the Rift


white and black [valka, acceptance]

Snö Posts: 155
Deceased atk: 4 | def: 8 | dam: 6.5
Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: 4 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
ali
#1






Snö
and when you see me, you will freeze



It had taken, roughly, a week to travel to the North from the forest deep and dark. Moving across frozen wasteland, where the air freezes and stabs at the lungs, even under the chilled white light of the sun, where oxygen scrapes and squeals across the tender flesh of your throat, and your exhale is twisting, pale clouds that go twirling and spiralling upwards. Snö had slowly became to know Valka, over the long, tiring trek, and found she enjoyed the refreshing presence of the black, long-legged gazelle that was so foreign to the idea of many unicorns surviving together. Some time earlier, Tarak had joined them, and so came the familiar click-click of bronzed claws tapping on rock and snow.

They reached the Basin in early afternoon, following the meandering stone trail, of rugged broken rock and crunched gravel and slate. Slowly it had warmed as they entered the sheltered valley in the mountains, where the snow melted and the only sounds were the dripping plip-plop of icicles sullenly crying in the deepest shadows of the cave pocking the deep gray mountains. Green grass grew lush and deep under the hoof, thickening into a sweet carpet.

"Here we are, Valka," Snö annouced, halting at the rim of the path leading to the valley. Even if an outsider was with her, it was always best to wait until one of the higher members in the herd arrived, for safety's sake, even if the black gazelle, as Snö had come to think of her, was a unicorn. Snö was in pristine condition as always, even despite the long traveling. Her wolf came to a halt beside her pale, creamy body. "We just have to wait for a leader to come. She should be here soon- she's my mother, Lady Psyche the Dark Empress. Soon she'll come, I'm sure." Because Psyche would never miss out on meeting a new member. Except, of course, if someone else came to handle it.






Valka Posts: 32
Aurora Basin Mare
Mare :: Unicorn :: 17.1 :: 3
tay
#2
For days they wandered, Valka like a shadow at Snö’s side. The trees around them thinned and the darkness receded. Far in the distance, mountains loomed high and then, at last, reared only behind them. Valka watched forest thin to grassland, and then rocky soil devour the taste of green. A crisp breeze snapped in her long mane, and it tasted of thin air and frost – a far cry from the humid forest mulch. As the path ahead narrowed into a rocky, winding trail, Valka hesitated. Her long neck arched; the wolf’s shape stood reflected in the pale gray of her right eye. Silently it moved ahead of her, like a foal at Snö’s flank. Valka could only watch in wonder and give the sharp-toothed creature a wide berth. If Snö governed such a beast as well… Valka’s ears pricked forward and her toes clapped lightly on the bare earth. Who could say what awaited her in the unicorn herd here, at the top of the world?

They paused overlooking a wide valley. Valka’s forelock tangled around her single jagged horn, but her mismatched eyes both trained on the sweeping expanse of land below. One ear canted toward Snö when the pale mare spoke, and silently Valka nodded. ”Psyche,” she murmured, and the wind stole the word from her. The DarkEmpress, she thought, and wondered what kind of mare that might be – Snö’s mother, no doubt more graceful and magnificent even than the pale mare. For a brief moment Valka thought of her own mother – defiant, bristling – and the mare’s ears twisted back into the tangles of her mane. I am far past it, she told herself. I am a creature of the north.

”I can barely wait,” said Valka more loudly. Her limbs tingled with cool air and with excitement. More than anything, she wanted to run full speed down the path winding in front of them – take the future in her teeth and claim it. She stood quietly though, just a few feet behind and to the left of Snö, her ears twitching in curiosity. Beneath Valka’s dark coat, muscle lay taut and ready to respond to any stimulus – though she expected no danger. She was merely ready, anticipating the mighty empress who would grant entry to this herd - would, Snö had assured her. I am home.

