oh come forth
into the storm and rout
and be my love in the rain

For all that had invaded his mind and taken up roost, the storm maiden had never really left his attentions. It was a daunting idea, the potential that it all spoke of, how his mind never really strayed from her even in his busiest. She had appeared into his life like a typhoon, she had thrown a spear at him for a hello. And yet...well, who else could claim that that was how they had met? She appealed to his title, bringing her own little hurricane into his melancholic world, shaking him up like a glow stick and twisting him about until he could shine through once more. In the span of moments not only had she fiercely captured his attention, but she had made him feel alive once more. As if he could finally function, could finally breathe what felt less and less like smoke and ash. He couldn't deny his curiosity, the odd attraction to her personality, to the darkness in her eyes.

She had plucked a feather from his wing without a care, and though it stung he had stared in delighted bewilderment at her sass, her fire. And so he had allowed her to keep it, the tawny feather with the pale golden filaments. In her wake she had left her own, and he had grasped those as well, a sort of breathless emotion he dared not investigate or stoke burning anew in his chest. He'd had Valiance tie it into his mane, just in sight of his peripheral vision, and mumbled his way through an explanation to a smugly grinning Resplendence about whom it had come from. How could he explain the strange magnetism he already felt for the mare in the Grove without her berating him for feeling it so quickly? Kaj had lost his heart to too many, had watched them kiss and caress it only to suddenly sink their nails into it and tear it into meaty shreds. The idea of letting Cirrus anywhere near that power was terrifying, and he was no less of a stallion to admit that. She was an entirely new entity, capable of destroying where others had only damaged. Evangeline, Kahlua, dare he say even Mirage did not have the force and beauty that Cirrus brought to the floor. And he feared to see her again, aware she may throw another branch onto the slowly burning coals of what his thoughts created from her.

Yet still he worried for her regardless. She had lost something integral to her soul, and the pain she had shown to him had nearly swept him away on a tidal wave of her own grief. Kaj had always had a problem with trying to fix things, alleviate the pain of others. Though it made him no healer, it often led him to lovers whom he thought were in dire need of a knight in shining armor. The irony of the fact was that those seemingly helpless maidens always ended up stabbing a new iron stake into his heart. So he carefully kept himself from thinking of the captivating warrior too often, even though he was helpless to stop the smile that always attempted to spread across pale golden lips when her feather caught his eye.

So when the invasion was over and the meetings through, he found himself with her electric eyes and quiet tears as goodnight memories, her firestorm smile and playful feathers dancing in his head far more often without the worry of the invasion looming in his mind. Setting about his patrols was all that could keep thoughts of her at bay, the way she intrigued him almost addictive. He wanted to cast aside his plans and head south for the desert sooner than he had intended, if only to catch sight of her rather than converse with her Sultan. It was shameful, and he berated himself for it. But storm called to storm, and he could not keep his worries for her out of his mind. Had she succumbed to another bout of her grief? Did she have anyone else to help her keep it at bay? For a moment he was almost jealous, before sharply reminding himself that such emotions were inappropriate. But she had cried for him, had she not? Ah, the conflict in him was too strong.

The only benefit so far to the new lands was that flight was far easier. Though the foliage was thick and colorful, the falls made it a prime land for pegasi, and at last he was capable of patrolling from the skies. A content noise vibrated in his throat, preening towards the autumn sun with arched neck, a powerful surge of his wings seeking to thrust him further towards the warm rays on his skin. As he opened his eyes he saw another figure in the distance, swooping down towards the borders, an unidentifiable blur of movement. Tilting his wings, Kaj frowned softly to himself, a little wary of whom it was so soon after the invasion. The winds guided him well, the borders a blur of peace beneath him until he too dropped through the treetops and -

She was there.

Kaj felt his breath catch and he stumbled, quickly hiding that with a flush up his neck that he was glad could never be seen. She was grazing, a little listlessly, but she had a certain light about her that washed away Kaj's worries. She'd been better, then. A warm, welcoming smile stretched easily across his face as he nickered out to her in wordless greeting, lest she somehow missed him literally dropping down from the sky in front of her. "Cirrus," he breathed warmly, advancing towards her. The wind kept her feather apparent in his peripherals, and he wore it with pride, unafraid to display it before her. Except...wait...his heart caught momentarily to see the tiny flash of caramel in her mane, out of place brightness in a stormcloud of dark. She had worn his feather as well? No matter the chill of the outside air, all Kaj could feel in that moment was a pervasive, intimate sort of warmth.

