the Rift


[PRIVATE] You look like my next mistake.

Nasreen Posts: 160
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#1

Birdsong has begun, and with the thawing of the snow, the land has come alive. Birds are returning to the trees, tender young blades of grass are poking their heads out of the snow, and the rivers are roaring to life once more, prodded into action by the melting ice that streams down their banks. And the land is not the only thing awakening. As if rousing itself from a deep and pleasant slumber, Nasreen’s young heart is beginning to stir.

Not that the maiden has any idea what plagues her. She takes it for spring fever, but all of the symptoms of first love are there. She finds herself humming for no reason, often dancing (albeit clumsily) through the woods or diving in and out of the clouds. The princess has also grown strangely absentminded, becoming distracted in mid-thought and—oh, is that tree budding? Nasreen rushes over to inspect it with a dreamy half-smile on her face.

But what are strangest of all are the dreams. At night when her eyes are closed, her heart is open and her mind is free. Though the memories always elude her in the morning, she’s left with vague images of flying through hazy dawns and purple twilights. There’s someone with her, but every time she turns her head to look, she wakes up and the face dissipates as quickly as the morning mist. It doesn’t trouble Nasreen though—after all, there’s too much humming and frolicking to do for her to dwell on the matter.

It is in this lighthearted state that she flutters down into Thistle Meadow, browsing amongst the young grasses and strolling through the melting snow. The sun peeks out from behind a cloud, and she glances up, face breaking into a radiant smile at the sight. Copper wings spread, the delicate ice chains that line them tinkling merrily, and she pauses, holding them out to her sides to soak up the very first signs of warmth. Oh spring—how she missed it!

@[Bucephalus]

OOC: Set after they’ve met at the Rotunda but before the storytelling competition!

"speech"

Please do not tag Nasreen except for in opening posts and in spars!

Bucephalus the Morningstar Posts: 292
Hidden Account atk: 7 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 16.1 :: 6 || Tallsun HP: 67 | Buff: NOVICE
Azeeza :: Orange-breasted Falcon :: None Tribs
#2
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Spring. He could feel it in the air; the winds were changing. It brought joy to his heart, and he glided along the skies, closing his eyes and basking in the feel of the air beneath his wings, the gentle rush whenever his wings flapped. The air wound herself around his neck, through his hair, over his chest and across his body. That's it. He couldn't take it.

He snapped his wings and twisted into a corkscrew in the air, ending it with a steep dive. He jerked out of that and flared his wings, arching his back and flipping in a slow arc before plummeting again, a wild yell escaping him. Freedom was this. He grinned and spread his wings to their full extent, feathers flared out and stretched. Morrigan's song came to mind, and he began humming the tune as he spun in the air, flying upside-down, twirling into another corkscrew spin. Then he tucked wing and dove down, unfurling a single wing enough to send him spinning faster and faster, until he began to grow dizzy. Wings unfurled, catching the air and slowing his descent to the ground. His hooves touched the snowy soil, and he threw his head back and laughed.

Then his gaze alighted on a pegasus mare. He knew this one... "Enjoying the weather, Nasreen?" He trotted over, ears pricked and entire body moving with a fluid energy that was hardly contained in his lithe body. Even when he paused beside her, gaze turning to the flower bud, there was a tremble along his nostrils, down his legs and across his wings. He itched to move, to dance and frolic in the air and tell Frostfall it could kiss his ass. Quickly loosing interest in the budding tree, he focused his attention on Nasi. A twig snapping made him turn, and he quickly trotted towards the source of the noise, an ear cocked back towards the paint.

"I honestly thought winter would never end." He half-sang, dropping his head to pick up what looked to be a small stone. He rolled it in his mouth, then nosed open one of his chest pouches and plopped the pebble in, a clicking noise giving tell to the other pebbles that filled that particular pouch. Returning his gaze once more to her, he remained where he stood.


Word Count:390 Tags:@[Nasreen]

Please tag Bucephalus in all posts.
Any force is allowed against short of death.

