the Rift


[PRIVATE] Reunion Year

Knox Posts: 262
Outcast atk: 4 | def: 7.5 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17hh :: 7 Years [Tallsun] HP: 67.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Jen
#1



The walk home is long and strange. The hunter is not sure if he has ever spent so much time with his youngest brother; he is not sure if he has even ever spent so much time with his son. He lies to himself and says that he has, but in his heart of hearts he can't be sure he's right. Milo knows better, but neither of them will speak to each other for quite some time.

The journey isn't so long this time, and they find themselves back at the Falls before Knox can get annoyed at his son for walking too slowly. For the better, really--the last thing he wants Darwin to see is him losing his temper with his own, crippled son.

Knox snorts quietly when the border passes beneath his hooves, anxious to bring his old brother into his changed home. The Falls are decidedly not the Foothills, and Knox doesn't know what Darwin will expect to see or how he will react. Knox knows that Darwin has a potential to be dangerous, for all of Mandrake's sons have power of their own sort, and he doesn't want to get in trouble fro bringing Darwin here if he's just going to get upset.

But won't it be worth it, if it all works out? The hunter wants to think so, wants to believe that this isn't all a terrible waste of his time. After all, the reasonable part of him, the skeptical and mistrusting part, still can't bring itself to tell Darwin that he is his brother.

The shadow turns back to Milo, watching him with narrowed eyes that peer through the afternoon. If the boy hasn't spoken up before he certainly won't now, but Knox wishes he would. He finds he has trouble grasping the words, finding a way to speak to his long lost brother, and wishes Milo could cause some sort of distraction.

The colt just steps forward foolishly, his hind bunched to alleviate the weight of his own body. At a loss for any meaningful words but knowing that something must be said, Knox swallows and gets a grip on something useless: "Welcome to the Hidden Falls, Darwin."

Image Credits


@Darwin (omg I tagged Wilder at first wow) and @Archibald, perhaps others may join, idk your guys' thoughts? I will also be writing Milo in this thread.

Darwin Posts: 74
World's Edge Protector atk: 5.0 | def: 8.0 | dam: 6.0
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15 hh :: 4 Years (Ages in Birdsong) HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Antaa :: Common Zephyr :: Phoenix Skylark
#2
You found the secret,
you’d kill it
just to keep it.
Antaa had decided the entire way back to linger beside her bonded. Typically she enjoyed scouting ahead, but since she had no idea where they were headed she simply stayed glued to Darwin's side. She tucked herself into the crevice between Darwin's wings, watching everything that was happening. Letting her gaze trickle to Milo occasionally, and the happiness that set within her breast at the gentleness of the colt. Still, Darwin wasn't entirely sure about the man he had set out on the adventure with. Milo was pleasant company, despite being absolutely quiet. It was seemingly nice to know that a spawn of Knox could be so kind. So instead, in silence, Darwin followed the creature across the borders. He took in the lush scenery around him, letting his gaze dance across each and every new view that approached.

Eventually, they came to a stop and the man spoke. Darwin's ivory ears flitting to his words, as his lips pressed against each other momentarily. "So this is the Hidden Falls? It's a bit more than I was expecting, I guess." He admitted, turning his gaze to the black beast for a moment. Antaa kept a watchful eye, her head swiveling with each new sound and movement. "Do we just wait here for someone? Or...?" He questioned, an ear flicking back as he suddenly became overcome with nervousness. What if someone came that knew him? What if it was his own brothers? What if they didn't want him here? What then? At least he thought he kind of knew how to get out of here. Despite his brothers, he was graced with wings that could definitely keep him out of dangerous clutches. And if that didn't work, he at least had his magic.

It was a comfort that he relied on, like the backbone to who he was becoming. Being able to avoid getting into sticky situations by simply shifting into a phoenix. It was soothing to know that despite what demons could overcome him, at least he still had a part of him from his youth. He might not have had the perfect childhood, but at least he had that. He took a quick glance around again before shifting his weight and relaxing his wings for a few moments, relief swarming into the muscles that had carried the heavy appendages so tight the entire way.

