"Where brilliance is good and madness is better..."
Helovia Info
Helovia opened in February 2012! We are an active fantasy equine RPG
Where once the world narrowed into naught but gray dust and desolation, the gods called for life. Wielding the elements of fire and light, dark and wind, earth and water, spark and time, they have created Helovia. The realm is set within the mythical globe of Loorien, a planet rich with all variety of creatures and blessed with all manner of magic. Originally populated by nomadic, tribal characters, they've since grown into massive empires saturated with culture and history. Separated into four distinct segments of Helovia, called "The Regions," each band of horse strong enough and capable enough, took up the power and responsibility of leadership. Unicorns, old, wise and mysterious, took to the north, hidden in forests of mists and shadows and rarely making themselves known beyond their cliffs of the World's Edge. Equines, vast, organized and militaristic, split into two, one group went north to the Windtossed Foothills and the other group went south to the Dragon's Throat. Pegasus remained nomadic, making their homes in various parts of The Wilds in a migratory manner. For many generations, the land was peaceful and calm, but peace was never the way of the gods. With a clash of argument, war and bloodshed massacred Helovia, and in the aftermath, the realm was eerily quiet. Now, as newcomers sweep into this land, they are met with the lingering bitterness of the gods and the struggle to reclaim what was lost. Nothing remains safe or certain while sorcerers and soldiers alike brood and bide their time for revenge, honor and glory.
Site Wide Plots
Kaos :: The Beginning of the End ☼ - 6/2017 - Kaos placed Helovia in a time-bubble for a short period of time, but the Helovian gods are fighting back. But Kaos is powerful- far more powerful than anyone thought. This may be the beginning of the end of Helovia as we know it.
Kisamoa :: A New Kind of Kaos ☼ - 3/2017 - Kisamoa asks Helovians to help him restore the Spectral Marsh. Which side will you choose?
Invasions :: All Out War ☼ - 5/2/16 - New layout and the brand new invasion rules are up! Thank you for your patience and we look forward to getting started with this new adventure.
The Rift :: Gods Do Die ☼ - 8/2015 - Helovia Gods are saving the Rift from corrupt gods! Can Helovians band together against these foreign deities?
The Literal Ship ☼ - 2/8/15 - Oh no! You have to pair up for Valentine's day!
Sky Island :: Murder ☼ - 10/25/14 - Vesta has been found dead on the island, and the gods have called to you to solve the murder!
Sky Island :: Peace ☼ - 7/7/14 - An island has appeared in the sky! Clouds carry Helovians from the Veins to the sky.
Restoration :: We Welcome the Dawn ☼ - 9/21/13 - The sun has finally risen on this day, giving the land new light, but the Time God and the Sun God have yet to be seen.
Endless Night :: Broken Magic Plot ☼ - 8/30/13 - The earth god has returned and is walking across Helovia to heal the land. Every area can now be considered lush and prosperous, but the sun has still not risen.
☼ - 7/19/13 - The moon has risen in the sky, heralding the return of the Goddess of the moon. Lamp trees which light the paths have grown brighter, moon flowers which grow in dark places have begun to grow and prosper and the world is brighter, filled with a new hope.
Endless Night :: Dead Magic Plot ☼ - 6/22/13 - The gods of Helovia, in order to protect the world, have disappeared into the rift, leaving the world sunless, moonless and magic-less in their absence. Only the herdlands have a source of light, but lamp-trees with glowing leaves and branches sporadically line the popular roads and paths from place to place.
Doppleganger Plot ☼ - 6/20/13 - The God of Time is still struggling to close the rift though which the dopplegangers have come. He has requested that his brothers and sister assist in closing this hole, but without knowing why it opened, the task is proving difficult. Magic still remains faulty and hard to control, but the herdlands continue to be places of refuge for those who are fortunate enough to call these lands home.
ORANGEMOON cools off the lands with a a viscious force. Colder than normal, a sign of things to come during Frostfall, Helovia is bathed in a rich tropical lushness - albiet a cold one. The coastlines of the Dragon's Throat are pelted constantly by tidal waves, and the desert climate is humid but chilly. Ice begins to form early in the Aurora Basin leaving the winding trails slick and dangerous. The mists of the World's Edge coat everything in a glistening crystalline shine which encourages mould to grow everywhere. The Spectral Marsh is the only area which remains fertile, blissfully temperature and lush.
Cotm
Character of the Month for
June, 2017
WEAVER, Corporal of the Aurora Basin, is a relatively recent addition to Helovia and has taken it by storm. Branded with the seal of Death on her chest, intrigue and interest follow both her past and present. Though she is assuredly beautiful, her sometimes sharp personality reveals that there is more to this uni-peg hybrid than meets the eye. Proving herself able on the battlefield in the Basin’s warrior ranks, we can’t wait to see her test her mettle against the looming Kaos happenings! Congratulations!
Helovia RPG was created by Tamme and Blu and coded by Tamme also known as Schwartze. All coding, palettes and imagery are copyrighted to the website and are not for use outside of Helovia. Thank you to our ServerMaster for hosting Helovia. A special thanks goes to Neo for all of her coding help and fixing Tamme's errors, Boom, for her loyal service and creation of the Time God, and to Ali for her consistent contributions and dedication.
What she had seen in the deep forest in that blood red pool only added to the memories that haunting her waking and sleeping moments. The dead pegasus with filmy, sunken eyes looked too much like those of her mother's, and death seemed to be following in her footsteps. Ophelia had been around long enough now to know that this is no coincidence, even if her mother was truly dead and the vision was just that - a vision. She had seen this dead pegasus for a reason, and she had to know the why. Knowledge was not just a curiosity as she often claimed; it was her obsession.
The journey south was long, fraught with worry, and her cloven hooves carried her easily. Her flawless, eidetic memory gave her an unusually clear map of Helovia, and she quickly learned the fastest routes and distinctive land markers. Days passed as she ran, the cold chill of the mornings bringing her to life, giving her a clarity she felt within her very soul. Someone had to be warned of impending death, but whom?
