HELOVIA || The Way to the Sun
[O] Stand Together [ALL] - Printable Version

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Stand Together [ALL] - Destrier - 12-31-2013



HEROES MAY DIE


Quilyan had been dutiful in relaying precious information to me. It hadn't been about Basin movements nor rumors of what the other herds were up to, but rather, a potentially even darker force than the Basin or anyone else could ever hope to be. Though the painted steed's words could have easily been dismissed as those of a fool's, I had been here long enough to know that Gods and magic were both very much real. There were evil things that lived among us, such as the darkness that had fallen over Helovia seasons ago or the monsters that had come in its wake. I would be a fool myself not to pass along what I had learned, for if what Quilyan had seen was a premonition of what was soon to come to our land, the others needed to know immediately.

"Friends, family, World's Edge; please, hear my voice and come at once!" Baritone voice rang out, deep and masculine, a twinge of worry laced into it. With talons gripped around a clutch of my mane, Suli let out her own melodic dragonsong in assistance. Though I knew it wasn't my place to call forth a meeting as our Weyrleader had often done, there was no time to waste; for all we knew, this unknown force could be upon us this very night. I had to act, to inform, and bring everyone together to enact a plan of action.

It was only when several had gathered, each earning a look of gratitude for coming at all to their Wingleader's call, that I spoke again, cutting straight to the chase. Now was no time to beat around the bush and put ourselves at risk; seconds were precious right now, with our situation suddenly so uncertain. I hid it well, however, and upheld the calm and collected demeanor that was a proud trait of mine as I went on.

"I have been informed of some strange happenings in the marsh," I started, uncertain if Quilyan cared for his name to be put on the spot and casting my painted brother a brief glance, letting him know that it was alright to cut in at any time, before I carried on. "As of right now, I ask that our protectors accompany me on strict routes both inside and out of the wall. I would advise that none shall travel alone, at least until the exact threat has been pinpointed. Those who have been with us for some time know of the darkness that befell Helovia just seasons ago; and those that have been here longer than I, I am sure they know of even more things to have happened here in the past. Please, heed their warnings as well as my own."

I paused, sweeping my gaze across the faces of those gathered. Would they think me too demanding, too strict? It was possible that what Quilyan had seen was little more than a trick of the eyes, but until it had been investigated it further, I would play it safe. I'd already lost my dearest Tor, as hated as she'd been here, and hadn't even seen or heard of my children for months now. I had suffered, was still suffering the loss of my beloved Bran, and I couldn't bear having another life ripped away from me if I could help it.

"If any of you have any questions or suggestions, then please, this would be the time to ask."

talk talk talk

BUT LEGENDS ENDURE

Image Credits



RE: Stand Together [ALL] - Kahlua - 01-01-2014

As she ran, Kahlua called once more upon the gift that the moon goddess had given her to use, at least for a short time. Her body was enveloped with mists, her hooves seeming to float over the ground instead of strike it. She was thankful. There was no way she could have kept up the pace at which she now moved if she had been running with her own power. She galloped, each step taking her farther from the blackness that had begun to spread over the Frostbreath Steppe but not bringing her any farther from her fear. She never should have left the Edge, never should have gone exploring in the mysterious icy North, and yet she had, and nothing but evil had befallen her. And so she ran back to safety, back to a home behind a glass wall that would love her forever.

As she found the entrance way through the glass barrier she had created, the girl never slowed. As a misty apparition she was brilliantly agile, floating around the trees with the grace of a dancer. She needed to find somebody. Who? Kaj? Would he even speak to her now? He had seemed intent on ignoring her the best he could. Mirage? Kahlua was sure she was once again busy, doing something far more important than the painted mare could understand. Resplendence? Quilyan? She searched her brain, trying to decide on a name to call out. Fortunately, she did not have to pick one. A voice rang out above the rest, calling to the Edge, warning them of evil in the Marsh. Kahlua headed towards the sound, never slowing until she caught sight of the black Wing Lead.

Her body stopped in eery silence, the girl forgetting for the moment that she was draped in a misty covering, making herself look more like spectre than reality. But her voice could not be mistaken. It was the same soprano she always had, though there was a darkness to it that betrayed her fear. “The Steppe, the steppe,” she panted out, though she had no reason to. Her body was not tired, she did not fatigue when she was one with the foggy air. No, she panted for fear, for straight terror, at the blackness she had saw. And so she took several deep breathes, stepping closer to Destrier because she needed the comfort and she didn't see any others around that she could like to cuddle close to. “There is evil blackness in the Steppe,” she repeated again, insistent. She didn't understand what she had seen, but she understood it was imperative to deliver the information. And deliver it she had, but delivery could not erase the tremors of her heart. She was wrecked. She knew she would not sleep this night.

