoak!” he shouts over the sound of crashing waves and the sea wind, leaping into a gallop along the sparkling shore. 

    He collides with the other stallion - whom he had not seen since they were just yearlings - wrapping his neck around his friend. He steps back from him after a few moments of embracing Smoak, his sapphire eyes roving his friend, inspecting him. Smoak had grown just as he had - filling in the slender parts of his body with muscle and standing tall, a handsome figure so unlike the child he used to know. 

    “You’re here!”

    Svedka



    @[Smoak]
    #3
    Keep a little fire burning;
    however small, however hidden.


    He watches the rough, choppy tide with wide hazel eyes and a brain that's lost in memories from well over a year ago. It brings a gentle, nostalgic smile to the soft mouth of the champagne stallion to watch the dark waters and he's unsure just how long he's been standing oceanside when a familiar voice shouts his name over the briny sea wind and he jerks his bone-accented head in the direction of the sound, his hazel eyes alight with excitement as he sees Svedka sprinting for him with sand kicking up behind a billowing blue-tinted tail.

    Solace's twin collides with him and Smoak's unbridled laughter challenges the wind as he snakes his own neck around Svedka's to hold the other stallion in a warm embrace. "Ved!" he manages to shout between bouts of laughter, his hazel eyes bright with excitement and intrigue. "Of course I'm here!" he says warmly as they part to better see each other, both finally adults and full of new muscles but with hints of youthful lankiness in their legs.

    After Warrick and Svedka had followed Tangerine to her homeland, Smoak had stayed behind with Solace, and while he had thoroughly enjoyed the chance to bond with her, it just hadn't been the same without his partner in crime, and he hadn't wanted to find a replace for Svedka. "Tell me about your trip! Was it amazing? Did you meet anyone?" he pauses with a lopsided grin, mischief glinting in his bright eyes. "Can I go with you next time?"

    Smoak


    @[Svedka]
    #4

    the secret of our world is written in the stars

    The childhood nickname that leaves the ivory lips of his friend brings laughter from Svedka’s chest, and the young stallion throws his head backwards as if in shock. The name hadn’t been said aloud in so long, the sound of it on Smoak’s tongue brought him back to the smoke and ash of Tephra - beneath their parents ever-watchful eyes. He’s happy to see his bone-armored friend, part of him also glad because that meant that Solace had Smoak too. The stallion had always shown a passion and loyalty for his sister, and it makes him smile to know that she would be happy to have them all here, together.

    “It was wonderful,” Svedka answers swiftly, his sapphire eyes glistening with memory - the fire dances, the moonlit romps in the grass, the secluded moments with the wild women (and men) of the free fol. “I met many,” he says truthfully, “some that will not easily be forgotten.” His voice is whimsical (and suggestive) and he playfully shoves his pale golden shoulder into Smoak’s alabaster and bone chest, winking childishly. He keeps the details of his manhood a secret, slightly concerned that his adventuring would give Smoak ideas to try out, though he tries to convince himself that thinking that was absurd and he tosses his head to rid himself of it. “You should go! You’d come back with all sorts of charm and confidence that will make you simply irresistable.”

    Svedka laughs deeply, the vibrations rumbling in his chest. Once he settles, his cunning blue eyes fixate on his friend. “Tell me; any adventures while I was away?” He pauses, grinning micheviously. “Or are you still playing the game from when we were little? Taking care of the queen?” Eyebrows rise curiously and he presses his lips together accusingly, awaiting the shove or swift kick that would most likely come from Smoak.

    Svedka



    @[Smoak]
    #5
    Keep a little fire burning;
    however small, however hidden.


    They two part but only barely, Smoak's hazel eyes watching Svedka excitedly as the blue-tinted stallion recounts his time in Tangerine's homeland. Smoak laughs good-naturedly, his muzzle reaching out to nudge his friend playfully. "C'mon! You have to tell me more than that," the champagne stallion goads, "you were gone for so long!" Svedka had always been the adventurous ones, while Solace had vowed to never leave Tephra. Smoak can only imagine the trouble fun that the son of Warrick and Tangerine had gotten himself into ─ after all, the twins had repeated the same stories to him that their mother had told them about her homeland.

