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    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]  something has changed within me
    #1
    Moira had spent the morning gathering shells for her Grandmother. She is the best shell finder, Grandmother has told her, she finds the pinkest and the orangest and the reddest shells. Moira has the fish to help her, the constant burbling of their voices telling her where to find the next colorful treasure. Grandmother had promised to take her to the Commons if she found enough, and Moira had gathered more than enough by noon.

    “Tell me your wish,” the little dun mare says, smiling when young Moira asks to be the prettiest in all the land. She’ll probably regret it when she is older, but Djinni is not in the business of teaching lessons - only of granting wishes and spoiling her grandchildren.

    The genie places a gentle kiss on the grulla filly’s forehead as she leaves her in the Meadow, meandering away down the wide sunny path on the errands of the very old and nosey.

    Moira gallops toward the nearest water, eager to see if her wish has been granted.

    The creek is rippling and her reflection is not clear, but the green-eyed filly stares down at it intently for some time. Yes, she decides with a little nod, yes, Grandmother had in fact made her prettier. The little minnows in the water chortle their agreement in silvery voices

    Next time she’ll wish to be the most best warrior in Ischia, and her heart thrills at the idea. Moira wheels and kicks, lashing out with her hind legs. The semi-translucent fins that grows from her thighs to her fetlocks shine in the bright sunlight, and when she rears and kicks out the matching ones on her front legs, sides, and spine all but glow in the bright noonday sun.

    Distracted by her joyful prancing, Moira has not paid much attention to her surroundings. Now she pauses, her breathing quick, and looks around. She’s still in the meadow, the wide stretch of grass stretching around her. It’s more grass than she’s ever seen in one place, and she thinks that perhaps ten hundred horses might graze here and never be hungry. Wonderstruck, she takes in the word around her with amazement.
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    #2
    Helion had been born into darkness, but it had been such a fleeting thing that his young mind has already forgotten that there were days when the sun didn’t blaze above and within him. Daytime feels so completely natural that it is now inconceivable that there could have been a time when anything else existed.

    Helion enjoyed the face that his dad made earlier when he very casually wandered off - Mesec hadn’t tried to stop him, but there had been a rather obvious frown and some words of concern shouted just as Helion had picked up his pace. Wasted words - because though Helion loved his family very much, there was an entire world he was eager to explore and no sense of danger to reign him in from sticking his very shiny nose where it did not belong.

    The pale gold colt, shining a soft golden glow that’s nearly invisible in the bright sunshine, fake-spooks at some flowers, pretending their pollen is the danger that his dad is worried about. He’s having a good laugh to himself about this when something shiny catching in the sunlight draws his attention. It’s a girl, with fins!

    There’s no hesitation or debate before Helion trots over - his youthful voice calling out as he crosses over the grass to get closer. “Hey! Hey you! Are you a fish?" Helion's not sure how he feels about fish, but he supposes if they're all this pretty they're probably alright.

    HELION


    @[Moira]
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    #3
    Someone is coming toward her, and Moira nearly rears up as she tries to get tall enough to see them over the grass. Her blue-violet ears are flicking excitedly, and it never occurs to her that what is coming might be dangerous.

    It is a boy, and he looks to have hatched in a season close to her own, neither a tiny baby nor a near-adult. Moira has never actually seen a boy before, so she stares at him in a sort of marveled delight, from his glowing nose to his shiny tail.

    She is just thinking that the boy looks like a sun when he asks if she is a fish, and Moira laughs delightedly.

    “No!” She replies between giggles. She is flattered by the comparison (especially without all her fins!), and decides that both the Mainland and Boys are not quite as bad as she had been warned. “I’m Moira.”

    “I’m here to have an adventure,” she confides to the stranger, looking about the Meadow as though it is the most perfect place for an adventure. And to a girl who has only ever seen the darkness of Ischia and a bit of its day, the sunlit meadow is a wonderland.

    It is, however, only half so marvelous beside a boy who she has begun to suspect is a sun as well, albeit smaller and a little less glowy than the one overhead.

    “Are you a sun?” She asks curiously, hoping that she sounds polite. She’s not sure Momma had ever told them how to address a Sun.

    @[Helion]
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    #4
    As he comes to stand nearby and gets a good look at the not-fish, Helion isn’t exactly sure what he said that was so funny, but since it feels good to make someone else laugh - or giggle - he decides that he doesn't mind. Clearly, he has some talent for jokes that has gone previously unexplored and he must remember to continue to spread the joy in the future. So he just grins at her and doesn't let the little bit of disappointment he feels when she says she's not a fish show. How cool would it be to meet a fish?!

    A Moira was good too, though, he quickly decides - silver eyes already bright at the mention of an adventure and then his smile turns radiant when she asks if he's a sun. His mostly-downy wings rustle at his sides in appreciation for this comment. “I am a sun, yeah, but I’m also Helion.”

    His golden head tilts a little to the side and it's only a short moment before he's speaking again, changing his voice to make it sound like he's giving some very serious advice that's definitely been proven and isn't at all made up just because he wants to join her. “You should probably have a sun along with you on your adventures. You know, for good luck.”

    HELION


    @[Moira]
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    #5
    He confirms that he is a sun so very casually, like she might say that yes: she is a nereid. A sun! A real live sun?!

    “That’s amazing!” She exclaims. “@[Helion] the Sun.” She had not known that Suns could walk the earth, but she had also not known what sunlight looked like at all until a few weeks ago, and so she accepts easily.