Kahlua



RE: Stand Together [ALL] - Resplendence - 01-01-2014

Resplendence
come and watch over me like the pale moonlight




Her feet stumbled. One. Two. She almost fell to the ground. How many hours? Her chest was heaving, lungs feeling suffocating. The darkness was shrouding her vision even though the world was bright. She felt alone. Like the world was crashing down on top of her and no one cared enough to come and find her. The fear, the panic, it had to be radiating from her lock to his key. It had to be making his chest burn from how broken she suddenly was. It was nearly as bad as when she had watched Rowan die. She was so afraid, so completely terrified, that she couldn't even bring up the energy to tremble.

Three. Four. Glazed eyes finally landed upon the wall of glass that was Kahlua's creation. "Kahlua..." she breathed, choking on her own voice. Five. Six. Her knees crumbled not even two feet from the opening into the Edge, into the mists, into safety. Seven. Tears are falling, trailing down her cheeks. Eight. She forced her way back onto her hooves, pulling her weak muscles into the Edge. And, upon reaching the comforting tendrils of the mists her voice shattered out again. "Qui-Quily-Quilyan..." She whispered, her voice only daring to show the beginnings of how broken her mind was becoming.

Nine. Ten. Her eyes lock upon a wooden shape. A branch, but a sharp one. It was so similar to the one she had needed to use against the winged member of the Foothills. It had given her a small glimmer of safety. Eleven. Twelve. Her jaw snapped around it before placing it in her tail, entwining it between some of her thick layers.

Thirteen. A voice. A deep baritone call for them to join. Fourteen. Her hooves barrel forward, body tangling and tripping multiple times from the weakness of her limbs. She see's Kahlua in as much of a panic as herself, panting. But was it even her? She seemed... like a spectral being. Fifteen. Sixteen. Destrier is speaking, explaining Quil's message about the marsh, asking that no one travels away from the Edge alone.

Seventeen. Eighteen. Kahlua is speaking, and it is definitely her voice. She is panting, begging for air to fill her suffocating lungs. Evil. Blackness. Steppe. It's getting closer...

Nineteen. Twenty. Her voice is broken. Her tears are still falling, and she's afraid and dead to the world that the mare doesn't even flinch as a few leaves drop and brush against her flesh. "The Veins... Veins of the Gods... It isn't some trickery by the Gods. It isn't a game. There's something far more sinister... something like the Endless Night." Her voice broke, body racking in sobs, but not trembling as she's still too far in shock to say anything else. "What if... what if the Darkness isn't stopped by the Gods' powers. What if... what if it tries to take over the Edge... If the Veins weren't safe... what's to say our lands are... what if no where is safe..." Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Deep breaths. Just a few more deep breaths. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. "What if... it kills everyone..."

Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Her knees lock, and she falls. Nothing stable is right beside her, and her broken mind can only see the flashbacks of all the horror she had witnessed, as well as the fears forced upon her in the Sanctuary. Her hair pools around her, as if it were coating her in a blanket, combining with the mists and trying to comfort her. The lock taking in all of her fear, having to cause the key to burn against Quil's chest.

Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. She was broken. Tortured. If one didn't look closely enough, they might even assume the mare was dead. But, she was simply unable to move, unable to focus. She could only relive the images, and allow silent tears to fall down her face.

Twenty-nine. Thirty. Could no one fix her?

Credits



RE: Stand Together [ALL] - Destrier - 01-04-2014



HEROES MAY DIE


The first sign of approach came in the form of rapid hoofbeats.

However, they weren't ones of a simple canter, of somebody in a hurry to meet my call; they were far too quickened for that, almost fearful, and when I saw the form of a misty Kahlua break through the trees, my head jerked with the slightest start. Upon my neck, Suli bristled her spines and pulled her wings away from her sides to appear larger towards the possible threat. But as the ghostly mare spoke, I recognized her voice and recalled to memory the herd's gifted ability to become one with the mist's for a time. I calmed, and Suli did as well, albeit with a disgruntled little growl as she pulled her wings back to her slender sides.

She began to speak before I was able, at first panting out the name of the Steppe, and instantly fear blossomed within my chest. For the briefest of moments, my mind wandered to the unicorns that had tried and failed to take our home seasons ago. I wondered if they had regrouped and were coming for us again, and my warrior mind was prepared to gather the brave souls who called themselves Protectors. But she continued to speak, her words putting an end to my fears and directing them to something else entirely.

