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  • Beqanna

    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


    To love is to burn, to be on fire - Magnus
    #1
    "To love is to burn, to be on fire."


    Warrick’s leave gets to her more than she has ever anticipated. Even though she knows he is alive, as much as she is sure of her own, the ebony woman cannot stop worrying. Her heart cries for that of her best friend, but she also longs for his presence and comfort quite strongly. With Wound missing and Kolera and Lucrezia gone, Amorette does not have any friends left. Nobody to share her heartache with, or a shoulder to cry on.

    Her nightmares still torment her, and waking up in a cold and empty bed does not help. Alone, she feels so incredibly alone, and the lack of any other equine in her life makes Amore more insecure than she has ever been. What had she done wrong, for things to end this way? In the darkness it is easy to doubt herself, almost too easy, and it only makes her retreat from what she loves the most.

    Amorette is not meant to be alone. She strongly dislikes being alone, and yet she does not know how to face any of them. She does not want them to see what kind of failure she is. Warrick had asked them to look after his children, and Kromium had honoured in the best way possible, but the ebony woman had not been able to help either of them. While that is what she has always sworn to do. Help others, be the shoulder to lean on, the voice to comfort, but also one to laugh with, one that cherishes and holds. And in secret strongly longs to be held herself too.

    Even if it would just be once. She’d just pretend to not think of the morrow, and quite possibly cry herself to sleep long after her one time partner has fallen asleep.

    In her darkness Amore is not aware of Beqanna’s changes. The plague does not touch Tephra, their sanctuary is safe. But if she’d knew, the fire healer would quite possibly have forced herself to leave, to face the danger. Because she value’s helping more than saving her own life. Over the last year one of the volcano’s many caves has become her home once again, where she now stands snoozing in the opening as the sunlight warms he back.


    @[magnus]
    #2

    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

    Her absence has not gone unnoticed by the golden stallion.

    It has ripped at him, tearing at him as he patrolled Tephra, his eyes always roaming for signs of her. He had not seen her since she had greeted him back into the kingdom, welcoming him with a love that was completely undeserving, given his absence. Still, she had not held it against him. She had not made him feel horrible or put guilt on his shoulders. She had just embraced him and welcomed him back in.

    And then disappeared.

    And he could no longer ignore the worry gnawing in his belly.

    So, today, he ventures deeper. He searches further. For so long he has argued with himself that she is a grown woman—capable of handling her own affairs—and that he would just be a meddling father to hunt her down, but he can no longer justify it. So he spends the morning looking, the sunshine of Tephra’s winter mild and comfortable, the air clear with the ocean breeze that rolls through the land.

    His feet carry him to the base of the volcano, the same mountain he had ventured to with Amorette and Lucrezia (another who had gone mysteriously missing in the past months). He wonders if she has returned here and he begins to pick his way through the path, not stopping until he sees the sun glint off the metallic strands in her hair. Relief floods through him as he makes his way toward her, watching the way her tired face relaxes as sleep tangles in her. “Daughter,” he whispers as he steps into the cave, brushing his nose along her neck to wake her gently. “I have missed you. Where have you been hiding?”

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

    [Image: gqYjsHr.png]
    #3
    "To love is to burn, to be on fire."


    If she had known of the tumult happening in the world, she would hate herself for worrying about petty things. There is nothing in this world Amorette could ever truly hate, except for unjust, true evil, and herself. Her own heartache is nothing compared to the lives at risk and families that have gotten torn.

    But for now, Amore does not know, and struggles to face her own demons. All emotions and memories that once had gotten tucked away neatly in the back of her mind, now refuse to stay behind closed doors. Her insecurities have gotten worse, and strengthen her idea of having to flee and hide from all.

    That she cannot keep hiding forever, she knows, but Amorette struggles to break out of the endless circle. But now help has come.

    She is barely aware of his approach, and one ear lazily twitch upon hearing his gentle whisper. It is touch, however, that gently wakes her from her peaceful snooze. A pair of eyes blinks a couple of times, lazy, then a small smile tugs on the corners of her lips. “Dad” she greets the golden male with a soft smile, as she instantly reaches out to brush her muzzle across his shoulder.

    Amorette would have liked to have spent some more time in blissful ignorance, to just enjoy the company of someone she trusts without a doubt, but he does not let her. Instantly her gaze is cast down, then she glances back into the cave as she shrugs her shoulders. “Here..” she mumbles softly, before sighing and carefully glancing up at the golden stallion. “I’m sorry..”

