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My heart was a compass; Lilliana - Leilan - 02-23-2020 We got older and I should have known that I’d feel colder when I walk alone Taiga had been short one chestnut mare when he visited - though perhaps she’d left him alone when he got intercepted by the winged child. At any rate, it wasn’t quite the same now, pulling a prank on the misty redwoods and not having her around to see her face scowl at his redecoration (because he’s quite certain she would). Nevertheless, he picks up her trail soon after - an interesting direction considering the fact that she had thought of Taiga as a separate entity last time they spoke. Perhaps she had gone looking for Heartfire after all? Bouncing northwards always felt like going home to the frosted male. He picks up a trot, no longer bothering with dragon shapes and ice at the time, and goes to find his friend. He only has a few of those. Funny how they’re all female. Leilan no. 7 | ice forged in fire @[lilliana] RE: My heart was a compass; Lilliana - lilliana - 02-26-2020 Scowling is much more common on her dappled friend - on the Nerinian queen - than it is Lilliana. Even with the chill of the North nipping at her sleek copper coat and the rounding of Autumn bringing more changes to her world, Lilli still hasn’t managed to scowl or glower as impressive as her friend does (though she has frowned a time or two - especially after the arrival of Ghaul.) And had she known what Leilan had been up to in the Redwoods, she might not have scowled rather than purse her dark lips together. Or perhaps she might have admired the frost, able to appreciate it before winter descended on Beqanna in all its frozen and frigid glory. In one of the last warm days of Autumn in the north, when Lilli can still find an open space of land and the sun can warm her crimson hide, the slender mare finds a moment to herself. There are still things weighing heavily on her mind - where Brine has gone, how she can best protect Ruth and though she hasn’t been in her forest home much, she hasn’t seen Aten recently (though when has Lilliana last been home?) and his absence adds to her list of growing worries. There are also the other worries - what are they to do with Ghaul? Is there any plan to reclaim Jesper from Loess? Has there been any word from Brennen? The chestnut mare shifts her weight as if that might ease some of the thoughts clouding her mind. She keeps her eyes closed and tries to find a moment of rest, a moment when she isn’t dreaming of fire or memories. When the ghosts of her past aren’t trying to clamor their way into her future. A futile attempt it seems, especially when there are enough thoughts to haunt her present. Her blue eyes open and Lilliana shakes her head, trying to remove her forelock from completely obscuring her view of the moorlands. An ear flicks towards the cadence of someone approaching, a two-beat gait that makes her turn her head to the sound of the approacher. The sight of the roan stallion chases the last of her fatigue and Lilli’s expression warms as he comes closer, a dimple forming from her lopsided smile. "I can’t believe they let you in,” she calls to him in an alto whicker. Perhaps, she thinks as the smile turns wry, he has met Neverwhere already. That thought makes the grin broaden. ”How has the Isle been?” @[Leilan] RE: My heart was a compass; Lilliana - Leilan - 02-29-2020 We got older and I should have known that I’d feel colder when I walk alone There are much, much less things in Leilan’s life to worry about than the chestnut mare currently does, and if he knew about it he would be insanely grateful and relieved. Nevertheless he does worry - he checks on the Isle often, and the last few times he visited, he had not seen Jesper around. In fact the last time must have been when he’d asked him to explain how to shift to Beryl - the only other one to keep him worried, really. She had in fact inspired him to look around for potential other homes - her first year had been so hard out there; little shelter and even littler food had forced her into a survival mode, kept her in her young-lioness shape longer than she perhaps would have been, had they lived anywhere else. Had it been selfish of him not to abandon his quest then? Hmm. Well, there had been others who needed his help, so probably not. Just inconvenient. She had however, grown into a strong young lady - the sturdy kind as Icicles were made. Leilan sometimes wonders what happened to the others - Camomila was around to raise her daughter, but not much else; sometimes canines could be smelled on the Isle as well, but apart from those… truthfully there were quite a lot of shifters among Icicle Isle’s residents, he noted. Starting with Jesper and Ardashir themselves, he wonders who else went by unnoticed, in their other forms. Nevertheless, he had decided that it was home more than any of the other places he had visited. Hyaline had offered him mountaintops, but now that Kensa wasn’t around any more, he honestly hadn’t felt like honoring anybody with his loyalty as a resident of pretty much any land. Icicle Isle would be it, then - sister territory to Taiga for as long as that held true, and that under Nerine. Ah, Nerine. But he wonders if the glory days are over - as much as he wonders how long Loess will be a stronghold. And, subsequently, how many horses and kingdoms he will survive. Thankfully, the ice-scaled roan knows how to live in the moment; giving the Taigan mists a taste of winter was one thing, though most times he found some quieter way to spend his time. Lilliana gives him a sharp comment