I kept my hope just like I hoped to // magnus/levi

[Rhaegor]

I kept my hope just like i'd hoped to
then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue

Well, after such an ordeal as that, he has decided to leave.

Temporarily, he tells himself at first, but with each step away from Hyaline, he wonders just how temporary his absence truly will be. He's not the first of the Queens' children to leave home (or is he?) so he doesn't think much of it, especially under the whole 'temporary' title thing. This remains especially true when he thinks of his siblings; he'll definitely be going back to see Sviko all the time, and he expects that Will will come visit him when he least expects it, but their childhood lives in Hyaline still, and so maybe the trip really will be temporary. Or at least, not permanent.

How about this: a change in venues, to see what there is to see.

At first, he's not really sure where he's going. Obviously not Loess or Sylva seeing as they are essentially enemies to mothers' kingdom. Nerine he brushes off instantly too when he considers that he's leaving home to escape all the women - it would be a little stupid of him to join the kingdom actually meant for that purpose. This leaves Ischia and Tephra, and he decides to decide later.

The strapping young stallion - if you could call an almost-two year old such a thing - walks some of the distance, figuring he ought to say goodbye to the Hyalinian scenery. But once his birth home dissolves into the commonground of the river, he finds efficiency more appealing than sentimentality; as such, it takes only a moment for the boy to unfurl his ash-brown wings, giving them a small shake to make sure they're quite ready for flight. With more powerful thrusts, he soon finds himself steadily ascending into the sky, leaving what he knew behind for good.

Temporarily.

He knows the Ischia and Tephra are due east, but he's surprised when he spots them both within five minutes of each other. A relatively experienced flyer by now, he takes some time to glide on the forgiving thermals as he tries to make some kind of decision about where to land. The Brotherhood is in Ischia, he knows, and he knows that some of his grandfather's family or at least acquaintances remain in Tephra. An internal debate ensues in which he wrestles with trying to decide one way or another; but once he realizes that he has left Ischia behind due to his inability to decide, he figures that that is decision enough.

As such, he lands on the Western beach of Tephra. The afternoon sun hits his sweaty, dappled figure in such a way that seems to leave him radiantly glowing, the shimmering blue leopard print markings lining his haunches standing out prettily against the darker gold of his coat. It's clear by the sinewy lines of his muscles that he is fit; but the clenching and unclenching muscle of his jaw is somewhat misleading in that that movement is likely to be the only movement of that region that anyone here ought to expect.

He doesn't know anyone here, he realizes.
And they won't know him.

Rhaegor

@[magnus] @[Levi]

[magnus]

I wanna give you wild love, the kind that never slows down
I wanna take you high up let our hearts be the only sound

Magnus knows what it’s like to leave home.

He remembers what it was like, a young stallion on the edge of youth and recklessness, finally venturing forth from the edges of the jungle into his father’s kingdom, the Chamber. He remembers the possibility and the fear and the constant reminder that it was just temporary and that, if he wanted, it wasn’t something that needed to be a forever choice. Of course, it wasn’t, but that wasn’t because he went home.

But now is not the time for Magnus to delve further into his considerable history.

Instead, he is enjoying the time, walking the border as he is known to do, keeping a close eye on those who inhabit Tephra. It was growing. Slowly—perhaps too slowly for his liking—but still, it was something. They now had several members and, if he had his way, they’d have more soon.

Still, he is surprised to see the stallion landing on the beach, his gold-flecked eyes narrowing slightly in thought as he studies the figure from afar. It is too much of a distance for him to be able to recognize the boy but something stirs in his belly that speaks to familiarity and he wastes no time in making his way over,  picking his way through the terrain that he now knows as well as he had once known the Gates.

It’s only when he gets close enough to make out the features of the stallion that it finally hits him, and his crooked smile grows wider in remembering. Picking up his pace to a leggy trot, he makes his way down the dunes and onto the beach, the sand moving easily around him. “Hi there!” He says, his gold-flecked eyes growing warm as he reaches the stallion, pressing his nose to the other’s neck in greeting.

“I didn’t expect to see you here of all places.”

I wanna go where the lights burn low and you're only mine

[Levi]

He had found her broken and cold on the shores of the beach and he had thought she was dead.

It's an unusual thing to find one who held your heart, as corroded and unappealing as it may be to others, lifeless in the sand only for her to breathe below you, accepted your warmth and whispered your name. In that moment he had powerfully felt that whatever god or magic there was had given him a second chance. And he didn't intend to waste it.

The journey from the graveyard to Tephra had taken the better part of two weeks. They had stalled in the meadow, she had used him for warmth and support while she grazed, gathering minute amounts of strength. But as the air began to chill he had forced them to move on- Tephra's warm shores would be a much better place for her to continue healing. 

