• Logout
  • Beqanna

    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


    [private]  growing black irises in the sunshine
    #1

    H A L C Y O N
    no better version of me
    i could pretend to be tonight


    Ischia. Home.

    Halcyon's verdant feline eyes slowly and with purpose slip over the shoreline of the island kingdom and the tropical greenery that sits beyond it. He had spent many months craving the sand and sun of Ischia while roaming the foothills of Loess, but that feeling had faded over time. The boy, on the cusp of his second birthday now, feels as if he has returned to a good book a year later, after forgetting most of the finer details.

    He stands knee-deep in the crystalline ocean waters in the very same cove he'd been found by Aquaria and inspects the shore.

    His tiger-striped tail sweeps back and forth behind him, inspiring small minnows to give chase as it pendulums to and fro. Halcyon flicks a feline ear, turns his predatory head at the sound of the wind sweeping gently through Ischia's trees, and decides that it's time to find Mama again. He'd left her on the beach that first day, he and Cormorant, to explore and make their home feel like home again ─ and now he aches for her companionship again.

    It doesn't take the boy long to find his finned mother; his nose is made for seeking, and he follows the strong path of her scent.

    "Hey, ma," he says quietly as he comes to rest at her side, almost awkward but still full of so much love for the woman.

    "Are you happy to be home?"



    @[Aquaria]

    n | f
    Reply
    #2
    aquaria
    - THE TIDE IS HIGH, IT'S SINK OR SWIM -

    She hears him, the soft-padding rustle of a heavy beast moving through the wet sand. The smooth curve of her neck bent to greet him, her lips bowed in a gentle smile. Her son was growing, the long and low form of him filling out with power she could only guess at. The pale end of her muzzle dipped to sink into the lush fur at his ruff. 

    "Hello, kitten," she murmured, nibbling between the boy's shoulder blades affectionately. He was her sweet one, where Cormorant had grown into mischief and a gregarious nature, she could always count on Halcyon to have a more tempered approach to life. Her smile dimmed somewhat at his question, even as she nodded. 

    Always the observer, her son. Perhaps it was the predator's nature, to watch. Perhaps it was simply his personality. Either way, there was little that passed him unnoticed. "Its a hard one, my love. Yes, I'm happy to be home. I have duty and love in this place. But we seem to have left a little bit of ourselves behind, haven't we?" She could see it in both of her boys, in the way they had moved with caution the first few days, unsure of their surroundings. They'd both been so young when they'd left on what was meant to the journey of a few days. And like that, a year had gone by. 

    Sitting back on her heels, the sea mare blinked at the burly tiger by her side. "And you? How are you doing, now that we've returned?" She asked, unsure what kind of answer she'd receive. She wanted to know though, to get an idea for what their experiences had left him with.

    - MY ONLY RIVAL IS WITHIN -

    @[Halcyon]
    Reply
    #3

    H A L C Y O N
    no better version of me
    i could pretend to be tonight


    Halcyon's natural awkwardness slowly ebbs away as he breaks into a gentle smile at his dam's greeting. Despite his second birthday passing and the way his body thickens with muscle, she is still capable of making him feel like a young cub in the very best way. The tiger leans into her warm touch, allowing a comfortable silence to pass between mother and son as she nibbles endearingly at his shoulder blades.

    He asks if she is happy to be home not just to hear her say yes and garner his own comfort from hers, but because he knows she will answer him truthfully. If there is one thing the young boy will never take for granted, it's the truthfulness that he and his dam can share between one another.

    His rounded feline ears flick periodically as she answers, and he smiles sheepishly, turning his face up towards her, as she so skillfully puts a finger on how he is feeling. "I'm happy to be... home, I think ─" he stumbles over the word home, finding that it feels awkward to consider Ischia as such, "─ but I'm sad, too. For Al and for Oceane. And for Cormorant," he falters, his own heart affected by how his younger brother had handled the departure from Loess and his new close friend. "But I understand why we left, mom," he blurts quickly, so as not to hurt her feelings. He knows, even in his youth, that her decision to return to Ischia had been a difficult one, "And I think it'll be nice to get to know the island again."

    He fills his last statement with so much warmth that something clicks in him and, for the first time, waves of Happiness exude from the tiger involuntarily ─ and if she is open to them, Aquaria will feel them too.



    @[Aquaria]

    n | f
    Reply
    #4
    Information 
    aquaria
    - THE TIDE IS HIGH, IT'S SINK OR SWIM -

    Her smile hitched with a gentle sympathy at his hesitation. How complicated that one word had become, for all of them. They stood together quietly while the water sloshed comfortingly beyond them. She continued her grooming of his thick striped pelt. It was so different from other's hair, soft and still carrying some memory of Loess in it's depths. 

