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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


    in the cold light of day we're a flame in the wind [litotes]
    #1
    Following her conversation with Sunny, she considers leaving the Cove and disappearing back into the depths that she came from, but she can’t bring herself to do it.

    Most of it is because she loves the sense of family that she has gained here, even if she hardly knows any of them; she already loves them dearly, from Sunny’s mothers to Ilma and Kensa. Another part of her is terrified; terrified of the plague and the sense of uncertainty outside of the designated safelands, terrified of the unknown. She has only known the Meadow and the Playground and Hyaline in her short life, and now she is beginning to learn the Cove as well. She is scared of what lays outside of them.

    She is fighting her emotions just to keep going, and she doesn’t know if it’s a battle that she can win.

    The sadness surrounding her is almost palpable as she stumbles along the beach, choking back the sobs that threaten to overwhelm her. I told you that you were going to end up hurt, the voice inside her head complains but she pushes it down, down, down until she can’t hear it anymore. “I just want him to be happy,” she whispers in response when her thoughts finally fall silent. Even if it means sacrificing your own happiness? her inner dialogue asks dryly, and she has to forcibly push the thoughts away again.

    Sunlight suddenly beams from behind the clouds and the girl squints as she takes a step toward the ocean, the water too warm for her liking but comforting all the same. She longs for the icy cold mountain lake of Hyaline, but she knows that it is not safe to return there with the plague still stretching across the countryside. Her bear wants to return, even if it’s dangerous, for the snow upon the mountains is the one thing that makes her bear truly happy.

    For now, though, the Cove is home, and she shivers as the water laps at her pasterns. She is tempted—almost—to surrender herself to the waves, but that wouldn’t do any good to anyone, and she resists the temptation. She will live on no matter what, no matter how unhappy it makes her. For his happiness, she will continue to live.

    @litotes
    clean.
    Reply
    #2

    but you’d never get hit without earning it
    and i only hit you first ‘cuz i deserved my own hit too
    still it comes the time to call you out
    since i’m the one that you should be about


    As reluctant as Litotes is to leave Hyaline now, in light of his promotion, he knows it is time to make a trip to Silver Cove. He may run into Kagerus, who he has not spoken to in a while, and who may not know of his sickness. Or may run into an old friend, the memories of the beach party from over a year ago flashing behind his eyes. Of course the trip will be fast, a brisk trot is all it takes to get there in a timely manner, but it is enough time for him to overthink - to worry about those that reside there.

    The brine on the wind tells the Primarch he is close to the thin border between the Cove and Hyaline. The invisible line is so small he can turn his head to see the beginnings of the desolation of Pangea. The smell of rot and sick wafts lazily into his nostrils, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine. Though already sick, the stallion does not wish to know the secrets of death that Pangea seems to hold so close, not yet. He turns his attention back to the Cove, passing into the ocean’s smell like he is an embracing an old friend. Not his Hyaline, not his home - but so many welcome and warm memories of its inhabitants make it feel almost just so.

    The shore is his first destination, over the mountains and into the soft golden sand. Rune, his little sand cat companion, would be pissed if she knew he is on the beach without her; so the cremello shifts into his lion form and lazily splashes through the rising and falling water. Certainly not the same as bringing her, and he has to do his best to keep the wall up between them, but the cat will get a kick out of his salute.

    Litotes first spots her in his lion form. The palomino form of one not much younger than he stands solemnly in the waves, a beacon of gold amidst the fickle wrays of light passing through the clouds. He does not recognize her but insists on introducing himself. He is walking loud enough through the water for her to hear his approach, shifting back to his equine form when finally within earshot.

    “Hello!” he calls, a smile and cough following. The smile drops when he realizes her mood - the downward curve of her mouth, the tension in her shoulders.

    “Are you okay?


    Litotes


    @[Dawn] i'm so sorry this took me so long, work is finally calming down!!! i love her <3
    Reply
    #3

    in the cold light of day we're a flame in the wind
    not the fire that we've begun

    Goodbye, Dawn.

