[AW] Head First and No Regrets

[Regis]

look at the stars
look how they shine for you

The Prince of Delumine has heard much of the pink dolphins which supposedly call the Rapax River home – his own parents had told him of the times they’d seen them with their own eyes, yet his uncle Ulric would always scoff at such tales and reassure him that they were just spinning tales, because he had never laid eyes on them for himself. In all honesty, Regis didn’t know what to think, but pink dolphins weren’t outside the realm of his imagination. Not to mention, his parents had never lied to him before, he wasn’t sure they ever would, so why shouldn’t he believe them?
 
Sheepishly he had approached his mother and father with the request to go to the river by himself, and much to his surprise, they had allowed him to do just that. It wasn’t that he really wanted to, simply because he enjoyed the company of others over isolation, but he’d be lying if he said the chance to go alone wasn’t at least a little bit exhilarating.
 
So, with a promise to be back in an hour or two’s time depending on what he found, Regis set off with Milo at his side. There was a thin layer of snow blanketing the ground from the night prior and a gentle, but still bitter breeze that tousled his mane, but it didn’t affect him to the severe degree that it had during his first winter which had nearly staked a claim on his life. Today, it was Regis’ turn to stake his own claim in a manner of speaking and prove that he was no longer just a child, but somebody who was fully capable of taking care of himself and proving to his parents that he was just as responsible as he really was. “Let’s race, Milo!” He called out to his russet companion, who gave a yip before taking off without hesitation. Laughter bubbled forth from the Prince’s dark lips, and with a toss of his head he gave chase, hopping here and kicking there as the pair of them zipped across the snowy landscape.
 
It wasn’t long before they reached the riverbank, both panting as their hot breaths curled in a misty vapor. The river itself was slow flowing, not quite frozen like it had been the week before but Regis guessed it wouldn’t take much to change that. His features scrunched up as he frowned, his hope of seeing the dolphins diminishing significantly. Did they like the water this cold? If the water froze, did that mean they did, too? Inching closer, Regis tentatively dipped one foot into the water before jerking it out almost immediately. He grimaced and looked to Milo. “Dang it… I was hoping we’d get to see them. But it’s really cold.”
 
Milo made a soft sound akin to a whine in the back of his throat, then cast his gaze further down the winding river. ”Maybe if we go further?” He suggested, ”Closer to the ocean, behind the citadel.”
 
Regis considered it for a second, remembering his promise to his parents. He’d explained exactly where it was he wanted to go explore and reassured them he wouldn’t stray far from there, and going to the section that began to wind around the back of the citadel wasn’t far… Right? “Okay,” he relented after a moment, glancing back the way they had come before starting to follow the river further southwest, “But we can’t go too far.”

"Speaking."

Open to all! c:

credits

[Llewelyn]

The weather had been improving little by little, the snowfall becoming more scarce and the layer of snow upon the earth thinning from a blanket to a sheet. Despite this preferable turn of events, however, the winds remained so frigid that Llewelyn felt they would have to be sentient to be so cruelly cold. Nestling into the luxurious warmth provided by her adored emerald cloak, the mare allowed a demure smile to toy with her soft lips as she stepped further into the snowy meadows that surrounded the Deluminian Citadel proper.

Not that she would readily admit it, for fear of being rumored as a wanton or a wildling, but the mare enjoyed the outdoors when they were deprived of others; it made nature seem more pure, more mysterious, and Llewelyn admired the timeless confidence with which the universe regarded itself. That wasn’t to say that she didn’t appreciate the company of her peers and betters — indeed, the maiden resented most of them, but craved the sensation of society all the same. It wasn’t entirely their fault that the masses tended to be made up of doddering, uncivilized idiots, she supposed.

That lack of fault still wouldn’t prevent her from resenting them, however.

