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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]  It's a long way to the grave; any
    #1

    Even as isolated as he has been, it would have been impossible not to hear of the kingdom of shapeshifters. Ion, who has stood for so little in his life, finds himself drawn to this. In the dark of the endless night, his long-buried grief had eddied and hardened until it lay like a grain of sand in his heart. He ignores it as he has become so skilled at doing. And now, with the night gone, it is easier than ever.

    Easier, because he had been left with something more. Easier, because he had grown into the night in wholly unexpected ways. Or perhaps it had grown into him, he’s not quite certain. Either way, when day had returned, the mirrored darkness on his hip and reflected the night sky even as it had burrowed into his very soul.

    He has truly become something else now. Something he’s not certain his dead twin would recognize anymore. And did it truly matter, when he is here and Atom is not?

    However it had happened, in the dawn of this new era, he finds himself wishing for something more. Needing something more. In the sleek and agile form of the panther, he makes his way towards the mountains. Wren alternates between clinging to the fur of his shoulders and flitting overhead. At first he complains heartily about leaving the forest behind them, but when Ion does not answer, he settles in with a sullen silence.

    Ion continues to ignore him, set on his purpose.

    The scent of wisteria and pine cannot hide the overlapping chaos of the many shifters that call this place home. Ion pauses at the edges of the forest that divide the borders of Hyline from the mountainous lake at its center, a soft chuff escaping his throat. For a moment, he paces, undecided. Then, in a moment of decisiveness, he pushes forward into the forest on nearly silent footsteps.

    ion

    in the empty of the grave, only distant dreams remain

    #2

    m a z i k e e n .

    The alarm ringing in her ears is what eventually rouses Mazikeen from her sleep. She’s slower to get to her paws than she would be normally, slower to react to the possibility of an invader. Her head feels foggy still from sleep but instinct guides her forward. As a white smilodon she moves and after a few strides she begins to feel more awake, begins to feel the fog of her mind clear as it focuses on this simple task. Figure out who the stranger is.

    It doesn’t take her very long to find the panther in the woods. For a moment, she thinks it is Atrox - and she pauses, intent on leaving him alone - but the scent is different and this draws her in closer. This is not Firion’s father, not the one she sees with Ryatah.

    Mazikeen should chase him out for his own good, she knows, but it has been a while since she’s met a new shifter and she cannot help but feel a little curiosity eat away at the rest of the fog in her mind. She even finds a glimmer of a smile as it brightens her orange eyes. “Welcome to Hyaline.” She can’t remember the last time she’s said that - or if she ever has. When there had been visitors during the eclipse had she welcomed them or had she just jumped right to escorting them out?

    One of her sabre-teeth is chipped, half as long as the other, and she likes to think it makes her a little more intimidating - though it probably just looks a little ridiculous. Right now, she’s not thinking about the fight where it had chipped, or the one who had broken it. Her entire focus is right here, on this stranger, because that's the only thing she can handle.

    “Can I help you with anything?”

     


    @[Ion]
    #3

    He doesn’t know how much he had grown to resemble his ancestor (doesn’t even know he is a relation, nor even that he is the reason for Ion’s ability to shift) despite having had the dubious honor of meeting Atrox once as a child. Perhaps it’s fate or kismet that had drawn him here. Or perhaps it is simply the boundless whim of the universe. Whatever the case may be, he knows only that he is seeking something more here in this kingdom. A place to belong. A purpose to define is so far purposeless existence.

    So he is glad not to be met with hostility, though a small, previously unacknowledged part of him had feared just that. While Ion is not afraid of a fight, he would not push in where he was not wanted. And a part of him, buried as it had been, had still been convinced that even here he would not be wanted. (It’s a foolish thing, really. He had always been wanted, always had a home he could have returned to, but grief in impressionable youth has a funny way of convincing one of things even if they are not true.)

    As the large, ancient cat intercepts him, Ion stills. Fixing an unblinking yellow gaze on her, the panther considers the stranger for several long moments. Wren, who had settled onto Ion’s neck in the moments before they’d stepped into Hyaline, burrows into his thick fur with an alarmed trill. Though her eyes gleam with friendly intent, it is hard to temper the face of a predator into something less fearsome.

    Ion has never been a brash or ill-tempered creature (though neither could he claim to be an easy or mild-mannered one), so he waits until she utters her welcome to react. There is an almost imperceptible release in the tension of his shoulders, though his flat stare never falters. He hesitates before responding, not because he does not wish to answer her questions, but rather because he isn’t quite sure how. When he finally does reply, it reflects the uncertainty he feels. “Maybe.” He pauses, then continues stiltedly, “I am looking for… purpose.”

    ion

    in the empty of the grave, only distant dreams remain



    @[Mazikeen]
    #4

    m a z i k e e n .




