the Rift


[OPEN] life and death

Kahlua the Sunshower Posts: 662
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 15.3hh :: 9 [Orangemoon] HP: 65 | Buff: NOVICE
Khan :: Common Blue Dragon :: Frost Breath Sevin
#1
Kahlua
May flowers always line your path
and sunshine light your day

Fear

It was the only thing the queen knew, as her body began telling her it was time. Her stomach had been growing ever-wider for the past few weeks, stretching and stretching until the queen was sure that its elastic was pulled to its limits. Even then, her body had grown and grown until her joints had ached and even moving had been a chore. But now, now as the contractions began and pain flooded through her, she hardly felt a thing. She knew only dread at the idea of a child coming into this earth by her own doing. She had never wanted this, she had never asked for this, and yet she was going to have it.

All around her, nature sang her a song. The chirp of the birds and the gentle blow of the wind sang a song of melancholy, although there were sinister undertones- the rattle of a snake’s tail created ominous tension and the rhythmic bark of a fox was sharp and biting, inviting stress. The queen’s heart raced to the tempo of the song, a song just slightly too fast to make her comfortable.

In the long shadows caused by a sun dropping just beyond the horizon, the Sunshower began to pace.

Her eyes began to play tricks on her as her fear continued to overtake her. She had always known that the shackles and prisons she thought of when she thought of love and children were imaginary, and yet… As she circled, she couldn’t help but skitter to the side as a long vine near her hooves dared to imitate an ankle clasp. At points her circles became erratic, widening or changing direction as some branches in the distance began to look just a little too much like bars on a cell. She could not… would not be captured. But what to do? She had no choice.

For a moment she considered calling for Kaj, daring to bring him nearer, but the thought was as fleeting as a lightning bolt- there and then gone again in a flash. She hardly even remembered what she had thought as a new pang of pain caused her to turn and bite at her flank. She did not remember, but Khan did. Away he flew, to find… anybody. As he did so, hardly noticing his absence, the queen’s head began to bob and her steps began to hurry, as though walking faster might save her from the fate she was resigned to. Her eyes began to water with tears, but not from the pain. She was dying, dying, drifting away already. Her life, ruined. She just knew it.

When the pain became too much for her to walk any longer, the queen settled herself on the ground, nature guiding her actions more than anything else. Too many breaths came too fast, her chest heaving and her body damp from her efforts, and almost without realizing it the queen used her rank magic. Calmness flooded over her, thoughts of death and chains and shackles disappearing into the night as the sun and her child both completed their final descents.

In the new darkness of the night, Kahlua found herself with foal behind her.

She was not a natural mother, and there was no instant feeling of love or oneness with the small thing. Nevertheless, she knew that she could not leave the thing to die. It was the child of a god, and for loving the gods she had paid her ultimate price. When she was ready, she rose, calmly going through the motions of a new mother. Cleaning her child was done with a monotonous emptiness, her hollow eyes looked into the distance, not even noticing the way that the child began to turn to grass, melding with the ground below her, becoming one with the earth as Kahlua became one with death.

@[Isopia] :: For anyone else joining, feel free to PP Khan bringing them to Kahlua. He would probably use his frost breath in their general direction to catch their attention.

Credits: Image by Schwartze @ DA


Permission granted to use magic or physical force with Kahlua at any time
for any reason to any degree, with the exception of killing her.

Please do not tag Kahlua unless it is in an opening post

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#2

ISOPIA
And we came forth to contemplate the stars
She was born. There was already a time in the womb, while her body was catching up to a mind that already seemed vast, that the youngling believed she would have nothing in common with the host who was currently growing her, but perhaps that was mistaken. A youthful mistake, perhaps the first of many.

Kahlua had not asked for this, but had been unable to deny the request of a God. Similarly the child had not asked to be conceived, had not agreed to be the burden of this painted queen, and yet here she was: thrust unceremoniously into the world. What obligations did they owe one another? If neither has asked for these roles how could either somehow be obliged into the service of the other?

