[open] Everything that kills me makes me feel alive; any

[Leilan]

Leilan

Toskr is out hunting, and the former dragon king of the North has made his way towards the newer parts of the forest. It’s here, he remembers, that they got burned and where the forest had been grown anew by Borderline and Memorie. Leilan had never had much understanding of growing things, but now, he connects the dots in silence. It is a good thing to learn how the plants work, how they grow - already he believes he will want to try it out on the Isle later on.

The scaled roan strolls pensively through the forest; he doesn’t so much look at where he is going, even if he’s relied on dragon sight for a long time. No, with the sunlight out and about, but more importantly, the magic that has tied itself to his soul, he feels where everything is, more than using his other senses.

The thing that, despite the different snippets of Beqannan magic that he has carried around in his life, has eluded him up until now, is that everything is so alive. Even the rocks, the light, the water around him seems to sing the magical song of Beqanna to him now, and Leilan’s currently quicksilver eyes dart from one thing to the next trying to understand the nature of these things. His mind is as whirling as his eye color, but he doesn’t notice the latter.

What he does notice is the soul of another; or the ninety-nine percent of it that is there, anyway. They won’t miss the pieces the fairy has taken, and all in all it is gifted back to them in the form of daylight.

A spider moves a paw, the wind kicks up a few leaves, insects crawl beneath the roots of the trees, a couple deer move around in the distance - ah, no, actually they’re more or less moving into Nerine at this point. The roan shakes his head and tries to focus on the life essence nearby, but finds it hard with the many things distracting him.

I feel your love and I feel it burn
down this river, every turn

[Roselin]

Her brother is off somewhere and Roselin knows better by now than to ask Oren where he has gone.

He could be back before dusk or before the next dawn. When the curiosity takes him, her gold-marked brother is gone and it is Roselin left behind to fret after him. Winds, she thinks of her twin. Her mother isn't here to caution patience so Rose has to conjure the memory instead inside her mind.

And where has Reave been?

It is her brothers (apart from steady and stoic Yanhua) that all seem to blow in different directions, just as the four winds do.

Apart from wondering about the travels of her brothers, there is the return of the sun to now contemplate. On this particular morning, Rose had found a spot where one of the might Taiga trees had been felled by a storm and the expanse of blue sky above let the sunlight beam down without the restraint of the heavy cover of the forest canopy. She means to only stay a moment but the sun feels so lovely against her dark hide that the silver-black adolescent closes her blue eyes and lets herself luxuriate in the rays that come streaming down.

She has time, she thinks. Just a moment and then she'll go find Memorie or Cheri; perhaps Ellie or Lumi.

But the sound of a horse nearby - the shake of a head - compels her to open her blue eyes and Rose is glad to see her father.

"Da," she says, as happy to see him as she had been the daylight. The adolescent takes a step towards him and only tilts her head slightly, a near-mimic of the inquisitive angle that the bay roan holds his. It doesn't surprise her that the daylight and her father return almost simultaneously. The sight of him momentarily distracts Roselin from the nagging thought that the light has returned and yet her mother has not. "Did you bring back the sun?" she asks in a voice that is teasing and wistful. She smiles and when her bright blue eyes meet his, there is no doubt in that gaze that @[Leilan] would be the one to bring it back.

[Leilan]

Leilan

She calls him and she claims him for herself; his attention returns to the present in an instant at the sound of his youngest daughter's voice. The movement of quicksilver fades from his eyes, though they retain their slightly odd (for him, that is) silvery color when he looks at her and smiles.

Did he bring back the sun? "Beqanna did," he says in a perhaps a little distant tone. "We helped distract the monsters, so that she could do that." And then I got a little of her spare magic. At least, to him it seems that way. She smiles confidently at him, confident in him, and he smiles back.

Then he remembers his conversation with Yanhua... yesterday? and the smile lessens; it's her mother who is still missing, and there's currently little he can do about it. Yes, he could dive head-first back into the afterlife, but the odds of finding her and making it back would not be in his favour. Besides, he has no idea if she did or didn't make it back by herself yet. What he needs is... "So how about we throw a little welcome party for the sun?" A distraction, and a call to come back home, and an excellent opportunity to test out his new magic, right at the source of it. Nashua and he had discussed the idea once, vaguely, before the darkness had settled in. Now he had the means to make it a big party, he shouldn't let opportunity go to waste.

I feel your love and I feel it burn
down this river, every turn

@[Roselin]

[Roselin]

Roselin isn't oblivious to the fact that her mother is gone. It wasn't unusual for Lilliana to venture out in the night for a patrol. But what had been unusual was that Leilan usually came to take her place. It's perhaps time that she and Oren are allowed more time to themselves but it still feels foreign; she isn't used to being on her own for so long and it makes the silver-black even happier to see her sire.

"Well," she tells him, aware that there may have been others to bring back the sun. "I still think it was you, Da." Her head tilts prettily to one side - the more effeminate version of the way that he sometimes holds his - and a dimple emerges when she smiles up at him. "Are you going to say I'm wrong?" Rose teases her father, aware of the fact that very well could be. And probably was.

It's the mention of the monsters that make her shiver and she steps closer to the bulkier draft, near enough that both of their scales glisten in the newly-returned sunlight.

"A party?" she asks brightly. He's mentioned before, some kind of celebration for the North. (And why shouldn't they? Her opinion is biased, she knows, but she thinks that the Northern kingdom is a wonderful place to live so why not share that with others?) Roselin even starts to glow with excitement at the idea, because their world has suddenly become so vibrant. Looking towards the nearest branch, she breathes a jet of ice at it. When it has become completely encapsulated, she glances back to @[Leilan]. "I can help decorate," she starts to tell him. "I've been practicing and Memorie told me that it's getting stronger." This ability to freeze and her control of it, is what Roselin means.

A gift she shares with her father and still unaware of what the Mountain has granted him, she asks: "Why don't you craft me something?"

[Leilan]

Leilan

Roselin seems to mull over most of his ideas and suggestions like he’s some wise old shaman sharing the tribe’s secrets with her. And whatever he says, he cannot break her trust; so instead of confirming or denying his role on this whole, he just chuckles. ”I wouldn’t date disagree with you.” he claims, tugging her ear for good measure, now that she’s in reach.

In fact, the party idea at least helps with its first purpose; to distract. ”Yes. I think that’s something all of Beqanna needs at the moment. A day of happiness.” he hums a little, amused to see that she starts glowing without truly noticing it. She is quick to suggest decoration, a job so very well suited for his ice-sculpting daughter. ”You know what, I think so too.” he tells her when he assesses her encapsulation of the branch.

”That’ll be a surprise, Rosey.” he grins at her a little when she asks for a gift. Something pretty, fun, and useful, he thinks. ”Do you like puzzles?” The idea starts to grow in his mind - one of the main attractions, she will love it, and with her many younger and older horses, he believes.

”While you’re at it - can you and Memorie keep a secret?” After all, if Yanhua is to be crowned in flowers, like his twin had suggested once, who better to task with making the crown actually look beautiful?

I feel your love and I feel it burn
down this river, every turn

@[Roselin]