"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
11-24-2015, 01:51 AM (This post was last modified: 11-24-2015, 01:51 AM by lucetta.)
lucetta
For once the little green girl was out in the open. She didn’t often spend copious amounts of time in some of the larger clearings of the jungle, especially one that was located close to the border. But there was a grove of bacuri trees which had finally ripened and several of the green fruit littered the earth beneath the overhanging branches.
She enjoyed this location occasionally as it was large enough for her to fully stretch her legs and enjoy a good run-through. The jungle was often cramped with plant life scrambling for space and it wasn’t really the place to gallop about everywhere. She was prone to careful and silent steps – no alerting of predators or of the jungle-women whom she shared her home with.
Lucetta has noticed an influx of strangers to the jungle lately. She remained completely ignorant to the fact that there was unrest and confrontations occurring throughout the rest of Beqanna. She has never left the safe haven that the jungle has provided her in all of her life. But she continued to live isolated and alone from the others as Kagerou’s demands remained deeply ingrained within her even long after the clouded mare’s death.
Her only companion continued to be the little margay cub she had found and rescued. Namir had decided to take his midday nap curled up tightly upon her back. He often enjoyed this method of travel as she tended to never linger too long in one place. The green girl had realized that if she was constantly on the move, then there would be less chance of her being spotted.
So far she’s only slipped once.
But the young girl had been merely excited for the idea of potential playmate and not wary of what an unseen stranger could mean for the security of her fellow jungle-women. But, of course, the green girl posed absolutely no threat to their tribe. She was a wandering soul made up of the black earth and the murky waters and the flourishing greenery that was the jungle trademark.
A faint rustling from the thick undergrowth awakens Namir and he releases a warning growl to the green girl.
But it is far too late.
Startled, fearful hazel eyes glance upwards and meet the gray warrior mare’s.
She wondered if it was too late to still make a run for it
She recalls a little green filly, one who seemed terrified and timid, and if she recalled correctly - didn’t know her name at one point. Which doesn’t help at the moment, because Lagertha still doesn’t know her name, even though she’d remember those wide, hazel eyes anywhere.
When the no-longer-horned Khaleesi (can you imagine how terrifying she might be to the girl then?) stumbles upon the secretive resident, her reflexes take over initially and she snorts loudly, ears flying back against her head and stomping one of her front hooves in surprise and then anger. Trespassing, always trespassing! Just because the Jungle is large and vast doesn’t mean others can just walk in whenever they want, With all the incidents lately, she’s about to really let loose on the mare when she registers the margay companion, and even more belatedly, that she didn’t even smell the stranger. Her ears return to normal before the quivering stranger and after a long, hard, silent stare, something pings in the back of her mind. Lagertha quickly settles herself, quite able to see that the stranger is scared. “I know you. I’ve seen you before… a long time ago, I think.” She pauses, trying to rack her brain for a name, but clearly can’t come up with one. So instead, she offers her own. “I’m Lagertha. The Queen here. Tell me how I know you.”
A constellation of tears on your lashes
Burn everything you love, then burn the ashes
Namir is quick to defend his friend despite his smaller size. He had teeth and claws and was ready to tear into anything that might threaten his family. He quickly hops down from the green girl’s back and jumps between her and the aggressive mare – spitting and arching his back all the while.
But Lucetta wouldn’t allow him to get hurt on her behalf and she rushes forward with an elongated neck and scoops him back up onto her withers with the help of her muzzle. She’d rather take flight than to stand her ground with an obviously far superior adversary. Her coloring and knowledge of the jungle’s tangled pathways would lend her support in her escape.
Her muscles tense in preparation but her instincts come to a grinding halt after the grey warrior’s first words finally trickle into her consciousness. The previous aggression seems to fade and a ponderous look graces the mare’s face in its place. The green girl is frighteningly uncertain of how to take in this sudden change of body language.
It could be a trick instead – to get her wildly off guard.
She stutters tremendously as she remains frazzled by the situation.
“I-I-I don’t know. I’ve always l-lived here.”
But as her beating heart begins to calm and her hazel eyes finally begin to scrutinize the mare before her, there is a faint recognition. She remembers stumbling out in the pathway of a grey mare during her first year of living in the jungle. She knew Kagerou would beat her later for it, but she couldn’t help but be entranced by her first interaction outside of the clouded mare’s own company. The little green girl hadn’t had a proper name to give to others and the warrior mare had questioned this fact with a sort of disbelief.
“Lucetta. My name is Lucetta.”
She was certain this time around. Kagerou had gifted her with a proper name for her to cherish upon her death – a gift to make up for her regrets and sins.
“I remember you,” she whispers reverently.
