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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]  the way you kiss me will work each time // Valdis
    #1

    and I could easily lose my mind; the way you kiss me will work each time
    calling me to come back to bed, singing Georgia on my mind

    I'll be in the forest after this. Come with me.

    He's not sure why he murmurs these words to his somewhat estranged sister as the meeting between them and their parents (for the most part) comes to a close, but he does; something in the way the winged girl stood and seemed also affected by what is going on. Despite the strange dynamic of their relationship - full of love as children and somewhat tense as young adults - he finds himself pacing anxiously through the forest, awaiting the arrival of his older half-sister.

    He wonders why he hadn't asked Will or Sviko to come, given their closer relationship - but everything felt on edge in this new world, as if a single breath could render one spineless. Indeed, the prince felt spineless; though he'd taken part in a mutiny in favour of the usurper, and though he is growing into his adult figure with a rapidity he is no way capable of handling emotionally, he feels spineless. Disembodied. Utterly gutted.

    The change is too much for one not even through his second year of life; and yet, there is no mercy. Not for him; not for anyone.

    He realizes that he's worn a path where he paces, and that twigs and pine needles have lodged themselves in the feathers lining his wings. With a disgruntled mutter, Rhae stills himself, willing himself to be patient; but a moment later, he returns to his march. If she does not show by daybreak, he will return to Tephra.

    Rhaegor



    @[Valdis]
    @[The Plague] can I please get Rhaegor infected <3
    [Image: rhae]
    Reply
    #2
    As requested, rolled for @[Rhaegor].
    Rhaegor is infected (rolled a 3).
    He will show symptoms (rolled a 4).
    He will not express a trait (rolled a 6).
    Reply
    #3
    And in the darkened underpass I thought,
    "Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"


    She knows she shouldn’t follow, that she should flee with her parents, but curiosity killed the cat. The temptation of his offer riddles her with conflict, but she succumbs to her reckless ways. Upon dismissal, Valdis slipped away to find the forest.

    Flight accelerated her travels, but she eventually has to descend. The trees stand sentinel, towering high above her. Ravens caw from the naked, twisted branches.

    Death and disease already reigns here.

    Swallowing the lump of uncertainty, Valdis presses forward and weaves through the gnarled oaks and proud pines. An eerie chill nips at her heels, and she glances past her shoulder in consideration to run, but again, her curiosity and pride impede. Rhaegor will be here, and if he is unafraid then so she will be. Drawing in a deep breath, she traverses the last bit of shadowed distance until she is in front of him, her eyes hooded by her metallic forelock. ”Brother,” she murmurs with a quirked brow as she visually combs through their surroundings with piqued interest, ”Why here?”

    Their parents will be angry, worried even. Solace, she pictures pacing and soaring high overhead to find her eldest daughter. Castile, in his display of apology and desperation, would rake through every bit of land to find her as well. Would Kagerus do the same?

    To combat the chill, Valdis ignites a flame around her slender torso, a low kindle to warm her skin and perhaps even Rhaegor’s. ”I wonder how many are already sick and dying,” she doesn’t say this with sympathy and concern, but with a sick intrigue.

    VALDIS
    But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.


    @[Rhaegor]
    Reply
    #4
    Valdis rolled a 4, and is safe...for now.
    Reply
    #5

    and I could easily lose my mind; the way you kiss me will work each time
    calling me to come back to bed, singing Georgia on my mind

    She comes quickly enough, leaving plenty of time in the limit Rhae had set for her. The first sign of her arrival is the sound of large wings beating to lower a thousand-pound creature to the earth, but it could be any pegasus coming to the forest for the night; when he scents her however, he knows she has come. Why, he cannot begin to guess; why he is here is yet a mystery, too. It would be better to get to safety.

    But everything is confusing, and he just - just - just --

    Brother. It is a poignant word, one the he feels somewhat jolted in hearing come from her mouth, though of course they've always considered each other siblings from the start. He wonders if she thinks poorly of him for lashing out as father when he touched their mother; but then he wonders if Castile has ever actually proven himself a worthy father, if he has ever provided for his family the way Kagerus has. Because of Kagerus, Hyaline - The Sanctuary now - will always be their home... What stability could Castile provide?

    But she is asking him why, then, and his wonderings are brushed aside. "I just needed to go somewhere where our parents aren't. To get some air." His voice is quiet, but loud enough that she can hear. Growing up alongside the year-older mare meant that he could converse with her easily, despite the awkwardness inspired by the awareness brought on by young adulthood. The handsome young stallion tries out a smile, as if that would make light of their present situation; but when his sister erupts into calm flames, the smile warbles and fails.

    She wonders how many are sick and dying; and and in a cruel twist of irony, Rhaegor coughs.

    Only once, but it is enough.

    He clears his throat, averting his gaze and shuffling his wings. Hoping to distract Valdis, he sets himself alight too: not with fire, but with tiny and intermittently shone beams of light, creating an illusion of him being swathe in a pale blue light, the same shade as the leopard print markings lining his haunches.

    "It must be in the hundreds already," he murmurs, stepping closer to her for want of comfort and familiarity in this new, contagion-ridden world. "Val - what do you think you're going to do?" His eyes suddenly find hers, an urgency in them that hadn't been there before. "Have you spoken to Velk? Will and Koko aren't sure what they're going to do, and I - I'm not either. But I've been in Tephra, like I said... I just don't know."

    Rhaegor



    @[Valdis]
    [Image: rhae]
    Reply
    #6
    And in the darkened underpass I thought,
    "Oh Satan, my chance has come at last!"