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Ascended Helovian

Mauja the Frozen Light Posts: 1,392
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17.2 :: 14 HP: 79.5 | Buff: HUNTER
Irma :: Snowy Owl :: Terrorize & Diego :: Eurasian Eagle-Owl :: Rage Neo
#3
I tried replying to this yesterday but it just became horrible, we'll see if it goes better today... <3 alsowhydoespostingtokaemakemesuperselfconsciousofmywriting

striking mights and maybes even more
a useless thing called life
it's a biting cold again

Someone else would come — for better or for worse, it was the father, and not the mother, who was made aware of their presence. Warm air rose from the slopes of the Basin, spiraling up into the sky and, lazily almost, Irma rested upon them, white wings locked in a glide. To a stranger, she was just another arctic bird; to those familiar with Mauja, they knew her to be his eyes and ears, the quiet, watchful police ready to tip him off to any anomaly, trespasser, or whatever else she thought might interest him — and be fun to watch. Sometimes, Irma just didn't care unless it involved someone else's misery.

As it was, though, she recognized Mauja's daughter, Snö, but not the black stranger with her. Too tall and slim to be Psyche, and someone she did not recognize, though that didn't really matter. A lot of horses had lived here before her time, returning as family under the guise of a stranger. Turning in the air, for a moment baring her paling chest to the sun, she gave him a nudge, before disappearing in the other direction. No one else had been appearing on the tundra outside, nor in the pass itself, so she could just as well go hunting. She would be hungry soon, anyway.

Within the valley, Mauja raised his head from the slowly fading grasses. Autumn was around the corner, though their earth would remain warm for longer with the hot springs lurking beneath them. It was, perhaps, the one thing that made the Basin hospitable, as the mountains and steppes around them lay covered in snow year-round, unable to sustain a large herd. He gave his head a shake, somehow still surprised to not feel the stir of a raven feather against his neck, and then scowled. That time in his life was over, and something else had begun, though he wasn't quite sure what. In all honesty, he still felt morose, confused, lost and a bit depressed. Severing his ties with Gods and finding answers didn't quite cure it.

Flicking his tail he set off, following the beaten paths towards the mouth of the valley. Still, he had to admit that the Time God had given them a defensible home, even if he hadn't felt truly at peace since the entire truth had been revealed to him. In the Edge he had walked among the trees, at peace knowing that the Moon watched over them; here, now, he kept looking over his shoulder wondering how long he'd be allowed to remain in this dimension before a certain someone saw fit to send him off again. Bloody asshole.

Soon enough he saw them, one pale, one dark; Snö looked as healthy as always, her patches of chestnut like old, faded blood scattered upon dirty snow. Briefly, Mauja wrinkled his muzzle and wondered why he felt pessimistic enough to liken his daughter's color to something dead and dying. His blue eyes swept to the stranger. She seemed tall, maybe as tall as he, slim and slender covered in darkness, except for her belly and the top of her tail, which were white. In silence he approached them, his hooves shedding frost where they struck the ground, but the trail melted quickly in the bright afternoon sunlight.

He raised his head, but not in a gesture of power, a demand for submission, but rather to better look upon them both. In silence he extended his head, dark muzzle trying to brush against Snö's in greeting before his questioning eyes landed upon Valka's refined face and off-center horn. Silent, but not cold, he waited for either of them to open their mouths and speak.
CREDITS
angels, they fell first, but I'm still here

Snö Posts: 155
Deceased atk: 4 | def: 8 | dam: 6.5
Mare :: Unicorn :: 16.2 hh :: 4 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
ali
#4






Snö
and when you see me, you will freeze



Valka murmured something beside her, graceful words on charcoal lips that melted together in the drifting breeze that toyed with manes and tails, tracing the elegant bones of faces and hips, ribs and legs. The white mare did not hear whatever she whispered, and did not try to hear, mind drifting as she waited, knowing that someone would come sooner rather than later. It was strange, how suddenly the glacial mare lost herself upon arrival on the beautiful borders. Snö's lids closed, sliding shut over frosted azure eyes, lashes stark against the paleness of her face, letting the fingers of her mind extend to brush over all the memories she kept.

Firstly, she let herself comb over memories of Psyche and Mauja. Where was her mother? Snö cared little for the dark empress, if at all, and all her woe-be-gone ways. It was so hard to dredge up respect for the leader, when Psyche had made no efforts to make up for leaving her- just for everyone else. Yet mostly, she was jealous. Envious that all the others of this herd had only experienced her there, not gone without trace. Resentful... of raising herself.

