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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


    Jinju;
    #1
    the taigan
     
    He knew she may not recognize him, not at first. But it didn't stop him from tracking that scent the moment he caught a trail that was not left stale and embedded in their home. Her scent was everywhere here, just as his was. It had always been the two of them. Even when his marriage failed, she remained at his side. She was his constant as he had been hers.

    The children were tucked away. Her adopted little sister of glass and the boy he'd helped Bright rescue, claim him in a way that guaranteed his protection. It was why Ruan would look different to her. The boy now wore Ruan's coat of black and white and purple, and Ruan wore his wolf's coat of greys, keeping his royal purple in a proud stripe down his spine and mantle on his shoulders.

    His eyes were wide and wild, and he was fighting down the bubbling rage that resided just at his fingertips. It was hard to. It was a hell of a wrath waiting to unleash.

    "Jinju."

    He was still near enough to hear the children, hear the young bear cub if he called out. It hadn't been easy for Soldat. Ruan knew the boy was struggling with the separation from his mother, but Ruan didn't know when she'd be back. Or how to find her. She would return, though. He knew that. And until then, they all three had Jinju. Ruan needed his steady daughter at his side again. And he hoped it would keep him sane, too.

    He waited in silence, watching for the recognition in her eyes.
    He hadn't known the magic would freeze them in time for so long.
    That he'd missed so much of her life.
     

    I'm still alive



    Reply
    #2
    “Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams.”


    She had clung to the way of the wolf, relied on what she had learned long ago (in a different life actually), to keep herself alive. It had been the only way for the young woman to cope with the loss of an entire life. Her family, her friends, her home, her lover, and her son.

    She now, too, remembers the wolves of magma and aqua. She remembers fleeing, having to run for her life, but also to fight for her son’s. And before that, her parents, and siblings, and their peaceful life before the intruders had come, before her parents had parted their ways.

    It had been too much. Too many memories, and too much hardship. Jinju had not known how to deal with all the emotion, but also confusion, and had fallen back to the only thing she knew: living from day to day, with as uttermost concern food and a place to sleep. But anger has always burned wild in the pit of her stomach.

    The sound of her name makes her ear twitch, and then slowly turn in his direction. She had been snoozing in the sun – though faint during the winter – and not heard him approaching. The annoyance does not show upon her features, however, no wolf likes to be surprised, as her ruby orbs slowly open and she bends her neck to glance in her visitor’s direction.

    Her eyes do not find who she had hoped to see. Jinju had needed a few seconds to place the familiar voice, but now she sees she had been wrong. Before her stands not a purple spotted appaloosa, but a wolf. And yet, not just any wolf. It are the scars, two thick scars where wings used to be, wings she used to hide under, that erase all doubt from her mind.

    Her lips part, then seal again, only to part again as her ruby eyes seem to shine more brilliantly. And yet, the word leaves her lips hesitant, afraid to be wrong, afraid to have hopes crushed.

    “Dad?”

    @[Ruan]
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    #3
    ruan
    He felt the pang of dark memories when her eyes caressed his scars cutting across him on each side. The first half of her life had been spent beneath his wings, sheltered and loved and protected. His first child, and the only one that had remained at his side. Those wings were long gone, now, torn violently from his body in a gory scene by his wife's enemy. A warning for her, a threat.

    He had given so much for her.

    Ruan gently packed the thoughts away again, blue eyes still settled comfortably on his daughter of fire. In a few days time, she'd managed to look younger. She looked like she did when he'd had wings, not as small as she'd been when he first found her but at this age, he'd still been able to curl a protective wing around her. Soft confusion furrowed in his brow, and his head tilted in question.

    "Where is Ander?"

    How do you look younger? was the question to follow, embedded as a darkness in his eyes. She'd always known how to read him though. She'd been with him longer than anyone had, even his wife. And he intended to keep it that way. He was home now. They were safe now. Their forest would know them once again.

    They would care for it together as they always had.
    Always together.