Lost in her reverie, the mare found she had wandered behind the citadel, further to the west than was normal for her route, when the sound of a juvenile voice broke the silence. Blinking her surprise away, the Lady arched a brow and scanned the pearly white horizon for the source and found the little Prince prancing about. He walked alongside the Rapax, fox familiar at his side, and looked absolutely abashed — at what, Llewelyn couldn’t guess, until the reluctant sound of his voice floated over the small distance between them.

”But we can’t go too far.”

Flicking her leonine tail in a small show of amusement, Llewelyn continued onward, her gait a quick and graceful walk that couldn’t quite be counted as a trot. As she neared, golden eyes flicked over the burnished form of the fox, then assessed the mocha stained colt. He would grow up to be strong and shapely, the perfect mix of his mother and father and as a fine of prince as any the kingdoms could ask for. Already, she had heard, the youth displayed kindness and was lauded among the servants for his cheeky charm.

Slowing to match his pace, the maiden glanced down, affecting her best imperious-and-dowdy-matroness expression, “I cannot imagine one can go too far within his own kingdom, Little Prince. Have the Sovereign and his Lady given you leave to see your birthright?”

@Regis <3

[Random Events]

tasty, tasty, tasty

Hungry.

It was hungry.

Saliva dribbled from its bleach white skull, the empty black sockets of its eyes scanning the river for its next meal. The small deer from yesterday did little to satisfy its appetite, and it was hungry. It was always hungry. It watched for a flash of rainbow scales amidst the frigid water, watched for fish, waiting for the right moment to strike and gnaw and gnash and crack and tear...

Snow had fallen across the land and yet it continued to hunt, knowing of little else. Driven as it was by its insatiable hunger the cold did not bother it, its lanky body traveling unhindered through the forest like a haunted shadow, moving on crooked, gnarled legs and forelimbs that were stretched far too long. Black, matted fur clung to its body, wiry and coarse, rising up its legs, its hips, along the startling length of its whipping, curling tail. Up, up, up, the black fur stretched, from the concave torso and the bony, protruding ribs. It’s shoulders, broad and robust and hunched over, but its arms elongated almost the length of its entire body, muscled with thin senew. The black fur ended at its neck, revealing a skull with antlers; equine, perhaps? Elk? It was hard to place, but the skull was bone-white and sun-bleached with empty black eye sockets, its sharpened teeth aligned in a macabre, terrifying grin. Upon each antler tine hung its collections, its prizes. Trophies.

A vertebrae from an equine spine, tasty, tasty, tasty. A rib, long and curved. A cheekbone. Teeth that were still attached to a part of a jawbone. Various pieces taken away from various kills, trophies, proud trophies.

The creature heaved, waiting, poised hunched over the river with its claws scraping and grasping the snow at its hooves. It lunged forward at the first sign of movement beneath the waves, spotting the pink flesh of a creature coasting the current just beneath the surface. Its skull disappeared within the freezing depths, latching onto the flesh that immediately thrashed to free itself. It reeled back, pulling the struggling mammal onto the shore and immediately began to eat.

It did not get far into its meal.

Voices. It halted, its maw stained with blood. The crunch of footsteps in the snow caused it to lift its head, watching, waiting… Two shapes emerged a short distance down the river, heading its way. It recognized them. Small horse, tasty snack tasty, and forest critter too much hair but tasty, tasty. They were joined moments later, their trek halted, by the arrival of a third. Large horse big meal, tasty, tasty. The creature swallowed and heaved, head tilting, glancing down at the meal in its claws. This pink creature was not near as tasty as horse flesh.

Abandoning its prey alongside the bank of the Rapax River, the creature turned and disappeared into the trees, its tall, hunched frame scurrying through the snow and into the protection of the trees nearby. Waiting. Watching.

---

---

It seems that @Regis and @Llewelyn are not alone on their venture. A creature lurks in the woods. As they conversed, perhaps they caught sight of it’s fleeing shape, a dark mass amidst an otherwise white snowscape. Perhaps they heard the sound of its hooves. Perhaps they saw nothing but the pink river dolphin left behind along the riverbank.

