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  • 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


    [open]  Finally reaching
    #1

    The fish told me...

    She had been following this same river for months. Sometimes it was easy, sometimes she had to take a detour, dodging steep slopes, thorny banks and sharp rock outcroppings. However, she always returned to it, as well as to its inhabitants. The journey was a lot more fun, after all, when she could talk to her scaled friends. Some of the fish would only stay with her for a short amount of time; some, she would walk alongside for days. In addition, she did not have any place to go to anyways. Yet, her nomadic upbringing urged her to stay on the move. Thus, rivers, streams, lakes and the occasional seashore had become the red threads leading her through life.

    However, this river had felt different, back when she had arrived at its source. It had made her feel like there was something waiting at the end. As she followed its sloping banks, she had felt a growing sense of purpose with each step. Today, she’d finally reached this place which apparently was named Beqanna, as she was told by the local fish. The river had by now morphed into a relatively shallow stream, which happily gurgled and bubbled as it ran through the rolling fields before her. She gazed at the vibrant, green meadows and all of the colorful horses roaming around them, a fine golden border lining their contours as a result of the late afternoon sun’s rays. She suddenly felt vaguely as though she had now reached her destination- which was quite a strange feeling, considering that she was used only to traveling, not reaching. She shook her mane until it fell comfortably across her pale, gold-tinged neck, shimmering in the soft afternoon sunlight. Her light blue eyes glided along her surroundings as she looked for a distraction from all of these destiny-like feelings she was suddenly experiencing.

    As usual, she found said distraction in the river right next to her. A catfish was floating lazily in the stream, moving its fins every now and then to stay in the same place. “Well,”, she addressed the dark-grey, whiskered fish amiably, “This does look like quite the place, doesn’t it? Not too shabby, not too shabby at all.” The fish agreed. Yes, it did sport good foraging grounds, with nice, muddy ponds aplenty. Sheika nodded understandingly, a pensive look in her eyes as she followed the movements of the horses in the distance. “What do you think, then? Do you think I could do well in this place?” The catfish offered her a scrutinizing look with its round, yellow eyes. “What?”, she snorted, offended at its reply, “You feel I’m too much of a fish to fit in with these horses? Well, you are half a cat so I do not believe you should be the one judging! Ha!” She looked content as the catfish twitched its whiskers in a ruffled manner, flicking its fins and swimming off to go bugger someone else. Cheeky fellows, those catfishes.

    She was still congratulating herself on her comeback when she suddenly realised another horse's presence near her and turned her head. She blinked owlishly as she prepared to communicate with a non-fish being for the first time in probably years, remaining stock-still so she would not scare it off immediately (as she usually would do when meeting a new fish).

    Sheika

    Image by Jon Sailer
    [Image: vis.png]
    Afbeelding van jakbraun via Pixabay
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    #2

    stars, hide your fire;
    let not light see my black and deep desires

    She’s in the field because mother has sent her to the field. The task is somewhat annoying, because Iris would absolutely rather be playing. Which of course, for her, did not exactly mean froliking in the fields but usually involved trying to poison something. Not to death (usually), but just enough. Trying to get the right amount of poison was tricky business, though she was getting much better at it the more she worked on the skill. But her mother had bid her to go be useful (Iris’ interpretation, not her mother’s words), and so here she was.

    To be fair, Pangea was pretty quiet. Without Ghaul, there was little loyalty to the land itself it seems. Which was basically the entire point of her mother’s campaign to build a better Beqanna. There was little loyalty to any of the lands because they were meaningless, apparently. Iris had no real understanding of this, but she knew of the old Beqanna from her mother’s stories. Bedtime stories filled with history, brought to life with magic and the lullaby sound of her mother’s voice (which was reserved only for the twins).

    What she did know is she couldn’t poison potential recruits. She also knew that the field was a relatively empty place, so when the ghosts whisper that someone has arrived, she’s almost excited. Otherwise, it was going to be a very boring day. Iris makes her way over, undaunted by her small size or young age. It doesn’t really dawn on her that children, perhaps, do not belong to her. But her mother expects a lot of her children, and Iris doesn’t mind not being treated as some lesser citizen for being young.

    When Iris finds the mare, she is talking to...well, that is unclear. Not that Iris finds this weird, as she is usually talking to a ghost that no one else can see. Fish they whisper now, and Iris smiles slightly at the knowledge. Fish. Well. Did they make for decent conversationalists? Because honestly, sometimes the dead were terrible at it. ”Were you talking to fish?” Iris asks as the mare turns to her, closing the rest of the distance between them until she is close enough for a conversation but far enough to be respectful. She does not manage a hello or even a name, because she’s more curious about the fish, but at least her manners extend so far as to not try and poison the mare.

    iris



    @[Sheika]
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    #3

    The fish told me...