    Mazikeen’s ears twitch at the alarmed trill and her orange eyes divert from his face - trying to see the little creature that appears to be burrowing into his neck. A companion? A bright, interested look passes across her expression but it is chased quickly by darker thoughts as she wonders about Erne and how Gale’s companion spends his time now.

    She can feel her attention slipping somewhere she does not want it to go, so her gaze meets the unblinking yellow stare of the panther again and she tries to forget his little companion and any others she’s met.

    A purpose, he tells her - and his uncertainty oddly makes her feel a little better. It’s been a couple years since she became alpha and Mazikeen still isn’t any better at structure. Few have asked her for it, which she appreciates, but she wishes she had something to offer this stranger. A list of purposes he could find here. Once again she’s aware that she should tell him there’s nothing like that here. Surely it would be easier to do than to list off warnings.

    “Well, our leader is very good at delegating jobs to anyone, if that’s what you were thinking. We're not a diplomat and army sort of kingdom.” She says this with an amused smile before continuing, feeling herself relax a little further with this conversation that has nothing to do with murder or hearts. “But this pack is open to any shifter looking for a place to belong.” That had been enough purpose for her when she had joined and maybe it would be for this panther as well. And then finally some more of her manners are remembered and the smilodon adds “I’m Mazikeen.”

     


    @Ion
    #5

    Ion draws comfort from the small companion nestled into the thick fur at the ruff of his neck. Though he is practically weightless, the flutter of his small body tells him Wren is there, watching. Uncertain. Wren had been his guide in the afterlife - the same one to guide his brother when he had been born still and lifeless. Now he serves as the only remaining link to the other half of his soul. It’s foolish, really, but he thinks he might give his own life to save Wren if needed.

    Fortunately it has never been asked of him.

    His declaration had not been a well-considered one, and as he stares at her, he thinks of a hundred things he might have said instead. If only he had a quicker tongue. But it seems to amuse her, and Ion is curious. She declares that they do not have diplomats or armies. Ion’s lips twitch at this, as though he might offer a smile which never quite manifests. “I am neither a diplomat or a warrior,” Ion replies. And he is not. He hasn’t the glibness of tongue or friendliness one needed to be the first, nor did he have drive for the second. He might fight in a moment of feral forgetfulness, but rarely is it a conscious decision.

    For a moment, he wraps the night around him, finding comfort in its familiarity. He is not accustomed to such polite conversation. A conversation in which neither party have ulterior motives. It seems an odd thing to grow accustomed to, but as he stares at Mazikeen, he knows without doubt it is odd. Finally, he continues, “A place to belong...” He breathes out, the exhale escaping as a soft chuff. “I think is exactly what I have been seeking.” He wants to smile then, but does not. Not when he knows it would appear stiff and unnatural on a mouth that so rarely smiles. “I’m Ion.”

    ion

    in the empty of the grave, only distant dreams remain



    @Mazikeen
    #6

    m a z i k e e n .




    Mazikeen is relieved to hear she’s not going to need to come up with any on-the-spot jobs for this panther should he wish to stay. How many times can she suggest patrolling the borders, especially with the entity that alerts the members of this kingdom to intruders? That had worked with Gale but not with Selaphiel. She hadn’t even bothered to even feign relations with the other lands across Beqanna - not with who she was hosting here. Better to keep Hyaline isolated.

    Which again brings up the question of why she is welcoming yet another into their midst.

    Ion, as he introduces himself. Not one beaming with smiles, but he hasn’t been cruel and that is close enough to friendly that it is not hard for her to find a smile for him. “Then you are very welcome here, Ion.”

    She’s suddenly unsure of what to do now. Leave him to explore? Offer to lead him on a tour? It was pretty basic - there’s the mountains, there’s the lake. He probably figured out enough already on his own just getting in here. It’s a welcome distraction, this little problem, and soon enough she just starts talking again. “We don’t have many rules - just don’t harass the others that live here. Most keep to themselves.” She hesitates, unsure how to phrase the warning she knows she should give him. Whatever promises she’s been made, whatever deals she’s curled herself into, there is still a danger. And Mazikeen will not forgive herself if she could have said something that could prevent harm. “And I recommend limiting your interactions with a perlino stallion, or whatever form he might take.”

    She clears her throat then, skimming the surface of her thoughts trying to find something else. “Can you shift into anything other than a panther?” And then a return of her smile, a little sheepish this time. “It doesn’t matter, I’m just curious.”

     


    @Ion
    #7

    The panther has spent so much of his life with no rhythm or self-appointed tasks that he does not question there would be none appointed to him here. He had never known that type of existence, so he would not miss it now. That he could call this place home is enough. Perhaps one day he would prove himself worthy of it, but for now, he is content to have done at least one thing with his otherwise driftless existence.

    If he were more of a conversationalist, he might have asked her questions. Might have been curious about who else calls this place home. But he doesn’t (entirely unsurprising, coming from a stallion who also rarely smiles).