that makes the roan laugh when he approaches her, and shakes his head. ”I have some anciennity over the newest queen.” he grins, stopping near the mare just as she seems to think if something funny. He tilts his head wondering what it is, but she asks him a question that cannot forgo a little pun of his own. ”A little ice-solated, as usual.” he says it in a tone that says you know how it is, though he knows that the Isle had been a bit too far north even for Lilliana, eo far. ”If you’re interested though, you should visit. It’s been quiet and free of political struggles and dragons claiming it, so far.” After all, wasn’t the fact that the freezing cold air and crisp snow waylaid many travellers, the reason that he loved it so much? Leilan no. 7 | ice forged in fire @[lilliana] ^^ RE: My heart was a compass; Lilliana - lilliana - 03-06-2020
RE: My heart was a compass; Lilliana - Leilan - 03-11-2020 You’re uncontrollable and we are unlovable ”Oh yes, she’s a blast.” He smiles almost fondly. He already knows that she is a chagrined, stubborn mule from their one short meeting with Brennen. He desperately wants to see who is the most stubborn mule of the two, and if she is serious about the apparently upsetting things she lets fly out of her mouth. Such a one-on-one could either go really well, or really badly, he estimates. He grins when the red mare laughs - a bit awkwardly as it seems he got her really badly and her laugh prolongates. When she finally stops to ask her return question, his eyes still twinkle though. ”I’ve been looking for a better place to raise my lion-daughter, but you know what they say about homes and hearts.” he tells her with a benevolent shrug. ”You’re never getting rid of me.” Nothing - not a climate less icy, not a place that’s the home of dragons or the home of lions, not even Nerine is good enough - alright Nerine might work, but why take second best? - none of the places he visited could keep him as the Isle can; not because it is physically distant from the world, but because it was the only place that resonated with him. Hyaline had been the best substitute when he refused to go home after finding out about his ex-wife, and the Fairy had ultimately directed him to where he should be. He tilts his head at Lilli when she mentions her swollen state, then grins widely at the brilliancy of her own pun. ”Buoyant? I should have thought of that one when my wife...” he stops abruptly, his eyes suddenly grey and dull as he shakes his head. ”Never mind.” He looks to the Isle and around Nerine, but he already knows she is not here and hasn’t heard him. ”Congratulations, I think?” He already continues with a grin. ”Depending on who the father is, of course,” he teases, golden-white tail flicking away a fly. and I don’t want you to think that I care I never would, I never could again Leilan no. 7 | ice forged in fire @[lilliana] RE: My heart was a compass; Lilliana - lilliana - 03-19-2020 LILLIANA i met your demons and they do not scare me RE: My heart was a compass; Lilliana - Leilan - 03-29-2020 You’re uncontrollable and we are unlovable It seems Lilliana hasn’t kept up with what was happening in the other Nerinian territory at all, and it makes the roan chuckle a bit. ”Yeah, adopted though. I guess my stubbornness rubbed off on her anyway.” he tilts her head a little, thinking of her. Either that or one of her parents had it in them just as much as Beryl herself, he thinks. She might as well be his, with how much he cared for her - if one could imagine he had mated with a palomino lion-shifting mare who also wielded the darkness. Because she got all that from someone else, besides being stubborn. Nah. His real daughters are even worse. He’s about to comment on something of the like when the red mare admits that she would miss him in the North, earning her a good laugh in return. ”There’s others that might think differently, I bet.” But it’s not his problem. He belongs on that Isle, no matter what anyone thinks - the topic slides off him as he shrugs it off, not bothered by this idea. No, it’s something else that unsettles him - and the soft repeating of ‘wife?’ isn’t very helpful. It’s carefully spoken, wanting to know more but knowing it is a tender subject. He shakes his head at Lilli in the moment though. Basically saying ‘no, I don’t want to talk about it’. A way of brushing off a topic that was merely brushed accidentally, something buried too deep to uncover right away. Maybe later. Maybe not. Who’s to say if Lilli will catch him in a moment when he can open up? However, the new topic is safe enough, though still tender. He smiles ruefully. ”I have had enough children, but I’ll never forget my first. I think I smothered her with my fears for her safety though… so, no, it doesn’t go away. In fact, it needs you to constantly remind yourself that they are their own people and can take care of themselves, or you’ll do something stupid and they’ll never forgive you.” He shakes his head. ”I’m glad that some of them take after their mothers at least - Wen seems to do well.” He offers as an afterthought, or maybe even an example. See, it can go well. But it can go horribly wrong too, he knows, as he remembers Chryseis’ running away with her boyfriend, as barely adults. He shakes his head. Even now, the fear of losing her forever, never goes away. But he knows better than to act on it like he once did. and I don’t want you to think that I care I never would, I never could again Leilan no. 7 | ice forged in fire @[lilliana] RE: My heart was a compass; Lilliana - lilliana - 03-29-2020 LILLIANA i met your demons and they do not scare me |