Ophelia saw the churning blue ahead, and she exhaled a thick cloud of white as she crossed the land bridge. Heat hit her like a tidal wave, and she danced up to the broken shines of the gods, heart pounding. The hybrid looked upon the shrines of both the God of Time and the God of the Sun, praying that they would answer, and that they knew what was happening. Would Roskuld know? Where was her daughter now? Ophelia frowned, standing before the home of the gods with question written on her expression and in her heart.
"I have seen a troubling vision," she said aloud, knowing that even if they did not appear, they would hear. "A pegasus corpse visited me in the deep forest, followed by a deluge of breathless fish. I am concerned that this is a prediction of the future, that someone needs to be warned." Ophelia looked up to the sky, tilting her delicate crown toward the heavens. Strange, two colored eyes sought them in the clouds, but she saw only clouds and the silhouette of the island.
"If you are able, please give me the knowledge to warn this individual. Please give me guidance to understand what I have seen..." Ophelia would wait here for the remainder of the evening, until the soft shine of the stars was replaced by the glory of the burning sun.
A lifeless face that you'll soon forget
Credits: Whit's tables were an inspiration | Image by Roni
Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.
10-16-2014, 12:29 AM (This post was last modified: 10-21-2014, 11:16 PM by Ampere.)
Ampere the Mother of Companions
The Veins of the Gods opened up beneath her, all dark rock and vibrant lava. It was a mysterious place in its own right, certainly more ominous than the island that Ampere had just traveled near. Was it familiarity that made it seem safer, or was it the presence of the gods, as stale as it might be with their decaying shrines? Ampere wasn't sure, but she knew enough of the island to avoid it, but all at once, not enough, which is what brought her to the blood of the land, the gods' place.
Ampere was not a religious sort by nature. In fact upon arrival she hadn't even believed in the gods, scoffed and cussed at them actually, because she had known too many false gods, be they mortals or ideas, in her travels. Her time in Helovia had been invaluable in educating her on their existence, and their power (or at times, lack thereof). Even with the knowledge of them though, which admittedly was still limited, she did not like turning to them. Only now, in this darkening hour, did Ampere arrive out of desperation and fear.
Her hooves clattered upon the rough stone, sliding at one point over an area that had been smoothed with years of hoofsteps. Her wings caught her though, flaring at her sides in a brilliant display before she slicked them to her back, flicking them a few times with the unease that wound through her. As she moved, electricity popped in her wake as dust stirred into life. Unwittingly she crafted a butterfly which drifted in the wind of her haste. Its electric body arced out of its lines from time to time, distorting it, or more appropriately, showing how ill contained it was.
A voice drifted over the winter wind to her, and soon a body, pale as the world beyond this place, took shape. Ampere didn't hesitate. She was grateful for the presence of another, was in fact joyful at it. She had purposefully chosen to come here to pray to the God of the Sun. He was the one she knew best, the one she trusted the most, which wasn't saying much. He had saved her (how could she forget?), literally pulled her out of the darkness and offered her the golden realm where he dwelled. He had believed in her, when no one else had, including herself; she still thought him a fool for that, but then perhaps she was the one playing jester. Gods surely could make mistakes too though, because if not Ampere wasn't sure how else to explain all the shit in the world.
Yet for all the good, he had wrecked her too, and for that reason she preferred not to summon him among her home, his home. It was too, private.
She didn't want to see him at all, but after what she'd felt when on the island, what Cera had said, what Ghost had said, that Gaucho was so willing to fling himself into the unknown... Was she weak, or was he just stupid? She still had nightmares about the wraiths and that horrible awful cave, how could he so easily have forgotten? Even the slightest suggestion at having to endure that again had her crippled with fear and anxiety. She could not, would not do that again, there had to be another way - and only the God of the Sun could know, of that she was sure.
So she moved towards his broken shrine, ears flicking forward as she listened to the other mare's prayer. She only caught part of it, and even then was distracted by the resemblance Ophelia struck in Ampere's memories. Unlike the clever and studious Forsaken, the Mother of Companions frequently did not recall the details, much less names.
"Do you think he will answer?" Ampere asked, licking her lips nervously as she came to a halt near the shrine and the bloody-white girl with her silver dragon. I know her Ampere thought, recalling that sterling beast - she had loved him back then, when she had been ignorant and though Ophelia had tamed the creature (a rare feat) to be a pet of some kind. The naivety of it then left a bitterness in her now, but it was easily quelled by the churning of her gut and the rumbling of her thoughts. "They must already know something is wrong, terribly wrong." Ampere trailed off, shaking her head as her blue gaze grew dull and distant. The wraiths haunted her. They had been unstoppable; they showed her what it felt like to be powerless. Even the gods had not been able to help, not at first.
"They must," she insisted, to no one in particular.
The lightning butterfly that had been drifting around her grew so intense and distorted that it shot off in all directions, fizzling up as it did so.
The winds changed, shifted in an unnatural way, and those signs usually did not precede the arrival of the God of the Sun. Dry, winter air crackled and snapped around her, and she frowned, watching a blue butterfly made of shock dance around. Ophelia turned her head over her shoulders, watching a familiar character come in her direction, black, blue and winged. In a land that no longer existed, they had fought until her white coat was stained with mud and Ampere had fallen. That victory had been unexpected, and she did not hold the situation against her.
Her prayer finished, she felt the other one approach, her aura and atoms as full of static and tension as Ophelia assumed was her soul. Ampere seemed to radiate emotions and sparks like wildfire, barely controlled and quick to temper. Such a stark contrast to herself who stood with an almost deathly calm, unperturbed and nearly vacant. Life and death. Passion and apathy.
A sigh of moisture, quickly dissipated by the heat of the veins, followed Ampere's question, and Ophelia furrowed her brows, slowly shaking her head. "That... I do not know," she said quietly. The jury was still out on whether or not Ampere's presence was welcome, given the anxiety that seemed to rattle the very air around where she stood. Ophelia listened and then absently watched the static butterfly burst like a gunshot, energy disappearing into the forces of nature. Perhaps, of the God of the Sun did not show up, he already knew something was terribly wrong.
Ophelia turned her gaze to focus on Ampere's electric blue eyes, narrowing her white lids slightly. What had she seen? The temptation to peer into her mind was overwhelming, but she steadied herself. Ask first. She must always at least ask first. "I came to ask about something I have seen in the forest, what I believe to be a premonition of dark and wicked things to come," she trailed, finding that others opened up more easily when she gave of herself first. Though, she wondered how much was left to give...