"Should I be the one throwing the spear this time?" he chuckled, eyes fond and clearly teasing. He moved towards her easily, as if he'd ever stood a chance at staying away. Pale muzzle dipped towards her, seeking that familiarity, that close breathless touching they'd parted on if only for a moment. "You look well," was said softer, not as easily broadcasted, with an undercurrent of relief and delight to see her shining with the full power and beauty she possessed. "What brings you here?" Kaj tried not to be ashamed at the fact that as a Czar, he should have asked that first. He didn't dwell on what it meant that it was an afterthought with her.

@[Cirrus]

oh come forth
into the storm and rout
and be my love in the rain

Darkened points pricked on her tiara the moment their eyes met, and something warm and odd in his stomach twisted to see her face alight with joy at the mere sight of him. Though he could not deny that his body was similarly eager, ears pricked and massive hooves moving forth as if she was polar north and he a compass point. Never did the thought cross his mind that she was trespassing. He never doubted her, never feared her or was wary of her presence. Instead he delighted in simply seeing her at his borders, as uncaring if she'd stepped just over the line as he would have been if she'd dropped from the sky straight into the heart of the herd. It was a thought he would have to ruminate on later, for all that it told him in the span of one moment about what he felt for her.

Her curled lips felt like the most soothing spring water on a hot day, whiskers kissing and tickling his maw which could not help but lift in the same expression. She was glowing, and though part of it was her inherent magic, Kaj could not simply label it as that. Her color that day matched his, two little pinpoints of brightness on a backdrop of emerald, coming together and sharing breaths and scents as if they had been slowly dying while apart. Kaj internally shuddered to realize how long he had been waiting to see her again, how often she had occupied his thoughts and worries. But it was swept away on the tide of her exaltation, what he had been so dearly hoping to see painted on her face since he'd initially come across her. For she looked like the warrior queen she was meant to be, when that come-hither vixen smile was curled on her lips, taunting and teasing him with how much he wanted it to stay. If he had his way, he'd never see her painted in sorrowful lights again, only blazes of euphoria and righteousness.

Perhaps he recognized the storms that resided inside her, called out to it with a fervor, found kinship in their similarities. Whatever it was, he leaned further into her touch for a moment, breath momentarily coming out shaky. He was removed from that thought as she lipped at him, catching playfully on his sensitive muzzle and bringing forth a deep, rolling laugh like a summer thunder storm from his chest. And at last she spoke - oh dear maiden let me hear thy voice - and it was like a crooning sigh of wind over long grasses, sinuous and pleasing all at once.

A moment of panic clutched his heart to see her suddenly stare anew at him, as if startled by something he had said. It lasted but a moment, and he did not allow it to show upon his visage, but he worried quietly in the back of his mind nonetheless. She dispelled it summarily, a quick collection of words that had him paying close attention to the attractively mischievous smirk on her face. He craned his neck in an almost preening motion as he watched her advance on him, perfectly still and loose-limbed, unnervingly trusting. He shivered to feel her touch against his hide, in such a blatantly intimate, teasing manner. It set him alight, stoked a fire in his blood.

And yet she was gone in a flash, and Kaj was certainly not mistaking the twinkle of mischief and merrymaking in her gaze that winked back at him. It was followed by a real wink, a toss of her mane and playfully challenging words. It shocked a laugh from him once more, a growl coming from his throaty vocals as he narrowed his eyes mock-angrily at the vixen and her wiles. "Why you," he rumbled, breaking off in an exhilarated laugh as she sprung away from him and went racing down the hillside. Kaj never wasted a second, thundering after her on long limbs. He watched her throw herself to the mercies of the winds, as trusting as he in the fact that she would not be let down or mistreated.

