I'm coming back again
I want to live tonight
Despite his brief stint in Tephra, it had never occurred to him to visit the islands just beyond the sea. It would have been a simple trip with help from the polar bear (even more so at low tide) but it had just never been a thought on his mind. Between the drama that had unfolded with Ellyse and Dahmer to the last stint in Carnage’s lair, the islands had quickly become forgotten. Now, however, with so much free time on his hands and an eerily quiet Sylva, he starts thinking of all those places he had never seen, all those places formed after the Reckoning.
Wandering seems to ease the spiral of anxious thoughts and increasing ache in his slashed chest (the twilight Queen’s absence like an invisible wound to the heart she had created) and one day he suddenly finds himself crossing into the outskirts of Tephra from the autumn-land. The itch to shift is strong and he doesn’t think twice as he merges into the skin of the white bear where he stands on the black sands of Tephra. It doesn’t occur to him that this is the first time in years he’s stood in the volcanic kingdom without having a panic attack, so focused on the white-frothing waves that beckon and invite him in with glistening open arms.
There was a small stretch of coastline in Sylva which is where he had immediately settled, the cool air and even colder ocean the only appeasing part of the golden territory he truly enjoyed. These waters feel different and are unusually warm despite the hints of oncoming winter, a mix of the lava flow and heat from the volcano looming behind him as they merge with the tropical currents of the sea. The polar bear dips low beneath the surface, enjoying the feeling of liquid streaming between his clawed paws as he easily glides towards the closest island. The one-eyed ursine swipes playfully at ghost eels hiding in the reef as he nears the golden sands and studies jeweled crabs that remind him of the newly crowned Loessian heir. He smiles to himself despite the twinge of sadness that he couldn’t bring the children along. He’s sure the twins would have been fascinated by the tropical island.
It’s not long before he is standing on a sandbar and shaking the salty spray from his luxurious white coat. His blind side is turned to her so he doesn’t realize he’s being watched by the white mare and takes his time in adjusting to the small oasis he has found himself in. After a deep stretch, he shifts back into his usual form, finally turning his head for his good eye to land on her.
The glow from his brands are dim here beneath the bright sun but still produce a faint bluish hue where they catch in her shimmering light (are those sea creatures spinning between her sparkles?) and he wonders if he will ever be unsurprised by the beings that haunt Beqanna. “Am I intruding? This is Ischia right?” He asks her in his rough whiskey tone, warmth in his smile that rises to the gold flecks of his good eye. The empty socket remains hidden beneath the thick snowy forelock that falls haphazardly across his forehead as he takes in her utter paleness from skin to eyes. It is the iridescent scars along her figure that truly draw his attention and his gaze lingers along them thoughtfully. Every scar has a story, of this he knows too well, and wonders what hers might be. “I’m Ledger of Sylva… and Loess.” He offers to her while glancing to the palm trees in the distance, a light sheen already building on his reddish gold coat as the stallion use to cold starts to sweat beneath the blazing sun and humidity. A polar bear in the tropics, who would have thought?
Ledger
@
Beyza He needed a vacation!