"What have you seen?" Ophelia's strange, two-toned gaze never wavered, the weight of the open and empty eyes almost unnatural.
"I have to hope that the God of Time and the God of Fire know already, but if they can do nothing, we must." Ophelia's statement was not firm, only honest. If the world was going to drown, she would breathe her last breath fighting. War was in her blood, and though she took no pleasure in violence, she would partake to protect what she had here. Tinek stirred on her back, yawning innocently for such a large creature, and he eyed Ampere curiously.
"She shot shock at me..." he hummed.
"Yes, she did, but do not take offense."
"No... I do not. She breathes like me." With a toothy smile, he exhaled a plume of static that caused Ophelia's hair to stand on end. The butterfly she had made was pretty, and he wished he could do more than just... breathe destruction.
"Tinek says you breathe like he does," she said, translating for Ampere. "He remembers too when we battled years ago, Ampere." Ophelia remembered the feeling of getting her legs caught in roots she could barely see - of falling and fearing she would inhale the murk into her lungs. The white mare smiled strangely and bowed her head in greeting. "My name is Ophelia." Would he need the reminder or be offended?
"He wishes he could make butterflies like you can."
A lifeless face that you'll soon forget
Credits: Whit's tables were an inspiration | Image by Roni
Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.
10-24-2014, 11:28 PM (This post was last modified: 10-24-2014, 11:29 PM by Ampere.)
Ampere the Mother of Companions
He will not come Ampere realized with sudden conviction. Ophelia's words shook in her ears, like a tangled gnat buzzing and tickling until it smothered itself. The reaction within Ampere was palpable. All at once her coiled energy expelled, leaving her strangely absent of anything. The weight of her head appeared abruptly unbearable as it sagged towards the ground, her chin resting against the cool, yet warm stone; it pushed against her teeth, exposing part of them. Her ears tilted back, unsure and unwilling to hear. Even her wings untucked from her sides, slipping forward to drag on the floor. They felt comforting, like a cocoon to hide inside.
Ampere had not expected him to show, but she had hoped he would. She didn't realize the strength of that hope until it was lost. It had ballooned her up, but now it was released into the expanse of sky, its color a distant dot that grew smaller and smaller...
A question hung in the air, a different one than the many circling her head. It penetrated her feathered shield, sliding between the shafts and darting against her conscious like a passing wind. Ampere stirred, her head tilting faintly in Ophelia's direction, blue eyes sliding towards her like an old machine sparking back to life, though uncertainly. "I have not seen," she felt the need to justify, pinned as she was beneath Ophelia's eyes. Although not a typically dishonest mare, Ampere felt as if the Forsaken's stare demanded honesty. "I have heard," she went on, slow at first, but soon quickening with worry.
"The God of the Sun showed our diviner images in smoke, of a pegasus falling dead on the island. Then a mare of the Falls came to speak of worms attacking horses on the island." Ampere laughed as she finished, but the sound lacked its usual note of happiness. It seemed, maniacal almost. "Worms," she stressed, turning more fully to face Ophelia, her eyes widening with blue steel. "They tried to burrow into their flesh, tried to escape the island at all costs." Fitfully Ampere glanced up at the floating monstrosity, features pulling taut with distrust as she watched it hover amid the heavens.
"It's unnatural," she hissed, her tail slapping her flanks with renewed vigor. All the anxiety that had been building up inside of her gushed out as she spoke about her fears and her ideas. Wings slid gradually back towards her sides as Ampere watched Ophelia, holding her now with a strong and wild stare drenched in blue. "There's something wrong with the island."
Ophelia knew something too. Ampere could tell by the way she had asked, as if confirming a belief with someone. It was what lent Ampere her fervor as she told her tales, one which ebbed, now that the reality of their situation sunk back in. Telling Ophelia did little more for Ampere - Cera had told them, Ghost had told them, and what had it done? It had warned them, but it did not prepare them, did not enable them or help them against the threat they were told to be cautious of. What was she going to do now? Turning to the gods was her last resort, and her only plan. They had not come, and they were all fucked for it.
"What can we do that gods can't?" Ampere asked lamely, her gaze since wandered from Ophelia to stare dully at the falling shrines. It wasn't something she would normally say - Ampere was a firm believer in controlling her own destiny, in fighting against any opponent, god or not. Yet she was cowed by the wraiths, an event that had not been so long ago, though everyone seemed to have forgotten. She knew what they could do, being present was one, trying was another, the gods routinely failed at those activities. Ampere was afraid though, and it paralyzed her in body and mind. She had been present and she had tried and she had fought the wraiths, and what had it done? Nothing her heart whispered cruelly. "If they are not fighting it, then surely we can't... like the wraiths..."
Ampere trailed off, only able to admit she was powerless so many times.
Weight shuffled uncomfortably. Ampere sniffed, her breath visible as it moved from her. All of it reminded her of her mortality, her limitations. Even the simple conversation they slipped into, speaking of breaths and old fights like there was nothing more important than connecting with each other... it was a welcome distraction at least. "What?" she asked at first, not quite able to switch from doom and gloom much less to something she didn't fully comprehend.
She glanced out of the corner of her eye towards the sterling serpent, assuming he was the he the the Forsaken was referring to. Her teeth set on edge, annoyed instantly at the bond that existed between them and that was flaunted by their internal communication. Her name falling from the pale girl's lips jarred her further though, again surprising her. She took a step to the side, wings faintly lifting as feathers stood on end before flattening slowly. "Yes," she started after a moment, speaking slowly as the events were pulled from her mind to play behind her eyes. "I remember now... so long ago." It had been a lifetime. So much had changed, for better, or worse.
Ampere sighed.
It was easier then. Part of her wanted to go back there, but she knew she couldn't, wouldn't even. Ignorance plagued her then, and misery now, such is the weight of knowledge and understanding. "Maybe some day he will..." she offered, humoring them. Rather than anger, sorrow ringed her irises as she stared upon the seemingly content dragon and his horse. What would he have been in a different life?
