like the ocean kissed the sky,
at the most beautiful place under the sun

“Yes! There are four, each a patron to a herd,” Tiamat smiles gently when questioned about the Helovian gods. To be honest, the ocean mare doesn’t know much about the deities herself, and with the recent battles that have risen with each one, her heart struggles to grasp at favorable opinions. Aren’t gods meant to protect, teach, and guide? Not bring hate and bloodshed to those who would sacrifice themselves for their divinity’s cause…but, the blue mare has come to realize that she cannot understand everything, their reasons are likely honorable, and—if nothing else—they warrant her respect. As much as she hates the violence, she can’t help but cling to her hope, and accept that all will be well in the end.

Shifting her weight and pressing her mind forward to more encouraging things, Tiamat looks down at the filly softly, her brow knitting together in an expression of curiosity. “Is there a different god where you come from?” It isn’t difficult for the ocean mare to piece together that Galiel likely isn’t a native to Helovia. While the young one’s questions might simply rise from a sheltered youth, her strange accent promotes other possibilities—possibilities that inspire Tiamat’s own questions (concerned as to why a filly would be left on her own at all, much less in an entirely new world).

Her heart goes out to Galiel, and she is tempted for a moment to reach out to her, embrace her, comfort her, and be there for her, but Tiamat manages to resist. After all, she has only just met the filly, and while her intentions might be nothing but honorable and caring, Galiel might very well see it differently coming from a stranger (even if they hardly feel like strangers at all). Settling with a warm expression, the ocean mare listens when the winged filly speaks of her mother, her accented voice drifting into a song.

“That’s very pretty, Galiel,” Tiamat murmurs, her voice hushed with emotion at the beauty and sentiment behind the girl’s lovely song, “my mother sings to me too.” She thinks of the wind as it descends from the clouds, humming over the hills and whistling through the crevices in her horn, nature’s song given to her. It clenches her heart, twisting it painfully, to think that Galiel might never hear her mother’s voice again—the thought too terrible to even spur the query to her tongue.

Instead she falls silent, listening when the filly continues, explaining her ignorance of magic. It seems so foreign to the ocean mare, to not believe, or to be afraid. “Magic is all around us,” she breathes in a breath of wonder, reverent almost, as she thinks of all the miracles and wonders—both god-sent and not—that proves such magic lives around them. It is truly marvelous. The ocean mare sighs to herself, intending to continue on that thought, when a loud clanking suddenly erupts through the serenity of the cave.

Tiamat is startled at first, muscles clenching as she prepares to shield Galiel from whatever it is, though her heart suddenly calms when the boy emerges with his…golem (and such a fascinating mechanism it is!). The mare chuckles blithely, relaxing with a smile softening her lips as Zero apologizes. “That’s quite alright. It is very nice to meet you, Zero—and you too, Squishy,” she gives a dainty curtsy of her head to each of them, white eyes alight beneath the blue glow, “My name is Tiamat.” Fluted ears prick forward when Galiel speaks, questioning Zero about his—wing? Peering closely at the colt, it is only then when she notices it—or rather, the lack of it. Instead there seems to be metal. “Does it hurt?” Her brow furrows in concern, her healer’s heart beating and leaping in her desire—need—to aid.


notes; Sorry for the wait!
“Speech.”