Out with the golden we sew // Crevan

[Kagerus]

kagerus

and in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times

It has been a year since the last time I returned to my original dwelling place in post-Reckoning Beqanna. I am thinking upon it this evening as I stand next to Solace, enjoying her company in sweet silence as we consider the beauty of Hyaline's landscape. Atop my head, new antlers sit, a prize for having competed in the Alliance; occasionally I catch the way Solace sneaks looks at them, cerulean eyes glinting curiously. I resist the urge to play fight her, instead leaning over to plant a wordless kiss to the flat of her skull. Although we discuss all things as a unit, sometimes we are as silent as mutes: tied together by a force that transcends language, that exists between us without any maintenance required.

Eventually, however, I do speak; telling her of my plans for this night. She looks at me with deep seated trust, a smile gently curving the soft folds of her lips. Okay, she agrees. But be safe.

Sighing contentedly, I drape my neck over her whithers, closing my eyes as sleep beckons. Her figure against mine is warm and familiar, harbouring the potential for life in a way I've never considered until this fall. With the image and hope of a family dangling temptingly just behind the veil of my eyelids, I drift softly to sleep, at peace with my station and more so, with my love.

--

Some time later, however, I awaken elsewhere. The burbling of the river guides my steps as I meander closer, eyes scanning the moonlit trees for the face of another shadow-goer. Across my skin, clouded leopard markings glimmer subtly. And the antlers - multi-pronged and majestic - almost glow atop my skull, their weight still new to me though I carry my head all the higher for their presence.

Thus far uninterrupted, I slip into the river, halting as I find myself knee deep.

[Crevan]

Our skin gets thicker, living out in the snow

CREVAN

Dreams keep him awake, and so he runs them ragged at night.

They nip his heels as he runs, a swift creature of unusual strength and size but still, a wolf all the same. Haunted by their meanings and unfulfilled requests, Crevan often finds himself racing the twist and bend of no-man’s land besides the babbling riverfront area until, exhausted, he’s ready to return home to Merida but tonight feels different. Tainted.

His pale chest heaves, exerting itself as he streaks like a blonde comet through the shadows of this world while branches try their best to snag and mangle his fur. Each stride is purposeful in its landing, every hunch of his back sending him into wider leaps until at last the roar of water drowns out his breathing and the heavy salt of the nearby ocean whets his tongue. The shifter’s traveled far tonight, far enough that as he eases down to a plodding walk he can feel the burn of exertion in his lungs and legs.

He stretches the feeling out, lets his powers do their work while he parts bush and grass as he stalks towards the water, and when the chirp of crickets and night-toads fills his ears he feels refreshed - healed already though he’d been racing his nightmares for hours.

When the smell of the antlered mare reaches his nostrils though, Crevan’s paws have already sunk into the wet mud of the banks. Immersed and downwind she’s caught him by surprise; ears perked and eyes wide he lifts his head to watch her, silence shrouding them both for a moment until he finds his voice. “Nightmares?” He guesses, in a tone clipped of emotion. Was she like Lace, or terrified like Briseis?

Or was she neither, and all the more dangerous for it?

@[Kagerus]

[Kagerus]

kagerus

and in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times

The predator comes with a heaving chest and eyes that, at first, are ignorant to my moonlit figure. His pale yellow coat casts him in stark opposition with the dark waves of the river pooling around his furred ankles. Caught at first by the instinctual equine fear which runs rampant in every Beqannian, my ears pin and the whites of my eyes show. But a less instinctual fascination keeps my steadfast, the only movement being that of the water coursing around my knees.

His eyes - large and forward-set and knowing - flash to me not long after his arrival. Another shot of adrenaline jolts through me, and my whithers twitch tellingly. But otherwise, I do not move; the antlers atop my head ought to be persuasion enough that the wolf move on, should he only that: a wolf.

Nightmares?

Ah; so more than a wolf.

Somewhere just behind us, a sound like the wind rustles the leaves strewn across the earth. Her steps are light, her breathing silent; she, too, is a predator. Her tawny eyes study the pair from a distance, the end of her tail gently swaying back and forth as she considered their meeting. Poised in a crouch, her long, deadly nails dug into the wet dirt; the primal urge to protect her Familiar climbed, threatening to become nearly insurmountable.