    His ears twitch and a lopsided grin finds its way onto Smoak's face, hazel eyes rolling exaggeratedly at the painted stallion's words. "Irresistible, huh? D'ya think that ─" he falters, tongue tripping over itself as he nearly mentions Solace (a conversation to have at another time, not during their reunion), a fake cough falling from his maw as he flicks his hazel gaze towards the ocean. His feelings for Solace have remained a secret to everyone other than himself thus far, and now that she has an entire kingdom to watch over... perhaps he will need to wait a little longer to tell her how he feels.

    Not to mention that he has his best friend to think about, too.

    He tosses his bone-plated head casually, mouth still twisted into a grin as his gaze returns mischievously to Svedka. "Depends on what you mean by taking care of, Ved," Smoak jests before sidestepping away, lest the blue-tinted stallion try to come after him for that comment. "I kid, I kid!" he yells with laughter before tossing his forelock from his view. "I explored while you were gone, but nothing too exciting happened. Mom and Dad are together now. Oh! And Ledger tried to kill me," he ends casually, hazel eyes bright as he shrugs off what had been a traumatizing experience.

    Smoak


    @[Svedka]
    #6
    the secret of our world is written in the stars
    There is a mischievousness in Svedka’s eyes that glimmer brilliantly when Smoak is not happy about his answer, and he lowers his head slightly as if there may be listening ears around them. “The horses in the plains are truly wild, Smoak.” He raises his eyebrows slightly, a look of sensuality on his face that only appears when two men are discussing the vivacious topic of sex and lust, and not for a moment does Svedka even stop to consider that Smoak perhaps hasn’t experimented in ways that he was able to outside of Beqanna - but his friend asked and the gold and ivory stallion, and Svedka is happy to delve into the details of his time there. “They are phenomenal - beautiful creatures, passionate beings - they were entranced by my ancestry, I felt so much -  I never wanted the nights to end.” He grins, his cobalt eyes burning - he left the rest up to Smoak’s imagination. However, the back of his mind trickles to Corvus, and their passionate night beneath the willow, and how he would prefer that night over and over again than any beneath the moonlight of the plains. He doesn’t expound on this, though, out of respect for his evergreen lover - he also rather enjoyed having their coupling a secret, something hidden away beneath the willow’s vines. “You would do well there, I think.” He admits with a grin. “I might’ve stayed there, with mother, but I longed to see Solace again, and you too, my bone-plated friend.” Svedka reaches his neck forward to tug playfully at the champagne threads of Smoak’s long mane, barely catching the tendrils before the young stallion flits away, his laughter on the wind.  

    Svedka ignores the way Smoak doesn’t finish his first sentence, though he has an inkling as to why. With a roll of his yellowed shoulders he dives forward to attempt to bite the creamed-colored skin that ripples with the strength of the muscles beneath, his eyes sparkling with delight - Smoak is dangerously close to giving away his little secret, but Svedka is thankful that he has chosen not to do so at this moment, or to give any other hints to his true feelings besides taunting him.

    With a sharp snort, Svedka pulls his chin to his chest, ivory and blue tendrils of mane and forelock fluttering around him in the ocean’s salty wind. “Ellyse and Dahmer, huh? Interesting.” A brow rises in amusement - he never understood the traditional way of ‘being together’ - mother and father were always separated, but the way Smoak’s eyes light up, Svedka knows it is a good thing.

    With a quick step he closes in on Smoak, his eyes widening with concern suddenly - a look that nary befalls the stallion’s handsome face. “Kill you?” he repeats, incredulous. He remembers the stallion from his time in Tephra, and his chest tightens with the feeling of anger - an emotion that rarely escapes him. “Where is he? I’ll - I’ll kill him.” He asks disgruntledly, his ears hidden away beneath the mass of ivory and blue mane, his lips curling with distaste. He has no powers, of course, and he’s sure that any bear he’d ever face would certainly kill him. “Solace should kill him,” he adds quickly, thinking of the light beam that she wields within her - one look at Ledger and he’d fall victim to the powerful ray of light. He then wonders if Corvus could - the sturdy protector of Hyaline, with his torrents of powerful wind. He keeps that thought to himself, however, comforted by the idea that the buckskin could easily protect all them. “How did you survive?”
    (be my escape)
    Svedka


    @[Smoak]
    #7
    Keep a little fire burning;
    however small, however hidden.


