the Rift


[OPEN] by the sea

Najya Posts: 90
Dragon's Throat Alchemist atk: 7 | def: 10 | dam: 4
Mare :: Equine :: 15.1 :: 7 (Tallsun) HP: 67.5 | Buff: NOVICE
A'mal :: Plain White Dragon :: Shock Breath Kiki
#1

There was something about the endless expanse of ocean that reminded her of home, the one she’d left behind years ago. The shimmering seas seemed to mirror the way that the heat waves used to dance across the very tops of the dunes, tricking those unfamiliar with the sands into the illusion that water was near.  Anyone who had been raised near the desert had been taught at an early age of the sands deadly tricks.  But here the illusion was ruined by the salt air that filled her nostrils.

The larger of the waves looked like the tops of the snow-capped mountains visible from the very heart of her homeland.  The same mountains that had held the ruin of her people.  But the waves?  They seemed less daunting than the mountains. For as quickly as they formed they were gone again, bursting against the stones and the shoreline in an explosion of seafoam. 

The little mare stood ankle deep in the warm water.  It seemed even the water lacked its refreshing quality as the sun continued to bake the earth below.  But Najya had been born amongst the sands with the sun beating on her back, she was used to the extremes.  Still, seeing the waves explode around her fetlocks at regular intervals was more soothing than the temperature of the water. 

She looked up and watched as A’mal busied herself with fishing just beyond the curl of the waves.  It was amazing to think this had been the once graceless dragon that had been so reluctant to test her wings over any great distance. The little dragon’s confidence had grown as she had grown physically and now she appeared fearless as the mare watched her swoop and dive on well practiced wings.  The mare couldn’t help but smile as she stood on the shoreline, for the little dragon she’d named hope had returned that to her.  Even with the constant change and the tumultuous life that Helovia had to offer, Najya felt as if she were prepared to weather the storm. 

It was this line of thought that led her into thinking of the future.  With Gaucho’s demise and the Sunspear gone, the Throat had a new leader. A healer. It brought back all the memories of her mother’s prowess in the healing arts.  She remembered watching her mother burn herbs and using the colored smoke in rituals that cleansed those who were ill.  Now she wrote off her mother’s abilities to equal parts magic and nature, but she was skilled nonetheless.  She’d just been too intrigued with the stories of the world and the legends of the elders to appreciate her mother’s skills. But not now.  Not after seeing what she’d seen.  While it was always good to have a healthy appreciation for history, the stories could not save the wounded and heal the sick.  There was a value in both, and Najya felt the need to find the balance between a childish fancy and a need to have a purpose in a new world. 

Perhaps she’d finally find a place here.  She’d promised, after all. She let out a soft sigh as A’mal let out a contented squawk from somewhere over the waves.  Feeling her bonded’s contentment, the little dragon swooped low over the mare and deposited three silver fish at the mare’s feet before eliciting a string of happy chirps and returning to the business of fishing - forgetting for a happy moment that her equine bondmate lacked her taste for fish. Najya just rolled her eyes as the dragon continued her antics, casually moving the fish out of the way with her tattooed foreleg. “Thanks, A’mal,” she murmured, under her breath, failing to contain the peel of laughter just barely hidden beneath the words. 

- N A J Y A -

OOC: Open to any!
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Cathun Posts: 88
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 3.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17.1 :: 3 HP: 60 | Buff: NOVICE
Tai
#2
Slå mig hårt i ansiktet så får jag känna att jag lever
The sea.

Cathun has an interesting relationship with the element of water.  Born as a ball of fire, literally, the natural assumption might be the boy hates water.  The element standing exactly opposite his own, to the eyes of many, once to his own perception as well.  Still, he does not hate water; envy might be a more apt description of his emotion toward it.

Underneath the obvious image of fire and water, the elements themselves shared many characteristics.  Where water had the reputation of being a soothing force, Cathun knew the potential for raging storms, tsunamis, and violent death at the hands of the sea.  Fire, in comparison, rarely became remembered as anything other than destruction.  The element had a voracity unmatched by water, seeking to consume all.  Living within the Dragon's Throat had taught the boy, much to his own distaste (for it would be easier to hate the base element of his nature), that fire could be the basis for life.  The sun above gleaming brightly as a constant reminder here.  While the world had began to prepare for the slumber of winter, the Dragon's Throat remained stubbornly warm in the embrace of the Sun. The two elements held other similarities; their fluidity in appearance, the hypnotic properties that left you staring at them intensely.  The unpredictable movement, the dance they held naturally.
Opposite sides of the same coin.