"I choose not to have those," comes my answer, as toneless as his. As my curiosity becomes impatient, I relent to its pressure, taking a step closer to the dangerous shifter. "They are less than appealing." The leopard prints on my skin glimmer suggestively, and perhaps his keener nose will pick up on her scent before I do; I've not yet met her. As with the dreams, she comes to me more than I ever discover her.

"From what do you run, Wolf?"

@[Crevan] this was fun to write omgggg

[Crevan]

Our skin gets thicker, living out in the snow

CREVAN

The female stag makes him laugh. She’s a Lace, then; another River creature who eyes him similarly before moving in his direction through the water. Crevan's nose twitches, haunted by the smell of something unknown but there’s no betrayal of concern as he watches her, just the slight upshift of his pale jowls when he replies, “They exist all the same.”

From behind him, a flickering rustle of motion catches the attention of both ears. They twist back and, then having had their fill, jerk forwards once again.

Crevan sits, slumping his body into the half-soaked shoreline of the dark riverbed. In the glint of moonlight above them, the pied mare’s unique spots glimmer reflectively and Crevan wonders what she thinks of him, mud-soaked and matted, with no outwardly imposing traits like antlers (he imagines them in the iron grip of his mouth, pulling her proud head deep into the water) or pretty words to shield him. If only she could tear him open - the lucky ones sometimes did - then she could see what he’s seen.

“I hunt.” The wolf corrects her, tired already of the sound of her voice.

Bunched beneath him once before, his hind legs lift the beast and any semblance of camaraderie that might have existed at their initial meeting is gone, now.

Leaping, the shifter aims to maim her at worst but really, accidents happen all the time.

@[Kagerus] > : D

[Kagerus]

kagerus

and in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times

He is a creature of nuances, the wolf across from me. He laughs in tones that mirror the river below us, and tips his head just so as words shrouded in mystery depart from his canine, threatening maw. Whether it's something or everything about him that draws me nearer, I cannot begin to tell; all I know is that I am stepping closer, and that the level of danger is certainly rising.

Solace would not approve, but oh, I would not approve of how she approached this same creature either; how contrary, us wives; and yet altogether one.

From her vantage point atop the riverbank, the leopard watches. Her lips pull back in a silent snarl as she recognizes the tell-tale posture of one about to pounce; without hesitation, her own posture mimics the wolf's. Her sleep, camouflaged haunches raise high above the musculature of her powerful shoulders, weight carefully shifting to test the firmness of the moist soil beneath. With glowing eyes and twitching whiskers, the creature's ears catch the last of the wolf's senseless babbling, and just as he does, she leaps.

Without any warning, the scene before me changes as if it were a clap of lightning. A shriek leaves me as the wolf leaps, my antlers lowering to protect myself; but before he's even off the ground, a tawny blur intercepts him, barreling into his side and causing both of the jungle predators to tumble roughly through the rapids. Before I have the time to consider what the fuck is going on, I'm scrambling up the river bank and racing back towards home, a thousand thoughts nearly blinding me as I run.

He stank of Sylva, they are more fearless than we thought.
What was that other creature, and why did it defend me?
Please get me home safely; oh Gods, I am such a fool...

---

Back in the riverlands, the leopard grappled with the wolf, tumbling through the waters and inhaling her fair share. When she saw her familiar racing away to safety, she did her best to disengage, but of course the wolf did not give up that easily: blood streaked down her fur in various places as she scrambled up the nearest tree, settling her massive weight atop a sturdy branch as her breathing became more regular. She didn't know or understand what the wolf's motives were, or how intent he would be to harm her further: but she did know that she could wait him out, and that eventually, she would find her familiar once again.

@[Crevan] Thanks for letting me use Crevan to help Kag discover Panthera, it was super great, way better than I even imagined!! If you need me to change anything let me know, I could make it so that the thread continues, but I didn't really see Kag sticking around for more chit chat after this lmaooooo.