How long had it been since she'd stepped hoof in Solterra? Years, from what it felt like. Since before she was pregnant with the twins.
Yes. Years.
It felt odd to press her hooves through the sand, her wings lifted from her head, covering the top as she shaded her eyes and her face, finally coming in to contact with green once more. The oasis. A miracle in the middle of a desert, with swaying branches of trees that bore sweet fruits, the aloe plants that grew along the waters, and the many grasses that sprouted up to provide a lovely tropical paradise.
The season of autumn meant the sun wasn't so harsh, and her pale body made its way toward the edge of the oasis, wings pulling and gently folding at the sides of her neck as she took in slow sips. She felt the cool trickle down her throat, and she lifted her head as she licked her lips, closing her eyes and taking a moment of respite among the turmoil that had gripped the entirety of Novus.
Walking deities, destruction, tensions. It was all so heavy on her shoulders but she wanted to push on, to rise up, to help and heal. She wasn't so innocent as she had been before, but she was not calloused to the world. Nothing would be able to do that to her, she knew that much. There were people that had hard edges but soft interiors, softer thoughts. Or there were some that were hard through and through and cared only for themselves. There were even soft edges and soft thoughts, open to the world, as she was.
She had seen all of them. Met all of them.
Sighing, the speckled mare moved herself, stepping forward to dip her legs in to the oasis and stand in the water instead, her heavy mane and tail dipping in before wafting about her, floating lazily. It was nice to visit another court, to finally stretch her legs and relax, to feel more comforted than she had in ages.
There rested paradise. It did not flicker. It did not mock.
Body demand its thirst be quenched, but his mind simply hushed away the need. Days and days of wandering the sands, the former warden stood a mere mile away from the oasis; doubt overrunning him. Eyes wish not a chance to see any of these people within this court. He wanted to feed his loneliness, remind himself that that is what his life is meant to be. However, solely did that not come as the beckon that kept him away.
His thoughts were bounding about an endless field with a dark cloud slowly drawing in to deliver a storm. The delusion that here was similar to his home... it sickened him. Has he caught a bug lately? This growing sickness just doesn't seem to calm down. Oh Mother, guide me. Give me the courage. Kauri sighed. She was out of touch, of course. Perhaps dehydration was kicking in. Though autumn settled, the desert sun was still at its best. He definitely enjoyed the heat, but immune to its consequences he was not. As much as he resisted, he couldn't choke himself any longer.
Violet eyes were awestricken by the amount of life this oasis has. It held more trees and vegetation than he was used to seeing from the ones he encountered back in his world. The comparison reminded the stallion just how barren his home truly was. When would this energy return there? Corruption and destruction, he worried the same fate could be met upon this world from what he has seen thus far. The gods here... wait, hold that tongue. He shook his head, sight now greeted by the water in this area.
. . .
A spirit? Gaze fell onto the equine relaxing within the water. Brows furrowed, muzzle drawing close to the liquid. He stared at his reflection, expecting to see himself morph—to become a being he thought was locked away in this world. Nothing. No gateway was before him, sadly. Such passages were common among the oases upon his home. A way for spirits to leave and return to the spiritual plane by choice. How he hoped there remained a chance to see a certain soul here. He needed to see him.
Guzzling up as much liquid as body would allow, attention returned to the stranger present here. Muzzle lifted away from the water once he finished; his senses studying the air around. He breathed, folding his legs beneath him, so he lie down at the edge of the water. "A traveler or an adherent of this realm?" he inquired aloud. The stallion rests on the opposite side from wherever the other soaks; Kauri now quietly watching the small waterfall that flows here.
It felt good to cool off even in the autumn heat of the desert, where the sun would leave its mark on her if it tried enough. Her sensitive skin would pinken more and likely remain a little tender to the touch, but that was alright with her.
Perhaps she was hoping to see the flashes of ivory and amethyst she had come to love, even lingering here in the oasis. Torstein.. she hadn't seen him in what felt like ages, and she ached for him. With their children taking on their own lives, she had been left in Denocte to read and learn, to share her knowledge among the people and help those that needed it. Tending wounds and teaching words and writing.
She missed her family. She missed Tor.
Her heart seemed to ache for him, a dull pain in her chest that felt years old.
Araxes was lost in her own thoughts when she heard the voice, her head lifting from where her chin had tucked against herself, her wings fanning out slightly behind her ears to release more heat while she could. It took even a little longer for the words to process, and when they did, the speckled mare was smiling just softly.
"A traveler. Solterra is not my home." Her words were soft as her smile, and she took a step or two in the water, stirring up the sand underhoof in to a small cloud as she did, and wading a little deeper. It was nice to remain in the water, at least, even with the sun beating down on her back. She had missed this, missed being part of the world. Being locked away had changed her in ways she could not fathom.
"I am Araxes, of the Night Court." Her title at the moment was meaningless without a regime to hold her to it, though she attempted to be the best she could at her position. It was hard, when you were the only one left, other than the Warden of Denocte, and even Rosti seemed to have vanished for the time being.