Snö shook herself, mentally so, furious at the thought she might be drawn to the idea of having parents. She would be so much weaker, relying on a mother and father... Mauja, at least... what did she think of Mauja? Truthfully, she did not know. The varnish cared for her father, and still she struggled to come to terms, even now, that he had needed another foal, instead of just her. Or maybe she over-reacted, in her bitter jealous ways, to another have affection from her parent. Mauja should be staying with her, Snö thought so arrogantly, as if she could control that. But somewhere within her vindictive, often petty chestnut body, deep within her frozen heart, she knew she had no control over her father's actions and choices, as much as she may wish to.

Pulled from the surface of her thoughts with an ungraceful yank, Snö lifts her own silver head, Valka's excitement going through one ear and out the other. Why? She spies her father, Mauja, the white and gray sentinel who comes closer. There is not a single quiver to move from him as he brushes his muzzle against her, no, her stiffened body relaxes and eases, and she proffers him a half-smile, remembering the father figure she adored and admired without thought just a year ago, before she became a yearling. "Dad, this is Valka. Valka, this is Mauja, the Frostheart." Snö hadn't meant to say 'dad'. Not at all. Yet the words had been shaped and came from her mouth, and the white mare had to wonder why exactly, when she had felt no need to name him as her father at the meeting or when she had saw Daltoff. "I found Valka in the forest, alone. She shares our views as well. She's a good mare- she could be a good asset to the herd, if you want her." Snö stressed the word 'our' a touch more than necessary, confident he would realize the subtle nudge that Valka was racist. Mauja was not stupid.






Valka Posts: 32
Aurora Basin Mare
Mare :: Unicorn :: 17.1 :: 3
tay
#5
White wings soared across the distant sky: a sudden flash of pale, like sunlight on the ice. Valka’s ears pricked forward for an instant. The owl banked away, its silent flight taking it far from the pair of unicorns at the edge of the Basin, and Valka breathed out. Nothing else stirred in the arctic air – nothing aside from the soft noise of Snö’s breath – and the wolf’s. Again, Valka cocked a grey eye at the ghostly shape of the beast. Something in her wanted to scream run! but she begged her heart still. It is a friend, she thought, glancing at Snö. A friend… Valka dreamed enough of wild things to think they kept few friends.

For some time, Valka existed as a stain: black on the snow, strange in this place of close-kept secrets and a high-up winter sky. She watched sunlight shift through the blue, watched the dark wings of some other bird float silently across her vision. Valka chased the bird’s journey with her eyes. Where was it going? What did it see from the sky? Psyche? She wondered suddenly, and her head jerked when the noise of hooves reached her. Slow hooves, she thought, ears twisting fervently. Valka searched the path ahead for a moment before focusing on the shape now approaching: white, like the land behind him. White, like snow, and black – like rot. As he approached something like disdain rippled across the ice king’s face – as if he saw something unpleasant. Valka’s ears twitched in agitation; was he not looking at his daughter now? The expression was gone in an instant – perhaps her imagination worked too hard. Valka nodded to herself. I am over-anxious, she thought. Her hooves were suddenly heavy when she stepped forward, so eager to greet the stallion that she forgot all about Psyche, and mothers, and everything but the way sunlight caught on his horn and in his eyes and the way he stood – all pride and quiet grace, and tall enough to look her in the eye.

Valka stepped back just as quickly as she had stepped forward – hooves scuffing on each other, kicking at the raw earth. The stallion paused only briefly to brush his muzzle against Snö’s – so familiar! So they must be family, or friends perhaps? Valka darted a glance at Snö and then the answer came: Mauja, the Frostheart. “Dad,” Snö called him. Valka wondered if her own father was so majestic; if he walked the forests of her old home with his head so high, his eyes so fathomless and wise. He must! She flicked her tail, her haunches shimmying as pent up energy roared in her veins. ”I am honored,” Valka spat eagerly, and the word tumbled and tangled in her mouth. Embarrassed, she glanced away and then at Mauja again – did he think her unfit? He was older than his daughter, and he looked so much less kind. Frostheart, thought Valka. She imagined his heart sitting black and cold within the smooth curve of his ribs – black like those spots on his coat, frostbitten to nothing more than a hard lump. Her imagination was running away again; Valka shook her head.