    ”To get away,” she repeats in a hushed whisper as her eyes – blue like mother’s – scrutinize the naked tree branches towering above. It’s dangerous to be here, but her feet root themselves in front of Rhaegor; if he doesn’t leave, nor will she. Despite the intricacies of their familial ties, and the small wedge applied with father’s return, Valdis still looks at Rhae as her brother. They were all raised together, a small brood overlooking Hyaline. But she realizes how she and Velk would no longer be a high priority. They were Solace’s first-born, but they aren’t prized jewels since Kagerus has stolen mother’s heart. She and Velk will likely fade into the background, no longer love children – just memories of a fleeting summer lust.

    If anything, it makes her love for her brother – and father – a bit stronger, even if she doesn’t know what other siblings she has by Castile.
    They are all she has, truly, undeniably.

    They cross her mind, albeit briefly, until her observing falls back to Rhaegor. She has replayed in her mind twice already how he nipped father away, but the shock of it stunned her into silence. Even now, standing with him, she isn’t sure what there is to say about it, if anything at all.

    A glimmer of a smile touches her lips when she notices her brother adopt his own blanket of sunlight, a near replica of her aura. A brow lifts, smug in its manner. ”I wonder, if combined, what our powers could do in this world.” Burn the decaying trees. Blind those they face. They could easily enough wreak havoc, but the idea comes and goes as he admits a quiet fear. For days, Valdis has desperately tried to conceal the unnerving concern of this new, plagued world, but her wall crumbles in the face of his confession. ”I don’t know,” she shrugs, slowly blinking, ”Velk went to the cove with everyone else, but part of me doesn’t want to run away. Perhaps there are opportunities in this,” her eyes lift to his solemnly, ”but, we have options. Either stay in the infected lands, go to the cove, or supposedly my dad went to a northern island. He said he will be back. I believe him.” Because he did eventually come back to them, even if he missed their childhood.

    Valdis, having tried not to react suddenly to Rhaegor’s cough, lifts her chin now, stubbornly. ”You’re sick, aren’t you?” Her wings flutter against her sides as she debates her next move. It’s only them here; their twins aren’t even in the forest with them. They are alone. ”You never cough,” her eyes narrow thoughtfully, but there remains a tenderness in her expression as she releases a breath she didn’t know was being held. ”I won’t abandon you.”

    VALDIS
    But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask.


    @[Rhaegor]
    Reply
    #7

    and I could easily lose my mind; the way you kiss me will work each time
    calling me to come back to bed, singing Georgia on my mind

    Although there might be something akin to truth in Valdis' musings of her and her twin's displacement in the hierarchy of the family, its truth crumbles when applied to her siblings. As the mare studies the naked branches which crown their encounter, Rhaegor in turn studies her, watching the way the light reflects off of her bright blue eyes - the same blue as that which lines his haunches. Mother's blue - a connecting fragment between them that neither are wont to forget.

    When her eyes return to his, the stallion has nothing of worth to offer except a weighted stare and a strained but genuine smile. The nuances of their relationship are plentiful, but best left unspoken.

    Of course, his sister has other ideas that are equally taboo, but by bringing them up, she makes Rhae laugh. "Nothing, when in opposition to anyone with anything akin to magic. But you could warm the cold, and I could close small wounds. The world has enough chaos without the two of us adding to it." He wants to reach out and nudge her, but remembers himself before showing any sign of this desire; instead, he gently shakes his head, a small cloud of steam rising from his nostrils as he slowly exhales.

    In this way, with his head partially lowered and eyes unfocused, he tips his ears to listen to her answer. She speaks of opportunities, forcing him to meet her gaze for a moment before again looking away. Castile went to the northern lands; Nerine, Rhaegor thinks. Not so far from home that it would hurt to lose her to it. Then again, he's gone to Tephra - closer now than it was before the shift, but still the furthest of the kingdoms to The Sanctuary.

    The prince raises his head and inhales to speak, but is cut off by Valdis' interjection: a statement of fact disguised as a question. In unison, their wings flutter, anxiety rife in the very sinews of their beings whether they like it or not. His ears tip back lamely as she justifies her position, not in anger but in fear and quiet despair. It's just a cough, he's been telling himself; it's nothing, nothing at all.

    His eyes are glued to the ground until she speaks again.
    I won't abandon you.
    Four words, and yet they bring tears to his eyes; and a single one falls before he looks to her again, a chagrin smile twisting his lips.

    "Thank you."

    For a while, silence becomes the third member of their party; the wind blows solemnly through the trees as the siblings stand, regarding the naked trees and thinking of non-consequential things. Parents and opportunities, kingdoms and loyalties, the nature of things and of course, the sickness. His wings twitch every so often, a testament to whatever one might desire: fear, the need to act, unrest, or perhaps simply an itch. As they stand, Rhae realizes that of all the people he could have by his side in these moments of thought and decision, she is his first choice.

    He looks to her again, the tightness of his smile not gone, but still lessened. "I hope you find the place you belong, Valdis, and soon - before the sickness finds you, too." A particularly sharp wind buffets the pair, and the boy's wings fluff up in response. "If all of us can make it through this, then things will be okay." He nods firmly, thinking upon the us, of their half or step brother Abysm, of Kavi and Castile and Solace and Kagerus and of course their twins; he tries another smile, finding Val's gaze and speaking again, voice full of conviction.

    "Things are going to be okay."

    Rhaegor



    @[Valdis] if this is a good place to end let me know!
    [Image: rhae]
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