Massive canopies of feathers shifted from his side, fitting his stature. They gleamed a mix of tawny gold and gilded ivory, lifting his frame in one hard push off the earth. Wind whistled in his ears, but all he could hear was her laughter resounding in his head. He pursued her, beating his wings hard to catch up with the lither bird. Magic brewed in his chest, clouds darkening with tension and dry heat, static electricity building up harmlessly across his muzzle. Arcing lights of the palest blue complimented the eyes they framed, and as Kaj swooped close down towards Cirrus' hindquarters he reached for her, aiming a harmless nip at the meat of her rump that would simultaneously shock her with his magic.

He hoped to see her reflect the darker clouds he summoned, to see her mirror his magic, his creation. Kaj was struck with a sudden primal urge to see her marked up with everything about him, everything he owned. It slammed into him, and he wheeled away from her in a sharp turn, taking the chance to distract himself by changing the tides of their game of tag. Still, it winded him to feel the force of such possessive desires. What spell had she spun over him, to trap him so effectively in her web already?

@[Cirrus]

oh come forth
into the storm and rout
and be my love in the rain

He stole the skies from her grasp, no matter how enchanted he was by the pale pastels that painted her so perfectly. She was beautiful in every shade and shape created, as stunning in her sorrow and despair as she was in that very moment before him, delighted and carefree. Untouchable to him regardless of whether he could pursue her physically. It was easy to summon his magic, to watch darkness spread like ink blots across her mirror hide, forever blending into her heavenly surroundings but never capable of being overlooked in his eyes. She was too brilliant, too all-consuming. It led him to ponder one more, this time with a great deal more aggravation, how nobody had deigned to help her through her mourning.

He chases the thoughts away by surging forward, electricity crackling playfully on his teeth as they graze against the swell of her supple bottom. Kaj refused to allow that thought to get away from his control, her squeal as his teeth connected helping to drive away the tempting, sinful thoughts he attempted to conjure. He could not allow himself to be attracted to the storms that lived in their veins, the one he saw in her eyes even in the brilliant sunlight she'd summoned on her arrival. A whirlwind of light if nothing else. She was capable of so much more with her elements than he, who brought about only destruction and pain.

He fell away from her with a booming, thunderous laugh. Free from her kicking limbs and affronted expression. Broad wings swept him away to the left in tandem as she rolled just as sharply to the right, let him spiral as tight as his large body could allow in an expression of almost childish glee at his success. His laughter was ceaseless, and it rolled from him like the endless waves of the Edge which he still missed like a hole to the heart. And yet she chased the phantom edges of the wound away, patched it up so that while in her presence he once more could feel lighthearted joy rather than guilt and loss. Somehow she had become as good for him as he hoped he was for her.

There was little hope in outrunning her, valiant though his efforts were. Cirrus had the physique and magic to overcome him, though he playfully kicked out at her as she approached from behind, as fast as his own summoned lightning. Pale blues narrowed on the stick she carried, a slightly hysterical laugh accompanying the sudden massive grin that split his handsome features. Ah, the dreaded spear returns! Head reared away from it, but it bopped him firmly on pale muscled neck regardless. Kaj lunged for it, eyes glinting with challenge and mischief, as if attempting to latch onto the stick and wrestle it from her like a dog. It slipped away, just as she did moments later, spiraling high on sparrows wings.

She taunted him from above, but Kaj had risen to follow her before the command had ever tasted her lips. There was no thought to ever be left behind, to let her slip away and leave his grasp much less his gaze. Mane whipped wildly in the growing storm, and Kaj fed into it insistently, uncaring of old fables and warnings to foals about flying in storms. He would suffer the consequences of death and destruction if it meant flying with the beautiful vixen in the heart of a storm they'd created together.