    The sea mare bent her knees to lay beside her feline son, warm in the sand. Her brilliant purple eyes blinked at him with soft love. "I think so too, kitten." She nodded, pride filling her for her sweet-souled child. They would relearn their place in the island, one day at a time, together. She felt confident that her boys were capable of the transition. 

    The warm glow of happiness illuminated her heart, and it seemed that she had made the right call despite the misgivings she'd been having. And a small part of her, the selfish part, knew it was the only call she could have made. Her heart broke for her friend, for their sons. She could not, however, make herself regret removing her own children from such a tumultuous environment. Their safety came first, always. That uncertainty, combined with her growing guilt at the neglect of her own home's needs had finally become enough to send them home. 

    That responsibility was meant to be shared, though. A sighing note hummed from between her lips as she considered that notion. He was growing, faster than she could believe most days. As much as she loved their home isles, the boys now knew the rest of the world was out there. She wouldn't keep them from it. 

    Stretching a long leg out on the sand, she looked at Halcyon for a moment. "When you've gotten your bearings back, what would you say to doing some work for the island?" She asked slowly. He would excel at it, she already knew, but only if his heart was in it. Only if he were truly involved.

    - MY ONLY RIVAL IS WITHIN -
     

    @[Halcyon]
    Reply
    #5

    H A L C Y O N
    no better version of me
    i could pretend to be tonight


    A purr reverberates deep in Halcyon's chest as Aquaria continues to groom him. He leans into his mother's touch as she lays in the sand beside him, just the same way she used to before their adventure to the mainland. His feline eyes trace the turquoise ocean and its rhythmic whitecaps, finding solace in the view and in his dam's touch as he speaks candidly.

    A gentle sea breeze joins them, bringing the salt of the ocean and wrapping around the the pair warmly. Halcyon's feline nose quivers at the smells that ride on the squall, finding evidence of kelp and crustaceans, fossas and parrots. Ischia teems with life, both equine and naught. It settles him.

    To Aquaria's credit, the finned woman understands him just as she always has. She makes no effort to force him to call the island home, but she does open a door that will help him reach that point ─ "Yes!" the young boy responds almost gleefully, without hesitation.

    "And maybe... maybe I could start sooner rather than later?" He pauses and turns his eyes away from the sea, his mama becoming his focal point once more, "I think it would help me to feel at home again." He's unsure what a young tiger could do for a kingdom as grand as Ischia, but he's willing to try ─ and to know that Aquaria trusts him enough to present such an opportunity fills young Halcyon with pride.



    @[Aquaria]

    n | f
    Reply
    #6
    aquaria
    - THE TIDE IS HIGH, IT'S SINK OR SWIM -

    Pride and trepidation fought inside her when his answer came so quick. It seemed that this was a thing he'd been waiting for. Her finely scaled muzzle brushed the thick fur of his ruff briefly, letting her thoughts marshal themselves into things she could say. 

    With a little shiver that belied the warm air thick around them, she nodded slowly and held his fervent gaze. "Yes, whenever you're ready." She replied softly, feeling the twinge of motherly regret to see her child so clearly grown before her. He was not the mewling, ocean-born kitten she'd found on the beach any more, and she was struck hard by that. For a moment all she could do was gaze at him, heart in her throat. Where had time gone? Cormorant was not far behind him, either. 

    When she could speak again, the words were blessedly steady. "I known Pteron had begun teaching you some things in the way of battle. Things I can't teach you, and if you want to continue learning, perhaps we can find you a suitable teacher in Tephra." She reasoned that the larger kingdom overruling them might have more horses knowledgeable about those things than their own mainly peaceable home. Her tail swished against the sand, warm grains scratching enjoyably against the membranous fins. "I know I talk up our policy of peace and mutual respect, policies 
    my sister and now Eva continue to uphold. They're good ideas, but... I can't help but see how vulnerable they make us, now." She looked away, knowing that her insecurities were playing on her, but she didn't want to s the alternative any longer. 

    "You and your brother, and anyone else who wishes it, should be able to protect yourselves. That is what I want. In the meantime, I think you will make a wonderful recruiter for us. There are others out there who might like our way of living, and regular trips to the mainland might do a young tiger good." She chimed, lightening the tone of her voice. Her smile was warm where it touched on him, pleased that they'd had this moment to just be mother and son. One day, sooner than she'd like, she would be missing these simple afternoon talks.