    His change in tone causes her to flick both gold-tipped ears forward curiously, and she laughs delightedly at his suggestion. “Oh yes,” she agrees, “It’s very important to have good luck on an adventure.” Momma has always kissed them for luck, and it occurs to Moira now that she had not gotten Aquaria’s kiss before this adventure. So it really is good that Helion has come along, Moira decides, and beams over at him with renewed pleasure.

    “Okay. So.” She says, looking at the Meadow around them. There are clusters of horses here and there, enjoying the sunny afternoon. Most of them are just old enough to look boring to pre-adolescent Moira, but there are some eerie looking folks closer to the Field that look promising. When they vanish before her eyes, and huffs out a little breath, and turns back to Helion.

    “Do you know where the adventures are around here?”
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    #6
    Helion the sun! Oh he liked the sound of that very much. That was how he was going to ask Cressida to address him from now on. And everyone else should too, really. There was The Sun of course but Helion had heard the story of Mesec’s past (the child-friendly version of it, anyway) and it was technically possible for him to be a sun - so who was he to argue that fact! His grandmother was the moon, after all. Or a moon, he supposed, since his twin was also a moon…

    Maybe this whole celestial-objects-as-family was a little too confusing.

    Still, Moira seems happy to have him along so Helion is glad he brought up that he is good luck (and is now very much hoping that he is). When she asks where they can find an adventure, though, his mind stalls out a bit and his silver eyes widen a little. His voice is a little sheepish when he replies, but there’s a crooked smile there. “Oh uh… no. I was hoping you would.”

    But, he’s not deterred by his own uncertainty for long and brightens as he chooses a direction at random, one that will lead them along the nearby creek. “Come on let’s see if we can find one this way.”

    HELION


    @[Moira]
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    #7
    Moira rolls her eyes with exasperation, but the smile that follows it is as bright as it is brief. She finds his sheepish smile rather charming, and he is quick to make a suggestion that they follow the creek.

    A rather wonderful suggestion to something as aquatic as Moira, and she shows her agreement by moving forward and splashing into the water. It feels delightful on her feet, and the fins at her fetlocks bend against the current and ripple below the shallow water.

    This gives her an idea, and she grins.

    In an attempt to distract Helion, Moira asks him a series of questions - where does he live? Can he float in the sky like the sun? Does he have a hatch-mate like she does?

    In the meantime, she has gathered a fist sized ball of water that she’s slowly floated over his head, taking care to keep it behind him and out of his line of sight. She has had quite a bit of practice doing this to Acionna.

    “Can you swim?” She asks, because she is just easily bored and not truly cruel, “Or is it, like, dangerous for you to get wet?”
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    #8
    Helion likes answering questions he knows the answers to - so as he follows Moira into the creek he tells her about how he and his family don’t really live anywhere in particular, how he doesn’t float but he flares his downy wings when he mentions that one day he’ll be able to fly. He didn’t hatch, so far as he is aware, but he tells her all about Cressida, his moon twin.

    He’s making a mental note to ask his parents if there were eggshells somewhere that he and Cressida had come from, and if so were they shiny? And then Moira starts asking more questions he can't answer as easily. He looks down at the creek and tilts his head, like it might know and be able to tell him.

    The creek doesn't answer him though, which is a little rude.

    And since he’s still a little put-out that he hadn’t been able to lead her right to some wonderful adventure so he decides that ‘I don’t know’ is not an acceptable answer anymore. “Oh sure I can swim!” Says the colt who is currently doing the closest thing he’s ever done to swimming - standing in a creek. “I’m probably not as good at it as you but I do alright.” He nods, feeling pretty satisfied with this answer and grinning brightly when he looks back up at Moira.

    HELION


    @[Moira]
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    #9
    Helion tells her of his sister the moon, and Moira’s eyes go wide with astonishment. Her hatch-mate is a kraken, as strong as she is lovely, but even a leviathan of the sea is not so grandiose as a moon. She completely forgets her concern over his lack of a home and the small twinge of jealousy at the idea of flying. A moon sister.

    “I’d like to meet her,” she tells him, “and you can meet Acionna. She is a kraken.” He will probably not be as impressed by her mother, who is the embodiment of the ocean itself. She forgets for just a moment, having known the water all her life, that the ocean is no less marvelous than the sky overhead.

    Moira’s love of mischief had developed early, and remains secondary only to her adoration of the water. (She and Acionna had been talking about their favorites the other day, and Moira’s were the ocean and jokes and all things pearlescent). This prank - the water bubble prank - is one of her specialities, and as soon as Helion confirms he is a great swimmer, Moira drops it on his head.

    It is not an especially large amount - just enough to soak a portion of a horse’s mane. Well, the mane of a horse with hair for a mane, and not one like Moira’s fins.

    She doesn’t wait long for Helion to react, and paws excitedly at the water that flows around her legs. Another step and she feels the transformation beginning, hears the gurgling of the river change from happy gibberish into a chorus of trillions of friendly voices.

    Moira smiles, delighted by the sensation as she always is, and leaps toward the deepest part of the creek a moment before her hind legs transform into a single aquatic tail. The fins at the end match those along her legs and spine, though the impressive swirl of them is lost in the dark shallows of the creek. In the warm tropics she is at her very best, but even here she moves beneath the waters with the ease of one hatched beneath them.

    She rises from the water after thorough soaking of her now-gleaming scales, and calls to him with rivulets of water running between her seafoam eyes. It’s a call she’s been practicing for a while, one that will someday be irresistible. Moira still needs to perfect her song, and Helion makes a very convenient audience.

    @[Helion]
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