Paint markings marred her hide, bloodying her shoulder in a splotch of colour, as if her mother's own genetics were so fearful that the child might ignore her mortal lineage in favour of her divine one as to mark her as her own. It was maternal and it was useless, but it didn't matter. The way her body looked - the way the hairs fused into different shades of tan and maroon - didn't matter. What mattered was inside, hidden in what was already a crystalline and impregnable palace of knowledge and understanding.

With eyes that glistened with the very hum of the chorus her mother's body produced, the filly regarded the female half of her creator. Why are you cleaning me? She wanted to ask, the question lingering in an already judgmental stare, but the filly's lips remained sealed. If Kahlua felt no obligation, no adoration or connection, why did she bother? This world and her place inside of it, made no sense.

"Have you named me yet? I understand that is a role typically left to the female. But-." Already her voice held a confident lilt, implying wisdom impossible of one so young. It was unsettling, the way the descent into the uncanny valley could be unsettling, as if the filly was some facade and not real at all, just a mimicry made to look real. "-I would prefer to name myself. " It was a statement of fact, rather than a request for permission. Something in her tone edged on the certainty that should Kahlua deny her request, whatever name the Queen gave to her daughter would be wholly ignored.

The filly looked away from her mother's painted side, out to the world, confusion and intrigue apparent on her oddly painted face. Death it seemed, had marked the youngling, for the mask of the dead coloured her cheeks. With golden eyes, scrupulous and intense, the child studied her immediate surroundings. She did not balk as her legs seemed to sprout grass like that in which they were currently sprawled, nor when a spider curiously began to walk up her leg. "You are dying." She whispered to the arachnid softly, her voice almost sounding soothing as she condemned the creature to death. "But aren't we all?" She added rhetorically, before returning her gaze to Kahlua.

Her mother. As if that meant anything at all.

Rumblings of hunger suddenly clouded her mind, and the filly's intensely distant gaze moved instinctively to Kahlua's belly, her mind searching for where she might satisfy her cravings.


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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Kahlua the Sunshower Posts: 662
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 15.3hh :: 9 [Orangemoon] HP: 65 | Buff: NOVICE
Khan :: Common Blue Dragon :: Frost Breath Sevin
#3
Kahlua
May flowers always line your path
and sunshine light your day

“Uh… no?” came the confused reply of the painted woman, who was too dumbstruck about the child’s intricately designed sentences to really comprehend much of what was going on. She had been cleaning, and then the foal had been speaking, and the Sunshower’s tongue had stopped mid-lick. There it had paused, lingered, quivered even, until she had been able to withdraw it and spit out those two, stupid syllables. Perhaps she would have been better to keep her mouth shut entirely.

The confusion was birthed from many different aspects of this strange moment. First and foremost, perhaps, was that the child could speak- and speak eloquently. The queen was not entirely certain, having never given birth nor been near a newborn for longer than a moment or two, that all newborns did not speak like this the moment they entered the world. Still, there was the lingering thought in the back of her mind that she had heard too many children, young growing foals, who minced their words and stumbled over their tongues for this to be normal. And, though she didn’t particularly remember her own introduction into the world, she didn’t remember speaking so soon.

Second, was that honestly, for all the weeks and months she had spent pregnant, the queen had never once considered that she would need to name the child. Of course she knew that parents named their children, perhaps picking a name before or after birth, but she had never actually stopped to consider that she would now have to be the one to pick a name. Of course, Kaj had promised to be a father to the thing, but at this point Kahlua was not so certain that she wanted to accept that help. Still on edge from their fight, the queen didn’t know what to make of him.

Lastly, was that she had finally noticed the way that the grasses of the Edge had started to envelope the limbs of the child, crawling up her hooves of their own accord and planting themselves along the gangly limbs of the child just born. The judging stare of her daughter half-forgotten, the queen inspected the steady crawl of nature up the child’s body. Magic, surely- a gift to the child from her father, it seemed. He had been so kind as to gift the Sunshower with music, it made sense that he would gift his daughter with… well… whatever this was.

“What name did you have in mind?” she asked, voice airy and mind still only half-present as it wandered back to thoughts of chains and death. Were the shackles she had imagined, really a figment? If the ground could swallow up the foal, could it not swallow up the Sunshower as well? Nervously, she fidgeted and looked about her, but seeing no vines making their way towards her, she tried her best to refocus her attentions. It was difficult, at best.

