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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


    [private]  If I can't be better than them, I'll become much worse
    #1
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    Aela had told him to forget it. However, he could seem to forget nothing.

    Not of the way her skin had peeled back as the indigo creature plucked a piece of her heart. Nor the way she had been in pain, the pale scar against pristine gold slashed into her chest.

    She was not his and yet she was his responsibility. Being the Pampas Prince… and all that. She should take this as high praise really, that he was starting to take action. Do something instead of nothing. The longer he sits and festers, the more scales begin to explode along his fur. So it comes on one day of his increasing need to wander, he finds himself headed to the lake.

    To Hyaline.

    Aela would call him fool-headed and stupid and she would probably be right. This was far worse than facing the likes of a mind addled Sabra. But it’s not enough to stop him. Not when the slithering inside him refused to settle, the restlessness to not be idle, the morbid curiosity to see the magic man himself. He had always though villains were wonderful in their own way. Had at most times modeled himself to be one. Gale was intriguing as much as he was disturbing. It would be interesting either way to meet him.

    The gold and black stallion was well aware of kingdom protocols but that sense of recklessness refused to back down. So he strides past the border as if he belongs here. And seeks out the stallion that Aela had shown him from her memory.

    Just a little chat. This was purely business after all.

    obscene


    @Gale
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
    #2
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    Erne, a blue-eyed osprey, has been watching Obscene for some time. The bird stands out from the native animals, being black instead of some pretty pastel, but tonight his dark coloring aids him. He’d spotted the glittering stallion not long after the Entity had sounded the alarm, having been hunting along the river, and watches him now until Gale can reach him.

    Gale had heard the alarm as well, but he’d been otherwise engaged at the time. He’d remained so for some time, but it takes him no time at all to simply appear in front of Obscene, vanishing from where he’d been a moment before.

    They’d been hunting in the ocean so he is damp, and the white feathers of his peculiar forelimbs are clumped with seawater. The crimson of his V-shaped marking on the left wing is not the only source of blood on him, but there is not enough to be suspicious, and it had only been a seal.

    Could Obscene tell the difference, Gale wonders? Or will he smell Mazikeen (falling asleep just now, much farther up in the mountains) and think the worst?

    Knowing very little of the long-eared creature, Gale chooses to be cautious.

    He’s wearing one of the variations of his usual shape (a tall navy stallion, white-haired, with a pair of gently curling black horns) and makes no effort to appear threatening, or even bothered that this stranger has strolled into his home.

    There must be something worthwhile for him to have come to Hyaline. Has something become of Gale’s sister? In the flood of emotions that had come with Aela’s magic had been those directed at a particular individual. Obscene was the target of several of them, and perhaps that is why Gale - feeling the echoes of some of them now - is not immediately inclined to rip him apart. That, and the fact that he is full and content and in a much better mood than usual.

    “The Mountain is a little farther south.” He says, stopping in front of the taller back stallion with a curious look in his flickering blue eyes, and a soft smile“Unless something else has brought you here?” Their entities? The Taigan boy? Politics? Perhaps Aela has decided to use him as a messenger as well as a bedwarmer?

    There are many possibilities, and he is curious which it might be. His brow raises in a way that is very like his sister’s, and while the movement is genuine it is also for the visitor’s benefit, just in case Aela hasn’t mentioned anything to him about their most recent encounter.

    @Obscene



    current appearance: iridescent navy blue stallion with glowing cremello brindle striping,
    white spinal mane and tail, black glowing horns
    #3
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    All he has to do is blink and then the indigo stallion from Aela’s memory appears. He looks mostly the same as what she had shown him, minus the horns encircling his head. There’s a thread of scent amongst the stench of saltwater and seaweed he brings that leaves a metallic tang on his tongue and the snake within him rouses, recognizing the smell and hungering for it. The dark stallion wrinkles his nostrils in distaste even as the scales begin to form beneath the long thick waves of his gold and raven mane. With no strong emotion to attach itself to, the serpent is still not strong enough to completely take him over on a whim but it waits and watches beneath the surface, awake and cunning.