"Talk."
darwin
image credits


@Archibald :D

Pixel by BronzeHalo @ Deviantart


Permission given for moderate power play.
Feel free to use magic/force on Darwin, without killing him.
Please tag in every post!

Milo Posts: 60
Outcast
Stallion :: Equine :: 16.2 hh :: 2 years [Birdsong]
Jen
#3
Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?

As we walk--I, painfully slow and at the back of our small collective--I focus my attention on two things. The first is the way home, for though I've a natural sense of direction Knox travels a different road than I ever have. Have I not found it or not looked for it? Is there really much of a difference?

Second, I keep my gaze flickering back to the little bird on fire. Yet another companion that is not my own, another love and joy I've been denied. She's friendly enough but she isn't mine--isn't mine to connect with so she can't be mine to lose. I already made that mistake once, and I don't ever plan to do it again. After one or two times catching her eyes, I put my head down entirely. It isn't just myself I should be watching out for, it's her.

Darwin's response to my father's lackluster welcome simultaneously irritates and pleases me. It resides somewhere between compliment and insult—injures somewhere between pride and apathy. Do I care for this home, the place of my birth, or is it simply somewhere I wander back to when the night comes, on a road so different from my father's?

Unsure of my own feelings, unable to respond, and not in any position to answer Darwin's question, I stand quietly in my father's shadow—a continued disappointment. My new uncle's question echoes in my own mind, my own slowly closing gold eyes. Is someone going to come, or are we really all alone out here?




""

Can the child within my heart rise above?
/ image

Archibald the Dauntless Posts: 386
Absent Abyss atk: 6.0 | def: 9.5 | dam: 8
Stallion :: Equine :: 18.3 hh :: 10 years HP: 80 | Buff: SHIELD
Loretta :: Alaskan Malamute :: Time Slip Time
#4
ARCHIBALD the DAUNTLESS
Cause You gotta be bigger, be faster, be stronger
If you're gonna survive any longer

Archibald does not know this, but he completely embodies Darwin's anxious thoughts. He is his brother, he has magic to keep him grounded, and he is the Czar of these lands.

The Dauntless lifted his head from grazing as Loretta alerted him to Knox's presence. His thief king brother was returning from some mission, surely, and Archibald was interested in seeing whom the dappled boy had brought to live with them now. Stepping onto the trail that would lead him to his brother(s) Archibald moved with ease and a calm demeanor. Loretta followed behind, trotting carefully yet with a nonchalant chip to her gait. The mass of the giant was hidden in thick trees and underbrush as he approached, but as his eyes caught sight of some familiar cluster of grey feathers, he was thankful for that and he stopped dead in his tracks. Loretta did as well, her ears pinning down into crimson fur. Is that really him!? Loretta's mind flashed images of Wilder in her bonded's memory, but Archibald pushed them away. No. It was not his brother that loved his mother--it was the union of the two.

Archibald lifted his head, gold eyes turning hard and nearly cold. He had thought the child dead.

Had he no loyalty? The Czar gritted his teeth some, and with a hardened jaw stepped from the brush and trees and shadows in all of his massive glory.

"Hello, Darwin." His voice was void of emotion, hard and baritone. Loretta moved quickly, trotting over to stand next to Milo. She made sure not to stand too close, and her amber eyes shifted up to Knox for permission, though she truly did not need it from him she did not know that. Archibald lifted his head, shoulders squaring. "I thought you were dead."


Image Credits


@Darwin @Knox


Through the ages of time
I've been known for my hate,
but I'm a dealer of simple choices;
for me it's never too late.


please tag me

Knox Posts: 262
Outcast atk: 4 | def: 7.5 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17hh :: 7 Years [Tallsun] HP: 67.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Jen
#5



It does not take long for Archibald to appear. This is not unexpected; these are, after all, his lands. Archibald has been king for as long as Knox can really remember,  even if not officially. Archibald was born to rule, to eternally be crushing someone (or thing) beneath his earthen hoof.

Knox never expected that even now, he would be so submissive to the Dauntless. But even with Mandrake long gone Knox's darker plans of revenge never materialized. No, he never had what it took to fight back, and so now he stands, pitiful, before his older brother's strength.