    He ached to hold her again, watching her in silent agony that didn't reach his face. He wanted her pressed against him where he could lose himself in her familiar scent, his home, his family. The only place he had ever belonged, a strange man even in this world of magic. The Alpha didn't say it in words, couldn't force himself forward to do it without consent, and so he shifted his weight and repositioned himself. It was only a slight change, a subtle difference, but raised in his wild ways as she had been the invitation was clear. And he felt vulnerable for it, opening himself this way.

    Please, come.



    Reply
    #4
    “Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams.”

    She feels a similar pang when her son’s name is spoken. It is one of the many memories and thoughts she’d tucked away, stored in one of the most far corners of her mind. Ander. Her son. Terran’s son. In her new youth, Jinju is unable to not let the emotions show. For a sort moment her ears flick back, and her lips form a thin line. She’s able to catch herself before allowing her lip to curl up and bare her teeth. No wolf, but equine, she has to remind herself.

    She has heard his question, and also read the next in his gaze, knowing she could not answer the first without the latter. But speaking it out loud. The inky lady trembles, unable to twist her ears forward just yet, as she stares at him. For a moment her ruby eyes show all. Her pains, her fears, her loss. In the next second, Jinju pushes it all back, a wolf does not show weakness.

    And yet, she is unable to not immediately react. The subtle movement of his body is enough for her to move forward, to cross the distance between them. Jinju does not rush to his side like she had once used too, they are both too much predator right now, and instead she moves one hoof in front of the other. By the time she reaches him, the inky girl is trembling all over.

    For a moment she just stands in front of the gray wolf, watching him for a moment, begging him to read her fear and panic, and insecurities. Ruan invited her, but would he also wrap her in his embrace once again?

    She reaches out, fire burning hot in her belly, and her eyes, but it is a deep sigh that leaves the barrier of her lips when her skin touches his. “Dad,” she repeats, this time no longer questioning, but confident. He is here. He is back. Ever so slowly a smile starts tugging at the corners of her lips, and when she moves, it is much quicker, more child-like and with more energy, simply to position herself next to him. Ruan might no longer have his wings, but Jinju still very much feels the need to snuggle at his side.

    It is, with her head on his shoulder, that she finally replies to his question. “He.. I don’t know.. He does not need his..” mother “.. parents anymore.” Jinju could not claim having raised her son right, as Terran has done all the hard work. Together they had mourned him, but without the link Terran formed between them, their strange family could not keep stand.

    “I.. died when Taiga fell.. And was reborn from the ashes.” Her own ashes. Raised by my lover alongside my own son.


    @[Ruan] <3
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    #5
    ruan
    He saw pain in her eyes, a suffering darken her beautiful face. It would find its match hidden in the dark grey of his. He didn't need words or explanations. Ander was gone. Perhaps dead, perhaps living. But nonetheless gone. The details didn't matter. His beautiful grandson was as gone as his own brood.

    Perhaps never to return.

    He had failed his daughter. His family. He wished the magic could've been better controlled, ensured that he hadn't missed so much. She was younger now and that was another magic, he was certain. He hoped not of his wife's doing, though why would she ever bother with any of them anymore? Besides, it was him she had a problem with. Not their first child she herself had brought home.

    When she paused, hesitated as he opened himself to her, he knew she must've survived so much more than he could imagine. Look how strong she was, showing all her pain and ache and fears, and instead of running into his arms she stood strong.

    But she didn't have to anymore.

    His eyes softened, and he met her with a cold breath as she reached out. "Dad." He smiled from his eyes, a sadness that went soul-deep for all the hurt they'd both gone through. Everything they had survived as the gathered their shattered pieces time and time again to drag them along with them in life. Sometimes she'd held more of his, and sometimes he'd held more of hers. Together they carried them. Together they grew stronger.

    He found himself smiling back, finally in his lips this time, as her own lifted. A light flared to life in her gaze, and she bounded forward and spun, tucking herself in next to him where she used to be, where he used to settle his large wing over her so safely. He bent his head to her, craning his neck to brush velvet on velvet as his eyes closed, sheltering her from how badly he'd needed this.

    He would always need her.

    She confirmed in words then that Ander was alive, only didn't need his parents anymore. It was another ache to add to the rest, but he nodded. He understood. His own hadn't needed him either. He understood. He knew that pain. And he was so sorry she had ever had to feel it for herself.

