For the entire year of his life so far, he had heard many a whisper, and many rumors chased him, his brother, his mother. They had nipped at their ears and poisoned their minds, and he had still attempted to push past all of it, his shoulders curling inwardly sometimes when he saw a Denocte citizen walking nearby. It had started off like that, with him shying near his mother, hearing her voice ring out in defense of her two sons. In defense of two innocent children that had deserved better in the world than to be looked down upon because of their lineage.
He had learned from her, and her strength. Cynix had drawn upon it too, taking her view of the world, her words, to heart.
Still even now he wandered the Night Court, well aware of eyes glancing his way, several soft murmurs that were only whispers that he didn't even attempt to hear. He pushed them off mentally, his wings stretching and fluttering a little about his head before they tucked in, and he made his way through the building only to finally step outside.
His brother and mother were still in the structure behind him, but that was okay. At a year old, he could do with a little exploring (though leaving Siavax behind made him somewhat uneasy).
All the same, he stretched still growing legs and hopped down the stairs, focusing on his hooves instead of in front of himself, and finding his small body hitting something with an 'OOMPH' that left his lips. Immediately, he backpedaled and his wings flew open, head looking up as he went wide-eyed and innocent. "I'm sorry!"
Between the library, his guest rooms and the occasional revelry, Isorath had kept himself fairly reserved to the rest of the Court. Polite to those who approached, but aloof in every other regard. A guest from Dusk, he was all too aware that his presence was something of a precarious beast, one wrong hoof could prove to be his downfall. Politics and the diplomatic arts were burned into his bones, a song and dance he could weave just as silkily as the dancers by the fire on a brisk night. Alas, it didn't matter how well one weaved their words and moved their pieces, if you were not on the stage yourself.
Today turned out to be a rather different change of pace, instead of seeking out his cozy nook within the vast and comforting walls of the library, he'd decided to take a day for himself. The particular book on Calligo and her myths which had captured his attention, could wait. Leaving his cloak within his temporary chambers, he'd opted to keep his decadent jewelry and ornate halo upon his person, the latter gently rising and falling as it floated behind his antlers.
Porcelain hooves struck the stone floors in a gentle tune as he navigated the winding hallways and down the stone steps. Lavender eyes cast toward the vast lands of Denocte outside of the Court walls, he hadn't thought much to watch where he was going. After all, he wasn't the most wilting violet in these hallowed halls, his splendor hard to miss even for the most unobservant. Whatever thoughts had occupied his mind snapped away with the feeling of a body colliding with his own, the winged kirin letting out a startled huff as he stumbled with the momentum. The crystals of his jewelry clinked together in a disjointed song, and large wings flared out as if to try and catch himself, before their long fingers hit the stone floor with a resounding scrape of talons.
Immediately, his attention is on the culprit, who had already back peddled desperately, head wings flared and eyes wide. A child, barely a head past a yearling. The rising acidic retort died on his tongue as he opted to throw the colt a scolding look instead, and forced himself to exhale the frustration out of his mind and body. "You should watch where you're going, youngling." He commented, tone nonchalant as he really looked at the boy. It was hard to miss the whispering of the Court, no matter how far removed you attempted to be, this boy and his brother proved to be a favorite of the gossip rings. Shame it wasn't for his striking coat, or the feathery appendages which crowned him. Such things were worth more attention, than his unfortunate parentage. "Where is your mother?"
OOC notes can go here, as well as tags! remove the 'hr' tag to get rid of this line ^
"this here is your speech colour!
Child and young he may be, Cynix knew the one he had ran into, if only because of what his mother had been teaching him about the other courts, and the ones that visited the Night. This one, she had told him, was from Dusk Court, a more relaxed place, and he was a kirin. At first, he hadn't understood what a Kirin was, but looking at Isorath now... he could see. The horns, the scales, the tail. He was built... different, but he was still a horse wasn't he? Cynix blinked at the other's voice, and his wings immediately lowered and tucked against his head, his large ears folding halfway back while he cleared his throat a little.
Hooves (a little too big, legs a little too long) shuffled, one scuffing the stone under it as he looked down, the white hair drifting in his face. It was short for now, but it already showed that it would be long, like his mother. "She's reading, in the library, and working with the herbs," he finally said, and he glanced up again, blinking at the stranger.
"I suppose that's what the Champion of Wisdom does. She says it's to learn about everything and help teach others," Cynix trailed, before phantom brows furrowed and he looked over the other, observing him a moment. It wasn't some sort of mean look either, if anything, the boy was curious as his mother, and he tilted his head somewhat to one side, one wing gently opening as he did. "You're the.. the kirin, right? The one from the Dusk Court that came to visit?" He even sounded like he didn't want to offend.
When you were him or his brother (or even Araxes), offending someone was the last thing you wanted to do. He had already offended many by being born, after all.
