[private] the fatal flaw that makes you magnificently cursed

[Nashua]

"You're the inspiration," Nashua murmurs, his mind becoming hazy with fatigue and the overuse of Magic. "I'm just the canvas." He tells the two-toned woman, reaching deep for something to steady his voice. It had been unsettling the first time it had happened to Nash, the way his coat had completely drained of color. He'd been out on the Isle and his mind had wandered to home - to Noel and their children - and it seemed those thoughts took all his colors home to Taiga.

Is that where his chestnut and gold have fled now? Have they returned to his mate and family while what remains of Nash takes root here, studying @[Illuminae] with mismatched eyes.

She reaches to touch his dark wings and Nashua can't help but smile at the mention of reflections. "I could change it, if you'd like." He tells her and the colors shift again, re-aligning so that they are a perfect match. The pegasus tries to take a step ahead but staggers under the effort it takes to be precise; the ground isn't where he left it. "I've seen myself before," he shares with her and glances over his shoulder to see where the black-and-gold mare stood. "Not like this," he adds with a slight lift of his wings that shone from the glow coming from his golden stripes.

"My mother and brother can share memories," he explains to his companion, sharing it with her like it was some great secret. It wasn't - Nash was sure that Lilliana or Yanhua would have spoken of the Echoes with anyone who asked. But his smile tugs warmly to one side at something that used to upset him so much - just one more way he was different from them - as a colt, "so I caught many glimpses of myself over the years." The Hersir adds.

He doesn't know how or when she comes so close; Nash only knows that she is there.

The warmth of her breath dances across his skin as she tells him about the white marking on her face - the one now on his - of a star that fell too far. From the heavens, he wonders? She moves to the night that colors her skin - twisted shades of dark that don't seem wrong on Illuminae - and tells the story of her heritage. Nashua continues to watch her, focusing on the way that she weaves her words and appreciating how together they are creating a story that comes with hues and shades.

It seems only fair that he shares part of his with her.

Slowly, his skin returns to its copper shade (though perhaps slightly brighter, a color that would burn fire-red if that sun had still shone). With a blink, his eyes have turned emerald green. The pegasus is weary and tired but he's determined to tell her this: "This comes from my mother." His blazed face turns away from her, angling towards his chestnut coat. Nashua glances down to his stripes that have become brighter under his stare, "and those - ," says Lilliana's son, "those I gave to my children."

And then Nash tells her something that does feel like a secret, confides in her with something that has always left him feeling hollow: "I don't know who gave them to me." If he had to claim a father, that would be Leilan. But who was Wolfbane? Who is he to Nashua, who wonders about the man and the monster?

"I don't know," he finally answers Illuminae who takes a step away from him. "I like to think I'm still finding that out." Nash glances upward and wonders aloud, "do you know who you are?"