"Archibald," he says, voice inches from quivering. He will not show fear before his younger brother and son. His one good eye steels itself on Loretta, the sibling of his lost love, but the pain there is too much. Quickly, he returns to his brother's reliable lack of feeling.

"Darwin has returned and seeks the company of you and your brother, Knox; but I can see that the sleuth is not with you," Knox lies easily. It is easier, now, than telling the truth. "A shame, for he could tell this boy of how you welcomed him back to Helovia and this herd with forgiveness," he goes on coolly, trying to explain without revealing too much of his own weakness.

He scrapes one hoof along the earth and his tail, beginning to tangle more each day, swipes against his hocks. He does not look at Milo, he does not look at Darwin, he does not look at Loretta. This is between the hunter and his brother, vibrating along the line of their twinned but ever-competing authorities. They will never rule in the same way but they both have their power—their capability to hurt. Pray that Archibald remember.

Right now, all Knox wants is his brother back.


Image Credits


@Darwin HAHAHAH I SUCK

Darwin Posts: 74
World's Edge Protector atk: 5.0 | def: 8.0 | dam: 6.0
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15 hh :: 4 Years (Ages in Birdsong) HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Antaa :: Common Zephyr :: Phoenix Skylark
#6
You found the secret,
you’d kill it
just to keep it.
Darwin glanced around his surroundings more, letting his eyes linger on the unnamed man and Knox’s son. However, it didn’t take long before another joined in on the welcoming party. A vaguely familiar face, aged rather nicely in the time it had been since Darwin had seen him. Antaa’s eyes immediately swarmed to the canine companion of the Dauntless, keeping tabs on him while Darwin’s riverstone eyes set easily on the approaching beast that was his brother. In stature, the pegasus was small in comparison to him. But at least Darwin had the sky at his heels, wings along his sides, and as Archibald began to speak, he listened to hear the emotion he thought might fill his brother’s voice as it had the unnamed man. Yet, there was none. And as he approached further, he spoke of thinking him dead.

Before Darwin could respond, the man beside him that had lead him and his companion here began to speak. He spoke of how Archibald could welcome him back with forgiveness. Well, that surely didn’t seem right. He’d done nothing wrong by leaving. After his mother died, what was he supposed to do? The sun god himself told his brother to not let him become a pawn. Evers had left, and so had he. It only seemed fair. His ears flicked back in frustration for a brief second until he realized he should at least try to be nice. He was, after all, in their home.

So a grin grew across Darwin’s dark maw, his beard swinging with the movement as he took a single step toward the Dauntless while spreading his wings out at his sides. The barring of black in the middle with the white was bright in the light as his eyes sought out the golds of his brother. “Ah, Brother! No, not dead. Very much alive, but I’m sure you can see that.” His voice had changed some, instead of hostility he imagined it would bear, it held more of a playful tone to it. He wondered after all these years if the Czar had thought him dead, if he had taken a chance to look. Probably not, he imagined that Archibald probably had more important things to do than search for a simple lonely child. It just didn’t seem his style.

I spent some time outside of Helovia. There was always a lot going on here, so I decided to explore my options, you see. But I’m back now.” He smiled to Archibald, a genuine ‘hey i’m family so you gotta take me back and be nice’ kind of smile. Antaa, along the stallion’s back chirped to the man with the companion, uncertain of what kind of emotion seemed to run through her bonded at the sight of the black and white equine. He was large and even Antaa knew that Darwin could be treading on unsteady water.

"Talk."
darwin
image credits


HAHA I SUCK TOO omg.

Pixel by BronzeHalo @ Deviantart


Permission given for moderate power play.
Feel free to use magic/force on Darwin, without killing him.
Please tag in every post!

Archibald the Dauntless Posts: 386
Absent Abyss atk: 6.0 | def: 9.5 | dam: 8
Stallion :: Equine :: 18.3 hh :: 10 years HP: 80 | Buff: SHIELD
Loretta :: Alaskan Malamute :: Time Slip Time
#7
ARCHIBALD the DAUNTLESS
Cause You gotta be bigger, be faster, be stronger
If you're gonna survive any longer

It is a fleeting glance that gives Loretta the permissions she had so graciously sought. Instantly, her thickly furred shoulder pressed into the silver boy's knee, and her neck curled over as she licked Milo in greeting. Like Archibald's children, and Ranjiri, Loretta had some internal claim over Milo. Though this was different. It had not always been present. This resolve, this claim, this love only came when her sister died. The retriever had to retire her post as the boy's protector, and Loretta dutifully stepped in when she could. Though she was not quite as kind, as gentle, or as present as Manhattan had been in the boy's life, she tried. Hard.