    Light dances uncertainty between his long pointed ears as the two simply stand and observe each other. Gale doesn’t seem threatening but he’s well aware of how deceiving appearances can be. He remembers the starry mare and her broken legs, remembers the look on Aela’s face when she had showed him what this stallion had done to her. So he proceeds with caution as well despite the smugness on his lips that says otherwise.

    Gale comes closer and speaks as the gold adorned stallion stands unflinchingly still. “I’m exactly where I need to be.” He states calmly, the smirk lingering along his dark mouth despite the rush of adrenaline that pulses through his veins. He was playing with fire but Obscene had always been lucky when it came to getting burned. Hopefully luck would see him through today. Gale’s brow raises in a very familiar way and he merely chuckles. “You look just like her when you do that. But you know that, don’t you?” It’s not quite clear if he’s merely musing to himself aloud or speaking to the thing known as Gale. But he’s aware now that Aela’s brother is something other and not exactly her brother anymore.

    He is quiet for a moment as he considers the navy blue horse that was causing such a stir. “I simply wanted to meet you. It’s not every day that my Seneschal has a piece of her heart eaten.” There is a flicker of the snake behind his dark crimson eyes as his anger starts to flare and smolder in the pit of his belly. “Careful.” The Wisp above him warns and he begrudgingly acknowledges it, forcing his muscles to relax beneath taunt skin. “I thought we should have a chat to make sure it doesn’t happen again to her or anyone else that calls the Pampas home.” He gives a slight shrug, as if the rest of the world could burn for all he cares, an expression of indifference easily falling across his face. Of course that’s not exactly true but the less this thing knows, the better.

    obscene


    @Gale
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
    #4
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    Something glitters between Obscene’s long ears, bright and glowing and unfamiliar. Gale would like to have it, but for now he simply watches it curiously until the dark-eared horse answers.

    The words are pointed, and draw the brindle’s attention back to Obscene’s glittering red eyes. The Curse has valued its survival above all else for too long to suffer from over-confidence, regardless of what abilities its host might possess. It had once been killed by a woman with feathered wings and feelings after all; there are better metrics than tricks and magics when it comes to Power and those to be wary of.

    Is Obscene someone to be wary of, he wonders?

    He lives in the southernmost land, the one with wildflowers. That is all Gale had garnered from Aela’s visions of him other than his appearance. He seems very confident, and certainly looks smug, and Gale quickly discovers he’d been right about other intentions.

    The smile is a response to the rhetorical question that Obscene poses, as well as his pleasure at being recognized as something that is not quite Gale anymore.

    Aela’s title - Seneschal - isn’t one he’s heard before, but from the possessive before it and Aela’s coldly logical mind, Gale quickly surmises that this is the Prince of the Pampas, the one some say is Fairy Touched. He’d long wondered what type of creature would lie with a woman as treacherous as his host’s youngest sister, and it seems only fitting that he is something supernatural.

    So. The answer to the earlier question of if he should be wary is a resounding yes..

    “I would suggest you keep them on tighter leashes.” He replies, but the image of Obscene attempting to restrain Aela in any way amuses him enough to further weaken him, and Gale’s smile begins to thin. He retains the horns and his forelimbs, but it is a near thing, the rest of his shifting slipping away.

    He’s killed with hooves before, he reminds himself, and its not as if Obscene would attack first. Not unless Gale goaded him. It would be unwise, he thinks, but the words remain at the edge of his lips as he waits for a reply.



    @Obscene
    #5
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    There is no shakiness in his demeanor, nothing that would give away the heightened anticipation that bundles his nerves into a gelatinous puddle that drops into his stomach. He had too much experience wearing a mask of utter disinterest and it serves him well here, in the dragon’s den with the devil itself. The serpent dilates behind the darkening vermillion of his eyes in the silence that follows Gale’s response despite the unamused grin that finds the Fae’s lips. The same thought comes to mind as it does the stallion before him, of trying to tether Aela. As if anyone could stop her from seeking the chaos she so craved.

