CASIMIRA
dragon-shifting daughter of ashhal and ryatah
When Casimira wanders Tephra, it is not so much to patrol the borders as it is her feeding into the knot of anxiety that sits in her chest when she tries to rest. Her fear of being deemed a failure is nearly all consuming, and it is when she grows still that the fear is at its loudest. She begins to worry that she will miss something—the invisible enemies at the border that her dreams have conjured: fire once again raining from the sky, of oceans rising so high they swallow the volcano whole, or lightning striking into the heart of an angel.
She caves into this and she winds her way along familiar paths and new ones, following lava fields and coastlines, threading herself through the jungle and between floral underbrush. Every day she walks enough in hopes that the tiredness in her muscles and bones would also quiet her ever-racing mind, and yet, it never does. She remains spun tight, even if the worry never makes it beyond the pale, ice-blue of her eyes, locked behind them as if it is fogged glass.
The gray pegasus stallion is the first that she sees, and for a moment her heart leaps into her throat—the gray and the wings transforming themselves into a different shape, a different face.
Once she registers his features, though, and realizes that he is not who she had thought, she has to fight the humiliation that blossoms like a fresh wound across her face.
It had been stupid to extend an open invitation to her father.
It had been even stupider to think for even a split second that he would actually come.
Quickly she takes in the mare behind him, and she can only hope that the smile she offers them is not as forced as it feels. It was rare for her to be caught off guard, and she was fighting to find her footing again. “Hello there,” she manages, and now that her pulse has settled the lines of her face relax just slightly. “Are you looking for someone?” It still has never occurred to her that newcomers and visitors might be specifically looking for her.
@Altissima @Tarian