• Logout
  • 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


    Vulgaris, Leliana, anyone;
    #1
    She moves flatly, gracelessly, but quietly. The sun is at her back, coating her scales with a blanket of heat that gives her so much more life as the seasons once more change. Her heartbeat quickens briefly, but it settles as she scales another hill and passes another meadow until she reaches a somewhat familiar scene.

    It’s a volcano, the only one that she has seen from afar. There’s no sentimentality toward it, but something draws her toward its unfathomable heat. It calls to her as a parent would, a familiarity on the wind that drives her instincts to pursue until she is at the kingdom’s edge peering in. A breath fills her lungs, but there are scents that she reads as well, and analyzes until there is one that separates itself from the rest.

    Father. Yes, that is the term for him, but not the role. He is an absent figure, but alive unlike mother. By now, the other serpent’s bones have begun to sink beneath the sand and waves, taking with it lost memories. Skaide only remembers her somber heart before it darkened just before her attempt to harm the newborn. Instinctually, the child protected herself but could not control the rush of venom. It destroyed the mother. Her veins burst and her muscles melted as though kissed by acid as the poison poured through her like a broken dam.

    Mother was gone quickly. Only the strongest survive.
    A very early lesson for one so young.

    Pregnant now, Skaide slips into this volcanic kingdom, but she doesn’t understand the courteous expectations that generations have set into stone. There is no waiting, no call to alert others of her arrival (such a silly custom that is). There’s simply an invasion that guides her whispered footsteps across the open fields until she has the desire to stop and observe. Her slit pupils dilate then contract as another lungful of air is drawn in, brimming with that one scent she remembers from childhood. His face – it was reptilian like hers – shimmers into her thoughts. The father. There were others on his skin – females. A partner. Offspring. Something stirs within her. Does the father truly need them if she is here? Is there reason to have excessive amounts of children when he has one already sculpted so perfectly in his and the mother’s image?

    A low hiss rattles through her as venom slowly drips off the edges of her fangs.   

    i swear i'll become your only desire. i swear i'll rip you apart.
    Skaide
    #2
    V u l g a r i S
    Lately, the only thing he’s had to pray for was the health of his children, both alive and unborn. Leliana’s stomach hasn’t grown as large as it had with the twins and so he thinks they will only have one new addition when the spring arrives. He doesn’t mind either way, really, but perhaps this could mean more sleep for the pair. At least the fairies were kind enough to restore his youth so he has the energy to keep up with the four youngest. Chronos is always trying to lead them off in the name of adventure and discovery, which excites Drache and Saint, while Larke is the soft voice of reason.

    It brings a smile to his face as he watches them from a distance. Perhaps his wife is off rebuilding more of their kingdom or tending to her people, giving the love that flows so infinitely from her tender heart. He doesn’t worry about her these days, or at least not as much as he used to. Her magic has given her the strength to give out all the little miracles she wanted to before and it pleases him to no end to see her so happy, so full of life again.

    But their happiness always has an expiration date, doesn’t it?
    Their milk and honey life always seems to curdle at some point when it seems best.

    He spots her because she is so brightly colored but his eyes linger on her scales for too long as he watches her. Suddenly, he misses his fangs. Vulgaris feels his heart quicken and his legs are moving before he has even thought to take a step. The hunger has left him but his need to keep his family safe still roars to life and floods him with adrenaline. Protect. Live.

    Destroy?

    No, no. No more destruction, he tells himself as he grits his teeth. He comes to a stop before her and he knows just who she is before she can speak. An awful, repulsive mistake given shape. Vulgaris knows the ravenous look in her eyes, knows it like that awful sickness still resides somewhere in him.

    Why are you here?” he snaps, eyes narrowed and head lowered as he watches her.
    In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing
    Don’t look for me; don't look at me
    @[Skaide] @[leliana]
    #3

    Leliana has been so busy with regrowing Tephra and taking care of their family that she has hardly had a moment to think about their troubled past. It slips beneath the surface. It curls around the base of her spine but she no longer spends so much time dwelling on it; she does her best to just move forward.

    So it with no little amount of surprise when she realizes that there is a young girl crossing her borders.

    Not so young though, she realizes, feeling that faint pulse of pregnancy within her.

    Curious, concerned, Leliana flares her wings and takes to the skies.

    She lands behind Vulgaris in time to hear the heat in his words and it is so much like their past that it is nearly a punch to the gut. It has been years since she heard that and her worry grows. Stepping up to his side, she presses her nose to his shoulder briefly, letting it linger, before she glances up again.

    Her stomach churns as she takes in the scales, as her magic begins to piece together the pieces of the puzzle. “Skaide,” she pulls the name from the air, from the thoughts, and does her best to ignore the pain that washes through her—this visible reminder of her husband’s wandering over the years.

    The woman he had left her for.

    “I apologize for his bluntness,” her voice is still kind as she folds her wings atop her back, her voice even—always so even, regardless of whatever brews in her. “Would you like to come in further? There are streams where you can have a drink if you have been traveling for a while.” There is something that tells her that such kindness will not be reciprocated, but she can’t ignore it—she can’t turn her back on it now.

    it's only you and me there until the darkness calls
    let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes

    #4
       She recognizes the urgency in his stride, the heat in his lungs, the hate in his eyes. It nearly mirrors the mother’s final moments. It reminds Skaide that she must always protect herself.

    A serpent’s hiss slithers from between her clenched teeth, her exposed fangs yearning to sink into him and flood him with the same toxin that killed Shiya. If her own life is in jeopardy, she will destroy him, but Vulgaris instead reconsiders. There’s a flicker of uncertainty as he battles between destruction and forgiveness. A bold step forward inches her closer to father, and her slit pupils lift slowly to his face by tracing his arterial track. It winds from his heart to his neck. Her heart almost tangos with the beat of his own as they reflect one another. She does it in jest, a silent reminder that she is kin. How he shifts and coils beneath her stare, she does the same; everything is coordinated until Leliana rips away her attention.

    The woman’s kindness is entirely unexpected, but Skaide’s hollow eyes do not soften beneath the hospitality. Silence holds her tongue as she silently and disdainfully observes. It isn’t until there is a soft rustle of grass underfoot that her gaze peels from Leliana to again regard Vulgaris. ”You forgot about me,” her voice rasps with disuse, ”You forgot about your own daughter.” She plays victim, creasing her mouth to mimic a frown even if she is not plagued by sorrow or regret. In reality, Skaide has little care for the way she was raised by the wilderness or by how the father never played a role in her upbringing. The mother told her not to love, so that must also encompass family.

    But she is here to remind him, to be the thorn digging into his side and drawing blood.
    She is his nightmare, his haunted past.

    Still slightly closer to him, Skaide’s frown dissipates. Her expression is stoic, frozen without remorse. ”She’s dead, you know,” the projection of her voice softens as though it’s a secret, but her voice remains barbed and objective. Her eyes drift toward Leliana again, holding her there for a few heartbeats. ”Because of you,” she adds without elaborating, her attention shifting between the adults before she walks past both of them in silent acquiescence of Leliana’s offer. They will follow, she knows. They won’t let her stray from sight because they are smarter than that. They are aware of what she is.

    Reaching down toward a stream, Skaide drinks a few gulps of water to sate her thirst. Her hunger remains unaddressed. Distracted from her needs, she robotically returns to the couple. ”How does it feel?” To be fools in love, to be the reason for the mother’s death and absence, to have blood on their hands. How must it feel, she wonders.

    i swear i'll become your only desire. i swear i'll rip you apart.
    Skaide



    @[vulgaris] @[leliana]




    Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)