Her spidey senses are tingling, something keeps her awake tonight and sets her legs to wandering in the evening chill. Nights come earlier now, paving the way for winter with a voracious greed that seems to suck away both daylight and summer warmth at a faster speed than she can remember. The petite gold and silver mare moves quickly through the damp forest, letting intuition guide her hooves.

It leads her to Isopia, which isn’t truly surprising, yet always leaves Yael with some kind of awe in the back of her mind. I do not think my rank will be vacant for long… floats through the air towards her tall ears, and the Sage is taken aback. She pauses mid-step, listening to the rest when she hears Yael has proven to be most useful and wise…, words she’s always hoped to hear, but if she is completely honest, not quite this soon. It seems like she’s barely settled into her role as Sage (whatever that means, really, there is no prescribed course), when what she thinks she wants is thrust in her face.

“Isopeea? You are stepping down?” she inquires from behind the skull-marked woman, brows knit in confusion and concern. She’d missed the first part of the Seer’s address, and so she wonders what could possibly draw the duty-driven woman away. Not only that, but Yael had begun to think of Isopia as a friend, and that perceived abandonment (she knows it’s not, truly, she does) is what stings the most. If insomnia hadn’t led her here, would Isopia had even stopped to say goodbye?

Leaving?

Pregnancy?

Amaris had heard too much, she knew. She had heard that which she had no right to, and she felt a flood of emotions that she knew she should not.

But she couldn't stop them.

The words of the Moon Goddess advising them to use their brains were forgotten, as the waves of emotions rolled through her, as the tsunami peaked and then crashed through any rational thoughts that tried to form, washing them away and leaving nothing in its wake.

Nothing.

She was numb, then.
Then she was cold.

It was a foreign feeling, to be cold, for the dragonmare. Always warm, mostly impervious to cold, she could not deny the shivers that rattled her frame, as she stood, silent and shocked, behind the clump of trees.

Was this how her mother felt whenever a 'loyal' member of the Qian chose to reside elsewhere? Was this how Tandavi felt whenever she left to wander away?

Why did she feel this way?

Why?!

..because you love.

Slowly, she felt herself begin to thaw. She felt the love and concern and defiant warm presence of her companion fill her, raise her up from her dark thoughts, stir her from her emotional immobility and wake her up again.

Love? she questioned, thinking it curious that he would identify that as the feeling she associated with her Seer, her mentor. Love, he said with surety, somehow impressing in that one thought that it wasn't necessarily romantic love she felt, but love all the same. You feel deeply about all, he added, referring to the other mares who had gathered with Isopia.

Isopia, she thought absently, clutching to the name that she had not heard before, only ever knowing her as the Mountain that Knows - it was what she had introduced herself as, and so it was what Amaris would always call her.

After an age, she pulled herself from the darkness, her golden tones muted to silver in the moonlight, her dragon hanging back in the trees, watching from a high perch, the happenings below.

"Me too," she tailed on Alysanne's comment, her smile exuding warmth and happiness, despite the fresh turmoil her insides were going through. "If the Indomitable doesn't already know, tell him he has gained one of the finest mares in Helovia."

She wanted to say more, to ask more, to know more - but she held her tongue, knowing that even if she had a deep affection for this great bronze dragonmare, it was probably not returned, probably not considered the type of friendship where one could ask all of those questions and not be considered out of line.

"I will miss you, Mountain that Knows," she offered instead, at barely a whisper, because she was scared to voice it, scared to make it real.

Amaris

so i listen to the    wind for an answer

The small gathering of horses does not go unnoticed. Lyanna is, quite clearly, not the first to arrive, but she’s early enough to catch most of what’s going on, and piece the rest of it together. She hadn’t really known the Mountain, though the mare had been active and useful, to say the least. Moreso, she seemed wise and capable, but just as quickly as she had come, she was leaving to the Throat.