"I wish for many things," she murmured. Nearby pebbles jumped into life as blue sparks, quickly and easily shaped into butterflies under the mindful guide of Ampere. She sent them to flutter around him, a trio of blue wings and scattered movements. Her magic had been called pretty by many, but she did not see the beauty in it. Much like bonds she thought with a simper, knowing so many saw them as simple and normal, when to her they were horrible, awful things, much the way her pretty magic was dangerous to touch. She made sure to keep the butterflies out of Tinek's reach.
For the first time Ampere wondered if she was just a pessimist. Perhaps everyone else was right. Maybe companion bonds were fine, maybe wraiths weren't so bad, maybe the floating island was a peaceful paradise. Get called crazy enough by everyone and eventually you start to believe them.
Not yet.
She still had fight left in her, somewhere.
"We should have a rematch sometime," she suggested casually, "for old time's sake."
Ophelia watched the mare suddenly deflate, as if someone had stuck a pin in her balloon. Even the hinge of her wings fell, letting the feathers fall in such a defeated way. She watched her press her lips to the shrine, wondering if she should show such remorse too, but she had nothing. Either the god would be here or he would not, and more often than not, the Sun God was elsewhere. So, she asked what Ampere had seen, her gaze resting heavily on the static friend. Her reply was disconcerting, and Ophelia's gaze shifted back to the sky - to the island, just overhead.
Worms attacking horses, a vision of a pegasus falling... All of these were too similar. Everyone was being shown the same vision, for some reason. This reason had to be important. Ampere blamed the island itself, but of that, Ophelia was unsure. She agreed that a beautiful place in the sky seemed far too good to be true, but the island itself could not kill anyone, surely... If it could, then that would be absolutely frightening.
"I saw something very similar," she replied. "I met another in the Deep Forest and lead her to the blood pool. Fish began to flop up from the water, dying from being on land, and then a dead, bloated vision of a pegasus emerged, and from her mouth flopped more fish. The vision disappeared, then it rained the dead fish. In the blink of an eye, it was all gone. It seems we are all seeing much the same thing..." she trailed, frowning.
"We are being told about a death, or a coming death." Or so Ophelia thought. What else could it be saying?
She said that they had to do something, and Ampere's words rang true. What could they do that the gods could not? The pale princess thought on this for a moment. Even though she held the gods in such high regards (with the exception of the god of time), she knew that regardless of their presence, bad things still happened. Perhaps the answer was simple not in their power to discover. "Well, there are more of us than there are of them," she said simply. "If the gods will not fight, I will. I was in the mountains when the wraiths attacked, but I heard of their ferocity and grotesqueness. Did you not have water to heal them though? Power against them?"
Ophelia looked heavenward, eying the sparkling stars above. "The gods would not leave us powerless. We simply have to be clever enough to take meaning from these visions and use it to our benefit." As always, the mare went to cleverness and intellect. She would not barrel her way into a situation, demanding answers and pummeling all beneath her to solve the riddle. Instead, she would think, gather information, assimilate, discuss and come to a reasonable choice of action.
Tinek spoke then, and she waited for Ampere's realization to sink in. She seemed unsettled by Tinek in a way, and Ophelia desired to peer into her mind to discover why. Still, she held herself back, deciding to wait until a better moment to figure out the inner workings of this familiar stranger. Ampere remembered, and she nodded, looking back to smile affectionately at Tinek. "I am sure he would enjoy being able to make shapes, but he has stopped growing recently. Though I have hope he will, the odds are not in his favor."
Tinek nodded understandingly and then watched as Ampere made butterflies from stone, watching them with large, red eyes as they flew around. His scaly lips turned into a smile, and he rested his head on Ophelia's shoulder as he peacefully observed the beauty before him, at peace.
"I could use the practice," Ophelia said grimly. Nearly dying when the crazed Gaucho attacked her had been a humbling experience. "So I would enjoy the opportunity."
"Just us. I am sure Tinek can take some time for himself," she said, winking slightly and then smiling down at the dragon. He huffed at her, a cloud of white frost whistling past his teeth. She chuckled at his display, amused. "He was enthralled with Mirage's gold dragon, but she has since disappeared," Ophelia said sadly. "I feel for him."
A lifeless face that you'll soon forget
Credits: Whit's tables were an inspiration | Image by Roni
Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.
11-02-2014, 02:07 AM (This post was last modified: 11-02-2014, 02:08 AM by Ampere.)
Ampere the Mother of Companions
Ophelia's recounting of her event did not disturb Ampere as much as it normally would have. In some way she expected it to be awful, so when the pale mare started, she braced herself, her imagination running wild with darkness and death. It was certainly more of a forthright scene compared to angry worms and fiery prophecies. Still, it was not an attack. Even the worms were said to have blown away... so what was the point?
Warnings, but for what? What could they do to stave off what was being warned about?
Ophelia thought similar, and Ampere nodded in turn to her assessment, but continued to wonder why. Anxiously she bit at her lip, thoughts racing behind her eyes which looked distantly at the shrines. If only the gods would help... Why won't they help?
The Mother of Companions' attention redirected to the Forsaken, surprised at the willpower that inserted itself in her words. The pale maiden did not look it at first glance, but she was fierce, just in a quiet sort of way. Where was Ampere blazed like a fire or struck as lightning, inherently wild and dangerous, Ophelia glinted soft and gentle, a blade in the dark, and mind worn sharp, something you didn't know to fear until it cut you.
"Water and power delivered by the gods, were they not?" Ampere murmured as Ophelia's gaze looked to heaven's floor. "Hoof, horn, and wing alone did nothing against the dark tide. Our mortality could never have been so apparent, so useless." She did not often think of her magic as anything other than her's, but her latest visit to the God of the Earth had left her with some new ideas. He admitted he existed as part of everything (was he listening now, too lazy or too unkind to appear?), and suggested his brother for her magic. Was she anything but part of them, a lesser part?
She could defy them, the gods. She could live, if they permitted. Yet she could not defeat them, could not fight their divine battles, not when her weapons were all blunted edges wrought from flesh. Ampere needed that, weapons, because whatever cleverness Ophelia relied upon she felt she desperately lacked. These visions, or warnings, or whatever they were didn't seem to have any meaning or purpose other than fear to Ampere. Did the Forsaken see more in them?