    He should find Gale’s words amusing but there is no missing the meaning behind them, the subtle threat that lingers there. The strange stallion seems to change slightly but its the tightening of the other’s mouth that catches his main focus. He can feel the tensions shifting, rising, between them. An inevitable tempest brewing on the winds. “We both know that won’t do.” He says quietly, that smug smirk never wavering despite his growing trepidation. “Surely someone like you can come up with a more imaginative deal than that.”

    What did this being know about the Fae? Would Gale know about their penchant for bargains and slippery contracts? Obscene is curious to just how cunning this thing is, would it see the fairy trick (or trap depending on how one viewed it) that could be struck between them? The gold dusted stallion isn’t above trying for the sake of protecting his own interests. Mostly for those few he cared about… including the ones that he obsessed over unwillingly.

    The snake hisses somewhere deep in his chest as it senses the danger in the air and sends a few scattered scales to click into place around his hocks. Wary, watching, waiting to see how Gale would take his unflinching resolve to not leave here without some sort of resolution. He is curious if mentioning Aela further might get him anywhere but he holds off for now, not wanting to draw Gale’s attention back to her if he could help it. And as for Cheri… He hopes to keep her off the menu entirely.

    obscene


    @Gale
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
    #6
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    Left with only the basest of magics, Gale is unable to draw much from the mind of the black stallion. Perhaps it is some ability of the Fae as well, he thinks with a deepening frown. The situation is more volatile than he had expected, and the shadows within his chest whisper soft reminders of self-preservation.

    They are quieted by the image of a black mare with eyes greener than his had ever been, and crystalline skin not unlike that of the mare who’d tried to intervene in Bolder’s relocation.

    Another niece?
    He hadn’t known about this one.

    Perhaps she would like to spend time with a younger cousin?

    “A deal?” He repeats, but his mind is clearly elsewhere. Would the Prince’s eyes go redder if they witnessed Aela and Cheri flayed open? Someday, perhaps, Gale will learn, and a smile begins to return at the thought.

    “Queen Wishbone of Tephra stole my children.” He says mildly, as though he comments on the weather. “My son has returned but she still has my daughter. If you can bring Sickle back, I’ll consider that proof you’re trustworthy enough to deal with.”

    With any luck at all, Wishbone will destroy Obscene the moment he tries, mistaking him for Gale in disguise. He is eager for the other horse to be gone, to be alone in his home so he might maim something that will not fight back as much as he is sure the Prince would.



    @Obscene
    #7
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    If he had known that the Curse had plucked Cheri from his head he might have turned feral right there and then. If he had known that his coming here had drawn the magicians’s eye to her then he would have never come at all, even to avenge the wrongs done to Aela. But he is ignorant to the image that Gale is able to fish from the nets of his mind and as he sees the smile on the others face in consideration of his “deal” he relaxes. Just slightly.

    There is one thing that the Curse and the Dark Fae Prince share in common and that is a natural affinity towards mischief. Of course what the Curse found to be mischievous held much darker intentions then most of the pot stirring he usually liked to insert himself into but he sees that thread, that connection, and holds on to it like a lifeline. The brightness begins to dim as his red eyes turn even darker at the mention of Tephra. It’s not stealing the child that bothers him, after all the Fae loved a changeling child which required taking one that wasn’t yours to begin with. It’s the thought of returning to the ash-lands, to his birth place, that makes his eyes flash with distaste.

    He had hoped to never go back to that damned land ever again.

