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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "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


    [open]  As a rock in the sea; any
    #1

    Eurwen
    the secret to walking on water is
    knowing where the rocks lie
    Family… she has so many people. Too many, one might say - sometimes she is a little jealous of her mother. No mother or grandmother to watch your every step, no new aunts and uncles older and younger, and cousins and nieces and nephews that might as well be their grandmother. It’s confusing.

    Often enough, she flees them. Not that she actually leaves Nerine, but aside from any lessons she just wants to avoid all the drama that subsequently follows. Her head can handle lessons in diplomacy. Her body even doesn’t mind running and strength training so much any more. But add the more depressing air her sweet Grammama now exhales, add the look in Heartfire’s eyes, add whomever else in the family having a troubled past, but never ever talking about it (that might be the thing, she would guess; that they never want to talk about it, never want to be weak) - sometimes that’s just too much.

    And just like that she finds herself a secluded place by the sea to hide away, and if she’s really bothered, she even seals herself away in a cave - she finds that with practise, she can move and mould more and larger rocks at the time. Nerine is full of rocks to practice with, after all.

    And so to find her one must travel down to the sea and seek out a rocky crevice, in which she tries something new today. An image, or rocks that are being slowly reformed. A statue if she can manage, but that goal is still long-term at this moment.
    #2

    She's got the devil's eyes

    Change is inevitable, bearing perpetually down upon them with grinding force. Few can see the way it happens, lost in their own small pockets of the world. Heartfire though, she sees it. Sees too much of it. And it is something she could never hope to lose sight of, could never hope to forget.

    Even Nerine is not immune.

    Eurwen, young though she is, has already had such world-weariness forced upon her in many ways. It’s no surprise the girl might seek solace in the shores. Might seek to escape the heavy weight that had so recently dropped on her shoulders. Heartfire can understand the burden of such a weight. She had never truly been given the opportunity to have a childhood either. She had always seen too much, had always known too much. Had always done too much.

    Though Heartfire has always rushed headlong into the wild unknown, in many other ways, she had once share many similarities to the young heir. Enough to know that Eurwen had not been fully ready for the responsibility that had so rapidly descended upon her.

    And that is why her training has become a part of her job. The girl expects lessons no doubt. One’s like what she receives from her parents. But Heartfire has never been inclined toward such things. Has never been traditional in her teachings. So that is why today, on a day when Eurwen wishes only to escape, to breath, Heartfire goes to her. It is those days that she would find herself learning the most.

    While she does not hide her presence, she remains silent, watchful, curious. The girl is focused on her rocks, practising a recently granted ability. Honing those skills that one day she might use them to her advantage. Heartfire had been there once. Had spent hours practicing, perfecting. Creating. Destroying.

    So she says nothing. Instead she watches, and she waits. In time, Eurwen would notice her there. In time, she would be ready to talk.

    and they'll cut you like a weapon

    Heartfire
    #3

    Eurwen
    the secret of walking on water
    is knowing where the rocks lie
    Her concentration is in the rocks; the one before her but as she sometimes struggles to control her new power, also in those surrounding her. By accident, as it were, she feels the pressure of a full-grown horse on the ground; but she ignores it, as the scent is familiar like her surroundings. Someone so often found in Nerine, that she doesn’t make much of a distinction. They’re not addressing her, so they might as well be passing through. Her focus lies more with the small, now-horse-shaped piece of rock before her. It lacks any kind of detail; not even a tail to it. With half a mind she wonders if she should leave it at that, and give it to Scorch.

    It is only when the presence lingers that she finally looks up, spying her cousin (she might as well be an aunt, the way their ages differ, and as such perhaps she more readily accepts Heartfire as a teacher - although she already knows they are different and would make different choices sometimes). A small smile spreads across her features before she dips her head in greeting. ”Khaleesi,” she says (the word had been mastered sometime before: when her mother had decided she would not wear the title any longer, it had become more of a necessity to know what it entailed). ”I’m sorry to keep you waiting.” In more than one way - she hadn’t actively sought Heartfire out yet, as if perhaps she had been dreading her training. First, she had needed time to come to accept her position - one of no guarantees, in which she might fail her parents and her kingdom yet.

    That’s the thing about duty - she can’t fail. Ever.


    @[Heartfire] Sorry for the long wait! Had some things adding up lately (: but the nee house is somewhat ready now ^^
    #4

    She's got the devil's eyes

    She watches quietly as Eurwen focuses on shaping the rock before her, striving to craft something more notable than a shapeless lump of stone. Such intricacy is never easy to master, a thing accomplished only with time and practice. No doubt the girl would one day find creating as easy as breathing. But that day would certainly not come without days like these.