His skull tilted upward, and eyes shown a bit of reverent regard for the mare once hearing her name and place of belonging. Seeing her soft smile, Kauri began embracing the content that flowed through the atmosphere between them.
Despite knowing little about the court she speaks for, the stallion quietly held respect for the sector. The moon always has his heart, so shamelessly would he be a bit bias between these kingdoms—now that he was aware of each god's role.
Kauri withheld a response to the mare; a small tune coming before it as the notes left his vocals. Feathers from his necklace dance while a breeze circled by. Settle the quietness, and he mused.
A book closed with pages blank. Where did the story go, where has his gone? He counted blessings and crooked hearts. The stallion looked on to Araxes, gathering letters to fill in speculative words. His gears of judgement have certainly rusted, the power was there, but the output shot.
“Kauri is my given,” he now spoke his name. Stubbornness refused to tell of a court he resides in. There was none. He was too lost, too troubled to even care. Deeply he feared and wept, the past part of him did. Venom and blood, emotions set ablaze. He couldn’t be among these courts nor people; he didn’t want to suffer again because of them.
Shifting his weight to one side, his lips were pressed against the ground and eyes closed. A time to relax and think, seemingly for both her and him. “What has driven you to come here? Fortunate am I to say of you that the sun spits no spite at you,” he stated in light amusement. Perhaps the divide between gods wasn’t that big—yet. Or, maybe his faith for these divine beings was just that shallow.
He was a strange thing to her, though not exactly strange enough to drive her away. Araxes had been around a long time, and seeing someone wearing a skull was not new (she had heard tale of the Ilati and their dabblings, their skulls and masks and bones). His necklace is something that seems to make, but she merely smiled as she looked at him, a softening in her face evident.
"Well then, a pleasure to meet you, Kauri." She kept her distance, well aware that he had not provided her of what court he bound himself to. That was his own business, however, wherever he belonged. She had not seen him in Denocte, so it had to be one of the other three. Perhaps it was here in Solterra, where they had happened to meet.
Even as he spoke, she flicked an ear to listen, dipping her head down to touch a pink nose to the surface of the water, if only to let it ripple out in slow movements, growing bigger and bigger until ultimately vanishing as they reached their limit. Slate eyes lifted, just as her head, and her wings tucked against the sides of her neck as she offered a small smile.
What had driven her here? "The tug of a heartstring." For Tor perhaps, or maybe she thought she would run in to one of her children here. Perhaps they had sought him out. She hadn't any idea, as she hadn't reached the Court itself yet, laying nestled just a little deeper in the sands of the desert than this oasis.
Earrings clinked as his ears swiveled opposite ways. He nodded at her greeting, muzzle pressing back against the earth. Come a minute and his question was answered. Violets peered past the sockets of his mask; his eyes slowly growing soft. His view wandered over toward the waterfall once more. Her reason having ached his heart.
Hearing went dead, a crackling noise becoming louder in his mind. The sound of a record skipping, failing. No matter how many times memories pressed the play button, no music would flow. These years, the vinyls have chipped. He could make out a voice, though distorted. Leave it be, leave it be.
Kauri swallowed his heartache, shaking his head to rid of intruding memories. It took a second for him to realize what his company asked of him. “The colder seasons and to simply seek understanding,” he responded. No longer did his initial purpose lie valid upon Novus. The masked male wanted to understand fate’s reasoning and intentions, and so the dreadful process of soul searching will begin again.
“Entrapped by love, hm.” His words went from honeyed to gravely. Forelegs broke out from under him; hooves dipped in the water. Kauri took a deep breath, feeling his lungs contract and sting as he exhaled. “It has not been snapped nor cut,” he almost murmurs, “that heartstring.” The stallion appeared to be in thought.
“How long—?” he asked. The question was generalized on purpose, touching all bases yet none. He would not specify what he meant for it to disclose, but allow the mare to fill in what was personally significant to that question.
She supposed colder seasons in Solterra offered some sort of relief, though even now in autumn, the sun beat against her spotted back, dancing heat over her. It glimmered and shifted on the sands, dancing far far away in shimmering waves that tricked the eye. As for understanding... the oasis brought a solace to one when they found it, especially if they were alone and contemplating. It was a good place to come, at least in her mind.
Araxes flicked and ear, her wings shuffling behind them, gently spreading out a little and ruffling for a cool breeze that came through over the water. She listened a moment, mildly amused. Entrapped, not entirely. She was a willing victim, following the tug of her heartstring wherever it led her. Most of the time.. it was here, where she'd bumped in to Tor previously, eating sweet fruits from the trees and enjoying one another's company.
"I have not seen their face in a while. The Night Court closed its gates a while ago. They only recently reopened." Her tone took on a bitterness that tasted caustic, burning the back of her throat. She still didn't forgive the old regime, and she likely never would. Neither forget, nor forgive. It would be carried with her the rest of her life, those memories, those actions taken upon their people.