It hurts, but perhaps not much as it should. Lyanna isn’t sure why that’s the case. Perhaps because The Mountain’s reasons make sense, to leave for her family. Perhaps because this was not truly the mare’s home, and that too Lyanna could understand. Lyanna would not choose the Edge over Morham, if she had been given that choice. That choice was never going to come now, and she loves her second home, but in some sense it will always be just that –a second. Perhaps Lyanna has just grown too used to losing others, and the pain is dulled. Loss gets easier, in a way. Maybe easier is the wrong word, but certainly, it becomes more expected.

Lyanna joins the group quietly, coming to stand near Yael with a smile and a nod toward the group. She lets others talk, knowing this isn’t entirely her place. If she were not Queen, she wouldn’t be here at all. If she was still a Moon Doctor, she would have turned course and given the philosophers and monarchs their space, as she should have. Now though, by sheer title, she has some place here, but it still feels weird. When the conversation quiets, she offers Isopia a smile and a deeper nod. “You are always welcome here, should you ever want.” She doesn’t expect to see the other mare back, but still, she wants to make sure the offer is there. Having a home, even a backup one, is some small comfort.

lyanna

Her head bobs up and down in recognition. It is a common problem. “I, too, xaf done zat. Eet ees xard - and understandable.” There is no ill will towards the former Seer, though something inside her twinges illogically. Maybe it is in response to Yael’s previously unknown jealousy which rears its ugly head at that moment, her gaze landing on the swollen sides of the younger woman. Loneliness inside her balloons outward, stopped only by the approach of Alysanne and others. It gives her a moment to swallow it all, then wallow a bit. She does manage to keep a slight smile on her face, though, so hopefully the rest of the crowd can’t tell she’s battling emotions.

And they say it all, don’t they? Well wishes, congratulations, promises of welcome… there is nothing left to say, save for farewells. “Good luck, Isopeea. I’m sure our pats vill cross again.” How, and when, is always unknown, but fate seems to have thrown them together a number of times already - it is unlikely to stop just because they’re in different herds.  

Not while Kaos remains a mystery.

The stars seem to coalesce and come together in a bright flash, revealing the lavender deity. Draped in moonlight and adorned with a thousand sparkling pinpoints of light, the Goddess was as beautiful as ever, though there was a sour expression on her otherwise lovely features.

"I can't say that I am impressed." She began, pale stare focused on Isopia. A brow arched as she peered into the mind of her niece, snorting gently as her expression softened somewhat. "At least you had the brains to ask him to come here instead." The Goddess' leonine tail flicked behind her as she cast a cursory glance to the other mares assembled, nodding slightly towards each of them before returning to Isopia. "Hopefully you'll have as much fun raising those babies as you did making them." She cooed, her expression now mocking and amused.

Turning her silvery stare to Yael, the Goddess paused, considering a moment. "I hear you took my suggestion quite seriously with regards to Kaos and were even able to read what he wrote on his rock ... quite impressive Yael." The Goddess smiled proudly, head tilting in the moonlight. "You shall replace Isopia as my Seer. I have nothing more to add to my previous instructions, only that...a change is coming. I can feel it, even if I don't know what it is. Be mindful and clever." Her gaze flashed around to the rest assembled. "That goes for all of you, of course."

She comes in swathes of starlight and moondust, feminine and masculine in an unmistakeable mold of beauty and power. With an… unhappy look on her divine countenance. Yael still finds herself unsure of how to react in the Goddess’s presence, finding the capricious shifts between mocking amusement and disdain hard to follow. They think very differently, and Yael will soon find she must adapt to her mistress’s ways or be overwhelmed. Even blood relatives aren’t exempt, though it is clear that the words are teasing and mostly in good faith.  

Then the Moon’s gaze turns towards Yael, and the little foreigner finds herself caught in a measuring glance, as if the sum total of her parts are now being weighed and considered. Her glass chain seems to weighs heavily on her neck, the tet cold against bare flesh. No gestures of modesty will help her now, not when the Goddess beings to speak of her accomplishments, and she straightens herself to the fullest of her small stature (dwarfed, even now, by the other mares). “T’ank you,” she says proudly, graciously, her head now dipping in respect and acceptance. “Eet vould be my ‘onor, Goddess.”