"If you consider his potential at its limit, how do you not consider the same of yourself, of all of us?" Ampere persisted, disheartened to hear the dragon was done growing. "We have free minds," to that she could admit, their will was uncontested, but was it enough? "Yet they are trapped inside a restricted body."
Ampere thought of a time before, when a creature had risen from the depths of the enflamed gorge and risen to destroy all in its path. It had been a desperate struggle to fell the beast, and it had come at great cost to all involved, her badly burned legs but one of countless injuries. Alone she could never have survive, but together they had all brought it down, all on their own. That memory gave her hope, but she could not shake the shadow of the wraith attacks that clutched onto her like a fever. They had assembled together then too, but still they had failed, rescued only by the gods which now abandoned them in this darkening hour.
"Together we can accomplish more, but is it ever enough? Are we ever truly together in this world?"
Ampere looked away. She did not want to hear about the dragon and his misery, veiled with bonded happiness. Even the way she said it, Mirage's gold dragon, as if any creature could belong to another. What if the silver and gold were free and in love at this very moment?
It was Ophelia's last comment however, that struck the match to Ampere's kerosene. Troubled enough by the ominous, though unknown threat on the horizon, then smothered with this companion bond, the first of all she had encountered and foolishly loved, she was saturated with fuel for her fire.
"Of course you do," Ampere snapped, her head jerking around, eyes burning as they set upon Ophelia. "You cannot help but feel for him since he's bound to your soul forever more. Don't feign sorrow on his behalf when you are what stands between his happiness, his freedom!" The butterflies grew erratic and distorted, fluctuating with her rising energy. Her fight was coming back, thank the gods. "It's bad enough he's limited in body, but you've gone and tethered his soul too, despicable," Ampere spat, the speech like venom gushing from her teeth. Her feathers flared against her back and she took one bold step towards the Forsaken, ears sliding against her neck.
Ophelia weighed Ampere's words but did not quite agree with the tone of hopelessness. She hummed thoughtfully, carefully considering what she was going to say next as she resolved her emotions on the matter. "I watched a girl heal my father with her own powers," she replied quietly. "And I have seen magic come and go, not given by the gods of this world. While our mortality is obvious in the face of such destruction, I consider it to be more of a challenge to overcome. We are clever, many, and strong. If we cannot fight with horn, wind and hoof, then we can outsmart whatever comes against us." In most situations, Ophelia had been able to circumvent issues with her own intellect and memories, and she was not one for physical violence.
Tinek's focus on Ampere's magic shifted the subject, and she though on Ampere's words again. She was limited. She had reached her limit. From this moment on, she would do nothing more but age. The weight of her own bones would lead her into a realm of the elderly until arthritis crippled any future. Her parents were a testament to her own limitations. Soleil was unable to defend herself from the unknown attacker and Paladin? Well... he could hardly move anymore. "I find him far less restricted than I am." She said, smiling. "He can fly high above the troubles of the ground, can maneuver in ways I could only hope to do, and has a brilliant heart, so interested in the world."
"We all have limitations. I will never be taller or stronger than I am now. At a certain point, we all just stop growing." Ophelia wondered about ever being truly together, and she frowned. The times in which she felt close to others were few and far between, and even then, she had the cruel ability to cause them so much harm. Everyone else she had cared for left without warning, disappeared into oblivion or broke her heart in some other fashion. "I believe in times of need, we have the capability to come together for our own mutual survival." The only pure relationship she had was with Tinek, but her sister came close.
Words continued, and Ampere's reaction to them was surprising. Lack of instincts caused Ophelia to not have a reaction, something which had caused her issues multiple times. Still, her mind had made room for memories, perfect and terrible, and she had no more space to be normal. Her body did not even sway as Ampere's ears flattened and teeth bared, instead, she wondered what had happened to cause this mare to become so irate.
The answer surprised her and was interesting. She furrowed her brows, having never experienced this opinion before, but part of her rebelled. The bond she had with Tinek was pure, and he would have not chosen her otherwise. In fact, their relationship was the only honest one she had. Ophelia wondered if she was truly tethered, but he quickly commented that he did not feel tethered. She could not force him to do what she asked, just as he could not force her. All they shared was a beautiful connection.
"I do not stand between his happiness or freedom anymore than he does me," she replied softly. "Had he wanted to pursue Akaith, he could. I know he was interested in Cynder, but she disappeared as well."
"I was born here. I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave you."
"He said that he was born here and he does not want to leave, and that is something I understand. I came from a land that has fallen to ruin, but this is his home more than it is mine." Ophelia wondered if explaining would do anything to help this mare understand. Obviously, she was set in her ways, and explaining may only further rile her temper. "If you had ever experienced what we have, I feel that you would think differently. I saved his life, and in return we share a bond. He has acted independently and so have I. If he wants to pursue love, he can. We spend time together and apart. I am not going to force him to follow another, force him find love if that is not what he wants."
Ophelia shrugged. "We share a bond, and we are connected through our souls, which I find beautiful. But I do not limit his interactions just as he does not limit mine. I wish for him love, but neither of us has found it. The world is fickle, but I am fortunate that I have one thing in this cruel land that is pure."
The mare smiled sadly. "I can see how it would appear that I have forced him into this, and maybe, for some, you are right."
A lifeless face that you'll soon forget
Credits: Whit's tables were an inspiration | Image by Roni
Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.
"Flying does not solve all of one's problems," Ampere whispered following Ophelia's words on Tinek. As though to confirm her point she hugged her wings closer to herself, the primaries sliding out to brush against her shoulders. It should be someone else comforting her, holding her, easing her fears and her pains, but it was just her. It had always been just her.
In moments like this, Ampere could understand the allure of a companion. Someone to be with your forever, no matter what. She desperately craved a relationship like that - too often she'd been let down, left, ignored. Still, a single thought inside of her balked at the idea, refusing to submit to the notion that a creature had to be tried to her in order to alleviate her unhappiness. Relationships could exist without bonds, it was just harder. Ampere thought, or at least hoped, that that made them more worthwhile.
Then the fire ate Ampere, because she could not stand the selfishness of everyone she encountered. Whether they realized it or not, the fact remained that they were, that and stupidly blind.