Still, to the unknowing eye, Cathun appears out of place.  After the last of his beads broke during the audience with the God of the Spark, his body had erupted in waves of flame.  The humanity of his flesh stripped away, leaving only a gleaming beacon of fire shaped roughly that as his own.  Tendrils of flame licked at his neck, appearing much like a burning version of his old twisted mane, billowing violently in the salty air.  Upon the ephemeral neck rested the golden necklace which previously contained his curse.  A burning man walks the shore line, steam rising from the sands as the water rises in protest.

This is not a happy union of the two elements, which is mirrored in the dejected and slightly annoyed expression formed in his mesmerizing visage of fire.

He sees her from quite some distance, and though his mood is sour on this day at the beach, chooses to plod easily over in her direction.  The instructions of the God of the Spark were clear; he needed to sympathize with others in this world.  He needed to, if you wanted to live.  That desperation, that driving force both sullies his spirit and drives it forward.
Cathun would not have the suffering of his mother be for nothing.  The risk his father took to rescue him would not be in vain.  He would live.
He had to.

As he approaches, he is cautious to remain distant enough from the mare that the sparkling embers floating from his figure do not find their way to her flesh.  "Cathun," he offers with forced interest.  This mare, painted brown with small dots of white speckling her frame like an odd night sky, did not appear familiar to him.  He had been gone a long while.

"Do you eat fish?" his voice is genuinely incredulous, eyes drifting down to see the carcasses of fish near her hooves, though they appeared to have been pushed slightly away.  Cathun had never met an equine who ate meat of any kind.

""



ooc -- Sorry if it's a little bumpy for a while!  Trying to hone in on his character still.

Image by Yewrezz


@Najya

» Magic and Violence is permitted at all times
» Please tag me!

Najya Posts: 90
Dragon's Throat Alchemist atk: 7 | def: 10 | dam: 4
Mare :: Equine :: 15.1 :: 7 (Tallsun) HP: 67.5 | Buff: NOVICE
A'mal :: Plain White Dragon :: Shock Breath Kiki
#3

He appears like some divine figure along the shore, the very opposite of inconspicuous. Even as the little mare watches her dragon dive and play in the waves, it is impossible not to notice the effigy of a man wandering along the shore.  Even the faintest glimmer of flames is enough to draw her wandering mind back from the great distances it had already traveled - far across some other sea than the one that laps at her ankles.  If Najya hadn’t known better she would have thought that the figure of Cathun walking the beach had been a divine manifestation of the Sun himself, not a boy who’d been set aflame - cursed to wander Helovia ablaze. Najya had seen a lot in her short life. She’d seen kingdoms fall. Innocents slaughtered.  She’d seen Gods die. But she’d never seen anything like this. 

Like him

Because as he drew nearer it was evident that this was a living, breathing creature not a divine apparition or a mere wisp of flame.  Her eyes drift over him curiously, carefully, but she does not flee or move away.  She chances another glance at the dragon still mindlessly circling the waves before the stranger draws to a halt a comfortable distance from her side.  If she had learned anything at all over her years, it was to withhold judgment.  All the myths and legends she had tirelessly studied had taught her this, and her experience had driven the point home. Had she simply judged Shahan, her long dead mate, on the rumors that surrounded him she would have never gotten to know the person behind the rumors. Would have never become his queen. Would have lived a life without knowing his love. All that was gone now, but the experience remained and that she treasured. 

The stranger spoke then, a name that was unfamiliar. But he had clearly noticed A’mal’s gift to her bonded floating idly past on the tide, and 

Najya, who’d always done a poor job of keeping her feelings from her face, couldn’t help but smile.  “I don’t,” she remarked smoothly, looking up at the stranger with a small smile on her dark lips, “Though I can’t say I’ve ever tried...or had the inclination to do so.”

“She does, however,” she said, nodding to the little dragon who had abruptly turned towards shore when she realized that her bonded’s attention had been captured by someone other than herself.  A’mal, entirely unperturbed by the fact that this stallion was quite literally ablaze, landed in the shallow waters between the two equines.  Catching sight of the three fish that her bonded had pushed aside, the dragon quickly bounded forward and caught one in her jaws before looking back over at the stranger.  Curiosity bubbled in her chest and, as such, Najya’s mind. 