    "I.. died when Taiga fell.. And was reborn from the ashes." His ears pinned back and his head jerked higher. She hadn't meant it figuratively, he could tell by not only her age but the mournful sound to her voice. He didn't like imagining that she would ever die before him. That wasn't how it was supposed to be, a child before a parent. But she was here now. And perhaps that meant she would never truly be gone from him.

    He softened again, relaxed slightly. The feral rage was so near, spiking with indignation at her comment that Taiga had fallen. Even after everything, these trees still stood strong, if scarred. Like them. In their stubbornness to survive, they had given life to more trees, and more beasts, and would one day be a better Taiga than the one before. That fog still rolled in at night, fed by the sea that craved to land on the shore.

    "Our home still stands."
    And they would keep it that way.
    As they always had.

    Faith and loyalty had seen them through everything. Even the numerous betrayals of those not strong enough for it. Like the fairies themselves.

    He held her quietly then, soaking in the peace he found in her company.



    Reply
    #6
    “Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams.”

    She remembers her anger, like a furious fire raging wild. But never had she felt anger towards her father. Neither her mother, though there is a pang of disappointment. Her mother had refused to see her, but had left little Enfys in her care nonetheless. But never anger. However, the inky black lady is angry with the world, the fairies, and the way they had destroyed all she ever cared for.

    Her family. Her home. Her life. Her lover.

    But now Taiga is ‘safe’ again, no wolves other than themselves hunt the grounds, not races of aqua and lava. Other things infect the land, but nothing they cannot face. Because family has found the way into her life back too.

    She can see the pain in his eyes, in the way in which he holds himself, but he is still the father that has always loved her. Her rock in dark times. Jinju remembers how they had shared a burden, but in her current young life, it is something she can hardly imagine. For Ruan, she’d try, but time will have to tell if she can succeed.

    When the wolf jerks his head, she glances up at him out of the corner of her ruby eye. Her lips thin and before she knows it her head rests against his neck, as a soft sigh escapes past the barrier of her lips. “Terran raised me, alongside Ander,” a brief pause, and uncomfortable shrug of her shoulders. “Ander.. he is older than I am now..” How much must she have hurt him? Thinking of him as a big brother instead as her own son. Jinju cannot be more grateful to Terran than she is, for raising them both well.

    She finds herself nodding to his words, then slowly, reaches out to press the velvet of her muzzle against his cheek. “She does,” she agrees, watching the redwood forest. Winter has come to the land again, but for the first winter since her rebirth Jinju is barely aware of the cold, her own fire burning hot and wild.

    “And so do we.” Her shoulder gently bumps against his, asking for his attention as a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips. Fire burns in her eyes. “We will make Taiga great again. Wolves will forever roam her grounds.”


    @[Ruan]
    Reply
    #7
    ruan

    He was nearly instantly calmed when she pressed her face to his neck, letting out a slow breath and allowing his muscles to relax once more. He curled his neck to brush his cheek on her, openly affectionate with his daughter when he was so closed off to everyone else. Especially after the confusion he'd seemed to cause between him and a dear friend.

    He had thought she knew him better.
    He had always been loyal to a fault. And he'd been married.
    Even now, he still felt married.
    Perhaps he always would.

    It was a thought that filled him with pain and a deep sadness. He brushed it aside and listened to Jinju explain more to him. She certainly had had a hard time while he'd been locked in ice. He should've done better, should've found a way to release himself sooner. But his magic had fought him and any other magic trying to attack or help.

    His eyes softened again at the passion and heart he heard in the last things she'd said. He nodded, closing his eyes and nuzzling beside her jaw, burying his breath in her hair. It was right to be this close to her. He was home.

    "Those that wish to call it home will do so safely."

    They would protect them as they always had. They would right the wrongs done to this land. Without the fairies' aid this time. Without their betrayal.

    "Polaris is home, too," he said softly, savoring the warmth from her heated skin. So opposite from his chill. "And a young brother." His voice got quieter, uncertain how she would take it. There was once a time when she feared she might matter less as he found more abandoned children and brought them home. Maybe she knew by now that she was everything to him.




    Reply
    #8
    “Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams.”