"Everyone says that," she began, her tones quaking with ill contained frustration. She was doing her best not to slap Ophelia right here and now, because she truly believed that this mare did not mean to chain this dragon to her - but chain him up she had all the same. Even though Ampere knew anger would not help her, it sure felt damn good to slip into it. A lot better than being afraid.
"Yet if you, or anyone, even bothered to consider what I was saying, that I am right, then you'd know what a sickening suggestion it is." Ampere spat the words out, unable to keep them behind her teeth any longer. Sparks prickled at the dust around her feet, caught int he sway of her heart beat and the anger that hummed inside of it. Ophelia's calm helped her, the way the earth God had been an anchor amid her storm, but it did not keep the storm from gathering.
"You've deluded yourself into thinking he has any notion of Independence - how can he when all he has ever known is you?" Why did everyone think it was such a game to tie two souls together? Why did everyone act like it was so fucking normal? It was the most bizarre thing she had ever experienced. The bond forced them to become a single entity rather than two separate ones. Perhaps two different hearts still beat, two different thoughts weaving in and out of each other, but the soul was singular, and it, as the root of everyone's being, influenced them equally. WHY DON'T THEY SEE!"
"Stop acting so high and mighty," rage slurred Ampere's words, thick with unrest. "You are the same as all of them!" she cried out, her wings exploding from her sides in a trail of sparks. Somewhere from within her second ability lashed out, attempting to hurl Ophelia away from her.
[[DONT HATE ME I CHANGED TABLES ;-; was tired at looking at one half of a picture for text ]]
Ophelia nodded sympathetically, watching the way her pretty wings shifted around her body. Nothing but what was inside could free one from their problems, she had found, but wings would certainly help make all the earthly troubles go away - for a little while at least. When the conversation shifted to Tinek, Ophelia was surprised by the vehemence. Sharp 'everyone says that!' snapped from her lips, and the pale princess couldn't help but wonder - if everyone says that, doesn't that mean they are more likely to be right? Still, she found it wise not to say those words now.
Static filled the air, making her hair stand on end, and she listened and watched Ampere, wondering when she should be concerned for her safety. Certainly, even though she was passionate, she could be rational? They could discuss this as two individuals with differing views? Ophelia should know better that those passionate were the most irrational, but she held out foolish and nonsensical hope that a multitude of past experiences wouldn't be the same outcome.
She wanted a way to explain that the bond was shared, that without the bond, Tinek would be dead. But, she had a feeling that no words could right this wrong, not for Ampere. That saddened Ophelia. What pain and suffering had this mare faced that she had to force every pure relationship to the side? Did her own agony make her incapable of seeing beauty? Was the thought of having to rely on another, love another without question so frightening that she had to lash out?
"I saved his life from the depths of the sea," she returned. "He was abandoned. I believe he could have chosen death, but I am honored that Tinek chose life with me." Yes, she was all he had ever known, but he was all she had ever known too. No other being in her life had loved her as unconditionally.
High and mighty? Ophelia frowned. She was simply telling the truth. Why was she so easily categorized as all the rest? Why did Ampere see a single entity where there was diverse individuality? Suddenly, Ampere's wings popped open and the mare grimaced, feeling something shove her like a wall. Ophelia felt her hooves sliding on the stone, and she clawed at her footing to keep from sliding into the churning blue lava. With desperation, she braced against one of the god's shrines, glaring up at Ampere.
"You claim I am the same," she growled, her chime-like, feminine tones dangerously beautiful. "You claim I am high and mighty. You claim I tethered him to myself without thought and against his will. Yet you know nothing!" Ophelia stood firm against the broken shrine.
"You speak without evidence! You speak without having experienced it yourself! You speak as if you have seen a bond form, as if you know the heart that only I can know so well! I did not forcibly tie him to me! He chose me over death! You cast judgment, condemn me for my actions, when without me, he would be laying at the bottom of the ocean, unborn. You claim I keep him from his life, but I do not! I cannot force a dragon to do my will anymore than you can control me."
"The only difference is that I have the privilege of sharing his thoughts and emotions as he does mine. The irony is that by hurting me, you will only be hurting him as well. So, are you a hypocrite? Do you truly care about his soul, independence and safety? Or are you on some self-proclaimed crusade to rage against your own fears?"
Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.
11-12-2014, 08:16 PM (This post was last modified: 12-03-2014, 11:10 PM by Ampere.)
Ampere the Mother of Companions
It was not the first admission of a saved life that Ampere had heard. Though she was sure that Ophelia wasn't lying, it did not improve matters. By saving his life, did it justify that he owed it to her? If that was the case, death could have been a better freedom.
Anger welled inside Ampere like a physical mass. It wore heavy inside her, hot and sharp, digging from within until she exploded without for some form of release. The physical exertion of trying to move another being briefly winded the blue pegasus, her wrath faltering beneath the onslaught of Ophelia's words. Even with all reason to retaliate, Ophelia stood like stone, beautiful, solid, cold. Ampere was use to reacting, but when you threw everything you had at something and it did not yield, well, it was draining.
Even so Ophelia struck her.
Often it was not the tangible blows which crippled Ampere, for all the scars that littered her coat - it was her heart that was her weakness. As she caught her breath, ears still flat against her poll but not unable to hear, she was forced back from the Forsaken. Like a lion chased with a whip so it was her ferocity died under the crack of truth. Even held at bay though, she roared, hating the weapon as much as its master.
"I KNOW!" she thundered back, the word applicable to so many thing Ophelia barked out, but it was to one of the more final ones that Ampere meant it. "I know," she said again, quieter, wounded. "...It hurts them..." she stifled a sob, partially born of sorrow, but sprung more out of frustration and despair. Ophelia was salt on a wound that did not heal - companions were doomed once bonded, what could she do? Her anger did nothing to help them, or her, but she could not help but feel its rise when in the presence of such an unjust, permanent, chain. "Isn't that it's own evidence though?" she practically begged. The fire was gone from her, or at least subdued. Instead she was a cold rain storm fraught with peals of lightning and clouts of thunder, beautiful, tragic, and safe - from a distance.
"If he hurts when you hurt - if they all do - then why do you fight? Even if you were kind enough to exclude him, he would still feel each bruise, each cut, each slice as if his own flesh bore it, but few are even so kind as that. Too often have I seen these small, often still maturing creatures cast into battle to save the hide of their bonded and for what?" She snorted, the blast a cloud that drifted away. Her heart hammered.