Please ask Dingo and Eris if you wish to join in this thread. Once you reply, please add @Sparrow to your replies!

[Regis]

look at the stars
look how they shine for you

Milo was the first to take notice of their newfound company. Stopping in his tracks from where he padded alongside the winding river, the fox looked on suspiciously at the speckled mare before realizing she was no stranger. Catching the shift in his companion’s behavior, Regis, too, came to a halt to inspect the woman with a bit of a start, having not realized her presence. For as often as his parents warned him otherwise, Regis wasn’t particularly susceptible to distrust, and he was just as slow to hand out his annoyance and anger. So, where others might have taken offense to the woman’s words, Regis met her gaze with an easy smile.

“Good morning, Llewelyn,” he greeted first and foremost, before falling back on the matter of her question. “I mean… I guess you do have a point, but momma and papa don’t want me straying too far from the citadel by myself yet. Not with everything that’s been going on.” The murders from a few months back, the conflict between neighboring courts and lingering possibility it could migrate to Delumine… not to mention that it was still unjustly cold outside. He gave a shrug of slender shoulders, his smile growing a bit wider. “That’s okay, though. Just being outside is nice enough for now.” A luxury he couldn’t have afforded at this time last year.

Although he had seen her around and conversed with her before, Regis didn’t know Llewelyn very well. He knew her name and position within the Kingdom, and understood her to be an opinionated individual unafraid of letting her thoughts be known. The characteristic was one Regis himself lacked, and as such he found the mare to be intriguing. Maybe today he would have the chance to pick her brain and find out more about where she had come from, what her favorite things about the court were and--….

Quite abruptly the Prince’s train of thought was derailed by the low growl from beside him. Puzzled, he looked down to Milo, who was looking intently toward the tree line on the other side of the river. Squinting his dual-toned eyes, Regis strained to find anything out of place, but failed to see anything other than snow-laden pines and the remnants of other dead trees, destroyed by the fires that had ravaged the land almost a year prior. “Milo,” he asked aloud, his face scrunching with concern, “What is it?”

The said fox growled lowly once more, the hair along the ridge of his back slowly beginning to stand on end. ’Something’s out there. Something big.’

Regis swallowed thickly past the lump that suddenly grew in his throat, and unwilling to pry his eyes from the spot where Milo looked, the Prince took a few steps backward closer to Llewelyn. “He said th-that… something else is out there.” He drew a deep breath and risked a glance toward the scholar. “Maybe we should go b-back to the citadel.”

"Speaking."

@Llewelyn @Random Events yikes not my best but I'm excited to see what happens!

credits

[Llewelyn]

The weather was as agreeable as it could be for the season, she supposed. The sun was tucked safely behind a blanket cover of clouds and prevented Solis’ hours from reflecting painfully off of the snow. Llewelyn, for all her brilliance in gold and accessory, detested sunshine during snowy months; it was too sharp, too bright, and it hurt her eyes terribly to look upon the outside world when it was blazing away beneath that golden orb. At times, the mare wondered if it wasn’t entirely inaccurate to see the cold months as Solis’ domain instead of those scalding weeks of summer. 

After all, the desert only received a scant helping of snowfall, if any, while the other courts had the damnable flakes dumped upon them. Then, when the sun was pulled from Dawn into Day proper, the shimmering crystals of ice would blind and disable the strongest of warriors, giving all advantage of a defensible position to the sand dwellers. Plus, thought the maiden wryly, Day belonging to the hot and Night belonging to the cold is so cliched. 

Despite her general distaste for winter, however, the prospect of a little social climbing via the adored prince brightened Llewelyn’s outlook considerably. There was never a dull moment when there was chatter from royal mouths, after all; they tended to have the loosest tongues, especially when they thought they were being subtle. Of course, the Lady found herself appreciative of the boy-prince for more than potential gossip fodder; he was a sweet child, bright and well mannered. She could see how he had captured the heart of Delumine with such ease. 