    However the offer is an interesting one and he makes a show of considering it as his gaze wanders to the peaceful lake and then back to the blood-flecked stallion before him. “If I steal this child, then you’ll leave the South untouched.” He states, making it clear that this is the only compromise he would settle for. He wonders if the Curse will notice how he didn’t specifically say anything about bringing Sickle to Hyaline and hopefully won’t acknowledge that little loophole he’s left for himself. He has a feeling Aela will have her own thoughts on this deal and if he does end up taking this child then perhaps it will be the golden striped mare he sends in his place to deliver her… If he ends up delivering her at all.

    There is nothing in him that trusts this stallion, this creature, but he will play along as long as he can if it means giving those few he cares about a fighting chance of survival.

    obscene


    @Gale
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
    #8
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    Gale’s attention is riveted by his long-eared companion, but it is not the knowledge of fairies that makes him scrutinize the words of the bargain. No, his host had memories of a genie, one with a tendency for playing loose with meanings.

    So he does not miss the way that Obscene had altered the bargain. Instead, he pauses and looks out at the lake, considering much as the other had.

    The Curse has minimal interest in Sickle, his host’s daughter being of little use as far as Power. She’s too old to raise the way they have Malik, and Gale is not certain he can recreate the magic that had made his eldest child young again.

    It is leaving the South untouched that matters. All of the South? Sylva hasn’t ever been of much interest to the Curse, but there is much to be said for the warmth of Loess. Especially when his current home is cold three-quarters of the year.

    And anyway, Gale had no intention of leaving Hyaline until the snow has melted, and this will give him some good news to share with Mazikeen. If Obscene disappoints, Gale imagines that his dark-haired wife will enjoy shredding the glittering fae. He’s never had fairie before, the cursed creature realizes.

    What would his magic taste like? Gale will have to find out later, when he is well-rested. For now he need only buy himself time.

    “You steal the child,” Gale repeats agreeably, “and the Pampas will be spared.” His host had visited the flowered hills often as a youth, when they were ruled by a very young chestnut mare named Noah. It would be a pity for all of that to burn. There is much more to Beqanna than it’s southernmost realm, after all.

    There are other places to hunt.



    @Obscene
    #9
    I can see through you, see your true colors
    Cause inside you're ugly, you're ugly like me
    He watches Gale look out across the lake as if thinking hard and long about what he had said. There is a slight quirk to the corner of his lips, twisting downward as his red eyes blaze with a flicker of displeasure. He smooths it before the other can look back at him and takes a moment to think himself. He assumes the child must mean something to Gale if he is requesting her. Not enough to go and get her himself but enough to get involved. Unless that was a trick as well, pretending not to care. The dark Fae had plenty of experience in that himself.

    He does not give away a single thing as Gale finally looks back at him and counters with an offer of his own. He had figured that this thing would be smart and not as easily tricked as he would like. However he makes note of the exact phrasing and gives a rather wry smile as the pupils of his darkening eyes narrow into very narrow slits. A slithering sensation rising in his chest. It seems this would be a game of riddles after all.

    Who would be cleverer?
    He wonders.

    This is a dangerous game but it is a game and he finds himself suddenly keen to play it.

    “Deal.” He says with that smug confident smirk, the slitted red eyes glittering with anticipation.

    “This has been… pleasant. Until next time… Gale.”

    obscene


    @Gale
    [Image: Obscene-Pixel.png]
    #10
    Gale
    this is going to break me clean in two --
    this is going to bring me close to you



    The satisfaction in the other’s snake-like eyes is irksome, and Gale scowls in response. It has not been a pleasure, says the wrinkled line of his navy brow, but he doesn’t speak aloud. Instead, there is a sharp and sudden scent of blood in the air, and Gale vanishes into a cloud of smoke that’s carried away on the wind.

    He will pay for that magic later, probably in the form of a day-long migraine. He’s found that he can tear himself apart for Power, and in some rare situations the pain is worth it. This had been one such time, to remind the cocky Southern prince of exactly what he is dealing with.

    It will be good to have the Waterfall here in Hyaline, Gale thinks. The waters can heal anything, and the still lake could use a good stirring up.



    @Obscene


    Just a lil closer!




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