Chaser [Solace/Warrick]

[Diable Rouge]

Diable Rouge

>

His trip to Hyaline had changed him. Once a broken shell of a man, ridden with guilt and regret, he now holds his head a little bit higher, he walks with a little bit more purpose. 

His mind, but more importantly, his heart are at ease. Hyaline was in good hands with his little light in charge, and he figured now she could rule more completely since their chat at her borders. While his heart felt happy that he had found Solace safe, and that his words had made her sound, it still longed for the two horses that made his life complete. 

AuroraElis and Phoebus. 

But before he could see them again, before he could kiss them again, he had other matters to attend to. He had made a promise to Warrick, which he wholeheartedly intended to keep. 

Tephra welcomes him tenderly into its warm embrace. As he swims, his nostrils flare to take in the scent he had come accustomed to - ash, sulfur, and salty sea brine  mix to give him the smell of home. He emerges on Tephra's shore, lanky legs carrying him up through the sand. His body drips with sea water, but he knows the humid summer air will soon dry it to his skin. He looks behind him to the figure following closely behind, and she smiles. 

"Welcome back, Solace." He knows she knows this land as well as he does, but her absence had been known and he is glad she has followed him for a visit...for a reunion. The russet stallion calls out to Warrick, the man he could now consider a friend, and awaits patiently for his arrival. 

in the eye of a hurricane, there is quiet.

@[Solace] @[Warrick] blah sorry this took so long.

[Solace]

S O L A C E

Solace would always be grateful to Rou. 

His visit to Hyaline had given her the closure which had taken years for her to even realize she needed. He had freely given her his forgiveness, and they both seemed to be better off after the purging of tears which had flowed freely after their meeting.

Now, his return had encouraged her to make the long overdue visit to Tephra. The journey had been pleasant, and they had used the time to discuss everything from family to politics. Formerly her guardian, now her friend, the young queen found that she valued his company even more as an adult. 

A practiced swimmer, Solace crosses the channel with ease. The warm fragrance of endless summer washed over her in full force - she had nearly forgotten the heady perfume. 

She comes to stand beside the buckskin stallion when he halts, adding her own whinny to his resounding call. 

And then, she looks to the sky, as she had always done when searching for her father. 

caretaker of hyaline

[Warrick]

like the sun swallowed up by the earth

The winged-king had been eagerly awaiting Diable Rouge’s return. His nightly flights mostly took him over the channel - a spindly finger of water cutting through the land, where his bright gaze would alight on the border, searching for the familiar figure of the red mottled stallion. Each daybreak brought him soaring through the thick thermals of Tephra’s atmosphere, scouring the land for any sign of his return. Each day is the same - and he is left to greet strangers and care to his people, and to stare out into the open sea dreaming of his children and his golden lover.

Even though he expects the same as he did the night before, the bay stallion takes to the skies with swooping beats of his navy wings, carrying him upwards and beyond to patrol Tephra’s borders from above, while Longclaw most certainly kept to the deeper and more darker parts of the mainland. The autumnal sun is intense on his back, the rays of light touching down on the cobalt of his great wingspan, the sound of his wings beating at his sides thrumming in his ears. Yet somehow through the strong wind and air currents, a long-lost voice carries upward to him from beneath. The stallion glances down with a slight tilt of his wings, pulling his forelegs closer to his body to peer at the world below him with narrowing eyes.

From the shallow depths of the smooth-flowing channel, two figures emerge - and though Warrick immediately understands that one is Diable Rouge, the sight of the slender frame beside his friend causes his heart to turn violently within his chest.

Solace.

With an expert twitch of his feathers he begins to ascend downwards, nearly plummeting to the earth like a hawk diving for its prey - it is foolish for him to fly so quickly to the ground, but he could not help it. He lands solidly, though not as gracefully as he normally does. His galloping legs trip uneasily on the soft ground, his large wings still outspread in attempts to slow himself  down. One or two great beats of the feathered wings bring him to a canter, and then one more to a trot - and then he is meeting his daughter, pulling her into his chest with the curve of his neck and holding her tightly with one cobalt wing strewn across her back.

“My darling daughter,” he whispers in her ear breathlessly, the tightness in his throat threatening to unleash the stinging of tears that he can feel beneath his closed eyelids. He remains within this embrace for a long while - relishing the smell of her, the feel of her - before slowly opening his eyes and taking a single step back, pulling his wing to his side to match the other folded tightly at his side. He is in awe of her - her maturity is evident, for she has blossomed into a beautiful woman (which he is not surprised, given her mother). “I’ve missed you so much,” he tells her, his voice tight as a smile forms on his lips, blue eyes sparkling with the most joyous of tears as his cobalt muzzle brushes the ivory and deep honey of her soft cheek.

The stallion turns to Diable Rouge - who has delivered on his promise to Warrick - and gives him a regal nod of gratitude. “Thank you, my friend.”

Warrick

@[Solace] @[Diable Rouge] <3

[Diable Rouge]

Diable Rouge

>

The night is familiarly warm, and Diable Rouge feels his heart swelling with happiness at finally being at home in Tephra. Their call to Warrick is almost like a song, two harmonizing voices on the wind, wishing to bring even more closure to an otherwise dark past. The chaser's eyes stay locked on the sky, hoping the familiar bay and navy figure would soon appear.

Almost as quickly as the thought had emerged, his feathered friend is descending (rather quickly, he may add), down to the Tephran floor. The rusty stallion cannot help but let out a gentle chuckle as Warrick trips up, running with the excitement of a child (he figures when he sees AuroraElis and Phoebus, he'd be well inclined to do the same).

The meeting between father and daughter is enough to have Diable Rouge's eyes misty. He is happy to be a part of this, a part of both their lives, and he is happy they are part of him, sitting fondly in his heart. The words of gratitude Warrick speak are welcomed, but not expected - it was a promise to a friend, he had just kept it.

"You are very welcome, Warrick."

in the eye of a hurricane, there is quiet.

@[Warrick] @[Solace] <3