In a moment of clarity, a second where she was not so terrified of death and the child before her, the queen recalled the tradition that had been passed through the maternal line of her family regarding naming. The circumstances here were not ideal, and Kahlua’s past had not been the kindest to her, but it was a tradition worth saving. For all the evil that her mother had instilled in her life, Kahlua’s grandmother had been a just enough woman. Good was not a word to describe Kalea, but fair and determined were positive enough adjectives. Kahlua had looked up to her, in her own way. Perhaps she could honor the burned woman’s memory, in some small sense.

Or, at least… she could try. Having felt the resolution with which the child had requested to name herself, unnerved by the words that the foal whispered to the spider, and perhaps already feeling somewhat inferior to the demi-god that she had brought into the world, the queen’s own voice was almost a whisper as she replied. “Could it start with a K?”

Credits: Image by Schwartze @ DA


Permission granted to use magic or physical force with Kahlua at any time
for any reason to any degree, with the exception of killing her.

Please do not tag Kahlua unless it is in an opening post

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#4

ISOPIA
And we came forth to contemplate the stars
Later perhaps Kahlua would learn certain things about the genetics of children born with the blood of Gods coursing through their veins. The child was to age much faster than others her age, which perhaps accounted for the lack of youthful ignorance and amusement. The girl had already grown out of being a child once her eyes had developed inside the womb.

Then again perhaps she wouldn't. The mother's of the female demi-children after all, had a habit of being absent.

But, having never been born before and not having any benchmark other than that which she was currently setting by which to judge her behavior, the girl merely continued as she was. Whatever shroud of weird and not quite right that seemed to linger on her blood splattered shoulder and her eyes hidden behind her white skull mask was completely unintentional.

The child blinked slowly in response to Kahlua's question, her request that the name she pick start with a K. Her ear ears fluttered slightly as her head titled inquisitively to the side, genuinely considering the proposal. She judged her mother to at least be mildly competent, and thus hoped that her request was substantiated by some sort of reasoning, yet she had no idea what that reasoning could be. The filly found herself searching for propositions to search as arguments but found that her already well-oiled mind was drastically empty.

Behind eyes rimmed by a bloody maroon, the girl exhaled. She had forgotten about eating, finding this exercise to be much more satisfying.

"Why?" She asked thoughtfully, although her tone continued to indicate that it was only out of mild curiosity, as if Kahlua would have to say something quite clever in order to change her mind. "What is your name?"

Mother certainly wouldn't do. The word 'Mother" merely validated the fact that 'Kahlua' was the female reproductive organ that facilitated her birth. She might as well call her milk-tits (or could anyways, once she discovered that was where her nourishment would come from). Speaking of reproductive organs - "And the male specimen?" She asked after a time. "What is he called?"

Perhaps this would shed light on why it was the painted queen wanted her name to begin with K. Perhaps she would learn that it was to facilitate future alliteration, or so that it would be easier to remember.

Was that the world she had been born into? One where grammatical intrigue or poor memory dictated what things ought to be called?



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Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Kahlua the Sunshower Posts: 662
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 15.3hh :: 9 [Orangemoon] HP: 65 | Buff: NOVICE
Khan :: Common Blue Dragon :: Frost Breath Sevin
#5
Kahlua
May flowers always line your path
and sunshine light your day

A tilt of the queen’s head once again placed her confusion on display for all of the world to see, although at this point the whole world seemed to be made only of the newborn and herself. The moment was intimate, frightening, and yet somehow very… soothing. Kahlua’s body was tired, her mind was tired, but the more that she tried to see chains in the grass around her, the more she began to realize that they weren’t there. She could not conjure them because nothing about this child embodied her fears. This newborn was not needy, it did not seem that it would rely on her the way she had imagined. Could it be that her phobia of children had been wrong all along?

Furrowing her brow, the queen was almost ready to delve into the history of the naming tradition when she was stopped short for not the first time in the last few minutes. The male specimen? Her furrow grew deeper. Instantly, her mind went to Kaj, the man who would play the role of father when the Father Earth could not be around. But he was surely not what the newborn meant. And really, it wasn’t confusion about whether she should tell Isopia that she was the daughter of a god or not, but rather the choice of wording. Where did she even learn such things?