"The Dusk Court is a nice place, isn't it? It's not like..." He folded his ears, and Cynix looked to the left and right, then back to Isorath, his eyes going a little wide as his voice dropped to a near conspiratorial whisper. "It's not like here, right? Where everyone gives me mean looks?" He wondered if they would look at him like that there, too, or in any court. Mother had said that they wouldn't, but he wasn't sure if she was just saying it to make him feel better or not.
She's reading, in the library, and working with the herbs.
If he had an eyebrow to raise, he just might have lifted it. In his youth he had done similar, waited until his mother had been busy to slink away to play, and perhaps cause some mischief. Not that he ever admitted to it, when the fruits of his plans eventually erupted on a passing maid or visiting dignitary. The foal in front of him didn't strike him as the type to be into childish pranks however. "I see." He made a mental note, that if he returned to the library and did not see the child with his mother, to at least let her known that he'd seen the wayward colt.
The boy continued, an a silken ear flicked forward to better listen to his words. "Not just the Champion of Wisdom, it's the duty of all Sages." Isorath corrected, his original nonchalant tone changing to one of humor. "Without all of us, Courts would not have their history nor the knowledge to use things such as herbs effectively." He's sure that the other isn't so interested in his words rattled off as fun facts, but it is what it is. The kirin shifted in place, lifting one hind hoof to rest on it's cloven points as the foal inquired about him. It's not the first time he's simply been called 'the kirin' and he doubted it would be the last in his life time, his kind had been absent from the lands he had visited, Novus had proven to be no different. The question alone provoked a breathless chuckle from his pale maw. "I am, my name is Isorath. I'm one of the Sages of the Dusk Court." He paused. "And what is your name?" The gossip he had heard had been unfortunately absent of that little tidbit of information.
He's not quite sure what to make of next sentences which poured out of the boys mouth, there is a weight there which is undeniable. Too hefty for a child of his age to know of, let alone bear. The knowledge of such injustice could bring his own icy blood to bubble, the gilded scales upon his back twitched in response to his thoughts. "The Dusk Court is beautiful, and the horses there are kind. No matter who or what you are. Perhaps when you are older, you may come and see the Court for yourself, the fields and cliffs are some of my favorite places to visit." The winged kirin explained, slitted pupils moving to glance around them. "Do not let their mean looks get to you, little one. Such looks and comments are beneath you, no matter how hard they try to convince you otherwise. You're worth more than their pettiness." He rumbled, head tilted as he regarded him. "It is cruel to treat a child so, they should know better." Isorath muttered under his breath, giving a slight shake of his crowned head.
"What were you doing, before you ran into me? Sneaking off?" The last part is spoken with a slight smirk ghosting across his lips.
OOC notes can go here, as well as tags! remove the 'hr' tag to get rid of this line ^
"this here is your speech colour!
"I thought the Sages all worked together and it was for the Champion to spread the wisdom?" Or maybe he had simply stuck his nose in to too many old dusty books and not in to anything fresh lately. Cynix felt his ears drop a little, but he didn't look too disheartened, only curious. If that was the case, then why was his mother Champion? What were her duties? Or was she just someone hand-picked? His muzzle wrinkled as he fell in to thought for a moment, a wing giving a small stretch and twitch, adjusting feathers before it rested back against his head once more.
Shaking himself out of it, the young boy looked up at the kirin, his head still partially tilted as he listened. Isorath, so that name had been true, and he was a sage! Maybe he'd talked to his mother already, though somehow he doubted it. His mother didn't talk to too many these days, always seeming sad.
"I'm Cynix," he said, after several seconds of hesitation. Surely he was known around the Court, and not for good things. It always seemed to be something acidic on the tongues of those that looked at him, and even far worse for his mother. Labeled many things, most of which Cynix didn't understand himself. He'd asked her once what a 'harlot' was, and had been shushed and given a flick to his wings for his troubles out of punishment.
Hearing of the Dusk Court brought a little hope to the colt, his eyes widening slightly and his ears suddenly flinging forward in attention, as if straining to hear more. "I'd like that! I mean..." His excitement had burst out of him, but he forced himself to calm down, glancing again as if spooked that his outburst would bring someone from the shadows to chastise him. "I would like that," he said, far more calmly. Still, he only hung his head a little in response to the kirin's words, seeming a bit uneasy. "They say my papa is a bad man, part of a group of.. of.." What was the word they had used? "A group of ingrates. They say the Day Court is bad too, but momma says it's nice, it's pretty. It's just all.. politics?" Hadn't that been what she had used? Something like that.
An offended look appeared just briefly before he huffed, shaking his head quickly, though there was a small flicker of guilt. "Not sneaking off, just wanting to explore. Momma doesn't like when I wander off my own, she worries that the others here might say something or do something bad to be if I'm on my own. I think she's just protective and.. well. Not everyone is bad, right? You aren't bad, even if you aren't part of the Night Court."