    The words echo in her mind as she stares out into the sea, trembling and trying not to cry. How had things fallen apart so quickly? How had she not realized how she felt until it was much too late? I love you, Dawn. She bites her tongue as his voice rings in her head, trying to dispel the dark words that are clouding her mind. No, you don’t. You don’t love me and you never will and I have to accept that. She had told him that she wouldn’t come between him and Chryseis—and she won’t. The girl makes him happy in ways she clearly can’t; she is a radiant ray of light and Dawn is just... Dawn. Plain. Ordinary. Nothing.

    It doesn’t help that the conversation still weighs so heavily on her shoulders days after he had left her side—likely for the last time. She doesn’t expect that she’ll ever see him again, and she cannot blame him. She has complicated things in ways she didn’t know possible. They are still children, all of them, despite it all; what happened to childhood? The days in the Playground, racing in circles until they were too exhausted to move. Then came the days when they outgrew the Playground and Dawn and Rhae would meet in the Meadow, giggling over funny clouds and the posturing of stallions trying to seduce lonely women. It was never supposed to be like this.

    She can hear the splashing in the waves as something big approaches, but she doesn’t turn her head to look at them. Her bear could handle any threat, of that she is confident, and if they were truly a threat, they wouldn’t be sloshing through the water anyways. The friendly ‘hello!’ is mostly ignored, as is the cough that has become synonymous with the plague. It isn’t until he asks her if she is okay that she finally glances in his direction, eying him briefly before returning her gaze to the horizon.

    “No,” she says simply, as the tears she’s been holding back fill her eyes. Don’t fall, she pleads with herself. “No, I’m not quite alright.”

    Dawn

    Hyaline's resident polar bear cub



    @litotes
    clean.
    Reply
    #4

    but you’d never get hit without earning it
    and i only hit you first ‘cuz i deserved my own hit too
    still it comes the time to call you out
    since i’m the one that you should be about

    Eyes void of interest carelessly pass over Litotes. He blinks, cocking his head imperceptibly to the right - not offended but . . . almost bitterly curious. Truly, he does not entirely mind being ignored, but it will be terribly awkward if he has to turn and slowly walk away.

    Perhaps he should stop thinking.

    Dawn does reply, offering an answer so terribly honest that the cremello has to resist taking a step back. He gulps, correcting that almost misstep with a shift of muscles and subtle shake of his head. Litotes knows a thing or two about not being okay, but in this moment cannot think of what he wishes someone had said to him in those times of strife. The sun reflects off the water, turning his already golden gaze into molten lava, choked panic suddenly illuminated. Salt water sprays into his partially open mouth, forcing him from his reverie (and, luckily, shutting his mouth).

    I’m certainly making her feel better.

    Waves crash endlessly into the shore, gently pressing their warm embrace around Lie’s long legs as he steps closer to Dawn. He draws just close enough to speak barely above a murmur and still be heard, now parallel to her (casting his gaze into the horizon as openly as possible, offering whatever solidarity to her fight against her pain he could).

    “You know, I asked that question expecting a half-hearted ‘I’m fine.’ I admire that unabashed honesty; it’s certainly a sign of strength.” The gaze he casts for just a mere moment is kind, his smile sincere and hesitant.

    “I’m a perfect stranger, but if you need to rant I promise I won’t tell.”

    Litotes


    @[Dawn] hi i'm so sorry this took me so long i started way too many threads
    Reply
    #5

    everything we are, it just went away
    with a slide of the tongue and a sour taste

    I should never have opened my big mouth.

    What would have happened, if she had never admitted to him the true strength of her feelings? Would things be different if they had traveled to Tephra together, to live as the closest of friends? Would he not reel away from her touch as if nauseated by her?

    No. The truth would have come out eventually, and it just would have made the both of them even more miserable than they are now. Undoubtedly, Dawn would have ended up fleeing back to the Cove or even to the Resort, to her mother’s gentle, caring arms. She would have ended up abandoning everything she cares about just to hide from the truth. No, it is better that it came out now, before she decided to follow him to Tephra and try to make a life there. She loves Hyaline and the Cove, and she would have been so lost if she had gone with him.