Often, Llewelyn would hear the maids whisper about little Regis, calling him their golden boy and swapping his praises as if he were their own son. With or without his noble blood, the mare knew he would have climbed far in their courtly world. 

 Dropping her dowdy facade, the spotted femme returned the colt’s smile and gave a short bow in response to his greeting. Ears flicking forward to catch his words, Llewelyn nodded in understanding, the world was changing in these last few seasons, and it was becoming more and more difficult to maintain the innocence of foalhood. Even then, the young prince had shadows dogging his steps, echoes of his Father’s worries pressed against his thin shoulders. Part of her silently raged against such corruption of purity, even though she knew full well that the gods would not be dissuaded from whatever path of destruction they were leading everyone down. 

She prayed each Dawn and Dusk that there was a point to it all. 

“I agree,” Murmured the courtesan amiably, the jewels dangling from her horns emitting their usual bout of soft whispers between the sound of crunching snow and polite conversation, “The world seems quite a bit more peaceful when everyone else is inside the capitol. Less hustle and bustle, and more time to look around.” A small smile curled at the corner of her lips, “More opportunity to pay attention to what happens when we don’t interrupt nature, I suppose.” It was not a secret that she gave him, per se, but it was not a sentiment that Llewelyn would offer to many others. The mare preferred to keep quiet the things that caused her happiness, lest some spurned peon decide to use it against her. 

The horned maiden would have said more, would have offered an actual conversation, had the fox at Regis’ side not turn sharply toward the Rapax and snarled at the opposite shore. The boy-prince turned his attention toward the canid familiar and his expression turned fearful. ...There is something out there. His voice shook, causing a stutter, and Llewelyn’s ears immediately pinned to her skull in fright and indignation. Who would dare interrupt her daily outing? If she found out, they could consider their days living without the shame of rumor and disdain numbered. 

Maybe we should go back to the citadel. 

Glaring at the muddy bank, Llewelyn blinked a few times in shock as her brain registered just what she was seeing; the broken and mangled body of a river dolphin, half eaten and bloody upon the melted snow. Inhaling sharply, the cloaked maiden felt her pulse quicken, her heart beating a staccato rhythm within her chest. Glancing with wide eyes at Regis, Llewelyn prayed that he hadn’t yet spied the corpse. She backed up a few steps, feeling her jaw clench and her skin prickle - were they being watched? It felt like it, but what if she was just panicking? She continued to back away, eyes fixed stubbornly upon the shoreline and the grove of trees that sprouted just beyond the bank. 

“Mateo,” She snapped at the colt, not realizing that in her fear she had called him the wrong name until it had fallen from her lips. It was only natural, she would think later, for the most comforting presence in her life to spring to the forefront of her mind in moments like these. Blinking again, Llewelyn shook her head and tried again, “Regis, yes. Little Prince,” Her voice was hard, commanding, though her gaze was still glued to the darkness of the grove, “Look at me. Walk toward the citadel. Ask me no questions until we are inside the walls. Do as I say and do not look anywhere but at me or at the citadel.”

The courtesan swallowed, that rapid beat in her chest seemed to have risen to her throat, causing her mouth to become dry. Her tongue felt thick and unwieldy, yet she continued to move back, baring her teeth and flashing the whites of her eyes in warning to whatever watched them. The ivory painted woman was no warrior, she was made of silks and whispers, and fear dripped from her skin. If it came to it, if there was something wretched lurking in the shadows, what could she do? The only battles she had ever fought were through the subtleties of social sabotage, not through hoof or horn. 

Snapping her teeth at the air and swiveling her head to show off her scythe-like antlers, Llewelyn prayed with all her being that the pair of them looked like too much trouble to bother murdering. 

   @Regis @'Random Events' @Sparrow @Mateo (for the mention). Sorry for the wait!!