Shaking her head, the speckled mare pushed the thoughts aside, flicking an ear toward Kauri, tilting her head just the slightest as she did, causing a ripple of her mane that danced all the way to the water. "I wonder if perhaps they are still even here." A subtle mourning pricked at her, her eyes stinging just slightly with the thought. It would be her luck, that he had vanished somewhere... but she doubted it would happen. Tor was many things. Sometimes, he didn't like to stay in one spot.
Perhaps she was aching too much now, and needed to see him. It had been what felt like eons.
Lips parted from wonder. The gates have reopened, but certainly he did not know they were closed from the outside to begin with. Shortly, a sense of urgency crept beside him. He couldn't differentiate whether this feeling was impulse or need. But now, Kauri understands why she took the opportunity to adhere to the tugs and visit.
His chin rested on his chest; eyes searching deeply within the water. If only the water could tell, that a spiritual essence remained to show what the heart wanted to discern and know. "No," he randomly uttered. The word was not a response to anything, or mayhaps it was. Switching between her concerns and his own thoughts, matters were sure to collide soon enough.
Though the rays felt wonderful, his rosy coat basked in the sun long enough—a tingling sensation upon his skin as a result. Staggering onto his legs, he moved to the trees for shade. And once back onto his belly, he speculated how long the mare would remain where she is. He only noticed the wings upon her head now that he lies closer. Skull tilted as the male appraised the feathered appendages.
"Reopened," Kauri restated. "The lands of where your court resides, where might they be?" Sight broke away from Araxes and took up the vastness of the sky. Another objective to fulfill after this temporary stay was done. Continuously intrigued by the desire to know what being oversaw those lands, he wanted a pinpoint of where to begin his research.
Returning his attention to the subject that seemed to wholly occupy her mind, he worked up a sigh. "These wonders will give nothing. They do nothing but bury," he advised. His lover has been dead for a near century while he rest here, breathing. He could wonder, worry, and yearn.
Araxes blinked at the word, though by looking at him, it was obvious the word was not directed at her, but someone -- or something -- else. Perhaps a memory or a thought, something only he knew of. Instead of poking her nose in to it (something she would have done a long time ago), she watched with slate eyes as he stood, making his way toward the trees with their heavy fruits that dangled. He sought the shade, and she remained in the light of the sun, cooling off bit by bit, just by having part of herself submerged in the waters.
She would seek shade soon enough, perhaps to nap under before making her way deeper in to the Day Court.
As she lowered her head, dipping her nose in to the water, he spoke again, and her ears twitched in response. Drawing another sip of water, she lifted once more, smiling slightly. "To the south of here, through the Arma Mountains. There's a pass that leads to the Court." Though Arma currently carried the damage of a dragon that had lit it aflame for no reason, the bones of innocent animals buried under the ashes. It would grow back -- nature always did -- but no one would forget the terrifying display and attack of its own kind.
Shaking her head, she nudged the mental image of the charred trunks in the back of her mind; she would see them again when she made her way home. Instead, she ached with the thought of her own lover, wondering what had happened while Denocte had sealed its gates. Her children, she had heard that Cynix was somewhere, doing well on his own. Siavax? Jaxis? She hadn't a clue where they were, how they were.
Her tiny little family had been torn when the raven gates had sealed. Now they were open, but her family was still scattered to the winds. "One can't help but wonder regardless, and perhaps hope they are safe."
Nose would turn in the direction she spoke, ensuring he understood where the court resides. It has been years and years, yet the mountains remain the building blocks of his entire being. Certainly, those peaks he thinks of have become nothing but mounds of sand; his origins buried beneath the desert like most souls back at home. It would be a run back in time to see those that lived upon and by the mountains again. “Thank you,” he spoke to Araxes.
He gave a light sigh for her next statement. It was a natural occurrence—he couldn’t deny that. Just a bitter occurrence he’s faced long enough. As there go the shovel while it dug deeper, hitting roots and destroying what could support all that was needed. He knew lover was protected by a spiritual force, yet why did the male lose sleep for him time and time again? No, he knew why, as thoughts pointed and showed him.
She had her own matters to face, and he his own.
A few minutes ticked by as they quietly relax—Kauri slowly growing restless. Although he once sought to hideaway from the sun, he got back up and out from the shade. Steadily, he moved to where he first entered in the oasis—taking one more heavy drink of water before he dare return to endless sands. The masked fellow looked back to Araxes and gave a bow of his head.
“I’ll leave you to your hopes and wonders then. Farewell and stay true,” he bid his goodbye to the dame.
He wished to give her room to roam within her thoughts without him at the sidelines, conjecturing. Besides, he needed the room as well. Perhaps they would meet again someday whether here or within the court of Night. He’d keep the possibility in mind as he left the haven and returned into the desert.
There rested paradise. It did not flicker. It did not mock.