A pale form in the gathering navy and muted charcoals, he surged upward to meet her on powerful thrusts rather than spiraling ascension. Two entirely different forms and methods of flight, but they suited each player perfectly. Kaj let sparks dance on the ends of his wings, tickling and stimulating each primary father. An unconscious, primordial display that his conscious mind and heart would not admit to nor freely warrant. "Is that your best?" he taunted, blood hot and pounding in his ears as he grinned across the empty distance surrounding them. He wanted it gone. Lifting higher on a sweeping stroke he descended just as swiftly down towards her, circling her tightly until their feathers were nearly kissing. Kaj banked, peering at her from between two bent forelegs, his grin carefree and boyish but challenging at the edges. The winds began to buffet even his massive frame, but he remained in her clutches even still, heart racing at the adrenaline, the fear, the promise and danger. Their storm was growing out of control, but he would face the consequences later. The real Heart of the storm was balanced before him on midnight wings, more captivating than the elements around them could ever hope to be.

@[Cirrus]

oh come forth
into the storm and rout
and be my love in the rain

The world faded behind and around them, concealed as effectively by the stormy clouds as by their own passions. Kaj could not recall the last time he had laughed so freely, so joyously. For all the fear and trepidation most storms called to primordial responses, he could feel only exhilaration and something far hotter, far more dangerous that burned like coals inside his chest. Kaj feared, as all mortal things fear, that he would not be able to resist the pull that drew him towards a woman too dangerous for a weak man such as himself. There was no denying how she made him feel, how she swept into his rather ordinary life and gripped him by the ears, dragging him forth into a realm he had not allowed himself into. Careful, always careful, he had told himself for so long, pounded into his head. Why be careful? She asked him with every move and shudder of her sinuous body, and he had not had a good answer for her. What else had he missed out on? What other possibilities had he blinded himself to?

She took away all questions, all concerns with a simple stare. He lost himself to the storm that radiated from her soul, because that was what it was. It was no simple act of weather, she had built and constructed it from her very being. And she had allowed him to build upon it, to stitch and seam them together into a singular being. He watched her rise from beneath him, close enough to steal her breath, to steal her. To keep her far away from anyone else, because everything Kaj had ever loved or wanted had always been stolen from him. He would never want to keep her chained, so free and violent was her spirit, but he hungered for her passion to be solely his. So intense was that train of thought that he could hardly breathe, and she ascended between his legs, breast sliding against his own. Could she feel the pounding of his heart against her skin, desperately seeking freedom so that it may leap into her embrace as it so clearly desired? How could she not?

She was so close that he could hardly think, barely registered that she was pushing them higher, higher above the clouds and the storm and the worries that awaited the kingly portion of Kaj far below. She took him and brought him higher, trapping herself willingly in his embrace, and he let her. He asked it of her with every searing glance that he could never seem to tear away from her frame. Take me away. He would do the same for her in an instant should she only ask. In that moment Kaj was so taken with her, so woven into her framework that had the words slipped her lips, he would have abandoned everything in the span of a breath, a heartbeat.

Their wings beat together, slow and leisurely as she hoisted them with her magic, and he gazed into her eyes and never dared to look away. Why should he? There was nothing better to see for miles around. They were a singular entity, adrift on a sea of inexplicable emotion. Untouchable. And he never noticed the thinning air, for she had already stolen everything else he owned, why not his breath as well? She was warm and malleable against him, locked in his embrace though he did nothing to further restrain her. Her willingness was what made it so precious to him, that she would rather remain with their hearts so close than tear away to enjoy to the atmosphere they'd risen into.

Her breath caressed him, the sole warmth that did not come from her hide, and on it words he could scarcely decipher. And all at once it came to him, why he felt he was truly choking, and what was left in his lungs was lost on an outward breath of shock as they crumpled like shot birds and began to fall. Perhaps he was stronger than her, his lungs capable of higher capacity only long enough to watch her drift away from him so suddenly. It felt as if he had been seared, stabbed with a hot iron straight to the heart. He dove to meet her, tucking his wings tight with what little mental capacity he had left. Even as his vision swam he pushed to meet her, one solid beat of his wings pushing him towards the earth rather than an uncontrolled downfall, purposefully racing to meet her before any harm could befall her.