    She should have thought about him, what it would be like for Magnus. She had welcomed him, said goodbye to Warrick, then not accepted Kromium’s offer, only to disappear into nothingness. Her promises turning out to be empty. “I.. didn’t want to bother anybody..”


    @[magnus]
    Not sure when I'll be able to reply again. Like predicted, work is no good.. And it is stressing me out a lot. Don't know what to expect, or what to think, but my emotions are all over the place..
    #4

    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

    He knows better than most the depths of the darkness that can consume the soul.

    The doubt.

    The fear.

    The loathing.

    He recognizes it now in the shape of his daughter’s eyes, in the slope of her shoulders, in the way that her mouth turns downward in the corners. He recognizes it in the way she greets him and a frown touches his brow, but he washes it clean from his face. He reaches forward, feeling the way she presses a muzzle against his shoulder, and draws her close to him as he did when she was a child. The way he did when he was still just the stallion helping her escape the terror of the white stallion with red stallions.

    Before he was her father.

    Before she was his daughter.

    But they are family now and he gathers her close, taking her problems and hurt onto himself without even knowing what they are. “You don’t need to apologize to me,” he breathes as he holds her. “You never need to apologize to me.” He would never ask her to answer to him or explain herself to him and would certainly never ask her to apologize for the pain she felt or the actions she took to protect herself.

    Whispering softly under his breath, he reaches over to brush her forelock from her eyes. “You remind me so much of your mother sometimes.” The thought of Minette causes his heart to twist in his chest, but he does his best to keep that pain from his eyes. “She always tried to apologize too.” One corner of his mouth lifts into a sad, crooked smile. “But you’re never a bother. I’m always going to be here for you when you need more, Amorette.” He finds her gaze. “You’re never too old to need your dad.”

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



    @[Amorette]

    oh no! :( i am so sorry to hear that, sapph.

    there's no rush on this thread - just whenever you have the muse for it.
    [Image: gqYjsHr.png]
    #5
    "To love is to burn, to be on fire."

    She is afraid to look at him, to see the look on his face. Not because she thinks he will judge her, or look down on her, but because she is afraid to disappoint him. She might be an adult, old enough to be a mother, and perhaps even a grandmother, herself, but at this moment Amorette feels so very little, and so very lost.

    Unable to keep herself, and her emotion, under control, the ebony woman starts shaking once he pulls her close against him. She does not hesitate to hide her face against his neck, press her cheek against his skin, as her nares flare while taking in a deep breath of his scent. Magnus may not be her biological father – which she does not know, not even after all these years – he is the only father figure she has ever known.

    “I’m sorry..” she repeats again, unable to offer him anything else at the moment. She might not need to, but wants to nonetheless. And Amorette is sorry. Sorry for abandoning all, sorry for the worthless state she currently is. She wants so very much to be different, to be better.

    When the golden male pulls back and reaches out to touch her forehead, her now wet eyes fall closed, and she finds herself leaning into the touch. “I miss her..” she mumbles softly. The soft, gray mare has been nothing but good to her, a mother to remember, but also a mother to ask for advice. A mother that is now a grandmother, as Magnus is a grandfather, but her son, too, is gone.

    Her gaze is full of uncertainties as she looks up at her father, but a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips is offered in return. Amore reaches out, to gently offer him her nose, if he is willing to accept. ]“Always,” she replies, and now her smile reaches her eyes too. It falters just as quick, darkness clouding her again, and she glances away before showing her frustrated tears.

    “Why is life so unfair..?“ Something Amorette genuinely does not understand. Why give the beautiful gift that is life, only to offer so much hardship? Death and chaos are more often than not the rule, and not the exception lately. It is just not fair.


    @[magnus]
    Thank you <3 Will take my time when needed, thanks for letting me know that's okay!
    #6

    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

    It is natural to hold her against his chest, to let his voice rumble slowly between them. It is the only comfort that he can bring her, this warmth and closeness, the security of knowing that he was there and that he wasn’t going anywhere. She presses her face into his neck and he takes a deep breath, doing his best to act as a shelter for whatever storm rages within her, whatever drives her through so much pain.

    He has known this kind of pain, and the only thing you can do is ride it out.

    The only thing you can do is let it roar through you.