    Heartfire had long ago learned the art of patience. Perfected that timeless skill until she could seemingly stand idle and waiting for hours. Truthfully, she is never idle. Never truly waiting. But there are few who are privy to that much knowledge about her. Likely fewer who might actually care.

    Her blue eyes shift as the spotted girl finally takes notice of her, features easing into a smile as she offers a formal greeting. Her gaze is sharp and assessing on the young heir, quietly inscrutable and equally discomfiting. She tilts her head faintly as she regards Eurwen, as though considering the greeting she’d offered. After a moment, she steps closer, coming into a more comfortable distance for such conversations.

    “You needn’t be so formal,” she finally says by way of greeting. “I certainly have no intentions of it.” She might have accepted the mantle and title, but that had not changed who she is or wishes to be.  She shrugs almost idly then before finishing, “If I hadn’t wished to be kept waiting, I would have said so.”

    Blunt as ever, but there were many others Eurwen could learn diplomacy from. As far as Heartfire is concerned, there are for more important things a girl like her could learn. After another length of silence, the blue and white mare drops her gaze to the rock, curious. “Show me what you’ve done with it so far.”

    and they'll cut you like a weapon

    Heartfire
    #5

    Eurwen
    the secret to walking on water is
    knowing where the rocks lie
    Waiting, to her is a form of meditation - an endless world of meaningless and meaningful thoughts ready to be ordered in the chaos of her mind, separating truth and fact from feelings and perception (for as much as one can, at any rate) but today her thoughts are solely on the rocks. When the Khaleesi enters her world, Eurwen awakes and so the conversation started.

    Trouble is she's never really spoken to Heartfire before. She sometimes wonders about the relationship the mare has with her father, because they seem to be two similar poles of a magnet, the same in such a way that perhaps they drive one another away. Or maybe that's just her way of interpreting the glances between them, in the rare moments that she's seen them meet. But what about her mother? She seemed to do well with the both of them. Perhaps the other pole then.

    Left her wondering where she belongs in this picture.

    Her greeting is too formal, then, but better safe than sorry. The dark-eyed girl takes in the words of her older cousin, no response given where one isn't needed. Acceptance seems enough, between the two of them.

    She doesn't continue the conversation either. Eurwen can be a talker, but only when she feels the time is right. Now seems not such a time, hence she waits for the sabino roan to continue. The woman finally gestures to the half-shaped rock, and so it warrants an explanation. Pulling on it mentally, it hovers towards the coastal kingdom's queen. "I've tried shaping." And clearly it had no detail, yet it also somewhat resembled a horse. A tailless one though - the point between butt and tail was a little too breakable for the girl just yet. "Should I try something else?" she wonders - perhaps Heartfire has a different idea of putting the stone magic to use.
    #6

    She's got the devil's eyes

    She watches the careful way in which the girl presents herself, almost hesitant in the way she handles herself. Not just with the stone, but with Heartfire. For someone who had always been bold (even recklessly so, on occasion), it’s a rather unique experience, to be placed into a mentorship role for someone such as Eurwen. Truthfully, her father and Heartfire are almost distressingly similar. A fact the girl had no doubt picked up on, even if she could not quite place it. And in that sense perhaps, their interactions might seem… expressive.

    But then, they are all related to Scorch. And if sparks should occasionally fly, well, that is decidedly ordinary in their family.

    Her attention shifts to the stone as Eurwen presents it to her, explaining what she had been attempting. She can see the vaguely equid resemblance in the unyielding gray of the stone, her subtle attempts to shape it into a fitting image. Her lips quirk faintly as she studies it, noting its lack of tail. “It looks like my father,” she observes idly, faintly amused by the notion. Of course, Eurwen likely wouldn’t be aware of her uncle’s rather distinct attributes she had mimicked within the stone.

    When the spotted girl asks if she should try something else, Heartfire lifts her gaze to her. She remains quietly contemplative for several long moments before tilting her head slightly, almost curiously, as she eyes the heir. Perhaps she does not have the connection to stone the young girl does, but she has seen enough in her rather long life to know a thing or two. Whether Eurwen would choose to take her advice however, is another matter entirely.

    “Stone is stubborn,” she finally replies almost cryptically, even if it does seem she is stating something rather obvious. And perhaps she is, but the girl’s hesitation with the stone tells her she hasn’t quite allowed that observation to sink in yet. “You’re careful, as though you are afraid you might break it.” A brief smile touches her lips then, almost encouraging. “And perhaps you will, but that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means you should try something else with it.” That, at least, Heartfire can speak quite confidently too. For all her knowledge, even her best laid plans did not always come out as she had expected. “So why don’t you try breaking a few stones instead? Perhaps you’ll find something in them you hadn’t expected.”

    Not every stone is meant to be shaped into a horse, after all. And sometimes it is easier to learn how to work with something rather than against it in order to get what you want.

    and they'll cut you like a weapon

    Heartfire




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