"How many do you think actually want to fight - much less something so big as a horse? Many you might say, else why do they?" Here Ampere sneered, because this next truth, her own whip if Ophelia would bear it, was one she felt cruelest of all. "because they are influenced by the bond. If you know you share pain, thoughts, images, then surely you know you share more than that. You share everything, for better or worse. Your emotions run the channel of your soul and they can override disposition. A normally peaceful companion may be swept up in your bloodlust and risk itself for your fight, how is that just, how is that beautiful? It would be different if there was no bond, if there was CHOICE left to them!" Her voice had grown steadily louder, thunder rumbling closer, but the rain still poured and the fire still hid.
"You saved him from one fate but not another. You bonded because you wanted it, and that want is selfish. If you weren't then you would have saved him at no cost! You could have saved him without bonding to him, befriended him rather than melded with him, freed him rather than imprisoned him... if you really wanted to know the strength of a relationship, then you would need the ability for the other to choose to be with you, to stay with you, to fight alongside you - and all the while they could leave. That is a better bond, linked with action and loyalty, than the heinous monstrosity that is the melting of two souls, far more beautiful apart and free."
Ophelia watched as Ampere retreated as if her words physically lashed at her body, but she stayed firm. Like marble, she stood, unyielding. A breeze from the heat rushed against her hair and her coat, but she did not bother to knock the forelock from in front of her eyes - they were trained on Ampere with deadly focus. As Ampere spoke, seemingly broken and full of sorrow, she listened. Her evidence was tainted by a vendetta. The fact that Tinek hurt when she hurt went both ways. The greatest flaw in her logic was that this bond was not one-sided.
"No." She replied to the sound of her voice that was almost like begging. But, she did not want to believe that creature as strong as Ampere could beg. "If he hurts, so do I. A bond is the transfer of anything universally in both directions." The chime-like tenor of her voice was slightly harder, not sure if Ampere would lash out again. She kept her hooves firmly planted against the stone headers.
"I fight so that I will not die and carry his soul with me," she growled in return. "I spar so that I will not hurt when others attack me. I've been nearly killed more times than I care to admit, and ever since I was nearly shoved off of a cliff by a racist moron, I know that I need to protect myself and Tinek better." Why did anyone spar? With the gain of skill, the pain of each hit hurt a little less. Her dodges would be a little faster.
"I never, ever force him to fight with me. He can watch if he wants to, but if he wants to practice too, for his own purposes, I will not stop him."
Still, she listened openly, taking in those words carefully. Perhaps some were like this. Certainly Gaucho and his Mara, though she had never met a peaceable snake before, even in the wild. They had a tendency to lash out at ignorant passersby. Then, there was Archibald and his Loretta who consistently seemed unhappy, especially with the non-wolf dogs were normally so kind hearted. Perhaps she was right in some ways, but each of those companions still made a choice - whether they were old enough to understand or not.
Ophelia had made choices as a child that affected her life forever. That was the way of the world. You had to live with what you chose. Was it fair? Yes. Absolutely. Natural consequences for your actions was the most fair, reasonable response.
Loyalty? Had she ever run a herd? She struggled not to sneer. The only loyalty any one had to the other was based on what they could gain. She had had her heart broken enough times to realize that there was no such thing as unconditional love, trust or loyalty. In every situation it came with stipulations: "I love if you do this..." Ophelia's eyes flashed, and she clenched her jaw.
"I concede that there are some who are influenced by the instability in their bond-mates. I have seen a few. However, I believe as has been the lore for ages, that the companion chooses their bonded while as an egg. Dragon eggs will not hatch and bond to those who are of pureblood unicorn. In some way, they know. Tinek has tried to explain it to me once, but he only feels a sense of right.
"But I agree that it is wrong to force a companion to fight. Tinek mostly watches unless he is curious about his own abilities. When we spar, I explained to him that any pain I feel will make me stronger. There are too many holes in your logic, Ampere. Companions have some choice. I cannot force him to do anything against his will. The bond goes both ways equally. But, I can concede that there are some who influence their companions negatively. However, that is not a blanket statement you can blindly apply to everyone you meet."
Ophelia frowned, the light in her eyes rather bitter. "If bonds like what you speak of existed, then I would agree that they would be far superior. But, loyalty in that sense of purity does not exist. Two, unbonded spirits of any kind will never stay. Either way, you could not believe them if they told you." You cannot believe them when they say that they love you. "Fantasy is not reality, but what I have with Tinek gives me hope. This is as close as we can get in this imperfect world."
"So keep on with your crusade if you must. But know that not all of us are the monsters you claim. If he had wanted to go with Akaith that day, I would have followed. I feel his influence equally. Right now, I feel his sadness - the mourning that he feels for you." She narrowed her gaze slightly. "I feel his wondering at why you are this way. I feel him asking: ' what happened to you to make you so hateful?'"
Ophelia shook her head. "I love Tinek in a way I have never and could never love another because he is wound around my heart and soul and I around his. There is nothing I would not do for him, and the same for me. I find it rather tragic you do not see the beauty in one of the few beautiful things this cruel world has to offer."
Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.
Her head was high, but her heart low. Its pulse was steady, and quick, but it seemed deep, buried inside - a rabbit inside a burrow. In that dark cave she was safe, out in the open, exposed to enemies, truths, you had to be fast and strong and ready. What's to keep the rabbit from hiding forever?
Hunger.
Ampere's lips set on a hard line as she watched Ophelia now, ears twitching as they listened. Like a game they beat each other's opinions back and forth, at times agreeing, even if they'd rather not notice. The bond goes both directions, Ophelia said. Ampere knew that, but did the pale mare, did she really?. Was she trying to say the good things the bond brought outweighed the bad? Was she trying to say that any of that was still better than her directly influencing him and his choices through the bond? He was his own being, but without his own soul, he could never be Tinek. He would always be Tinek and Ophelia. Pain or beauty was trivial in the shadow of that single injustice.