Nasreen Posts: 160
Up For Adoption
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.1 hh :: 6 (Orangemoon)
Adoptable
#3

A faint yell startles Nasreen out of her daydreams, and she looks up to find that she is not alone. Above, a dark figure plummets and twirls in a series of acrobatic acts that take the mare’s breath away. Fascinated, she looks on from below. It reminds her of a performance she saw in the Th’orquian court as a filly—then, she had been too young to fly, but the memories of the dancers’ intricate movements have never left her. She can’t help but giggle in delight at the surprise corkscrew and gasp in awe as the stranger flies upside-down. How does one work up the nerve to do it? She’d been practicing her flying on her own, and her efforts had been rewarded, but still—she’d never dared to try anything more dangerous than speeding along and around the steep and cloudy cliffs of the Heavenly Fields.

Nasreen is so caught up in watching that when the stranger lands, it takes her a moment to realize that he is not a stranger after all. “Enjoying the weather, Nasreen?” he calls out, and suddenly, she feels as if she’s the one dropping into a dive: her belly swoops dramatically, and her breath catches in her throat. Bucephalus. Of course the dancer from the Rotunda would take his cavorting to the sky, she thinks, a shy smile spreading unbidden across her face. It’s funny; last year she would have fled from the boy, but today…well, perhaps it is because she knows him, she reasons, that she does not find him so frightening as all of the others. Still, he is intimidating somehow. The princess does not feel as if he is dangerous per se; she has little fear of him chasing or harming her, but there is something…Perhaps it is the feeling that he is watching somehow, the sensation that every little thing she does or says in some way holds more weight when she is with him. It makes her nervous, yet strangely, she doesn’t want him to go away. It’s all a most curious thing.

Oh, but he asked her a question! How stupid and dull she must look, standing there just staring at him with her half-parted lips like some court jester—no, worse than a jester, for at least jesters weren’t as boring as she must seem. “Oh, yes! You’re—that was—I mean, it’s beautiful today,” she chirps awkwardly, words all in a rush. But misfortune isn’t finished with her yet, for she has the bad luck to time her delayed reply with his next comment. What did he say about winter? “My apologies; I didn’t mean to interrupt!” she sputters, looking to him anxiously. What a fool he must think her!

@[Bucephalus]

"speech"

Please do not tag Nasreen except for in opening posts and in spars!

Bucephalus the Morningstar Posts: 292
Hidden Account atk: 7 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 16.1 :: 6 || Tallsun HP: 67 | Buff: NOVICE
Azeeza :: Orange-breasted Falcon :: None Tribs
#4
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Her mouth parts as he approaches, and the black tilts his head, waiting for the words that would come. But they didn't, and the silence streched on, and slowly Buce's brows lifted slightly. Then, finally, when even he was starting to feel awkward under her gaze, she spoke, and her words tumbled out like that of someone who was undoubtedly...nervous? Did he cause this? Bucephalus mulled this over. It was possible... he inhaled deeply and stilled the trembling in his body. Ech, he hated being still.

"You didn't interrupt me." He said, amusement clear on his face as he turned to look at the bud. "If anything, i interrupted you." He said, walking back towards her side. "You know, i don't recall asking you before, or maybe i did and merely forgot; what herd are you from?" He asked. Then he blinked, and dipped his head with a sheepish grin. "Sorry if that offended you. I find the names of all these herds odd to grasp at times. In fact, many of the names here do not make sense."

Names. Strange things here. Elsa, Ampere, Gaucho, Morrigan... such harsh-sounding names. Ending as abruptly as they began. Brisa was one that broke that boundary. Nasreen flowed, but even it was snapped off at the end. Although he couldn't say much, his own 'name' was choppy, rough. He would have chosen a better name, but he was asked for his name rather abruptly, and so now he was Bucephalus. Realizing his attention was wandering again, he refocused his gaze on the painted pegasus.

"You said something akin to Ledge, yes?" He frowned slightly, a puzzled look.


Word Count:275 Tags:@[Nasreen]

Please tag Bucephalus in all posts.
Any force is allowed against short of death.

Pixel by Aud

Nasreen Posts: 160
Up For Adoption
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.1 hh :: 6 (Orangemoon)
Adoptable
#5

Oh, he is gracious, and for that Nasreen is thankful. He reassures her, so gallantly taking the blame for her incivility on himself. Yet the smile with which he does it leaves her wondering: is there a part of him that is laughing at her? The princess knows that she can be a silly girl, but she finds herself earnestly hoping that he does not think so. Silently, she vows not to let the conversation lapse so grievously again.

