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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


    Desolation comes upon the sky // Any
    #1

    WATCH THE FLAMES CLIMB HIGH INTO THE NIGHT

    Though she served now in the position of the Dosh (or Advisor), she had held many, many titles in the past.

    It was midday in Nerine, a thin winter's sun peeking through the pine trees of the forest she had come to love nearly as much as her Jungle before. She wandered throughout said region, grazing peacefully and considering the aforementioned subject: her titles. Switched-at-birth daughter, amazon, princess, orphan; that in only her first handful of years. Warrior, diplomat, general; wife, mother, mourner of a stillborn child; those in her young adulthood and adulthood.

    Bloodrider, Erinak, and yes, then to Khaleesi - and these titles served to bring her right to elderliness and, to motherhood of eleven children with one stallion. Though death became her only title for some time, her return to life came with ever more titles, now practically untraceable by age as she advanced from elderly into ancient into legendary. Leviathan, Advisor, Queen, Dosh.

    Her most favourite titles were, of course, mio fuoco, and the ever timeless, unaging hairless rat.

    ...Suffice to say, she had abundant wisdoms to distribute amongst the members of her newfound kingdom. Though they called themselves Leviathans and not Amazons, and though she was the only one among them yet to wear the traditional red-flower and vine, she still saw them all as her sisters. Yet in her duties as Dosh, she had sorely been lacking: too caught up in mourning the fact of her more-than-likely infertility as yet another pregnancy-less winter took ahold of her.

    But the time had come for her to reshoulder the weight of kingdom-life, and so here she found herself: in a small clearing in the forest, easily accessed by any who might catch her waiting scent.

    Scorch

    Once Khaleesi of the Amazon Jungle

    [Image: scorch2.png]
    #2
    Ardashir
    Winter in Nerine just meant that the world grew more quiet. The ocean though stayed its constant roaring tone. He had grown quite the winter coat. The white stag was sporting a beard this year and a long fet lock that covered his face and eyes. He was used to all of this though and just tossed his head a couple times to move the hair out of his face. Kingdom life was all Ard had known so far in his short time in this world. He had wondered a few times sure. He had gone to the forest and to the meadow. Nerine though seemed to always call him back.


    Maybe, it was just because it was safe. It was home and an easy place to make a life. He was a hermit though in his home. He did not go out of his way to visit with others but, now that a title had been placed on his head maybe he ought to go and get to know who shared this kingdom with him. He was champion now and he honestly had no idea what he was to do. Ard lifted his eyes as he continued on  his walk pondering to himself. The frost of winter settling in nicely here and there.


    The forests of Nerine could not compare to the forest of the common lands. Then again that might have just been in his mind. He could have wondered every inch of the forests of his home, or he could be lying to himself and not have even scratched the surface of what there was to see in Nerine. The clearing though is where he found her. Scorch the hairless mare that had once been a queen and now an advisor. The stallion offered a grunting nicker of greeting to her. “ How do you find the winter this year?” He asked as he moved a bit more forward. He always left a polite amount of space between him and those he spoke to.


    It was a simple start to a conversation. Ard had many questions to ask but he did not want to just let them all fall out of his mouth at once and risk sounding dull or dumb. For all he knew though he could have been both. He rushed into this Champion thing but, he wanted to prove his worth.
    The blue in an ocean of gray..


    @[Scorch] He needs lessons in the workings of the world please help my lost little boy.
    You’ve mistaken the stars reflected on the surface of the lake at night for the heavens.
    #3

    WATCH THE FLAMES CLIMB HIGH INTO THE NIGHT

    He'd been a constant figure in the crowd gathered during meetings, a scent that made itself one with every part of Nerine's landscape. Though they'd only spoken during those meetings and perhaps once or twice during other diplomatic-centered events, Scorch found herself keenly aware of Ardashir, and curious as to his standings, experience, and character.

    He reminded her in some ways of her husband Hestoni, another stallion who had married himself to the Jungle - or at least, the Sisterhood. They both stood tall and wide, giving off auras of strength and certainty. But an aura is not very telling, when compared with the real thing of knowing someone.

    So when the white giant snaked between the pine trees and interrupted her meandering thoughts, Scorch was no less than pleased. A sort of mischievous smile lilted her lips, the red-yellow of her dragon eyes blinking their interest once or twice. He nickered his greeting, and she responded in kind, going so far as to even exchange breath with him before he began his spiel.

    They stood at an appropriate distance apart, though any who knew Scorch knew that her persona bubble had shrunk practically to her skin ever since she became a mother. Before that... Well, Teen Scorch was one angsty, bite-your-face-off motherfucker. Hestoni would know.

    "I find the winter quite well, thank you," She offered. It was a bald-faced lie, but one she found quite necessary; divulging the extremely personal woes of her and her husband's inability to conceive was not exactly the first sentence she planned to give to relative strangers.

