12-29-2020, 09:40 PM
give my all to watch you fall
Water runs in rivulets down her dark, sleek sides and glints under the sun, mimicking in miniature the river she has just climbed out of. It puddles quickly underneath her, making the muddy riverbank even more so, so she moves closer to Nashua who has already allotted her extra space. She doesn’t mind crowding in and doesn’t really consider if the close proximity will bother her once-adversary. Instead, she wagers it will bring them within striking distance of each other should they come to blows. Again, that is.
“Apology accepted. This time.” She sees his smirk and is reminded of their time together on the battlefield. He had shot her a similar grin at the start of their fight then. She had returned his smile with a slightly more maniacal version of it, thinking he was as feral and cutthroat as she. But he had been far more gentlemanly than she expected, based on that first impression she thought she had gathered from him. More normal than she could ever hope to be. It isn’t a bad thing, of course, to be different than someone who thrives on violence and craves all the bruises and breaks that come with it. On the contrary, she thinks Nashua is the real beneficiary in the end. Sometimes – though rarely – she would kill to be normal.
What she had wanted from the Alliance was scars to add to her collection and blood to consecrate the land under her feet. She had failed, though, like so much in her life. She had failed to bring home a win that would justify her fierce means to an end. She hadn’t done any better than the first time around (had done worse, in fact). She had failed to listen to her basic instincts and not overthink her way out of the Alliance.
It is over and she struggles with what comes next.
But she doesn’t let it show, doesn’t vocalize to @[Nashua] what has lived and grown and festered inside of her since she left the arena with slightly less swagger in her steps than normal. “I lost a few petals,” she admits begrudgingly. “That’s ok, though; they only draw attention away from the thorns below.” A small quirking of one side of her lips is the only indication of the smile starting on her face. She isn’t ready to dig any deeper or reflect any further on her post-battle thoughts or god-forbid feelings. The wounds she suffered were mostly within and were still as raw as the day she left the Plains for the final time.
The tigress-turned-mare is more curious about her companion. Her amber eyes rove over the grown stallion appraisingly, cataloguing the differences since they last parted ways. He is certainly grown, and there is a new weight to his eyes that speaks of renewed responsibility; she wonders at the cause of it, but doesn’t ask. Not yet. She sees the familiar slope of those wings she had been so eager to bust (and still is eager to bust, truth be told) – and then they are gone after she blinks.
“Should have done that the last time,” Titanya comments, nodding at the empty air where his wings have disappeared. She glances past him to the space beyond, to the path he must have followed to end up on the riverside. Otherwise, she figures he flew here from some unknown destination. Maybe it’s the place he volunteered himself to represent in the Alliance? “Are you a kingdom kind-of-guy or were you fighting for yourself?” She sure hadn’t been paying attention if there had been any kind of announcement before their round.
“Apology accepted. This time.” She sees his smirk and is reminded of their time together on the battlefield. He had shot her a similar grin at the start of their fight then. She had returned his smile with a slightly more maniacal version of it, thinking he was as feral and cutthroat as she. But he had been far more gentlemanly than she expected, based on that first impression she thought she had gathered from him. More normal than she could ever hope to be. It isn’t a bad thing, of course, to be different than someone who thrives on violence and craves all the bruises and breaks that come with it. On the contrary, she thinks Nashua is the real beneficiary in the end. Sometimes – though rarely – she would kill to be normal.
What she had wanted from the Alliance was scars to add to her collection and blood to consecrate the land under her feet. She had failed, though, like so much in her life. She had failed to bring home a win that would justify her fierce means to an end. She hadn’t done any better than the first time around (had done worse, in fact). She had failed to listen to her basic instincts and not overthink her way out of the Alliance.
It is over and she struggles with what comes next.
But she doesn’t let it show, doesn’t vocalize to @[Nashua] what has lived and grown and festered inside of her since she left the arena with slightly less swagger in her steps than normal. “I lost a few petals,” she admits begrudgingly. “That’s ok, though; they only draw attention away from the thorns below.” A small quirking of one side of her lips is the only indication of the smile starting on her face. She isn’t ready to dig any deeper or reflect any further on her post-battle thoughts or god-forbid feelings. The wounds she suffered were mostly within and were still as raw as the day she left the Plains for the final time.
The tigress-turned-mare is more curious about her companion. Her amber eyes rove over the grown stallion appraisingly, cataloguing the differences since they last parted ways. He is certainly grown, and there is a new weight to his eyes that speaks of renewed responsibility; she wonders at the cause of it, but doesn’t ask. Not yet. She sees the familiar slope of those wings she had been so eager to bust (and still is eager to bust, truth be told) – and then they are gone after she blinks.
“Should have done that the last time,” Titanya comments, nodding at the empty air where his wings have disappeared. She glances past him to the space beyond, to the path he must have followed to end up on the riverside. Otherwise, she figures he flew here from some unknown destination. Maybe it’s the place he volunteered himself to represent in the Alliance? “Are you a kingdom kind-of-guy or were you fighting for yourself?” She sure hadn’t been paying attention if there had been any kind of announcement before their round.