With what could hardly be described as grace, the tiny dragon bounded back towards Cathun and carefully placed the fish at his feet before looking up at the burning man with wide, golden eyes.

>Friend?< Najya heard, spoken into her mind - louder than a whisper but in a voice that was undeniably separate from her own.  She looked down to see the little dragon looking at her intently for a mere moment until her gaze flicked away towards the burning stallion, before nosing the fish even closer to his hooves.  It was the first word A’mal had spoken through their bond, and appropriate choice considering the little dragon’s naturally extraverted manner. 

“She likes you,” she felt as if she was stating the obvious since A’mal still sat patiently at the stallion’s feet, but made the remark nonetheless.  “I’m Najya and she’s A’mal. It’s good to meet you Cathun,” there was something definitevely foreign about her voice, but it was warm too. 

She was quiet for a moment before she found her voice again, and this time the words were quieter, reserved. “The flames...do you feel them?” she asked, with a genuine note of curiosity paired with concern in her voice. “I’m sorry I know that’s rude of me. Please don’t feel obligated to answer.” She shook her head as if she were disappointed in herself for letting the words escape, causing the little disks on her headpiece to jingle. Magic in her homeland had been...different than the magic here in Helovia. Since coming to this place she had seen beautiful things, terrible things, and everything in between…

But nothing quite like him.

- N A J Y A -

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[ooc: finally a reply after the longest work week ever! <3]
@Cathun

Please tag NAJYA in all replies. 
Force & magic are permitted, but please check before inflicting serious injury.
Thank you!
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Cathun Posts: 88
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 3.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17.1 :: 3 HP: 60 | Buff: NOVICE
Tai
#4
Slå mig hårt i ansiktet så får jag känna att jag lever
The mare seems calm, surprisingly, considering a burning man walks toward her with purpose.  Her eyes hold a bright curiosity yet no fear.  That he had not frightened her was a good thing, for it is hard to hold conversation with those stricken silent by fright.  With his question, the shock still lighting his voice into an ugly tone the mare's face lights up with happiness.  It is a strange feeling, with Cathun standing aghast at the thought of eating fish, to have the mare smile happily in response.

The expression sets his heart at ease, for after months without much direction interaction with others, the ability to hold a conversation apparently no longer existed in his skillset.  The calm, steady presence of this mare is comforting, at least, with the whirlwind of experiences he had already been faced with since his return.  Like an anchor in the see she stood, poised and gentle, looking at him with no fear or disgust.  Something he likely did not deserve.

She does.  His eyes drift toward the waves, seeing a small white figure flickering between them.  A dragon, he recognizes immediately, and smiles in spite of himself.  That would explain the fish, and it also pointed out just how long he had been away from Helovia.  To assume an equine would eat fish before thinking of their bonded being some sort of carnivore was absurd.  The reptile rushes to the shore, plucking a fish in her strong jaws and plods over to him, eyes wide with a gentle expression.

The fish is dropped at near him and slowly edged closer to his figure.  An offering, perhaps, but Cathun is not quite sure what to do with such a thing.  The idea of eating a fish fills him with disgust, but even in his unrefined skill as a conversationalist, he knows to rebuke the extension of friendship is rude.  Deliberate and calm, he lifts a flaming hoof from the sand, resting it easily on the fish while it sizzles beneath.

The stallion nods in response to the statement, feeling more comfortable as his companions except his odd presence kindly.  After a few moments he carefully turns the fish over, settling his hoof on the other side to cook the meat.  "A pleasure to meet you two as well, Najya and Amal," he says evenly but honestly.  Time had left him disoriented in a place he once called home.  All for nothing.

The straightforward question catches him quite offguard, though it should not.  Much like a giant pink elephant standing between them, the fact he appeared composed of flames did not escape her notice.  He removes his hoof from the fish and looks down at the small reptile before sliding it easily in her direction.  "No," he says.  "Physical pain has never been my burden to bare."  The voice is surprisingly dark despite his attempt to quash whatever worries she had for his physical safety.  The bitter taste of self-hatred finding its way on his tongue, thinking back to all the destruction and death that had been his fault.

"You needn't worry."

It's tacked on toward the end of a grim silence, like an afterthought.

""

Image by Yewrezz


@Najya

» Magic and Violence is permitted at all times
» Please tag me!


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