And it is, there is no doubt about that, but the slightest bit of doubt creeps into her head as her thoughts turn to Kaos; she is unsure of the God’s warning (is the Goddess included in that?) about the other deity. Yael stands with half her body on one side of the line and half her body on the other, neither truly swayed in either direction, ears and eyes wide open for signs of deceit. And she finds potential in both parties, keenly aware that all is not what it seems. It rarely is.

“Understood. Ve shall conteenue to be logeecal.” Dispassionate. Perhaps there should be a herd discussion about this, to see if anyone else has information they’ve missed. Ah, but that idea is for tomorrow.

Amaris knew her feelings were just that - feelings, illogical, radical, wild, errant, feelings. Emotions, good for distorting one's view of the world, for inspiring ideas, for starting wars - Amaris knew she should not allow herself to succumb to them, but nor could she fight the tidal wave that rolled through her, again and again, it seemed to reform, bigger and meaner with each passing, leaving nothing but vacant numbness in its wake. She knew, as Isopia reacted with cool logic and distant words of vague fact, that she was wrong to feel this way, to want the Mountain to stay here, to cling to her if only for the sake of clinging to something steadying and right, a pillar of strength and wisdom, who could so easily leave them all for the love of an unborn child and unnamed father.

And yet, as the Goddess descended from her celestial pedestal, the dragonmare could not swallow these emotions entirely, though she maintained some semblance of control over them, it wasn't enough, it would never be enough, to be worthy of that hole Isopia's departure caused, that gap in the ranks, that missing critical element to every herd - the Seer.

Overlooked, the dragonmare watched as Yael was granted the title she most definitely deserved. Amaris did her best not to feel the flare of hot jealousy that wanted to rise up within her, and she would be foolish to admit its non-existence, but she knew it would be more foolish still to focus on it for very long. Truly, she was happy about it - but that was another emotion in itself, so she moved on to try and see the logical reasoning behind the Goddess' choice. The golden pegasus made sense, she was wise, clever, endearing and exotic. She could read Kaos' markings, and that was perhaps the most important point of all, with the great unknown ahead of all of them - the Goddess included, evidently.

Goodbyes and farewells not forgotten, but seemingly done for now, Amaris merely bowed her head as the Goddess' gaze glanced over her briefly, as it did everyone, diverting her gaze from the deep lavender stare, accepting her words as law, wondering where on earth it was that she fit into this world that felt like it had been tilted and turned up on its figurative edge.

---

ooc:
unless needed/spoken to directly, Amaris is done in this thread, just wanted to get something conclusion-y up ^^

Amaris

so i listen to the    wind for an answer

For all the time she has lived here, she has spent little time in the presence of the Moon Goddess. She comes to some summoning’s, to the herd quests, to the events at which their Lady is often present, but Lyanna is nothing more than a background figure in those moments. Despite this, she still offers the Goddess a deep nod, something akin to the beginning of a bow, when their deity arrives. Though the Goddess attention is not on Lyanna, if only feels appropriate to acknowledge her anyway.

Lyanna’s a background figure in general, really, pretending to be a Queen now. Her job had always been to dazzle yes, but to blend too, to be the Princess who was not really a princess but a confidant, to be noticed but to still be able to slip quietly into a room. When she’d come here, all of those responsibilities ripped from her life, she found her place in a greenhouse, in a quiet little corner with a quiet little life.

How then, does she come to stand here as Queen. The Goddess only acknowledges her with a knowing look at the end, and there’s something that feels right about that, like she is still a background figure. Perhaps it should hurt, if she thinks of the way the Goddess always treated Tembovu, but it doesn’t. Lyanna has never had any delusions that she can replace Tembovu, but rather, she only hopes not to let the Edge down. Hopes that she can keep the place alive that their Elephant King had built.

She tries to catch Yael’s eye after the mare has spoken to the Moon, a smile curving her lips upward. Either of the mares here, truthfully, would do the job as Seer well. Yael has been in the Edge for a while now though, and the little golden mare has proven her worth and her clever mind more than once. She’d make a fine Seer. Lyanna offers her a nod too, though she doesn’t have anything else to say, so she remains silent, making sure she’s no longer needed before heading off for perhaps a few hours of sleep.

lyanna