    It was a black filly that had approached her. Being a bit unsure of what to talk about with another horse (grass, or something?) Sheika was glad the filly initiated the conversation. Even more so, when the other immediately steered the topic to her beloved fish. What luck! The pale mare visibly perked up as she answered. “Why, yes! Well, actually, there was this catfish just now, and it was quite rude. But honestly, I shouldn’t even be surprised.” She looked around, as if to check whether there were any listening, then whispered conspiratorially to the filly, “Catfish are often a bit full of themselves...I believe it’s in the whiskers. They make them feel better than everyone else, you know?” She huffed, and stared in the distance for a bit, recounting some of her previous encounters with catfish.

    Then she remembered that she was talking to someone, and it occurred to her that it may now be her turn to keep the conversation going. “What to say, what to say..” she muttered out loud, flicking her ears. She then got an idea. If she wanted to fit in with these horses, they would have to like her. If you want someone to like you, you have to be nice to them. This, she had been taught during her early life when she still lived with her parents. She looked at the filly a bit more closely, thinking of something nice to say. She then noticed the amber color of the other's eyes. ”You have eyes like a goldfish! I mean, a goldfish’s scales!” She looked triumphantly at the filly. She couldn’t not like Sheika after she had bestowed upon her this great compliment.

    Sheika

    Image by Jon Sailer
    [Image: vis.png]
    Afbeelding van jakbraun via Pixabay
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    #4

    stars, hide your fire;
    let not light see my black and deep desires

    Well, at least her question is considered rude. Probably it could have been, but Iris was trying to play nice, so her tone of voice was friendly enough rather than...well, to be fair, it varied. Iris always varied depending on what her goal was. She was adaptable, if nothing else. The mare seems very pleased to talk about this whole talking to fish thing, which doesn’t necessarily shock Iris. She rather likes to talk about talking to ghosts, so this makes sense. They like to talk about the things they can talk to. Did you get all that? Because Iris nearly broke her brain with all this talking about talking.

    ”Do catfish actually look like cats?” she asks, having only a vague idea of what a cat would look like. She tries to imagine a fish version of this and finds herself chuckling slightly. The picture is ridiculous, but still, she’ll let the other mare answer. After all, Iris’s experiences in life were rather limited in general, and she knew little about fish and little about cats. Besides, Beqanna was full of stranger things.

    The conversation lapses for a moment and it’s clear neither of them are particularly good at small talk, though Iris is about to fill in the gaps when the mare compliments her eyes. It is clear it’s a compliment, at least so much as this fish-mare can manage. But still, goldfish sound pretty enough, and Iris isn’t stupid enough to miss the compliment. She preens a bit at her, her smile real. ”Thanks. Momma’s eyes are the same.” Though slightly less stark against her mother’s bay and white coat as compared to Iris’s black coat. ”I’m Iris, by the way. Momma’s name is Straia, and she’s the new leader of this place called Pangea. I don’t actually know if there are fish there, but there’s a big river, so I guess there are fish.” Honestly, she’s never looked, but now she might just have to.

    iris



    @[Sheika]
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    #5

    The fish told me...

    "Ehm..Not really, actually. Cats have beautiful fur, and a long tail without fins, while catfish are smooth, and slimy," she tried to think of more distinguishing characteristics, picturing the wild cats she had incidentally encountered in the woods, "and they don't have ears," she finally concluded. She then faltered a bit. Because why were they called catfish then? Her ears drooped, as she felt like a kid failing a test on their favourite subject at school. Luckily, just before she could really start to sulk, she remembered. Not realizing the filly hadn't even asked for this information, she shared her epiphany out loud. "Ah, it's because they have the whiskers! Yes, it's the whiskers. All in the whiskers." She wriggled her pink nose to illustrate, however, since her own 'whiskers' consisted of barely visible white hairs, made it seem more like she picked up on a particularly bad scent instead.

    She nodded, content when she saw that her compliment had had the intended effect. Yet as she heard the filly talk animatedly about her mother, some part of Sheika stirred. It was a part which, during her long years of solitude, had become locked and sealed away in a far corner of her being. Neatly placed in its own little box with a big lid on top. By now, she was so used to not remembering that she didn't even notice the pricks of grief that tried to wriggle their way out of their carefully crafted confines.

    The only visible change in her exterior was her eyes glazing over for a second. Then she smiled at Iris, as the lid was shut firmly again, and she remained in her usual state of blissful ignorance. Her eyes lit up as she mentioned the word 'river'. "That sounds great! I love rivers. Especially the big ones. They are very easy to follow. You will never get lost that way! Oh, and my name is Sheika!"

    e">Sheika

    Image by Jon Sailer


    OOC: I don't think I've ever talked about catfish this much in my life hahah. Also yay Pangea! :D 
    -edit: Ahah I forgot to let her say her name as well 

    @[Iris] 
    [Image: vis.png]
    Afbeelding van jakbraun via Pixabay
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    #6

    stars, hide your fire;
    let not light see my black and deep desires

    Iris has never thought about fish this much in her life. In fact, she doesn’t even really care that they don’t look like cats but are called catfish. Again, there are stranger things in this world than names that don’t make sense. It takes her a minute to figure out why the mare looks so defeated after answering the question that she’s nearly surprised when the mares goes on to mention the whiskers. Fish with whiskers.