"Cirrus!" It was a bellow, a ricochet of sound that seemed to magnify upon itself until it was a lion's roar. It clasped inside its syllables a promise, a fear for her safety. Lifting just beneath her, he slipped his wing beneath her own to help right her, hovering just below her as he fought the winds that buffeted them. Jaw clenched and ears pinned against the hurricane, the typhoon, the tempest. His body was prepared to sweep beneath her, to bear her weight even at the expense of his own wings. Should they fall, it would be together, and he would sooner break his body upon the earth and spare her life than allow her to fall alone, doomed. "I have you," he rumbled, a promise, a vow as his eyes seemed to spark and catch in their foxlike slants.

"Slowly, we'll make it," he called to her, letting himself descend with the words, gazing up at her from a whirlwind of pale locks. Encouraging, swearing to catch her the moment she allowed herself to follow him. His mass held better against the winds, and he pumped his wings until his shoulders ached to remain in place, to shadow her descent and ensure her safety.

He should have known in that moment that he was long gone.


@[Cirrus]

oh come forth
into the storm and rout
and be my love in the rain

They dropped from the ceiling of the gods like stones, pitiful in the wake of the storm they'd created, lashed against - a beast railing against its owner, its creator. But with what little draining strength the golden brute still had, he pursued the little cloud dancer, fighting just as furiously against the winds that buffeted him from his course. They had ascended together, breathed in a peace so calm it had burned their lungs. He had felt her heartbeat thud its way across his skin, and if they fell, it would be together.

Kaj felt filaments brush again his own, damp but struggling valiantly. She was a fighter till the end. Why was it that it was so intoxicating to him? With a little exertion, which he had to continue with what meager support he could give her in the vortex, they righted themselves. Even in her exhaustion she was radiant, as beautiful in her natural colors as when the storm played itself like ivory keys across her hide. He told himself that when they escaped this, he would tell her as much. Cirrus didn't seem the type for flowery words and extravagant gifts, but she could just deal with it, because sometimes she made him feel like his heart was so high in his throat it was painting his tongue with all the words he wanted to say to her. So far he'd been capable of choking them down, ignoring them, but something had shifted and clicked into place with this dance on death's door.

Her breath was a singular source of warmth in the freezing storm they'd created together, pinpoints of light and comfort where she lay her cheek roughly against his flank. The eye was calmer, and he led her down, towards whatever land met their hooves below. His patrols could wait, and the magnanimity of that statement resounded purposefully inside his soul. Terrifying, thrilling. Like how she made him feel, how flying with her inspired him. It was slow going, a vow he had intended to keep no matter the cost. One he'd blessedly managed to keep.

When they landed, it sang vibrato up his legs, tense and unsteady as he stumbled on the greenery. Overhead their storm was slowly, reluctantly dispersing, and though his wings ached with flight and the fight it had become, the Czar forced the one nearest to her up above her shorter frame to shelter her from the downpour that refused to cease. It did little, but to him, it was the gesture that held meaning. Barrel chest heaved in air, knees locked lest they give out on his massive bodice and send him crashing embarrassingly to the soggy earth at his hooves.

Amongst his breathless panting he caught the shift of her gems from the corner of his eye, and crown swung tiredly to regard her with an intensity no exhaustion could dim or dull. As her lips quirked into a grin, his own slowly sparked to life, a breathless rumbling chuckle forming pleasantly in his throat. That was one of the craziest things Kaj had ever done. And he'd do it again. "That was amazing," the beast laughed, eyes wild and grin lopsided with a manic edge that she'd helped craft. She held a magnetic pull on him, one that unleashed a primordial beast he was always hesitant to liberate from its cage. It was a dangerous, dark, sexy thing. Intoxicating, a drug that she spiked into his veins with a look, a single shiver of her wings, the slant of her eyes and the quirk of her smile. It scared him in a way, but something far deeper in his soul was roaring its joy and appreciation. She was transforming him, unchaining him. But he'd placed those chains on himself, and it was a daunting prospect to have them removed.

When her smile died his own sputtered out, extinguished as much by the rain as by her expression. Brow drew close over electric eyes, and Kaj stumbled closer to press his maw up against her cheek, breathe across the arches of her face and offer comfort and forcefully draw her attention back to him. "Hey," he rumbled, nudging her gently. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Tired as he was, bodice stirred at the question on his own lips, straightening and solidifying in preparation to aid her whether she liked it or not.

@[Cirrus]