It seemed Quilyan wasn't alone in what he had seen. Only this time, it was closer.

Kahlua stepped closer at her revelation, seeming to seek comfort. I reciprocated by stepping closer, pressing my muzzle firmly but gently into the thick of her neck, breath warm and voice much gentler than it had been at my call just minutes before. "You are not hurt, though, right?" I questioned, concern clear in both my eyes and voice. Despite our lack of time spent together, be it talking, working, or otherwise, I still cared for her and the rest of the Edge as if they were my own flesh and blood.

Another was coming, in just as much of a hurry as Kahlua had been but when the mare was within view, she seemed to be in even more of a panic than the painted Glazier. I knew the rabicano mare from adventures past, most recently the trip to the marsh where she had reluctantly helped me to uncover the lost remains of dragons. She was absolutely terrified, in a state of panic, and if she had just come from the Veins, it was a wonder her legs hadn't given out yet. She spoke of darkness in the Veins, of her worry that the Gods would be unable to keep us safe any longer, and of her worries that we all would die.

I moved from Kahlua to Resplendence, hoping that the Glazier would follow. "Breathe, Resplendence," I spoke evenly, my worry growing thicker with this new information and the states that my herdmates were coming to me in. "If this is indeed anything like the endless night, we will prevail just as we did before." Perhaps it wasn't wise of me to speak so surely of myself, but even if it meant lying, I needed to calm the pair, and keep their minds straight and together. If we couldn't think clearly, to strategize and form some kind of defense, then whatever this dark force was would win without a doubt.

Before I could get another word in, or even offer some form of physical comfort to the nurse, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground in a heap of hair. Bister eyes widened as she collapsed and I quickly moved closer, dropping my head and nosing at her cheek. I didn't know what was happening to her, if this was only a panic attack or something more, but my heart boomed against my chest in a fit of pure worry. "Suli," I spoke aloud, warranting the dragoness' immediate attention. "Go and fetch help; a doctor, or Quilyan, if you can find him. But be careful." The little green obeyed at once, spreading her wings and leaping from her perch on my neck, taking to the skies and disappearing into the thick forestry of the Edge.

[ooc - Sorry if this all seems kind of... jumbled .___.]

talk talk talk

BUT LEGENDS ENDURE

Image Credits



RE: Stand Together [ALL] - Kahlua - 01-05-2014

A confused look snapped the girl back to reality, away from her misty flight. The water dissipated away from her, dissolving into the air, disappearing from her body. She was solid again, for Resplendence and for Quilyan. She was no specter. Just a mare once more. And as she finished forcing the words from her mouth, as the stallion stepped towards her, she accepted his touch opening. She needed his touch. Something to let her know this was reality, that she was not dreaming, that the blackness she had seen was very real and the ominous terror that flowed through her bones was not just a figment of her imagination. She seemed to believe her. She was glad. Perhaps she wasn't going crazy.

She didn't have time to answer his question before Res spoke, though, causing the painted mare to shift and sway uncomfortably. Her predictions of godless days again set the painted mare to fretting and so as Destrier moved to be the fallen angel, Kahlua followed dutifully, her eyes staring past the stallion to a point far beyond him. She was lost in the nightmares of her mind, though Res's voice still penetrated her ears.

But at least Destrier was there, consoling, offering peace, and Kahlua clung to this words with fervent hope. She needed them to be real. They had to be real. We will prevail. She repeated it in her head, chanting it to herself, breathing in time with the rhythm of the words. They would become her song, her call to the gods, to the land to the darkness. And though she was not brave, and she was certain that she would turn tail and run again if she ever saw the blackness, she would have those words to cling to, to swallow, to hold before her like a cross to the devil. We. Will. Prevail.

She was breathing more easily then, just in time for her best friend to fall to the heap on the ground. Kahlua dropped with her, nose reaching to touch the fallen angel's shoulder, a comforting motion. It was all she had. She was not the doctor, Resplendence was. Res was the healer, the fixer, the strong one who held the two of them up when Kahlua brought them all to trouble. But Kahlua tried now to be the strong one, to smile, though it was forced, so that the pink lady would not disappear into a terrible corner of her mind that she could not be called forth from.

“I'm not hurt,” she offered to Destrier though she was looking at Res still. Then, just a whisper, but words full of hope. For Res. For herself. “We will prevail.”

Kahlua