He had rededicated himself to his guard duties with the same passion he had felt when he was Tephra's Heir and Prince. And as he rises from the shadows he knows there is another man he needs to find if the volcanic land is to remain the safest place for his injured lark to heal.

Magnus.

His father's peer, a name which had commanded respect in his formative years, and a diligent kingdom-man. From the detached spit of land he called his own Levi had seen the golden stallion paroling, getting, and generally making himself useful. Now that  Rapture was settled and healing, though too slowly for his liking, he decides it's time to seek out his father's comrade. 

The tall stallion crosses the salty river which separates him from the heart of Tephra with ease, and before he has gone far his overheated skin has dried his pelt.  Magnus is not alone but he continues on his path without pause. Offspring's son may be slow to act, stubborn as a glacier and distrustful of change, but once he did there was little that slow his momentum. 

Levi

so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.

[Rhaegor]

I kept my hope just like i'd hoped to
then sang to the sea for feelings deep blue

The boy doesn't have to wait long to be found out - and when he recognizes the face attached to the dusty golden figure approaching, this fact ceases to surprise him. Ever since that day in the field when they'd converged upon the lovely Kensa together, Rhae has known the ancient stallion to be something of a god when it comes to kingdom business; the fact that he'd walked away with the recruit spoke only to his cuteness, and definitely not to his skill.

He couldn't even talk, for fucks sakes.

This fact causes his lips to tug down at the corners momentarily, displeasure at his disability unfortunately obvious. But he sweeps the expression away hastily, exchanging it for one of youthful abandon; the wind grabs at his ashen locks, sweeping them across his face and around eyes which now appeared more grounded and knowing than they might have before. Though trauma is yet to enter the boy's life, something of a grown up air floats around him; it is as such that he greets Magnus.

Hi there. Rhae offers a slight tilt of his head in deference, not blinking as he studies the impressively built stallion. When he comes close to press himself to Rhae, the prince returns the gesture without hesitation; physicality is his primary form of communication. Brotherly to the end, his mouth finds the slope of Magnus' shoulder, pressing there firmly to demonstrate his pleasant feelings of finding him here until the other pulls away.

He mentions a triviality, one Rhae has no way of answering. Instead, he tosses his well shaped head towards the second stallion who chooses to approach; a handsome sabino, with the smell of the dead on him.

With a curious glance to Magnus, Rhae tosses his head once more and approaches the other. This stallion he does not move to greet as intimately as he did Magnus; a deep-seated anxiety surrounding stallions still lives within the prince, what with his having been raised by two mares. He's just not as comfortable around them. But as adulthood tightened its grasp on Rhaegor, he came to better control his feelings; as such, he stops before Levi, gaze stoic and jaw firmly set.

Rhaegor

@[magnus] @[Levi]

[magnus]

I wanna give you wild love, the kind that never slows down
I wanna take you high up let our hearts be the only sound

The other stallion’s quietness doesn’t deter Magnus, nor surprise him, and he accepts the brotherly embrace warmly, returning it with a firm press of his muzzle to the other’s shoulder. He is unsure whether Rhaegor was here on a kingdom visit (it would make the third visit from Hyaline members, but he was never one to turn down a visitor from a friendly land) or if the ashen boy had other reasons for his stay, but he was pleased either way. He watches him for a moment, not asking more questions but keeping an entertained gaze on him, watching as he nods toward the other stallion who approaches them both.

The golden stallion tilts his head in thought, considering the splashed boy, before recognition sinks into his belly. He walks with Rhaegor to greet the stallion, reaching out to bump his nose against him before settling into a more comfortable position. “You’re Offspring’s boy, aren’t you?” Levi and Lynx had been born around the time he was still ruling Tephra, although Offspring had retreated quite a bit into the volcanic isle, enjoying the privacy and quiet of a citizen’s life with Isle and their growing family. Magnus had seen the twins with the mismatched eyes grow up from afar, but it is not difficult to recognize him.

He eyes the burning edges of the stallion’s mane and tail, impressed by the way the fire has seemingly clawed its way out of his heart to be displayed so prominently. “It’s a pleasure to meet you more formally.” His lips curve into a crooked smile. “You’ve grown considerably since the last I’ve seen of you.” He jerks his head toward the land behind him. “Do you spend most of your time out there?”

Forgetting himself, he looks toward Rhaegor, his smile warm before looking back to Levi. “This is my friend from Hyaline.” Whether that was to be the case for long, he has no idea. “My name is Magnus.”

I wanna go where the lights burn low and you're only mine

@[Rhaegor] @[Levi]