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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


    [private]  "Diplomatic visit," Kylin only.
    #1
    Out with the golden we sew, and the lower past that crawls.
    Now, to the doorway you run, to the girl that's not lost.
    It's an impromptu visit that I've planned, without really asking if it's allowed. I figure that in the peace of the land, it won't do any harm for me to better acquaint myself with some of our neighboring lands - I am a diplomat after all, and it would only make sense for me to known a little about our rival kingdoms, though for now the rivalry isn't bloody. I intend to keep it that way of course, I hate war, and furthermore Hyaline's whole thing is about not making war, about sheltering those affected by it.

    So with any luck, my little visit won't change things as dramatically as that.

    The tides are low as my journey from the mountains to the sea comes to an end. It's quite a distance, and has taken me all day - the sun setting slowly on the sea bound horizon - but I am content with the exercise. I am at the western border, with my shapely hooves making prints in the moist sand. The weather is slightly nippy, but I am not so finely built that it bothers me.

    Halting as the small dip of water I had to walk through falls behind me, I raise my head and quietly trumpet a call to any who may hear. It's not really a diplomatic visit in my opinion, but I am from Hyaline, and I do want to see the innards of their kingdom, so... I guess that's what I'll have to call it.
    Kagerus
    sweet nothing
    [Image: kag]
    dreamweaver
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    #2
    kylin
    html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura

    There is my mind, there is my heart.
    Klaudius had bathed her, or at least made sure she did, and then guided her away from Ischia’s northern island that had become their home. It probably was thanks to him that she is looking a little better; clean and fed, but he hadn’t been able to take away her grief. Kylin had lost all she was willing to live for, even Ischia offered no longer a reason to. The island does not need her.

    At first she had thought to just go back to the smaller island once the lavender stallion let her out of his sight. Kylin no longer feels part of Ischia, no longer connected to her habitants. Except for Klaudius none of them had shown any interest in her either, and the lavender tobiano woman still doesn’t know what her uncle’s reasoning had been.

    Anyway, she is still at the main isle when the stranger’s call reaches her ears. Her first reaction is to ignore it, she, in her dulled and little too skinny form, wouldn’t be a good representative in diplomatic matters. And yet, something tells her that she must go, and thus Kylin finds herself slowly making her way over to the beach to meet Ischia’s visitor. She remember times in which she had done it too. First, together with Kharon, later, under Father’s watchful eye, and even after that, when Circinae had first laid claim upon Ischia. This time Kylin is alone.

    She does not hide her approach, but neither does she make herself known. Step by step, hoof before hoof, she makes her way over to the two toned stranger. Kylin tilts her head, surprised as she is hit by something familiar. Did they know one another? The question lies upon her tongue, but the longer she eyes the stranger, the more she is sure that they have never met. Then what is it she recognizes?

    ”Hello” she greets the bay and white mare softly. Kylin’s hazel eyes rest upon her form, but she could as well have been staring through her. It is not that she does not see, but at the same time, it is kind of like that. During any other time she would’ve introduced herself, and asked the mare for her purpose, but Kylin doesn’t today. Lately little has interested her, and this two toned mare does not either.

    Yet.

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    #3
    Out with the golden we sew, and the lower past that crawls.
    Now, to the doorway you run, to the girl that's not lost.
    I do not have to wait long before a figure appears, wandering as if lost from the Ischian underbrush. Instinctively I take a step forward, nostrils flaring, wondering if the too-skinny girl needs help - but at the last moment I remember that I am representing Hyaline, just by being from there. And so I stand, legs askew in the sand, neck extended as if that would allow me to somehow help the girl.

    Hello, she says, and yet her pretty eyes, set against the lush lavender of her face, seem to pass completely through me. My skin itches, as if to warn me that I am a ghost - or perhaps that she is. There is something unearthly about this situation, at any rate. About the way the girl's eyes are as gaunt as her ribs.

    "Hello there," I murmur, not wanting to startle the fragile figure. Two streams of thought battle within me, one wanting to go forward and coddle the child (though she be more mare than filly in stature), the other telling me that such forwardness is completely unwarranted on the part of a diplomat. But I have been a lover and a nurturer for far longer than I have been a diplomat, and so the prior wins out.

    I close the distance between us and wrap the lavender girl in a tight hug, giving it my all, though I fear that she may be as stiff as a board under such attention. But she needs it. I can see in the way her muscles bunch and her eyes look too much like crying. She needs to be held - even just by a stranger.

    Though that look in her eyes is no stranger to me.

    Releasing her from the embrace, I back up softly until our noses are about a half a foot apart. My nutmeg eyes glimmer, genuine concern reflected in their depths. "Are you okay?" I speak gently, reassuringly, as if she can trust me - and she can.