    Smoak draws closer to Svedka, his own bone-plated head lowering conspiratorially and ears pricking forward so as not to miss any detail that his childhood friend offers to him about the horses of the plains. He has yet to experience lust-driven nights, but truthfully he has been in no rush, preferring the (thus far) platonic company of Solace, Scyla, and Harrier, over the effort required to woo any of the younger females of Tephra. Perhaps he has been distracted by the twin of Svedka, by the feelings that have blossomed slowly within him despite the aversion he had originally felt at his emotions for her ─ but he would never admit it.

    "Maybe next time you'll bring someone back with you, yeah? Beqanna could use a little loosening up," he laughs with guile, happy to be back in the presence of Svedka and his contagious smile. The palomino pulls playfully at his mane and Smoak peels back champagne lips to nip at the other in jest. "We would have dragged you back here kicking and screaming eventually. You know Lace would have never let you stay there forever." And he would have been the one to guide her on the adventure, to quell the nerves of the one being he knows who could, perhaps, contain no wanderlust at all.

    Smoak squeals mirthfully as his hooves dig into the soft sand, muscles in his shoulders rippling to evade Svedka's gnashing jaw. The wind blows his mane over his hazel eyes and Smoak shakes his head to rid his view of the tresses as the conversation slips briefly over his own parents.

    Svedka's sudden and powerful concern draws and nicker from the champagne stallion's maw and he nudges it against the ridge of his friend's cheek comfortingly. "He has since disappeared," Smoak tells him matter-of-factly, a sad smile replacing the casual grin he'd previously held, "And Solace doesn't know. I don't like to see either of you upset." His hazel eyes flick to Svedka's hidden ears briefly, unused to the painted stallion's aggression but there is a sort of happiness that grows in Smoak's chest ─ happiness that his friend would kill for him, just as Smoak would do in return.

    "It was just after you left, when... when they all escaped from Carnage. Mom ran him off," he ends quietly before turning his gaze to the nearby roiling ocean for a few moments. When he looks back to his friend, the mischief has returned to his hazel eyes and Smoak grins.

    "C'mon, Ved, let's go do something crazy."

    Smoak


    @[Svedka]
    #8
    the secret of our world is written in the stars
    Svedka tilts his head at his friend, contempating his suggestion with a raised brow. He hadn’t thought of that! “Next time1!” he promises with a laugh, “I’ll bring a girl just for you.” He winks at his bone-plated friend, almost regretting the fact that he hadn’t brought Smoak along with him and his parents. It would have been nice to have him there, a familiar face within a sea of strangers, and he would have kept Smoak safe from the bear-shifter. The idea of Ledger wipes the smile from his face and he becomes sullen, and his brow furrows across his eyes.

    Smoak attempts to comfort him and to smooth the bristledness of the ivory and palomino stallion that boils in rage before him. And he allows him, and a tiny hint of a smile graces his lips. 

    “I swear, if that brute ever waltzes back in here again, you and I will handle him. Solace might want peace, but Ledger will be asking for war if he finds his way back to Beqanna!” The stallion is fierce as his words fall from his lips - truer than true, just as his father’s - and his eyes are icy with disbelief and anger. While he spent his time frolicking in his youth within another country, his best friend nearly passed away. Svedka pauses, his throat catching and causing him to swallow his emotions. He could have returned and found out that Smoak was dead. The idea simply rattles him, despite his experience with Kaiode and Solace so many years before. It hadn’t struck him like the idea of Smoak dying now currently does, and his brow furrows with uncertainty at the emotions that trill in his chest. 

    Quickly, Smoak intercepts him and brings an idea forward that the two stallions have not thought of since they were merely colts among the ash and smoke.

    Svedka grins mischievously, his nose wrinkling with love for the idea.

    “Sounds perfect. Have something in mind?”
    (be my escape)
    Svedka


    @[Smoak]

    We should do something that makes Smoak use his bone armor or something cool! Smile




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