But when Bucephalus asks which herd she belongs to, she finds herself hesitating. She herself doesn’t quite know the answer. Yes, she is the Seer for the Quian, who reside in the World’s Edge, but she still does not quite belong. It is only a temporary home while she looks for Th’orqui, as she reminds herself every morning. Still, it would do a disservice to Kahlua’s kindness to disown them so quickly before her newest acquaintance.

“I live in the World’s Edge, with the Quian; it is true,” she replies after a moment. There is a soft note of uncertainty in her voice, but he is right; she does live there now. Nasreen considers leaving it at that, but she cannot bring herself to deny her heritage either. “But I come from a place far away. It is called Th’orqui,” she offers. She doesn’t expect him to recognize the name of her kingdom (no one here has, save her brother Quil’s…well, whatever she was), but a faint hope still beats on in her breast. It is not a sin to try—unlike Quilyan, she has not given up the search for her homeland. “…Have you heard of it?”

@[Bucephalus]

"speech"

Please do not tag Nasreen except for in opening posts and in spars!

Bucephalus the Morningstar Posts: 292
Hidden Account atk: 7 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 16.1 :: 6 || Tallsun HP: 67 | Buff: NOVICE
Azeeza :: Orange-breasted Falcon :: None Tribs
#6
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When she hesitated, the black wondered if he had done something wrong, said the wrong thing. But she speaks, and he relaxes. So no, he hadn't said anything to make her hesitate. "The World's Edge...do you know Brisa? I wonder though, what is the Quian?" He asks, ears pricked. She too hails from a land far from here, and he smiles a bit. But it isn't until she says the name that the black goes utterly still. Th'orqui. "I've...heard of it." He said quietly, gaze locked on Nasreen. Who was she? Who was she truly? Maybe she knew nothing. She had to. Otherwise just looking at him she would hate him.

He was safe.

"Only when i was a little colt. It was...an ally of my homeland, Sehrau." He said carefully, gaze locked upon her face, judging her reaction, his wings held taut, tension in every tendon. But despite his growing anxiety, he remained looking utterly calm save the intensity of his gaze on her own. Damn propriety. His reputation in Helovia could be in danger. Altan stirred, regarding the mare. If she posed a threat... he would take care of it.

His fondness of this little stammering mare would be nothing if she was a danger. He would put all feelings aside and remove the threat to his peace in Helovia if he must. But... he prayed, hoped and prayed she wasn't a threat, that she was just a random civilian from Th'orqui, that she knew nothing of the chaos he left behind in Sehrau.

OOC: DAYUM say hello to dark Buce xD)


Word Count:259 Tags:@[Nasreen]

Please tag Bucephalus in all posts.
Any force is allowed against short of death.

Pixel by Aud

Nasreen Posts: 160
Up For Adoption
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.1 hh :: 6 (Orangemoon)
Adoptable
#7

Small talk, small talk. “The World’s Edge,” Bucephalus begins thoughtfully, “Do you know Brisa?” Brisa…Nasreen remembers the name, though the face is fuzzy in her memories. But yes, she was the light-colored mare from the Edge tent—she’d met her just after she’d been promoted to Seer. She can only nod, however, before the conversational stallion moves on, wondering aloud about the Qian. “Oh,” she replies, mentally kicking herself for failing to explain, “The Qian is what the Edge herd is called, that’s all.” In truth, the name has not been used much since the time of Mirage, but the young Seer does not know that. It is how Kahlua explained the herd to her when she brought her to the Edge, and she has thought of them that way ever since, Mirage or not. Though it may hold political meaning for some, it does not for the girl. However, when she asks after Th’orqui, the black stallion goes oddly still. Confused, the girl cocks her head at him—had she offended him with her offhand remark about the Qian? Was there bad blood between him and Brisa? The possibilities begin to swarm in her mind, buzzing like worried bees.

And then, in an instant, everything changes. “I’ve heard of it,” Bucephalus replies, and without realizing it, the princess instinctively rushes forward, face lit up with the excitement of a small child on Christmas morning. He knows of her homeland! Does he have news? she wonders. Can he tell her how to find it? A million questions press against her tongue, but she is too overwhelmed to give voice to any of them. Home! She’s going home!