    "My name is Kagerus, I'd love to hear your name too..."
    Kagerus
    sweet nothing
    [Image: kag]
    dreamweaver
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    #4
    kylin
    html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura

    There is my mind, there is my heart.
    Her eyes lock on the two toned mare’s frame, staring at her in such way that could be misinterpret as staring through her. In truth, Kylin just needs time to registers what she sees. From there, she needs even more time to think of an appropriate reaction. The soft murmur of a greeting makes her ears flick forward, slow and hesitant. Her fins pull tighter against her sides, caused by something in the piebald’s gaze.

    Kylin blinks her hazel eyes once, twice, trice. It’s still there. Her dished head tilts slowly and she takes a small step forward, so she can meet the extended nose half way. Kylin never gets the chance, the two toned stranger beats her to it.

    Her first reaction is too freeze, eyes wide and lips parted in a silent gasp. What is this? But then, even though Kylin is fighting it, her frail body starts to tremble. Tears well up in her eyes and as the waterfalls start to flow again, her breath turns into shaky sobs and gasps for air. The lavender and white woman simply cannot help it; it has been so long since she’d last been held. And now a stranger, a stranger is holding her close. The stranger’s body warms her, offers her comfort and support, without even knowing one another longer than five minutes.

    Too fast the stranger pulls away. She leaves Kylin trembling, with tears clouding her vision and her side suddenly cold without the close contact between their bodies. On instinct she pulls her fins tighter against her sides, but the thin membrane does not do anything to keep her warm. Nor sheltered.

    The question is answered with a quick shake of her head. Blinking her eyes she tries to will her tears away; a pretty impossible task with the worried nutmeg eyes never straying away from Kylin’s own hazel ones. Then, realising what she’d just done, Kylin corrects herself by nodding. ”Ye-“ voice hoarse and unable to continue without clearing her throat. ”I’ll be…” A flat lie. But she has long ago learned that nobody cared for her anyway, why else had they all left her?

    But maybe, just maybe, this stranger cared more for her than anybody else had in a long time. Hesitant, afraid to be turned down, Kylin presses the velvet of her muzzle against Kagerus’, a weak attempt to smile tugging at her lips. ”Kylin..” she murmurs softy, then glancing away, back to the thick jungle that starts off the beach. ”Just Kylin.” Ischia’s sore apple.

    ”You’re not from here..” It’s not a question, but rather a conclusion. Kagerus does not smell like the sea, nor like the rich flowery scent that the jungle carries. It shouldn’t be too surprising, the piebald mare had announced her presence loudly, like a visitor, but Kylin is too far way to make one and one two.



    @[Sid] <3
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    #5
    Out with the golden we sew, and the lower past that crawls.
    Now, to the doorway you run, to the girl that's not lost.
    I move too quickly to allow the lavender doe's movement toward me come to fruition: she had been reaching for me, and before I even knew that, I had her wrapped up in my embrace, soothing her tears with steady breathing, holding her thin frame until the sobs subsided.

    Or at least, I thought that they had subsided - but as I pull away, hoping I have not intruded too terribly, I recognize a look in her eyes that conveys to me how deeply I am wrong in this hope. She needs more, she needs someone, she needs consistency - I am a mere stranger, and yet I can see in the deep pools of her eyes that my physical touch had tethered her to the world for a split second, and that she desperately wants more.

    The girl tries to speak then, her voice thick with tears just as her cheeks are. My heart breaks athousandfold, that something inside of me begging me to reach out and care for the child, to nurture her and raise her... But that something shall truly be the death of me, though I am not aware of this yet. Nor am I even aware of the life growing in my womb.

    For now, the only life that matters, is the one before me, stuttering and balking and seeming to need me more than ever.

    "I'm glad you came to see me, Just Kylin," I murmur into the soft folds of her nose, hoping that my light and soft tones will ease her out of her black cloud. "I'm here for a reason, I think, and I think that reason... Is to tell you that it's going to be okay." I smile, knowing that what I say could be mistaken, that it might offend her to think that I know anything about her at all - but I do know her, when I look in her eyes, I know her. Profoundly. And perhaps, by looking in mine, she will know me too.

    She asks of my home then, and I drop my gaze for a second before returning it hastily to hers. This was supposed to be a diplomatic visit... But something tells me that what I'm doing here is a different type of political move. But I push those thoughts away. I don't have an agenda, and I never did - what happens from here on out, with this lovely Kylin, is between her and I - not our respective kingdoms.

    I hope.

    "I'm from Hyaline, the mountain kingdom..."

    "We're a sanctuary for the lost and broken."

    Kagerus
    sweet nothing
    [Image: kag]
    dreamweaver
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    #6
    kylin
    html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura

    There is my mind, there is my heart.
    Something in the piebald’s gaze holds Kylin’s own. She does not glance away – like she often did – and for the first time she finds herself actually looking at Kagerus, instead of staring blindly. What she sees makes her yearn for more. This mare does seem to see her, and for a moment Kylin wonders if she does feel her pain too. Suddenly she feels vulnerable, extremely so too, and small. Her fins press tighter against her sides, as if she is trying to hold herself.