"Everyone must work together, and distribute what they have learned. Even the Champion." Head tilted curiously as he regarded the foals reaction. Isorath was perhaps not the best when it came to tailoring his opinions for the young, especially when that youth happened to be the son of a Champion. "The Champion leads the Sages, they make sure the Sages do their duty. She does just as much work as the others." The kirin added after a thoughtful moment, watching the wing upon the boys head stretch.
He couldn't help feel a pang of pity for the Colt, to have wings and never be able fly? The Gods were truly cruel. No more than a pretty adornment, a feathered crown.
"Cynix?" Isorath repeated with a hum, committing the name to memory. "You have a twin brother too, correct?" He vaguely remembered that part, there were two boys that had come from the union of day and night. "Where is he?" Suddenly aware that another foal could have escaped their mother's grasp, and given the disposition some of the Court had to the two innocents...the winged princeling pushed the thought aside rather hurriedly. Surely they would not be that petty.
The sudden burst of excitement drew a soft breath from deep in his chest. Once the conflict had resolved, and there was a couple more grains in the hourglass of the boys life, they could see to securing him a position in the Dusk Court, temporarily to study. If anything, it would shield the boy from the harshness he had been born to, perhaps help him grow some armor. He still wilted even when Isorath had tried to comfort him, in his own way. "It is politics, your mother is right." Well, she wasn't wrong, but he wasn't about to sit the boy down and go into an indepth discussion about how complex politics could be — the interference of emotions, of outside opinions and actions. Too young, too innocent to be that jaded about life before he'd even seen the end of his youth. "I would not focus on it too much, Cynix."
Another chuckle found it's way past his pale lips as he glanced at the colt, a look of mock scrutiny on his face. "Are you sure? That sounds an awful lot like you were sneaking off to me, especially if your mother doesn't like you going out alone." Vaguely, a part of his mind is already poking at him. He had nothing to do this day, other than find somewhere to lay and waste the hours in conversation and taking tea. It wouldn't hurt to take the boy under his wing, surely? If anything, the porcelain stag's presence at his side would deter even the most smart mouthed denoctian, and earn him a precious few points of gratitude and respect. "No I'm not, until someone gives me a reason to be." He replied humorously. "Why don't you show me where you were going? That way you have at least someone to watch you. I would hate to explain to your mother I saw you and let you go off on your own. You might fall off the ramparts, or something, and I would get in trouble."
OOC notes can go here, as well as tags! remove the 'hr' tag to get rid of this line ^
"this here is your speech colour!
At the questioning of his brother, Cynix immediately nodded, one ear flicking backward as if he were listening for him. "His name is Siavax," he informed, and chose to take a glance for a bare moment. Generally, he hated wandering away from his twin, but tonight seemed to just.. be different. It was odd, but a good thing. "He stays by mother sometimes, but he doesn't like to wander too much. It's... what others say about us, he just avoids them." Shrugging his shoulders, the yearling lifted a lanky leg, pawing a little at the ground before pausing, realizing it was just a small nervous motion.
A smile twitched on the youth's lips, and he tilted his head up a little more, looking up at Isorath. He was still growing, but already he was a decent height, and would likely tower over his own mother when he was old enough, and be close to his father's height. "She says it is but.. they still say nasty things. Mostly about her and.. us. My brother and I." Cy frowned and shook his head a little, looking away and allowing his wings to flutter a little more openly near his head, stretching and ruffling up feathers. Turning his gaze back to the kirin, he offered a small smile, on the sad side of things. "I think they're all just full of it. They don't even know us, and it's unfair. If they knew, well..." A shrug was given again, and he puffed out a long sigh. "Maybe they would see us differently."
Brushing away the thoughts, he allowed them to slide away from him, like water away from oil, and instead he seemed to perk a little more, looking at Iso and making a face that was more funny than anything offended. "I'm not sneaking. If mom came out here, I wouldn't go running and hiding. That's sneaking," he said, almost a little sly, but mostly amused. "I'm not that clumsy, I know how to walk," he griped, in a playful way, before he shook himself, from his head to his back, sending his mane and tail fluttering while his wings flapped unceremoniously. They settled and he smiled, lifting his head before he started off at a bouncing little trot, hooves clicking under him as he walked.
"I was gonna explore the market. They always have a bunch of things there, and I'm nosy. I like seeing all the new stuff that comes in. Sometimes there's animals! A lot of times there's plants and momma loves plants. I could bring her some back." He was oddly cheerful, but it was mostly because he never allowed the opinion of those in Denocte to faze him as they would others.
@Isorath || i love these two ok they gonna be FRANS