Yet fate is cruel, for just as quickly as it rockets her into elation, it plummets her into gut-wrenching disappointment as her companion finishes. “Only when I was a little colt. It was…an ally of my homeland, Sehrau.” His voice is weirdly calm, but in her despair, Nasreen does not notice. For a moment, she saw the shining path back home emerge through the unfamiliar trees of Helovia…and oh, it is a difficult thing indeed to lose her way once again. But still, there is hope. “Do you know your way back? To…Sera—Sehrau?” she asks, stumbling over the unfamiliar name, but with the light in her eyes once more renewed. Maybe he didn’t know the way back, but surely if he’d heard of Th’orqui once before, surely if their kingdoms had been allies…surely someone did.

@[Bucephalus]

"speech"

Please do not tag Nasreen except for in opening posts and in spars!

Bucephalus the Morningstar Posts: 292
Hidden Account atk: 7 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 16.1 :: 6 || Tallsun HP: 67 | Buff: NOVICE
Azeeza :: Orange-breasted Falcon :: None Tribs
#8
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
― Leonardo da Vinci



She rushes forward, and smooth as a dancer he steps back, watching the look of pure hope on her face in confusion. When she asks whether he knows his way back, the black stiffens, muscles drawing taut under ebony hide. "Yes, i do." He said carefully, watching her with sharp eyes, studying her now, far more intensely than he had before.

"But why do you wish to know?" Why would she wish to go to Sehrau? For that is the only thing he can think of as to why she questioned him on whether or not he knew his way back. "I can tell you right off the bat, none in Sehrau save the descendants of the royal line know even rumors of lands outside our own. Th'orqui happens to be one of the ones we vaguely know of."

Sometimes, being an introverted country had it's perks. Isolation was safe, something he really needed to remember and stick by. Anticipating her reaction, he bowed his head and pressed his forehead to hers, an old habit. But no song flowed into his mind from her, and he pulled away. "I am sorry."

Sorry this conversation had even brought up his and her homeland. Both seemed to be torn by the loss of their birthplace, albeit for different reasons. One wished to return and one wished to forget. Had he known this, he would have laughed at the irony of it all. "Judging by your butchering of my homeland's name... i take it you do not know of Sehrau?" He wanted, no, needed to know what she knew, if she knew, about the magical land of his birth.

"Bucephalus speaks"
"Altan speaks"





























Word Count:276 Tags:@[Nasreen] Notes:OH MY GOD IM SORRY

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Image by Aud
Coding by Tamme

Pixel by Aud

Nasreen Posts: 160
Up For Adoption
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.1 hh :: 6 (Orangemoon)
Adoptable
#9

He knows the way back! Nasreen feels her heart leap, then pound in her ears as the thoughts race through her head once more. If he could take her…yes, someone would—and then—! The painted mare struggles to catch her breath as she is overcome by fresh excitement. “Why do you wish to know?” Bucephalus asks, perhaps with the subtlest hint of a frown wrinkling his chiseled features. But Nasreen does not notice yet another sign of his wariness, so caught up in the moment is she. “I can tell you right off the bat, none in Sehrau save the descendants of the royal line know even rumors of lands outside our own. Th'orqui happens to be one of the ones we vaguely know of."

“But…someone knows, then,” Nasreen responds, voice breathy with hope. “Oh, Bucephalus, I’d do anything to go home, even if I had to track down and find every soul of noble blood. Maybe it’s just a chance, but…how could I not try?”

Yet the gold-speckled stallion does not seem to share her enthusiasm. “I’m sorry,” he tells her, pressing his forehead to her own. And though a strange warmth courses through her at his touch, she is distracted, drunk on hope. It is all she can do not to demand that he take her there now. “Sorry for what?” she replies, not understanding his pity.

"Judging by your butchering of my homeland's name... I take it you do not know of Sehrau?" he asks, and she shakes her head in the negative, a little embarrassed that she had pronounced his kingdom’s name so awkwardly. “No,” she murmurs truthfully, albeit abashedly, “I never knew of such a kingdom. Perhaps my brother did,” she adds as an afterthought, almost forgetting to be angry at Quil in her state of joy. The quarrel between them would be laid to rest anyway, once she found the way back home. Yes, the maiden thinks, if she found the way back…Th’orqui would have a king once more, and she…she would have her brother.

“Please,” she pleads, turning clear gray eyes on his golden ones. “Will you take me there? Or at least tell me the way?”

@[Bucephalus]

"speech"

[/quote]
Please do not tag Nasreen except for in opening posts and in spars!