    He simply nods once, a brief, sharp bob of his head in acknowledgement of her simple rule. He too keeps to himself, so it would be no hardship to leave the others their privacy. Her next warning catches his attention however. Not because he is terribly curious about the perlino stallion she mentions, but because he is forced to wonder why she had felt the need to mention him. Tilting his head with faint curiosity, he peers at her for a long moment before nodding abruptly once again. “So long as he doesn’t seek me out, I have no reason to speak to him.”

    Curiosity aside, he would do as she had asked. Ion does not have enough interest in the dramatics of this kingdom to attempt to ferret out why she had issued such a warning.

    Her next question catches him by surprise, though why it would have, he’s not quite sure. He knows there are many who can take multiple forms. Shaking his head, Ion responds slowly, “Only a panther.” He pauses, not certain if he should continue. “The rest of my abilities are… unrelated.”

    ion

    in the empty of the grave, only distant dreams remain



    @Mazikeen
    #8

    m a z i k e e n .




    Ion’s easy acceptance of Hyaline’s only real rule allows the white smilodon to relax a little bit - and his heeding of her warning helps with that too. Mazikeen is glad that Ion doesn’t ask any further questions about it - about who she is warning him about. More information would certainly be helpful, and perhaps she will give it one day if it truly becomes an issue, but for now she’s happy to not have to talk about the danger she’s allowing to stay in Hyaline. She doesn’t know if Gale will seek out any newcomers or where the boundaries of her protection of the members of the pack lie. If it were up to her, they would be ignored altogether but she had only asked that they not be harmed and that could be interpreted in any number of ways.

    She should clarify the specifics, she knows, but she’s also doing her best to avoid the perlino stallion and all thoughts of him - so that reminder for herself gets stored in the back of her mind with everything else she is very pointedly Not Thinking About.

    Only a panther, he says, and she nods - curiosity coming back when he doesn’t leave it at that and mentions some unrelated abilities. Ion hadn’t seemed too bothered by her other question which is enough encouragement for her to ask another. “What other abilities are those?” She asks, obviously curious - assuming that if he had brought them up it is not entirely impolite of her to seek out a little more information. But she isn't someone who would be offended by being told her mind her own business either.

    Mazikeen tended to forget other things beyond shapeshifting existed, even though she had a few additional abilities of her own and had her life saved from those that others held.

     


    @Ion
    #9

    Under normal circumstances, he might never have mentioned his other abilities. Not so long ago, he had rarely concerned himself with them - had rarely needed to. But in the endless night, they had begun to… change. They had morphed into something else. Into something more.

    If they had not begun leaking from him, expressing itself at the strangest times, he might not have said anything now either. But since she had offered him a place to stay, it seems only fair she know what might happen when he is around.

    He hesitates for a long moment in the wake of her question. Not because he did not wish to answer, but because he wasn’t entirely sure how. “I…” he begins before halting. Trying again. “The night… responds to me.” His words are slow and measured, yellow eyes steady as he looks at her. Perhaps he should have stayed away, stayed in his self-imposed exile in the woods until he had mastered these new abilities. But a part of him had begun to wonder if it would even be possible to master them out in the forest with only himself for company.

    Despite the darkness shrouding him, he doesn’t move to wield it. Doesn’t move to demonstrate his abilities to her. He had never much cared to do such things, had never sought to impress others or show them what he could do with a single thought. He is a simple creature with simple needs (even if the rest of it is not nearly so simple).

    Another breath, and Ion continues, though his words are brief and to the point. “I don’t yet know the extent of it.”

    ion

    in the empty of the grave, only distant dreams remain



    @Mazikeen
    #10

    m a z i k e e n .




    Ion is quiet for long enough that she assumes that he’s not going to answer this question. He doesn’t seem offended, at least, and she’s thinking of ways to remove herself from the conversation, and leave him to explore as he wishes, when he begins.

    His words are careful and vague enough to capture all of her curiosity. Her orange eyes shift to the surrounding area, wondering if there is going to be a hint of these powers, but none of the shadows are moving as far as she can tell. Not one for showing off, then. She’s a little disappointed though she takes care to make sure it doesn’t show. It is only because she’s never seen someone be able to wield shadows before - not outside of the monsters that had haunted the world or the one that had hunted her as a yearling.

    He explains that he doesn’t yet know the extent of the power, and that’s something that she understands - she is constantly discovering new facets of her own abilities and he will find company here in those that are attempting to learn as well.

    “That could’ve been handy in the eclipse.” She remarks, thinking about the unlimited darkness that had been around then but finding she doesn’t enjoy what other thoughts come with thinking of the extended night. Who she had met during it, how her life had changed. How she had ended up here, covered with scars.

    She keeps talking just to distract herself from these thoughts. “I don’t have any experience with that particular ability, but if you ever need someone to practice with, or on, I’m always around. Might be too late for learning how to dodge shadows to be helpful, but you never know." Mazikeen grins then, a warm and bright light shining in her orange eyes that's been too rare to show itself lately.

     


    @Ion




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