12-11-2019, 01:16 PM
<div style="margin: auto;width: 90%;max-width: 750px;background-image: url('https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/7efaec10-5a5c-4b01-be62-a4cf4ae45159/ddm3oxm-8991e0e8-7e94-452c-8fb7-9525c06684a0.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzdlZmFlYzEwLTVhNWMtNGIwMS1iZTYyLWE0Y2Y0YWU0NTE1OVwvZGRtM294bS04OTkxZTBlOC03ZTk0LTQ1MmMtOGZiNy05NTI1YzA2Njg0YTAucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.sDl22-00ShSdtr1DOAHi5hXdwt-NJUdfr6ipdr-6PE8');background-size: 800px;padding-top: 375px;background-position: 50% -1%;background-repeat: no-repeat;background-color: #000000; box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.9);overflow: hidden;">
<div style="padding: 30px 50px; background: rgba(0,0,0,0.3);font-family: georgia;color: #8d6b6f;font-size: 11px;line-height: 160%;letter-spacing: 1px;text-align: justify;"><div style="color: #b68991;text-align: center;border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(190, 150, 157, 0.4);padding: 10px;padding-top: 0;"><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Kristi|Rochester|Kreon&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"><font face="Kristi" size="10px">to the lonely sea and sky</font></div>
<br />
<font face="Kreon" size="2px">In the brief silence that follows the necrosis of the dark stallion, Oceane can still hear his primal screams echoing within her mind. She can still hear the hissing of the sand snakes and the grainy sound of their bodies sluicing through the sand, and the titter of arachnid and scorpion legs as they convened upon the beast she'd seen murder the golden woman who now stands before her. A combination of terror and rage and pain swirl in the woman's eyes as Oceane stands with wings flung wide to guard her from the sight of the stallion, bereft of life, prone on the sand behind her.<br><br><b>"Let me see him,"</b> the golden woman requests hoarsely.<br><br>With pause, the winged opaline Loessian finally concedes. She folds her shimmering feathers to sleek sides and moves out of the way. She rotates, commanding her own amber eyes to fall to the dark stallion on the dunes. Her gaze lingers on the plethora of welted bites that mar his skin, red and angry to indicate the venom that had been pressed into his muscle.<br><br>Her heart aches with the knowledge that <i>she</i> had commanded the desert's wildlife to murder the stallion. Because of her, he will succumb to the desert sands. Because of her... <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"I'm sorry,"</font> her voice quivers as she whispers to the palomino mare whose eyes have also welled with tears, <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"he was going to—"</font><br><br><b>"I know,"</b> the golden woman cuts her off with a voice thickened by emotion.<br><br>Oceane takes a last look at the stallion whose glowing orange eyes remain open even in death. Despite the reddening of his sclera from the poison, the opaline pegasi lingers on the familiarity of those orange eyes but turns away in respect before she can place the feeling. Giving the golden woman a moment with the dark stallion, Oceane turns her gaze across the dunes that lay out before them.<br><br>The sound of spacetime tearing erupts over the rolling dunes.<br><br><i>Bring her back. Reunite her. Reunite them.</i><br><br>The voice draws the attention of both women, gold and violet. They turn away from the dark stallion whose body is already dusted with desert sand to lay their eyes upon a nearby apparition.<br><br>The golden woman and her lover. The mare who Oceane had not been able to save. A cold hand wrenches its way around her heart as she watches the mirage and the love that exudes from it. For a fleeting moment, she is jealous as she watches on, for she had never experienced a connection with such strength and certainty before.<br><br><b>"Reunite?"</b> she questions quietly after the apparition disappears, the gilded woman's eyes glazed over, unseeing, where the mirage had been. <b>"Could we... could she—?"</b><br><br>Oceane nickers comfortingly to the other woman and gives her a small, hopeful smile. <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"There's only one way to find out."</font> She gives a reassuring nod before pivoting her glimmering body in the direction from whence the sound had come. The two women venture side-by-side in silence, both too fraught with worry and anticipation to make small talk as they journey in the direction they both hope is right.<br><br>All thoughts of Nau-Aib, of the King, and of Mchawi disappear as Oceane's bright eyes fall upon the spacetime portal. Hope seizes her heart and she turns to smile at the golden woman beside her. <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"I never asked your name,"</font> she realizes as they come to heel just before the portal.<br><br><b>"Craft,"</b> the woman says breathlessly, her eyes never leaving the shimmering entity before them. <b>"Thank you,"</b> she adds before bounding into the portal, forsaking any uncertainty that her lover awaits on the other side. After a moment's hesitation, Oceane follows behind.<br /><br>