“I’m Kahlua,” she started with, not sure where else was appropriate to begin, shifting a few more times but ultimately settling into something of a comfortable position as she continued to watch the grass advance up the limbs of her child. Would it suffocate her, if she stood still too long and let it grow over her nostrils? How would the child sleep, if she could not breathe? A philosophical question for another day, perhaps. It was surely not one the queen was particularly well suited to answer.

“The first born daughters in my family have all had names starting with K.” And though it was Isopia’s family too, it was easy for the queen to distance herself from that realization, in a way. This was almost like having a conversation with a small adult, if not for the gangly limbs and the fact that Isopia had literally just fallen from the Sunshower’s uterus. “I was Krystal Nacht’s firstborn daughter, and she the first daughter of Kalea. And before Kalea there was Kalianna.” Pursing her lips for a moment, she added on, “That’s as far back as I know.” She had never met Kalianna, only heard of her. History before her was long forgotten.

Then there was that other pesky question to answer… “The male specimen is the Earth God.” Using the newborn’s choice of words- the male specimen- also made it easier for the queen to pretend that this wasn’t happening to her. The Earth God wasn’t this child’s father at all, just… just the specimen. Just the donor. “But Kaj leads the Edge with me. He said he would help…” trailing off, the queen specifically avoided saying ‘raise her’. More distancing. Whatever helped her cope. Absently, her eyes turned to the woods, wondering if the king would come, still uncertain if she wanted him there or not.

Credits: Image by Schwartze @ DA


Permission granted to use magic or physical force with Kahlua at any time
for any reason to any degree, with the exception of killing her.

Please do not tag Kahlua unless it is in an opening post

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#6

ISOPIA
And we came forth to contemplate the stars
Kahlua.

The girl didn't really like how it sounded, as she articulated it in her mind. Maybe it had some meaning, some reference to something grand or whimsical that made it worthwhile. Although it was rather neat how the sounds, when spoken, started in the back of ones throat and rolled forward. That was something.

The first born daughters in my family have all had names starting with K. Ah. So she was this mare's, this Kahlua's first child. That was another thing they had in common the girl mused, Kahlua had never birthed a child before, and the small demi-god had never been birthed before. Still, the girl was disappointed to find out that Kahlua's request was merely one of custom. She seemed to be saying,

i. It has always been this way.
ii. Things that have always been a certain way should continue to be that way.
Therefore, things should continue to be that way.

To her mind, premise two seemed unjustified. Why, simply because things were a certain way, did that entail they should continue to be that way? Repetition was not indicative of any good making features. But perhaps one might object that the sun has always risen. And because it has always risen it ought to always continue to rise. Pondering this silently, the girl immediately snorted to herself shaking her head. That couldn't be right. What justified the sun continuing to rise was not superstition or repetition, but physics. There was an actual reason why it had always risen which is what perpetuated it continuing to rise.

A reason. Did Kahlua possess such a reason for this naming ritual? Her mind retrieved her original idea, that it was merely for ease of remembering. The girl pictured an entire drove of painted queen's, like Kahlua, all whose names began with K. She saw them lined up, next to the J's and L's.

"Why?" The girl asked finally, her golden eyes falling upon her monochromatic parent.

The Earth God. Looking down, the girl moved a rather knobby knee which caused the grasses that had begun to sprout to abruptly fall off. The Earth God. Interesting. She assumed that it was his blood that caused these odd transformations in her body. Indeed, she she aged she would find his influence becoming more and more obvious. This thought drifted out of her mind - she was filled with no sense of pride or divinity due to knowledge of her Godly lineage. Pride was such an odd sentiment after all, for how could she take pride in something to which she had no direct influence? She had not asked for this any more than Kahlua had.

"He offered to help with what?" She asked curiously, rocking forward onto her knees and subsequently causing all of the growth that had spurted on her oddly painted coat to fall off. She suddenly appeared to be sitting in a faux birds nest, as random clumps of grass hugged her tiny flanks.