How did this powerful and awe-inspiring warrior mare remember such a nondescript and insignificant thing such as Lucetta?
She was a ghost in her home – never to be seen and never to be heard.
Lagertha stares at the little margay, silently impressed at its bravado in front of a creature many times its own size. That is loyalty and foolishness all wrapped into one itty bitty body. She can’t help but chortle in the back of her throat, which also serves to lessen the intimidation.
Frankly, she doesn’t remember as much as Lucetta does about their first encounter, only that she’s sure she’s met the green mare before, years and years ago, before Scorch and Brunhild and Quark. Good lord, has it been that long? No wonder she can’t quite place the mare, and she imagines there wasn’t a margay companion to hiss at her then, either. Lucetta. Hmmm, the name doesn’t ring a bell either, but that’s because the filly she’d met didn’t have a name to give her. Without a name, one drifts into oblivion. She’s lucky her color is unusual (and by unusual, I mean not bay or black or gray).
“Lucetta?” she mulls it over aloud, as if the sound of it in her mouth would jog her memory. “Can’t say I remember that name. But you were… just a filly then, is that right?” A thought occurs to her, and she tilts her head to one side, eyeing the mare. The jungle is vast and seems to have an infinite number of places to hide. But for so long... possibly alone. It leaves a sour taste in her mouth. She doesn’t completely understand.
A constellation of tears on your lashes
Burn everything you love, then burn the ashes
The idea of tracking time through rulers is completely foreign to her. She wasn’t aware that the tribal women even had a hierarchy, let alone the fact that Kagerou had been head of the tribe at that point in time. The green girl was oblivious to the fact that the yellow one who had tried to find her had followed after the clouded mare’s reign nor the fact that she stood before the current leader now.
All she’s ever done was observe from the outside looking in.
The grey warrior seems puzzled by Lucetta’s existence and she can’t blame her for that. She hadn’t ever made herself available to the woman tribe; the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind before. Lucetta was made to hide amongst the backdrop of lush greenery, to never stand out in any obvious way. Perhaps if she would venture out from her forest home, her coat would make her conspicuous to others. But her knowledge of the outside world is inconsequential to her life living amongst the other jungle-dwellers.
She nods a ‘yes’ in response to the warrior mare’s first question. It had been when she was but a yearling when she had first fallen into the other’s path, all gangly limbs and panic-stricken eyes. Namir shifts silently upon her withers, still alert to the possible confrontation. But Lucetta feels that the danger has passed and intrusive questions closely follow after. She was a familiar stranger to the other. One who remained hidden from her eyes yet remained intimately intertwined with the jungle around them. A forgotten tribal woman – one who has never had the chance to join the circle.
“Because she told me to do so. Because I am unwanted.”
Lagertha’s nostrils flare at her understanding of the world, one ear flickering back in dismay. Who would ever say that? She can’t imagine any of the Sisters saying that a girl is unwanted, especially when it means another woman to strengthen their ranks. Lagertha is… baffled. For once. Her head tilts a little to one side as she searches for the right words. Does it even matter who this mysterious ‘she’ is? Lagertha snorts softly. “Well I am telling you that you are wanted and welcome. You don’t have to hide in the Jungle unless you want to.” This is about as soft as the Iron Lady gets with those who aren’t family or inner circle. The green woman is lucky - she’s just been offered a family. Everyone needs a family.
[this is terrible and ick but i wanted to get it out]
A constellation of tears on your lashes
Burn everything you love, then burn the ashes
The grey warrior seems almost appalled at her admission. Was it because she had blatantly pointed out her fault? Had she decided that Lucetta was truly painful to look upon? The green girl had always reminded Kagerou of her dead red girl after all. Why should an abandoned ugly thing like her survive in place of the girl with strong amazon blood running through her veins? The clouded mare could never really get past this fact and only after her death had she truly seen past her resentment and hate for the green girl.
Her only apology had remained in the name she bestowed upon the once nameless girl.
The other mare appears to have shifted into a pondering confusion and Lucetta doesn’t understand it. There wasn’t anything to puzzle out for she had been truthful in her words. She only reiterated what she knew to be the truth of things. She’s only ever known acceptance from the leafy green around her and the dark earth beneath her and the living flesh that currently sat upon her back.
But her solid world of unescapable facts was shattered by the grey warrior mare’s simple words. She would accept the green girl most wholeheartedly with hardly any qualms. Lucetta took a step back in surprise and hazel eyes peered at her with unblinking wonderment. She hesitates in her words, fearful that her offer would be cruelly taken away from within her grasp. The green girl moves her eyes to the ground and quietly admits her fears to the other.
“I don’t even know where to begin. This is all I’ve ever known.”