<hr>
<center>round 3 | <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">speech</font></font></center></div></div>
<div style="padding: 30px 50px; background: rgba(0,0,0,0.3);font-family: georgia;color: #8d6b6f;font-size: 11px;line-height: 160%;letter-spacing: 1px;text-align: justify;"><div style="color: #b68991;text-align: center;border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(190, 150, 157, 0.4);padding: 10px;padding-top: 0;"><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Kristi|Rochester|Kreon&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"><font face="Kristi" size="10px">to the lonely sea and sky</font></div>
<br />
<font face="Kreon" size="2px">In the brief silence that follows the necrosis of the dark stallion, Oceane can still hear his primal screams echoing within her mind. She can still hear the hissing of the sand snakes and the grainy sound of their bodies sluicing through the sand, and the titter of arachnid and scorpion legs as they convened upon the beast she'd seen murder the golden woman who now stands before her. A combination of terror and rage and pain swirl in the woman's eyes as Oceane stands with wings flung wide to guard her from the sight of the stallion, bereft of life, prone on the sand behind her.<br><br><b>"Let me see him,"</b> the golden woman requests hoarsely.<br><br>With pause, the winged opaline Loessian finally concedes. She folds her shimmering feathers to sleek sides and moves out of the way. She rotates, commanding her own amber eyes to fall to the dark stallion on the dunes. Her gaze lingers on the plethora of welted bites that mar his skin, red and angry to indicate the venom that had been pressed into his muscle.<br><br>Her heart aches with the knowledge that <i>she</i> had commanded the desert's wildlife to murder the stallion. Because of her, he will succumb to the desert sands. Because of her... <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"I'm sorry,"</font> her voice quivers as she whispers to the palomino mare whose eyes have also welled with tears, <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"he was going to—"</font><br><br><b>"I know,"</b> the golden woman cuts her off with a voice thickened by emotion.<br><br>Oceane takes a last look at the stallion whose glowing orange eyes remain open even in death. Despite the reddening of his sclera from the poison, the opaline pegasi lingers on the familiarity of those orange eyes but turns away in respect before she can place the feeling. Giving the golden woman a moment with the dark stallion, Oceane turns her gaze across the dunes that lay out before them.<br><br>The sound of spacetime tearing erupts over the rolling dunes.<br><br><i>Bring her back. Reunite her. Reunite them.</i><br><br>The voice draws the attention of both women, gold and violet. They turn away from the dark stallion whose body is already dusted with desert sand to lay their eyes upon a nearby apparition.<br><br>The golden woman and her lover. The mare who Oceane had not been able to save. A cold hand wrenches its way around her heart as she watches the mirage and the love that exudes from it. For a fleeting moment, she is jealous as she watches on, for she had never experienced a connection with such strength and certainty before.<br><br><b>"Reunite?"</b> she questions quietly after the apparition disappears, the gilded woman's eyes glazed over, unseeing, where the mirage had been. <b>"Could we... could she—?"</b><br><br>Oceane nickers comfortingly to the other woman and gives her a small, hopeful smile. <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"There's only one way to find out."</font> She gives a reassuring nod before pivoting her glimmering body in the direction from whence the sound had come. The two women venture side-by-side in silence, both too fraught with worry and anticipation to make small talk as they journey in the direction they both hope is right.<br><br>All thoughts of Nau-Aib, of the King, and of Mchawi disappear as Oceane's bright eyes fall upon the spacetime portal. Hope seizes her heart and she turns to smile at the golden woman beside her. <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">"I never asked your name,"</font> she realizes as they come to heel just before the portal.<br><br><b>"Craft,"</b> the woman says breathlessly, her eyes never leaving the shimmering entity before them. <b>"Thank you,"</b> she adds before bounding into the portal, forsaking any uncertainty that her lover awaits on the other side. After a moment's hesitation, Oceane follows behind.<br /><br>
<hr>
<center>round 3 | <font style="color: #e5c9b1;">speech</font></font></center></div></div>
i must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
and all i ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by
and all i ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by