Table style by Tamme! Image Credits

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Alysanne the Devoted Posts: 641
World's Edge Queen atk: 7 | def: 10 | dam: 3.5
Mare :: Pegasus :: 16 hh :: 11 years HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Hemlock :: Flammulated Owl :: Heal & Cypress :: Great Horned Owl :: None Sarah
#7
A
L
Y
S
A
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In one of many moments of weakness as her pregnancy neared it’s end, Alysanne had taken to lying down and wishing the foal right out of her. It was getting harder to keep pretending that she loved Miykael the way she said she did, harder to sleep next to him every night and return the caresses he bestowed upon her with such ease. As much as she loved him, the weight of her deception grew with their foal and she felt that if the little foal were born everything would be alright. Perhaps it was just the hormones making her more upset, perhaps once the babe was here and they had something physical to bind them as a family everything would be alright.

So that was where she lay that evening, trying to induce labour by sheer force of will, but though the time was near it was not today. The little filly, or colt or whatever it was, was stubbornly staying put inside her, unwilling to move an inch earlier than planned. Her body was at war with her mind, a new sensation for Alysanne.

After straining for several minutes, followed by several further minutes of guilt that this stress might be affecting the baby, the painted pegasus allowed her body to relax and instead of wishing for labour she wished instead for the release of sleep. There, she might be able to find some relief. She could dream of happier days, where her son did not hate her and her second-born had been created for a happier reason than to make herself fall in love with a friend.

But no dreams would come, not yet.

Hemlock, who had made his stance on this entire situation quite clear, was keeping watch near by and was the first to notice the approaching Khan. He bristled angrily, his hatred for all things dragon running deep, and hooted a warning to Alysanne. Emerald eyes sought out the disturbance and immediately made several guesses as to what would bring her dear friend’s companion over this way. Could it be that Kahlua’s time had come? She had hoped to be there for it, to soothe her friend through the birth and help however she could, and now she feared she was going to be too late! Getting back up took… time but that was no excuse for not being a good friend and she managed to roll herself onto her feet and stand up.

After gathering up her own companion, she set off after the dragon until he led her to a most beautiful sight. Of course, there was rather a lot of guilt at having missed the entire thing (she worried so about Kahlua!) but mother and daughter appeared to be in excellent health at the moment. “Kahlua!” She called out in greeting, oblivious to any conversation going on between the pair - certainly not expecting there to be any conversation at all - and trotted forward awkwardly to join them. “Why, she’s beautiful!” And indeed she was! Though the filly looked hardly anything like her dear friend, all warm colours and soft wings… and horns! Every second she spent looking at the newborn, Alysanne felt as though she was discovering something new. The way the girl blended into the environment as though she were one with the earth.


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I hope it's not too late for me to throw her in here! <3
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Brisa Posts: 386
Outcast atk: 3.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 7
Mare :: Equine :: 15.4 :: 7 HP: 67 | Buff: NOVICE
Hikari :: Common Kitsune :: Fire nickel
#8

Her search for collectibles had turned up practically nothing that she found of interest. There were odd leaves here and there of various shapes and sizes, the couple pretty stones she managed to dig up from the riverbed and some shells she had found during her time spent at the beach but other than that she had zilch. Tucking away her crafting trinkets in their little hiding spot which was no more than a hollowed out knot in one of the many trees she sighed. It was difficult to come up with ideas to practice her newly found talent and it was even harder to find things to use in their creation.

A flash of emerald caught her eye as the small creature zipped anxiously through the trees above. It took a moment for her to place the creature but when she did her heart skipped loudly in her chest. Kahlua?!? Immediate concern for her friend spread through her like wildfire as she took off after the little dragon hoping he could lead her back to wherever his bonded resided. Familiar scents assaulted her nostrils doing weird things to her mind as she neared enough to recognize what the urgent matter at hand was. It must be Kahlua's time to let her child enter this world at long last. Slowing her pace only when her eyes came upon three figures her eyes scouted over to Kahlua who lay next to a beautiful little filly. Kahlua? Are you alright?" She asked gently coming up alongside Aly to admire the newest member of the Edge. Part of her felt felt jealous that it was not her in Kahlua's shoes but the other part of her was estatic and excited for her dear friend. Squashing any building jealously she lowered her head watching the filly with adoration. "Oh, she is beautiful!"