    But even so, her hazel eyes don’t stray away from Kagerus’ nutmeg ones. The mare’s breath is warm against her skin, but Kylin does not find it uncomfortable. Somehow it is okay. Like Kagerus tells her she will be. The words are met with a long and deep stare; Kylin is searching for answers that answer the many questions that swirl in her head, tears still shimmering in her eyes. Then the corners of her lips twitch, just barely, and Kylin speaks so softly it is almost not audible. ”I will?”

    By some miracle the lavender and cream girl does not look away when Kagerus does. If not, she even extends her neck a little to lean in closer, as if that would help her make contact again. Kylin’s lips twitch again when Kagerus does, weakly smiling through her tears. ”Hyaline?” Well, that does spark some interest.

    Years ago, when she’d still been a filly, they had shortly moved there. Father had claimed the land for their family, to be safe and far away from whatever had invaded Ischia. Later Kylin had learned – through Kharon – that it had been their grandfather they had fled from. It had only lasted short, and they had returned to Ischia to claim it as theirs. But Kylin has always looked back on their time in Hyaline with fondness.

    ”Is the lake still as beautiful as ever?”

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    #7
    Out with the golden we sew, and the lower past that crawls.
    Now, to the doorway you run, to the girl that's not lost.
    It is not longer before I notice the soft girl's eyes slowly focusing on my corporeal self, as if readjusting to reality for the first time in a long while. I smile, a genuine expression, for I have known that self same feeling: did Insignificance, the woman who came to bear me a brother, not find me in my darkest hour and rescue me from myself? Did she not look me in my eyes, and bring me back to life, as I am now doing to Kylin?

    Perhaps there is still some light among the darkness of my soul after all.

    I will?

    "Yes darling, I promise." Her meek expression - barely a twitch of the lips - is all the proof I need that she believes me and trusts me, that she hasn't taken my words wrong. My own smile is still stubbornly set, not large by any means, but reassuring. At this, the sweet Kylin extends her nose towards mine, and I eagerly close the distance that she leaves, wanting only to encourage this action. Physical touch is healing, and this child needs just that.

    I nod softly to her quiet question, one that is filled with a meek kind of awe. I mirror that same awe in my own tone, gentle and admiring of the land I come from. "Yes, it's breath taking, though very cold right now as you might expect." I inhale as if to speak again, but then bite my tongue - I am here on a diplomatic mission, I should restrain myself, I should --

    "Why don't you come back with me? For old time's sake? You can tell me about how you know Hyaline... Or whatever you want, really."

    "I'm here for you, Kylin."


    Well. So much for subtlety.
    Kagerus
    sweet nothing


    @[Kylin]
    [Image: kag]
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    #8
    kylin
    html code by Toli, design idea based on "Dovev" by Laura

    There is my mind, there is my heart.
    The smile works contagious, and although Kylin’s is not as brilliant, bright and beautiful as Karaugh’s, it is a start. Just a twitch of her lavender lips growing to a small smile. One not less genuine, but careful and hesitant. Almost as if she is afraid to feel again. Afraid to fall down again.

    But, would there be someone to catch her this time? ”I promise.” Someone like Kagerus? Kylin shudders, her hazel eyes closing for a second. The motion makes her shed some of the tears that had wet her eyes. Kagerus’ nose against her own makes Kylin open them again. They are still wet and shiny, but, for the very first time in a long while, there is hope to be seen in them again. The light touch makes her press closer, wanting, no needing more. Afraid that she would lose her grounding if the contact between them would be broken.

    Hearing about Hyaline’s lake make her eyes twinkle ever so slightly, a spark of interest and curiosity, and a longing for easier times. The prospect of the cold makes her shiver, and glance down. In Ischia it was never cold, her thin coat very much proof of that. And her thinned form wouldn’t help to get her warm either.

    The disappointment she feels surprises her. Just as the excited flutter in her stomach at Kagerus’ suggestion to go back with the piebald mare. But, that meant leaving Ischia. Could Kylin leave Ischia? The island had been her home almost all her life. ”I..” she murmurs, not sure what she wants to say. Her eyes find Kagerus’, then she bends her neck to glance back at Ischia jungle. ”C-could I?”

    Would Hyaline want her? Would Ischia allow her to leave? Those are the thoughts that suddenly get so loud that she wonders if her head is about to explode. Fear and excitement, grief and longing, loyalty to her home or to herself.

    By the time Kylin looks back at the other mare the tears are back in her eyes. She’s shaking, unable to deal with the sudden wave of feelings that hit her. Her gaze is desperately pleading Kagerus to help her. To make a decision for her, and guide her. Never before had Kylin stand on her own, and she does not know how to handle it. Not at all.

    And hadn’t Kagerus said she’d been there for her?




    @[Kagerus] <3 <3 <3
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