Bucephalus the Morningstar Posts: 292
Hidden Account atk: 7 | def: 9.5 | dam: 4
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 16.1 :: 6 || Tallsun HP: 67 | Buff: NOVICE
Azeeza :: Orange-breasted Falcon :: None Tribs
#10
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
― Leonardo da Vinci


His subtle hints, his vague warnings...they fall upon deaf ears. Her plan to track down every royal-blooded pegasus in Sehrau is noble, if in vain. "Nasreen... there are none of the old monarchy left in Sehrau. The last of the royal line died there." His mother, his father, brother and sister. None of them were left alive to tell their story, to tell of his sins.

Let the past rot in the past. His future was secured; this mare posed no threat. She would not hear the way to his home from his lips. But she persists, and at her plea to guide her there, or to instruct her, he balks and steps back, ears flicking back. "I said no. If you wish to return home, find your way. Some of us do not wish to return to the place of our birth." He couldn't help a faint hiss in his tone, and he regarded her with a slight bit of anger.

None, not even Morrigan, had pushed him as such. He had given her all the warnings, all the hints to steer away and avoid such a topic, and she had ignored them all. Gold-tipped ebony wings unfurled, and he backed up further from this mare, this sweet darling as dangerous as nightshade.

"I'll not take you to Sehrau. On that, you have my word." He turned, sprinting away as his wings chopped the air, hurtling his mass skyward, higher and higher until he could vanish amongst the clouds.

If he hurt her feelings, he did not care. If his words crushed the fragile flower of her hope, he did not care. She had gone too far, and in his mind his words were justified, and he mentally chided himself for not keeping a distance between himself and her.

For her own sake, and for his, he needed to be distant.

@[Nasreen]
"Bucephalus speaks"
"Altan speaks"





























Word Count:000 Tags:000 Notes:000

Credits
Image by Aud
Coding by Tamme

Pixel by Aud

Nasreen Posts: 160
Up For Adoption
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.1 hh :: 6 (Orangemoon)
Adoptable
#11

Her plea she extends to him with the desperation of a girl who has never finished grieving for a homeland forever lost to her, and yet he is not moved. Had she been hanging from the edge of a cliff, with hope as the only grit that kept tired hands from slipping, he would have left her there to her fate. “Nasreen,” Bucephalus tells her, “There are none of the old monarchy left in Sehrau. The last of the royal line died there.” His tone is gentle, but it doesn’t make the words hurt any less. Feeling as if the ground has been suddenly swept out from under her, Nasreen’s face crumples. It’s like some horrible replay, a twisted déjà vu of when Quilyan told her that Th’orqui was gone and their family was scattered—she had refused to believe to this day that their kingdom had fallen to ruin, but the way that Bucephalus’ tale sounds all too familiar…tears fill the princess’ eyes, overwhelmed by the shock of this double loss.

Her heart almost goes out to her companion at the realization that he has lost his country too—almost. But then he turns on her, words like knives shredding her tender soul: "I said no. If you wish to return home, find your way. Some of us do not wish to return to the place of our birth." As he spits his refusal at her, he is backing away…yet instead of growing smaller as he recedes, he is growing alarmingly larger. Huge wings, dark and rustling ominously, blot out the sun in a threatening manner, and Nasreen, who has always forgotten to remember the danger he could pose to her, is suddenly reminded of why she has always been wary of the menfolk of her kind. A low whimper escapes her lips, and she shrinks back, afraid.

But the death-blow her delivers is not physical, but verbal. "I'll not take you to Sehrau. On that, you have my word," he swears, flinging his promise at her feet. And she feels her hope shatter, cringing and crying out as if the shards that pierce her heart are of real glass instead of the filmy stuff of dreams. Tears cloud her vision as he sprints away from her, launching himself into the sky. WAIT! she sobs, stumbling after him. She is still terrified of what he will do to her should she stall him, but more terrifying still is the thought of never seeing Th’orqui again. Please… Yet it is no use, for in her half-blind haste, Nasreen trips over a stray root just in time to see him vanish into the sky.

She does not know how long she lies there, crying bitterly, but by the time she has no tears left it is nearly dark. Unable to fly in this light, Nasreen sighs. She will stay the night here, and in the morning she will make the long journey back to the Edge.


@[Bucephalus]
Calling this closed!

"speech"

Please do not tag Nasreen except for in opening posts and in spars!


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