Ophelia made some valid points however on the motives for fighting. She knew well the roots of the desire to battle, but like any tree, there are many roots reaching into different places, none exactly alike. Ophelia fought for strength, for protection, for survival, many things that Ampere respected. plenty horses fought for greed, for power, for dominance. Were those just reasons? The warrior inside her could find little fault in the art of war, but another side of her hated to see the companions drug into it for selfish reasons. If a horse wanted to abuse their own body then that was their right, but companions didn't have that right - the bond saw to that.
"No, you cannot force them." Ampere conceded after a bout of silence in Ophelia's words. She was surprisingly calm. Ophelia's reluctance to do more than speak gave her that, the steady shore withstanding Ampere's pounding waves. Still, the ocean always moves, and though the tide may recede, it always rises. "Cruelty does not always require force though," she murmured softly, thinking of Oxy and his Ampere. The creature was not even anything solid, he could no more force it than the wind, yet there was no love there, no freedom. The creature served him, how could it do anything else when it was severed to him, him and his thoughts, his feelings, creeping through their bond like a dark mist. Ampere shook her head.
Trying to argue was exhausting. It required great thought and placement of words that she was not so eloquent with. Much of what Ampere did was based on feeling. She of course was intelligent enough, and thought on her actions and her words in the lulls between them; it gave her faith in what she had done, what she had said, because for all of her feelings, her thoughts were just as right.
"They choose as infants, they grow beneath the bond, beneath you. It warps them, alters them so that they never are themselves, not completely. There is always you there, influencing them even if you don't realize it. Surely they do the same to you," here Ampere had to smile, because did Ophelia truly think her such an idiot that she did not understand this? Probably, because Ampere was branded unbonded, lesser, unknowing. Her smile was sad. "Yet you had a chance in your life to become yourself, alone. It makes you more...solid than if you are raised always inside the mind and soul of another. Tinek knows nothing other than you, but you have known things without Tinek." It hardly seemed fair, but Ampere knew better than to utilize that argument. Life was never fair.
"One choice made before you even understand what a choice is, and all others are snuffed out, forever... that isn't love, it's punishment." They were sad for her? She could say the same of them, or Ophelia anyway. She was colder than stone or ice, hardened inside, where her heart should fly. Ampere couldn't even fathom what it would be like to feel so stiff inside, to be unable to float and drift. The ocean was wild and free and fluid, but the shore, it was rigid and stationary and thick with resistance. The shore did nothing but withstand, crumbling bit by bit as it did so, and all the while collected debris. The shore was quite simply, ugly.
"I see beauty in freedom," Ampere replied simply. "Bonds by their nature are not free."
She tilted her head, quietly observing the frozen mare that Ampere had found a new kind of pity for. Gone was the fire, the storm, the endless outrage. She understood why Ophelia thought she needed this bond. It didn't make it any better, but it was better than some, Ampere could see that now. It didn't necessarily make it easier, but it assured Ampere even more that she was right.
"I'm sorry that you can't see that," she murmured, then lifted her wings and turned away to leap into the sky. Whatever this meeting had done, it at least bled out the panic Ampere had felt. She could return to the Throat with a calm and clear mind. She could face this darkness, because whatever it was, it was inside each of them, and every day they fought it, in themselves, in each other, in their missions. Whatever the divine powers were conjuring, it was nothing compared to her crusade of freedom.
[If you wanted to continue this more, I can alter the ending to have Ampere stay/start to lave but not leave/be called back by Ophelia. It just seemed a natural conclusion so I ran with it~]
The two mares battled with word and wit, back and forth with parries and blows of well formed words, explanations, logic and feeling. But this was not an argument that could be won - any victory at all would just by Pyrrhic. In order to win, Ophelia would have to sever her bond with Tinek and Ampere would have to bond with a companion of her own, and neither seemed willing to do anything of the sort. Phi, certainly, would never abandon Tinek to be alone.
She listened, watching as Ampere seemed to calm, the tumultuous emotion no longer ruling her thoughts and actions. As such, Phi relaxed slightly, one hoof still braced against a broken shrine. Listening and waiting for the dark one to speak, she nodded in agreement. Cruelty was another form of abuse - no relationship functioned well in that environment. "The words and actions of any cruel individual will taint whatever it touches. I can only imagine that being bonded to such would spread through a bond like a disease," she agreed.
The philosophy of the bond was continued by Ampere, and she raised a brow. "Not beneath, as equals," she corrected. "There is no inequality in a scale that is evenly balanced." She chuckled. "You could say the same about any you encounter, Ampere. Even now, have I not changed you? Have my words not influenced who you are? We are the products of our environments, shaped by our pasts which directly affect our futures." Certainly, bonds were on a much small and more efficient scale, but the logical progression was the same.
She raised a brow. "I was raised and born under the shadow of a lineage of warlords, a crimson streak of violence in my very blood," she replied firmly. "My twin sister and I fled our home to find safely here. What I discovered, I did so with her by my side and the plague of my family weighing firmly on my future. Yes, I was able to develop with my mind and heart alone, but I find it merciful that Tinek does not have to face those fears of being alone, misunderstood, and cast aside," she said softly. "I take pride in giving him the life I never had, of making decisions to abandon my post as lead in order to give peace. When you love someone, this is natural."
And she loved Tinek dearly. He was the only one who truly knew her heart. The silver dragon, sensing this surge of affection, rubbed his head lovingly against her neck, looking at the dark with with curiosity. Ophelia smiled, renewed.
She shook her head. "No, that is a beautiful and rare turn of events in a world full of pain, hatred and death. The choice to live. The choice to experience life without the ache of loneliness. I wish I were so lucky." Ophelia listened, letting out a heavy sigh and frowning.
"Freedom is a farce. We are slaves to life, death, birth, our family, and every experience in our short lives. The beauty is to overcome these experiences, build relationships, and make our finite and fleeting existence worth something," she replied. Ophelia wondered if Ampere fought against her own loneliness, raged against the ache inside to need another - to connect. Did she alienate herself out of the desire to never need anyone ever again? Had she been let down so obviously?
"Same to you, Ampere," she called, turning the words back on the pegasus as she flew away. Ophelia looked down at Tinek, smiling. Together, they moved north, a belonging pair.
"You aren't going to give me up, are you?"
"Tinek, I couldn't if I tried, and I would not want to."
Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.
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