    "Though please, do tell me that you haven't come all this way to ask me about the weather." A glint of kind-spirited humour showed in her roiling eyes, though her words were sharp and gravelly. Say what you will about Scorch, but if being called a hairless rat all her life had taught her anything, it was that the words of others are often meaningless - except, of course, when they weren't.

    Scorch

    Once Khaleesi of the Amazon Jungle



    @[Ardashir]
    [Image: scorch2.png]
    #4
    Ardashir
    A smile passed his own pink lips, “ No, of course not Dosh. The weather is not why I have come today.”
    The world around them was warming a bit. The snows had started to creep back some. But, winter would release its grip on this land when it wanted and no sooner.


    He simply started and the words just fell out of him.“I have been running circles in my own mind over these last few years. Wondering about my place in the kingdom.  I make myself a hermit in these lands. I am the champion of Nerine and yet I have hardly faced anyone in battle. I know this role means that my life is for our queen to do with as she pleases. But, that does not mean that I am a slave to her. I fear that this title of mine is undeserved. For what have I done for this place?


    He lowered his head some and tilted it to one side looking at Scorch. “ Or, am I just running myself stupid with all these thoughts? Should I simply be happy to serve? I don’t want to run off and just forget responsibilities. But, I also do not want to stand idle with some shadow of greater dangers looming behind the scenes.


    The draft stag sighed and lifted his head looking up at the trees a bit, “ The frost is coming to an end. Spring is here it seems. New life..” He paused on the last part. Ard had never been with a mare. He had not shared his heart no his body with anyone else. It was his own fault really not going out and chasing some filly down. Or, maybe he wanted a connection with someone before offering his heart to them.


    He did not want to have children running around everywhere. Maybe, just one or even two. He looked back to the hairless mare with her eyes of red and yellow, “ You are very kind for listening to me ramble. I am sorry I have never spoken to you before.” Ard was being kind but not at all a flirt. He would not dare with her. That and the boy knew nothing about how to say the right thing or touch someone just the right way. He was no Ivar.  
    The blue in an ocean of gray..


    @[Scorch]
    You’ve mistaken the stars reflected on the surface of the lake at night for the heavens.
    #5

    WATCH THE FLAMES CLIMB HIGH INTO THE NIGHT

    He admitted to having a deeper cause for his approach than simply the weather, using her title in such a way that she'd not heard before. She cocked a brow at the formality, but allowed it to pass in the next breath; such trivial things were beyond her scope of interest these days, as old age drove her somewhat insane. Immortal or no, she'd lived to see almost too many sunrises and sunsets - but Gods, don't let anyone interpret that as her wanting to be dead again. No, it simply meant that, as the years passed, she found herself settling into sageness.

    Occasionally, anyway.

    Ears perking, the Dosh settled her weight into a muscled hip as Ardashir launched into his spiel. The white warrior had plenty to say, much as she did; everyone thought soldiers to be ones of few words, but in fact that opposite was quite true for these two. Her mind drifted somewhat as his speech dragged on, her eyes dropping to the vastness of his figure; he would make a good councilor, one day. He speaks his mind, and he will have enough experience soon to warrant it. When he mentioned the word slave - an echo of something long forgotten in that Amazonian tradition - her refocused, weight shifting more upright as a torrent of words threatened to spill from her lips.

    "What I want you to hear is this, Ardashir: you, and none who live here, shall ever be slaves." Her eyes - red and yellow and molten - flashed an acid green. "Long years ago, when our founders the Amazons were most full of pride, all stallions who resided in our land were called manservants - but that was simply a quaint way of saying slave. I lived to see that term abolished, and to see men welcomed as Brothers into our arms - but it is you, Ardashir, who lived to witness the complete acceptance of men into the ranks of the Sisterhood."

    She paused, wondering if she was being too patriotic; but if anyone had the right to run her mouth about the Jungle, it was she who yet bore the Rose and Vine. "Your title has been won by hundreds who fought for equality in this kingdom. Do not let the shadows of doubt so grip your mind, when in the face of the past, you are walking a new trail. There is no shame in wondering, no shame in being scared; but there is shame in backing down from something you know you can handle." She leveled her gaze towards him. "And I know you can handle it."

    Clearing her throat, the mare lifted a forehoof and sent the rest of her pent up energy into the earth, striking it repeatedly until the warmth in her chest slowly dissipated. Nostrils flaring, she considered Ardashir a final time, gradually lowering her head in acceptance of his tender thanks.

    "I am the Dosh for a reason, Brother; to advise. You may come to me with any tribulations. I only hope that I can be of service to those in their times of need."

    Scorch

    Once Khaleesi of the Amazon Jungle



    @[Ardashir]
    [Image: scorch2.png]




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