Golden eyes moved from Wilder's son to the thief brother. Archibald's brow stiffened as the sleuth talked, his tail flicking against his hocks some, but his chin lifted with understanding. Knox had not revealed his identity to Darwin yet, otherwise this course of speech would be unnecessary and redundant. If there was anything Knox was not, it was stupid. The boy was a crafter of intellect, unlike Evers and his quest for knowledge, but still strong in his cunning. Archibald did not understand why Knox always chose to do this, but he did at least trust his brother. Somewhere in his words, he was right. Archibald dropped the anger of broken loyalty against Knox and let Aylin, him, and their child-to-be reside in his herd. However, Archibald knew they had gifts to offer the betterment of the other Hidden Falls residents. What the hell did Darwin have to offer?

Hard, golden eyes moved back to Wild--no, Darwin, and he looked him up and down. He looked scrawny in the way that vagabonds do. Too skinny, too rough. The Czar's eyes narrowed some. "What skills do you have that would benefit my people?" Archibald asked, his voice iced over with diplomatic seriousness. The warlord should never be taken lightly, and that was an evident truth as he took a step toward Darwin, crested neck arching some.


Image Credits


@Darwin
@Knox


Through the ages of time
I've been known for my hate,
but I'm a dealer of simple choices;
for me it's never too late.


please tag me

Darwin Posts: 74
World's Edge Protector atk: 5.0 | def: 8.0 | dam: 6.0
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15 hh :: 4 Years (Ages in Birdsong) HP: 64.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Antaa :: Common Zephyr :: Phoenix Skylark
#8
You found the secret,
you’d kill it
just to keep it.
Of course, stone gaze landed on his brother as Darwin noticed the gaze shift from him to the one who had brought him here. His head was held high, despite being near the Czar of the land – part of him not caring if Archibald didn’t want him to stay. It wasn’t as if he was searching for some long lost love from family. No, he had forgotten that idea long ago. Instead, he stuck his love and fierce loyalty to those that were far too young or defenseless on their own. Perhaps it was part of him that was obliging to the smaller child within him – the one that had to grow up alone, and grow up fast.

So when Archibald’s gaze returned to him, Antaa cooed gently to his bonded. Flames billowing lightly against the pale hide of the man. His fur was rugged looking, but normal for one that lived a vagabond lifestyle. He didn’t let that dwindle his pride. Instead, he continued to look upon Archibald, reflecting in the fact of the scars the Czar had, wondering if his brother even noticed the faint remnants of the ones he had as well. Darwin, more than likely, wasn’t as battle hardened as Archi, but he did fight, and he learned quickly with the band he stayed with while he spent time away from Helovia. His experiences caused his gaze to continue to linger as Archi’s golden hues caught his own, narrowing ever so slightly before he began to look the Pegasus over. “What skills do you have that would benefit my people?” It was an honest question, and Darwin shot a glance down to Milo (perhaps reflecting on the idea that the poor child was defenseless much in the way the young stallion had been in the beginning of his life as well) and returned his gaze to Archibald. “I might not be as experienced as you,” he began, subconsciously flinching as Antaa’s gaze slipped away from the equine before them and glanced over to the other company that stood within the ring, “But I’ve learned to fight and care for people in my time outside of Helovia. I can’t offer much, but I can offer my skills in making sure the border and its inhabitants are safe.” And just like that, his voice where it once was rugged and perhaps a bit joking was replenished with a more formal attitude. He was being honest, even if it partially pained him to admit his faults to his ebony kin.

"Talk."
darwin
image credits


@Archibald it sucks im sorry :|

Pixel by BronzeHalo @ Deviantart


Permission given for moderate power play.
Feel free to use magic/force on Darwin, without killing him.
Please tag in every post!


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