    They longer they stand side by side she relaxes, her head nodding to show she agrees. “Always.” Taiga might not be the sanctuary Hyaline and Tephra promote they are, but it is Jinju’s personal sanctuary, and those of all who wish a peaceful life with their families.

    He might not have wings to hide her anymore, but Jinju cannot imagine a safer place right now. Nor a place she would rather be. Jinju’s eyes fall closed, and for a moment the world around them ceases to exist. She is trembling – something she is silently cursing herself for – but manages to keep the tears from rolling down her cheeks. However, they are still audible in her voice, as she softly whispers to him. “I’ve missed you..”

    More than she can put into words. Even if she has not always fully remembered him. Even today, more and more memories return. Some as vivid as her own, others as if she had been a mere witness, instead as of the owner of the memories. Sometimes Jinju needs a little nudge, but they return nonetheless.

    Like the name of her baby sister, or, the name of one of them. Her ruby eyes blink a couple of times, and her ears swirl back and forth, but then a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips. “Polaris..” she repeats softly, now fondly remembering the day when they had laid side by side, while watching the glass filly play in the castle made of ice. “Is she okay?”

    He knows her too well. Questioning ruby eyes search his, as her head slightly tilts to the side to reveal the small, rhombus shaped star on her forehead. Insecurity flashes over her features, accompanied by a brief pang of jealousy. Had they had a father, while she had been raised by her lover and son? A brother? Iasan? No, that could not be. Her younger brother, one of her father’s real – biological – children, but he now too must be older than her, just like Ander. “A brother?” she eventually asks, and with a brief pause continues. “Is he okay too?”


    @[Ruan]
    Reply
    #9
    ruan

    "I've missed you."

    Her voice was so full of emotion and it was his nature to lean in and nuzzle her more, pour as much reassurance on her as he could. He'd missed her too. Not as much as she'd missed him, he was realizing. It was such a shorter time for him than it had been for her. And he was so sorry for that, that he'd failed her so badly. He hadn't meant to.

    God, but she was so strong. She'd stood her ground just as she always would. She'd survived in every way she'd been allowed to.

    He'd failed her.
    But she was here with him anyway, in their home.

    His face rubbed against her in comfort, to him as well as her, as she spoke again. Of Polaris, her youngest sister he'd brought home. She asked if she was okay and he nodded, though he hadn't helped much with that. He'd put her in danger, honestly. He was a danger to her and the boy. His tumultuous emotions ran so hot, so wild, so suddenly. He'd nearly hurt them. And he didn't know how to resolve it.

    He was ashamed of that and feared for them. He was afraid to say it aloud, too. But if anyone could hold his trust, it was Jinju. If anyone could help him, it was her. She was his rock.

    Her beautiful crimson eyes peered up at him in question and he found himself brushing the top of his nose against her cheek affectionately. In all the world, she was the only one to have his affection.

    He nodded again to confirm the boy was fine and gave her the boy's name that disguised him from those that hunted him. "Rian." His nose followed the path down her jaw, under her chin, rubbing her as lovingly as the wolf inside him ached to. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly as he pulled back to look at her. He couldn't tell her the full truth, not without a magician's dome of silence to protect them from prying eyes and ears.

    "He looks as I used to," is all the quiet explanation he could give, though he wished to tell her everything. Most especially that he was not remarried. Because that might matter to her. She hadn't missed anything with him. He was still married. To a woman who had likely turned right around and born children to meaningless men for how little he'd meant to her. While he meanwhile remained hers alone. He was such a fool for his continued faith. Forever the fool.

    He swallowed, his blue eyes darkening with the depression he'd buried deep and tried to keep hidden for so long. Even now, he shoved it back down as desperately as he could. He still refused to let it out. His emotions were not for his daughter to bear.

    He was a broken man. Had been for so long now.
    A young woman had seen a hint of it once.
    He'd try not to let any other see it.

    "They are nearby," he provided softly, protective of their location even now. But they were near. Close enough for him to guard as violently as he may need to. "Resting." He leaned against her, nuzzling her neck beside her jaw. It felt so good to touch someone again, to feel touch and warmth. To have her close again. "You can lay with them if you'd like?"




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