    “I miss her too,” he confesses as softly as she. He can only wonder at what his life would be like if Minette was still here. His time with Joelle had been cut tragically short, but in many ways, it felt like he had been robbed of his time with Minette completely. They had just begun to open up to one another. They had just begun to entrust their secrets to one another when it was all ripped away.

    It was difficult to not be bitter about it, to not begrudge fate for its cruelty.

    So he understands when she puts away, when the brief ray of sunshine fades from her eyes, when the question tumbles from her lips. He frowns, taking a steadying breath before shaking his head. “I don’t know, baby girl,” because she was still his daughter, she was still his baby. “I do know that you can’t focus on the pain or you’ll suffocate on it.” He’s gotten close before, gotten close enough to feel it knock the wind out of him, rattling his knuckles on his ribs, reminding him how easy the end would be.

    “You have to focus on the good. There’s always some good if you look hard enough.”

    One corner of his lip rises into a sad smile.

    “You’re my good. This, right here, is my good.”

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



    @[Amorette] <3
    [Image: gqYjsHr.png]
    #7
    "To love is to burn, to be on fire."

    At his confession, her lips curl up ever so slightly. It warms her heart to hear those words, to know her mother is not forgotten. Not that she’d expected that of her father, after all, he still welcomes his adult daughter into his embrace too after all this time, to be the rock that Amorette so desperately needs, but it is still nice to hear. She does not offer a reply, other than that the more firm pressure of her muzzle against his neck. There is simply nothing she can say. Sadly enough, Minette is gone, untraceable.

    She can only nod as she carefully glances up at the golden male. He’s right. If there was only an simple answer, or an answer at all, she’d be willing to do whatever it took to get rid of all hardship and evil. But she cannot. “Just.. it’s hard..” she murmurs in reply, finding it easier lately to just swallow herself in her grief.

    Her eyes blink once, twice, before her lips start to curl into a smile. Amorette simply cannot help it. Why she smiles, she does not know, knowing she should cry instead. Magnus, with his words to focus on the good, says exactly how Amore has always lived her life, but it is a path she had strayed away from somewhere along the way. “You’re right, dad, o so right.”

    Her muzzle is pressed against his for a moment, only to step closer and snuggle up against his broad chest again. “Thank you, dad” she murmurs softly, then sighing, knowing he is right, but still finding it difficult to look through the hardships and into the sun again. “So much has happened..” .. and I haven’t gotten any time to deal with it.

    Like finding Brennen’s girls in the forest, or dealing with her heartache over her non-existent love relationship with Levi, and let is not forget to mention Warrick’s leave and Wound’s disappearance. But most of all, Amore feels like she has failed Tephra, and failed her son in the process. A son she never got to introduce to her father.

    “I.. you’re a grandfather dad..” she murmurs softly out of the blue, not daring to look up at Magnus and instead keeping her soft gaze ahead. “I miss him..” Maybe he would’ve still been around if things had been different.



    @[magnus]
    I'm sorry for the wait! <3
    #8

    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

    Her sadness strike a chord in him and he aches with the familiarity of it. Her own sadness matches the same that rises within him, and he welcomes it in. He breathes the agony of it in deep, letting it settle into his lungs and rest a moment. He lets it curl up in his belly, reminding him of everything, of all of his own failures and shortcomings—all of the ways he has learned to let down the people he loves the most.

    “I know,” is all he says, just holding her as she works through her grief on her own. It isn’t something that he can do for her. He knows that much. He knows that he can’t solve this puzzle on her behalf, even though there is a large part of him that wishes he could. He wishes that he could take this on for her, find the answers for her, help alleviate the burden entirely. But life doesn’t work that way and he can only provide support as she does it herself—something that he knows that she can do. Brave girl.

    He frowns as she begins to open up, letting the sunlight see the most pained parts of her. “I’m here if you  ever want to talk about it.” Because he knows what it is like to have the world fall apart around you. What it is like for all of your good intentions to turn to dust in your hand. What it is like to look up and find what was once paradise turned to ash. But she mentions a son and his features soften as he holds her closer. “That’s wonderful.” He loves being a father, and he can only imagine the joy that would come with being a grandfather. His frown grows at her next sentence. Miss him? Did that mean he was gone?

    He wants to ask where he is. What has happened. But the words die on his tongue.

    Instead he just presses a kiss hard into her neck.

    “It’s going to be okay. We are going to make this okay.”

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



    @[Amorette]
    [Image: gqYjsHr.png]




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