”I would be proud to walk among you,” babbled Valka after Snö’s recommendation. Her heart soared with the pale mare’s kind words. ”Here, at the top of the world…” She turned to look out over the Valley again, worries buzzing in her head. Should she do something to impress him? Did he think her clumsy? Silly? Arrogant? She could not drop her head now, with adrenaline like fire in her limbs. She wanted to run! She wanted to climb to the razor backs of the mountains and scream that she was home, home, celebrating early. Valka nodded. ”All my life I have searched for a true home. I will not disappoint you, if you allow me to stay. I will be brave and strong as you are.” As you are? she clenched her jaw after that, tail just twitching in nervous agitation. Unless that is presumptuous, she wanted to say – perhaps she was too forward? Too fawning? Valka had no desire to be like a sycophant, slavering over the every word from these unicorns’ mouths – but how beautiful their words were! How magnificent their voices! Their mannerisms! They were kings and queens and knew it; she – she would become like them. She was like them! She stood upright and forced her gaze onto Mauja, but was unable to keep from glancing at Snö – her friend here, if ever Valka had one. Please approve. Her body all but trembled. Tell me I am home. She could all but imagine that word spilling form their lips - welcome home! only in a grave, graceful voice as she imagined the Frostheart to have.

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Ascended Helovian

Mauja the Frozen Light Posts: 1,392
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17.2 :: 14 HP: 79.5 | Buff: HUNTER
Irma :: Snowy Owl :: Terrorize & Diego :: Eurasian Eagle-Owl :: Rage Neo
#6
striking mights and maybes even more
a useless thing called life
it's a biting cold again

Such restlessness, like a caged beast, all pent-up energy and agitation. In a way it was infectious, and after his muzzle had brushed against Snö's, frosty horns almost locking together, his gaze snapped rather abruptly to Valka. Somehow, he got so caught up in the way she almost danced on the spot, the shuffle of her dark hooves across the ground and the twitching of her tail — Snö's words almost flew past his attention, but in the last moment his ears turned and his consciousness grasped them. Dad, and somehow he found himself stealing a glance at her, for a moment wondering if she'd hit her head on something. She had always been respectful, but he'd found himself thinking that her greeting at the herd meeting had been frosty, mocking almost, and she'd used the more formal term father. To suddenly hear her call him dad, as if they were close, bound by mutual affection and not only blood.. it surprised him, his heart forgetting to beat for a moment until he looked at Valka again, her dark lips spitting out words.

Honored. Guarded blue eyes half-closed and his white head inclined, dipping down ever so slightly in acknowledgment; what could he say to that? Tell her she was a fool? The polite thing to do would be to return it, reflect it upon herself, but the moment was stolen from him as Snö forged on, saying she would be a good addition, stressing the word our in that way racists had come to almost regard as secret language, codes and signs. Blinking, the frost in his gaze seemed to sharpen as he looked upon her; she was so eager to be accepted, and he wondered where she'd come from — someplace loveless, or someplace dreamy? Her words seemed almost whimsical, and for a moment he turned to follow her gaze. The top of the world... Perhaps, but it weighed at his heart. It was not where he belonged, despite the way both he and his owl melted seamlessly into the horizon. Still, he could not deny it was a place of beauty, and a smile curved his lips as he turned back to regard the eager female. She did not exactly need to convince him to let her stay — any soul to bolster their numbers was a reward, any one body who called the Basin home a soldier if the war came to them. Somehow, he did not doubt it would. They would always find a reason to cast he and his kin out, but this time, he was determined not to lose.

Maybe even fuck the rest over before they had a chance.

Valka's tongue formed unexpected words, and one 'brow arched coolly above a blue eye. Brave and strong as he was? Or as Snö was? Or why did she even think he was brave and strong? "What tales has Snö been spinning..?" he asked in a bemused voice, the small smile morphing into a lopsided grin — yet despite the words his voice was warm, fond even, but he sobered quickly. With mirth lacing the cold in his eyes he turned his attention back to Valka. "Of course we'll let you stay, Valka." And in his customary fashion, his snowy neck extended, dark muzzle seeking to brush against hers in official approval.
CREDITS


omg why can't I make decent posts to this thread o_x
angels, they fell first, but I'm still here


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