    One of her ghost friends tries to send her a picture of it. Iris is still better with auditory communication than visual, but she kind of gets the image. A fish with whiskers indeed. Ugly things, honestly.

    ”Pangea might have those. It seems like something that would fit there.” After all, Pangea was little more than a wasteland that had been turned into a home. Iris doesn’t know the history of it, but if she did, she would have Carnage to thank for her newfound home. The Cove had been prettier, but still, Momma didn’t rule that one. ”Do you want to come check it out? If you hate it, we won’t make you stay.” She says the last bit playfully, as if other places might hold you hostage and force you to serve them. To her knowledge, Beqanna wasn’t quite like that (though it would be fun…).

    iris



    @[Sheika]
    Reply
    #7

    The fish told me...

    The filly let her know that there may be catfish in Pangea as well. ”Oh, do you ever talk to them? Are they nice?”, she asked politely. She then considers Iris’ invitation to go visit the river. ”Hmm..” She looks a bit uncertain at the stream next to her, then back to Iris. Having roamed on her own aimlessly for years, the idea of going somewhere with an actual goal seemed very strange to her. Yet, her curiosity, as well as that strange destiny-like feeling from before, had been piqued by the young black mare. Also, Iris promised they wouldn’t make her stay if she didn’t want to. Apparently this was something that could happen, she thought, missing the other’s joking undertone and making a mental note not to just follow any horse she met. How horrible it would be to be held somewhere and not be able to stray around at will!

    ”Yes, I think I would like that.”, she then finally said, smiling and deciding that it really couldn’t hurt to listen to this nice filly. She had already heard from the local fish that there were some very strange horses in this Beqanna place, with extraordinary colors, horns and wings and even fins. Now Sheika wasn’t sure whether she should believe all that, because some fish love to gossip and make up stories. However, she couldn’t help but be thrilled at the possibility of meeting an actual fish-horse. Also, she was already excited at the prospect of checking out the big river. ”Where is this Pangea, then? Can we just follow this one and end up there?”, she gestured at the stream. She had honestly no idea how big this place was.

    Sheika

    Image by Jon Sailer


    @[Iris] 
    [Image: vis.png]
    Afbeelding van jakbraun via Pixabay
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    #8

    stars, hide your fire;
    let not light see my black and deep desires

    ”Nope,”, she says, shaking her head slightly when asked if she ever talks to fish. Why would she want to talk to fish? She keeps that particular thought to herself because she’s still being nice. ”Can’t talk to fish, just ghosts. Maybe if I found a fish ghost?” Iris actually snorts at this though, because the idea is hilarious. Fish ghosts. Honestly, she doesn’t think fish are capable of turning into ghosts. There wasn’t enough there to bother leaving behind.

    There were indeed some very strange horses in Beqanna, including Iris, though she didn’t look strange. Many of them looked strange too, wearing their powers on their sleeve. Iris though? Iris didn’t look remotely like what she was, and it was vastly more fun that way. After all, it allowed her to be anything she wanted. For now, she was the nice filly in the field, bringing new faces back to Pangea. Certainly they needed some new faces. ”Uh, probably? Honestly I don’t go that way, but it’s pretty close. I can show you.”

    Iris nods in the direction she had come, turning and waiting to make sure Sheika was coming with her, and she would lead the way back to Pangea. They could go see if there were fish…fish could be poisoned, at least.

    iris



    @[Sheika] - do you want to continue in Pangea?
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    #9

    The fish told me...

    ”Ohh, how very interesting! What do the ghosts like to talk about?” She looks amazed, immediately thinking about what a fish ghost would have to say. And would it stay in the river, or fly through the sky, since it didn’t have to breathe underwater anymore anyways? If she were a ghost herself, she would love to dive into the ocean and check out what was at the bottom. If she were to believe the fish she met at the coast, it was pretty nice out there. ”But isn’t it dangerous? I always thought you should never try to reach out to the ghosts, because they can be jealous that we have a body and then they will try to take it over..Can they actually do that?” She then looked around a bit suspiciously and said, in a lowered voice, “Are they here now?”

    As Iris proposes to go to Pangea, she looks back one last time at the stream she had followed. However, Sheika wasn’t one to mess with fate, and right now, she felt as if ‘fate’ had just given her a firm push in the back. ”Things always happen the way they should..” she mumbles to herself. She then noticed the catfish from before had returned. As if urged on by it’s unblinking yellow stare, she turns to Iris with a decisive flick of her long tail. ”Yes, I’ll follow you.” Because even if it wasn’t for fate, she most certainly was going to prove that smug whiskered bastard wrong.

    Sheika

    Image by Jon Sailer


    @[Iris] I thought I'd just post this last reply over here after all to finish this thread up I hope that's ok! But yes let's continue in Pangea! Big Grin
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