It was these tender moments that she missed with her own pregnancy and regretted. The toll birthing took on your body was immense for just one child but she had experienced it for two. At that point she had felt like a deflated tube of toothpaste with every last ounce of energy squeezed out. Aeolus had experienced his first moments with a sire who to her dismay did not create them. The recollection brought tears to her eyes but as she gazed over to Kahlua and her daughter they quickly turned to tears of joy. Pulling her eyes away from the filly she turned to Aly to stop eyeing up the newborn as the devilish side of her tried to talk her into running off with her. Of course this was never something she would do but there was always two sides to everyone and it didn't matter how deep down you buried them for they always started digging back up.


Brisa talks

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Kahlua the Sunshower Posts: 662
Outcast atk: 5.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Equine :: 15.3hh :: 9 [Orangemoon] HP: 65 | Buff: NOVICE
Khan :: Common Blue Dragon :: Frost Breath Sevin
#9
Kahlua
May flowers always line your path
and sunshine light your day

In the distance, not for lack of trying earlier, Khan finally managed to locate Alysanne and Brisa. Alysanne had been priority one for the little icedrake, considering her knowledge of herbs, although what he could sense through his bond (which was growing tenuous, due to distance), indicated to him that the Sunshower was not in immediate danger. The birth, though perhaps taxing, probably had gone well enough.

The aftermath of the birth, however, was taking an interesting turn.

Why? Well, because, she wanted to say back. It was tradition, and it was important to her, and she didn’t have family left, and it would make her happy to be able to remember them that way. She had so few happy memories of them, everything she knew was darkness or fire, or never being good enough, and all she wanted was one little bit of sunshine to brighten that black cloud of her past. But regardless of what she wanted to say, she did not get the chance just at that moment. Two familiar, welcome, faces arrived and the tired queen became distracted from the movements of her child.

“Aly,” she cooed back, reaching out her muzzle to greet the pegasus as she drew nearer. Not far behind, the nurse-turned-glazier Brisa also joined them. “Brisa,” she called happily enough, extending her nose in that direction as well, bobbing her head to indicate that she was fine and in good spirits. At that point, a normal horse might have thus declared, this is my daughter. Kahlua found herself tongue-tied for a moment. Though the child had proven to be adult-like in many ways, less needy than the queen had imagined, she still wasn’t sure she liked the idea of being a mother- of calling the filly her daughter.

As for Brisa’s dark side… in many ways, the queen would not have minded the relief from her duties.

Perhaps looking rather crazy as she talked to her child as though she were grown, the queen decided to ignore the dilemma of how to introduce Isopia to her friends by doing the introductions the other way around. “These are my friends. Alysanne is the Moon Doctor, and Brisa is our Glazier- she crafts for us.” But that was not enough, for there was another matter to address as well. “And there isn’t a reason, it’s a tradition, and it would make me happy.” Absently turning her head back to her friends, she added with a smile, “Do your families have any traditions?” She did wonder, and she had never actually asked before. It would be interesting to know.

“Help raise you,” she added finally, turning back to the demi-goddess, sighing softly and looking off into the woods as she did so. “But we haven’t talked much recently. We’re not on the best of terms… we got into a fight.” Her eyes became slightly damp as she thought of that day, her head turning to look at her friends for comfort. She had not told them as she had been trying to keep up a good show for the rest of the herd, but it was only fair that they knew what divided leadership they were under right now. Blinking away the moisture, she whispered to the ground as Khan finally settled upon her back. “I’m sorry.” She hoped they would not think her a failure.

Credits: Image by Schwartze @ DA


Permission granted to use magic or physical force with Kahlua at any time
for any reason to any degree, with the exception of killing her.

