05-14-2018, 01:44 PM
Khaeli’s sad little pleas don’t fall on deaf ears, Alonwy isn’t a total monster, she’s just more preoccupied with real monsters that might lurk here than she is about immediately soothing hurt feelings. And when the spotted girl does step sideways to press against Alonwy’s black-and-white form, she can’t help but soften a little, and she reaches down to nibble affectionately on her little sister’s crest and the ever-itchy spot at the base of every pegasus’ wings, unspoken tokens of her affection and even her forgiveness. She’s not one for grudges on the best of days, and certainly not holding grudges against littles who don’t really know any better.
So when Khaeli agrees - eagerly, even - to the game, she forces a smile on her face and tries to tell herself that all will be well. It’s not as far as all that, afterall; if they can make their way quietly through the Meadow and Field to Tephra, Khaeli can fly back across. As for Alonwy, low tide is not nearly as low and welcoming from Tephra as it is from the shallowest distance at the point of the mainland near the river, but for all she is a hopeless fighter she is a strong swimmer. And while Tephra is not Allied to her sire’s Kingdom, they are friendly enough to grant her temporary succor until she the ungifted can return home as well. It would be nice to see her sister and brother residing there, too, and perhaps Dagny could even be persuaded to fly across to ensure Khaeli doesn’t make any other unauthorized and unwise detours.
She hangs back a ways from her little sister under the trees, for she can see herself how well Khaeli blends and her own bigger patches would only give them away. It is this that puts some distance between the bigger of the sisters and their unknown stalkers, and Alonwy is started by the appearance of two strangers ahead of them. Instinctively she puts on burst of speed and overtakes her charge, placing herself between Khaeli and the duo of tree-creature and stallion. She is not a warrior, she is afraid, but she is ever Brennen’s daughter; bravery runs in their veins sometimes to the point of stupidity. His voice gave her the shivers, and her eyes are focused on him even though he is the second to step up, and she is suspicious of him as she would be of any stranger.
But his ‘friend’ - the tree-horse - is beautiful, and friendly, and her voice entreats Alonwy to trust, and so she opens her mouth with some caution but less than she might have. “We’re on our way home,” she says, but carefully leaving out where that actually is. Even this small kernel of trust does not undo the cumulative effects of many lectures they have all had from their sire about the dangers of the world. “Actually,” she smiles brightly, stepping back towards Khaeli in hopes that they might be able to simply walk away, “our brothers should join us any time now, as our escort home.” It’s a bluff she hopes nobody will call her on: their brothers would be an impressive back-up force, but she doubts any of them even realize they are missing.
@[Khaeli] & @[Lokii]