    The stallion – colt, really; he isn’t much older than her – beside her cringes back at her response, though he cleverly hides it by shifting and shaking his head. A dry laugh escapes the girl and she glances briefly in his direction, knowing it’s not what he expected her to say at all. The expression of panic and the opened mouth tell her all she needs to know, even as he snaps out of it and a stoic mask replaces it. She hears him move closer to her so that they are facing the ocean together, and she sighs heavily, wanting a comforting touch but not knowing him well enough to brush her shoulders against his.

    His words are kind and she looks to him again, this time turning her head so that her dark brown eyes catch his tawny ones. “You are kind,” she notes, swallowing hard and returning her gaze to the sea. “Do you ever...” Her voice trails off and she trembles all over, the previously warm waters feeling icy on her limbs. “Do you ever wish you had never met someone?”

    She almost wishes it now, but she can hardly breathe.

    “I made a terrible mistake, my friend. Never fall in love with your best friend; it will only lead you to heartache.”

    If only she knew.

    Dawn

    oh, it's gonna be a long night



    @[litotes] sorry she's so emo
    clean.
    Reply
    #6

    but you’d never get hit without earning it
    and i only hit you first ‘cuz i deserved my own hit too
    still it comes the time to call you out
    since i’m the one that you should be about

    Dawn is sweet - it pains Litotes to see her in pain. Most would strike a chord in his heart, but the soft brokenness of her voice is particularly agonizing. Were they not strangers, he would have offered her the shoulder she wishes for (ironic that they are thinking the very same thing).

    When she compliments him, he smiles into the horizon. The cremello does not imagine himself as terribly kind, but as youthful a soul as he longs to help those in need. The weight of the world is light for now - allowing another’s pain onto his shoulders feels inconsequential. His smile wanes as he allows his eyes to wander back to the palomino, sweet curiosity gleaming like gems deep within. He wants her baggage - needs it - needs to prove he is good and worth the weight of Hyaline.

    Her first question poses a thought he has never considered. The tone changes, though, when she says to never fall in love with your best friend. Litotes frowns, quickly tugging his gaze back to the horizon to hide his thoughts as they flit across his face. Kensa is his best friend and their love is as true as any. Pain crosses his eyes and disappears as fast as it came. Would she ever hurt him? Only time would tell, but his trust in their relationship is strong.

    “It’s funny, I only truly regret meeting my father, and without him I would not be,” he murmurs, turning back to Dawn with sympathetic eyes. “Though,” a continuation, this one gentler, “I think you might find an even truer best friend in reciprocated love.” Now, he leans into her, hesitantly shifting his side.

    “Love is never a mistake.”

    Litotes


    @[Dawn]
    Reply
    #7

    everything we are, it just went away
    with a slide of the tongue and a sour taste

    She overthinks. It is her hamartia if anything, but who could have guessed the imaginative little unicorn in the Playground would grow up into a diplomatic polar bear who overthinks and overanalyzes every situation? There is too much buzzing around in her head for her to slow down, as much as she wants to sleep the pain away and move on with her life. What if this, what if that; all of the what ifs try to overwhelm her and though she is next to someone who is nearly a perfect stranger, it is nearly impossible to swallow back the panic rising in her throat.

    She regrets her words as she watches the flush of emotions play out over the cremello’s cheeks, and she flushes slightly as she lowers her head and glances away. What he says next, though, shocks her, and her gaze falls to him again. “I never knew my own father, while we’re being honest,” she tells him, smiling softly as she thinks of the man Cress has told her about. He was too wild to ever be a good father to her, but Dawn had accepted that a long time ago. “But I don’t hate him, because as you say, without him, I would never be. And I enjoy life, for the most part.”

    He continues on and she looks away again, eyes meeting the horizon as he offers her a shoulder. She leans into him gratefully and sighs, the thoughts heavy on her mind but not quite so overwhelming anymore. “Perhaps you’re right,” she murmurs, blinking past the light film of tears. “I hope that one day I will know unrequited love, but for now I will continue to mourn what never was – what never could have been.” It was never meant to be, after all.

    And so they stand like that, as the hours pass, silently soaking in the ocean as the tides change and the sun continues on its course across the sky.

    Dawn

    oh, it's gonna be a long night



    @[litotes]
    clean.
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