Please do not tag Kahlua unless it is in an opening post

Isopia the Mountain That Knows Posts: 780
Dragon's Throat Apostle atk: 6.5 | def: 10 | dam: 8.0
Mare :: Tribrid :: 18hh :: 3 - is now aging slowly HP: 90 | Buff: NUMB
Hubris :: Royal Bronze Dragon :: Shock Breath & Frost Breath & Babel :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath Odd
#10

ISOPIA
And we came forth to contemplate the stars
The girl's golden eyes fell to those who had arrived. Was birthing supposed to be something done with the other females of a herd? Obviously the girl didn't know, but the thought surprised her. Had Kahlua, unbeknownst to her, been looking out for her herd-sisters this whole time? Hoping they would come and interrupt the duo's time alone together? The demi-child's wide golden gaze followed the sound of her mother's voice as she introduced Aly and Brisa. A healer and a creator. Interesting. Were those learned skills? Or innate? The girl wanted to ask, but then Kahlua began to speak, responding to earlier inquires the girl had posed.

...and it would make me happy.

The girls eyes narrowed as Kahlua directed a question to her friends, leaving the girl with a moment to ponder this latter statement. The way Kahlua articulated it, it sounded as though it was meant to serve as a reason. But ... why? What normative force did Kahlua's happiness have over what the child did or didn't call herself? Was Kahlua's happiness supposed to be meaningful? Chewing her lip, the demi-child seemed to sink even faster into the ground; grasses and even a single flower began to sprout from her spine.

Kahlua's happiness did not dictate the colour of her fur, the shape of her wings, or at what time the sun would rise. It didn't not alter the pattern of the clouds or the temperature of the winds. So why would it have any bearing at all upon what the child named herself? Happiness, like any other emotion, was fickle and fleeting, was it not? The child continued to mentally fidget, unsure how to decode or decipher Kahlua's odd request.

Before she could say anything further, the painted queen was again responding to an earlier question. Kaj was going to help raise her? Why? Her head moved in bird-like jerks, confused once more. Was Kahlua not strong enough to raise the girl on her own? How hard could it be? They seemed to be doing just fine so far?




Table style by Tamme! Image Credits

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here

Alysanne the Devoted Posts: 641
World's Edge Queen atk: 7 | def: 10 | dam: 3.5
Mare :: Pegasus :: 16 hh :: 11 years HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Hemlock :: Flammulated Owl :: Heal & Cypress :: Great Horned Owl :: None Sarah
#11
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Kahlua and her daughter appeared to be having a discussion about names - a conversation that Aly never had actually been a part of with her own children. They were named, inspired by one thing or another, and they had never argued over the fact. The girl, who seemed to be melding with the surroundings with every passing moment, did not vocalize an argument at the moment - maybe she was thinking it over. For now, though, Kahlua asked whether her friends had any traditions with their families. “Not for names, really. Well, both my parents and I have ‘A’ names and the same thing happened with my son - his father’s name started with an ‘A’ and so does his… But my sister broke that trend being Iona.” Not very helpful, are you Aly? “But we have other traditions. Every full moon we would take a flight together and there’s a story my father told us once a year at midsummer.” The memories washed over her, warm and comforting and leaving behind a pit in her stomach as she thought about her parents and sister. But she shook it off, this wasn’t the time. She focused on that warmth, letting it shine through her smile as she laughed at the memories. “No matter how hard we begged him to tell it more often!” She and Iona often would, asking over and over to hear the delightful story that they used to celebrate the peak of the growing season.

These were all the traditions that came to her mind but, undoubtedly, later on she would think of more. Now, she was curious to see what sort of traditions Brisa’s family had - they really didn’t talk much about where they had been before they had all ended up here.

The news that Kaj and Kahlua got into a fight was a shock, the two had always seemed to get along so well! But the apology got a shake of Aly’s dark head. “You don’t have to apologize, sweetie.” Alysanne smiled softly to Kahlua, believing she knew just how much her friend was hurting over the fact that she and Kaj were not getting along. They had hidden it very well at the meeting, if the fight had been going on as long as that. “We’ll figure out a way to smooth things over, you’ll see. And don’t you worry about help raising your new daughter.” She smiled down at the now-quiet girl before looking to Brisa, confirming a thought, and then finally back to Kahlua - her grin all warmth and kindness. “As always, you’re never alone.” There was nothing three musketeers could not accomplish together.


@[Brisa]
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