    - MY ONLY RIVAL IS WITHIN -


    @[Halcyon]
    Reply
    #7

    we wear the mask
    that grins and lies


    He smiles up at his mom, recognizing but not acknowledging the soft melancholy of her tone. He knows it must be hard for her, to be so busy and to see her sons growing up at the same time, and though he can't fully understand the weight of the changes around them, he knows that all she wants is the best for them.

    Halcyon listens intently as Aquaria lays out the plethora of options for him ─ Uncle Pteron and battling, time spent in Tephra, recruiting for the island, adventures to the mainland ─ truth be told, they all sound enticing to the young tiger who has only just discovered his desire for adventure.

    He thinks of Titanya, and Beryl.

    His feline eyes turn away from Aquaria as he thinks on the options presented to him. The ocean laps gently at the shoreline before them and the warmth of the summer sun beats down comfortingly. He knows that he would be sad to leave the peacefulness of Ischia permanently for Tephra and the mainland, but ─ "Do you think Uncle Pteron would agree to stay in Ischia for a while?" he asks his mom, a plan evolving in his mind.

    "I don't think I'd like to stay in Tephra, but... maybe he would agree to come here, and then on the days I don't study with him I can spend my time recruiting for the island." Maybe someday, the young boy would possess the desire to live elsewhere ─ but not now, as his feeling of duty towards Ischia and Aquaria has just begun to blossom.

    "Yeah," he finally says, definitively, "I think that's what I will do. I think I will leave tomorrow to find Uncle Pteron and see if I can't bring him back here for a while," Halcyon says matter-of-factly with a smile for his mom.


    @[Aquaria]
    ""
    n | j
    Reply
    #8
    aquaria
    - THE TIDE IS HIGH, IT'S SINK OR SWIM -

    Whatever she had been expecting him to say, it was not what she heard. Violet eyes deep as the sea blinked in startled reaction when he mentioned Pteron. "Uncle" Pteron. She was surprised, but she shouldn't have been. Not when Pteron had been such a formative, if not lingering, influence in her eldest's life. 

    Her tigerling seemed to warm to the idea as he spoke it aloud though, as if the plans had been simmering beneath his surface only waiting to leap into reality on his tongue. Much as she wished she could, there'd be no keeping him from them. A wry smile played across the sea mare's face, fondness and worry and a hundred other emotions vying for her attention when all she really wanted to do was hold her baby close. Baby no longer, though, she could see that much. 

    A breath exhaled, not heavy enough to be a sigh but ready enough to let itself ruffle his hair. "I don't know what you're going to find. But you have my blessing to look." Please Pteron, don't disappointment him. She couldn't bear the thought of Halcyon's grief if the stallion he'd idolized almost since birth turned him away. 

    She pushed the heavy thoughts down. If her boy was leaving in the morning, she wouldn't have it be with a bad taste in his mouth. 

    "Now then, if you're all set to have adventures, far be it from me to keep you from them. Just know," and here she did her best (terribly unconvincing) imitation of the growls that rumbled from the tiger's throat occasionally. "If you meet some pretty, charming, fearsome filly while you're out and about, I had better meet her before you make me a granddam." She nipped playfully at the boy's tufted ear. Oh she was not ready to be a grandmother yet. Not when it felt she was only just getting the hang of motherhood.

    - MY ONLY RIVAL IS WITHIN -

    @[Halcyon]
    Reply
    #9

    we wear the mask
    that grins and lies


    Quiet anxiety flares in his chest as he turns to watch Aquaria's expression. He is smart enough to know that her protectiveness is to be expected, but empathetic enough that he does not wish for her to feel worry for him. The tiger purrs quietly and nuzzles his head against her as she gives him her blessing ─ and though she tries her hardest to sound excited, Halcyon can still detect the small, hesitant quaver in her voice.

    He is attuned to it now, and part of him wants to stay the young boy that her motherly love wants him to be.

    The other part wants to grow into someone she is proud of ─ and though he is certain she will support him always, the young tiger knows in the back of his mind that staying beneath her wing will not help him to grow to be the person he wants to be.

    "Holy seashells, mom!" He laughs with a mix of horror and surprise at her last statement, "I don't even want you thinking about grand-foals yet." He swipes at her playfully with a paw that seems to grow by the day, taking extra care to keep his claws sheathed, and shakes his tri-colored head incredulously.


    @[Aquaria]
    ""
    n | j


    ♥ Figure it's a good place to stop here ─ Hal is gonna go find Pteron and will be back soon!
    Reply




    Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)