he two walked easily from the swamp with an easy gait and a comfortable silence. The dark and mysterious bayou shifted to endless fields of multicolored flowers and long summer grasses. Now, the air grew warm and heavy with dappled sunlight, and Mephisto spread her wings from time to time, allowing the summer wind to play in her feathers and bring much-needed cooling and respite from the heat. Onward they climbed, toward the city and its people, nearing the place with each step as Mephisto’s own trepidation grew. After all, she couldn’t know what they would think of her returning… but this time, at least, she brought a friend and felt less alone than before.
”I have no family”, she offers honestly. At times, Mephisto would admit that she wished she had some ties to this world more than the loyalty she offered to her home. She wondered some if she would have made a good mother, a mate to someone. But then, the mare cannot picture herself beside a man. She cannot picture herself as subservient to anyone, or having to answer to another creature. Still, there were days where it seemed like the fantasy could bring her peace and happiness. Mephisto had never really allowed herself to dream of such things – thus far, it just hadn’t been in the cards.
”There are those who consider the court to be a family… perhaps not of blood, but a family you choose.” In time, she would be one who thought such things… but now, Mephisto was as much of an outsider as Aoife. She hadn’t been in the Dusk Court long before her warg powers had seized control of her and stolen away her free will, leaving her in an endless state of confusion over the last few months. Now, she had to wonder if they would even accept her back after deserting the Halcyon ranks. She hoped they would, but it wouldn’t be the first time that she’d rocked the boat.
As they breached the borderlands, Mephisto’s wings folded tightly around her once more, and she clears her throat to offer an explanation. ”Welcome to the Citadel.” It was a grand thing, with its dark stone against the noonday sky, rising toward the heavens in an impressive display of grandeur. Cobbled streets formed through the grass, and as they neared the capital, the two passed several smaller buildings. They were greeted casually by those they passed, offering quiet pleasantries in return, until at last Mephisto and Aoife stood on the capital steps.
”They will meet us here,” she whispers, ”Marisol or her council.” And so, the warg waited for what would come next for the painted mare from a foreign land, wondering all the while what it must be to see this place through Aoife’s eyes, for the first time.
Prickles in the grass tugged at her feathered fetlocks, entangling their tiny burr shaped seed pods into her excessively long and tangled hair as they walked through the pretty fields of colourful cheery flowers, bobbing their little heads in the light breeze that carried in slight scents of honey and nectar. Bees buzzed across their path ponderously, having nowhere to go urgently, so surrounded by food that they never need hurry. Aoife enjoyed the silence between her and Mephisto, it wasn’t awkward or laden, just pleasant, like the sunshine, although that was a little overbearing at times.
As Mephisto fluttered her wings to shake off the heat Aoife did the same with her long heavy mane, flipping it to the other side of her neck as much as possible. She could sense they were growing nearer to their journeys end, something in her companions pace. As the other mare spoke Aoife felt a slight pang, as if a string from her past had stuck around her hoof, and walking away she felt nothing til that sentence pulled it tight. She had her mother, but family was something that eluded her somehow. “Family is...” she fumbled to know what to say “I mean to say I kind of know how you feel, I think, I only had a mother, but I just couldn’t stay there you know.” Of course she doesn’t know, even I don’t know what the hell I meant by that she thought to herself and rolled her eyes a little at her own ineptitude at talking out loud to other horses. “I think I know what you mean, my mother chose another family after-” she paused to think of a good way to make brutal senseless murder less of a downer “after her family left. And they were kind of like family to me as well but, I just always felt like I was meant to do something bigger, you know.” This time she did know what she meant, and she was confident Mephisto did too. Surely she had had the same realisation when she came to the citadel. Or maybe she no clue and was good at pretending.
Finally she saw the citadel in the distance and let out a little gasp of wonder. The sun hit the buildings in a way that made them appear golden and shining as it bounced off, causing a sort of halo. She could already hear the bustle of civilisation to some extent, the general buzz and hum that came with a group of horses.
Anandi didn’t like the honeybees. She didn’t like the brambles, either. Or the burrs, or even the sunshine, for the most part, although it could on occasion be pleasant. The things she enjoyed were a little more nuanced than the easy pleasure of a sunny summer day. She valued tension and luxury. Silk and feathers, salt and smoke, and moonlight-- always moonlight-- to soften some edges, sharpen others.
The emissary smells them before she sees them. The kelpie is gifted with an excellent senses, fine-tuned over generations to track, hunt, kill. One of the strangers has the air of… of freshness. The other smells like dusk; juniper, salt, swamp.
Anandi watches carefully through dark-lidded eyes as the two women come into sight, then walk forward to stand at the steps of the capital. One of them is antlered and incredibly small (snack sized) and some god-awful instinct in the kelpie is charmed by how cute the little stranger is. The other is normal sized, maybe even a little tall. This one is a graceful beauty, and Anandi finds herself charmed once again, but in a different way.
“Hello there.” She smiles at the women as she steps forward to greet them. The sun kisses all the angles of her silver-grey body, and beneath its warm light her eyes gleam a brilliant shade of green. “I’m Anandi. Can I help you?” Her lips curl into a demure smile, careful not to flash the sharp edges of her predatory teeth. Her predatory (and, thus, sometimes violent) nature was often the subject of conversation or conjecture, but she did not want it to be her defining feature-- especially since she had so many others.
here was an ease to Aoife’s presence, which Mephisto appreciated. She liked the candor of the mare, and was even charmed by the way she seemed to fluster over answers. It was refreshing that the painted mare didn’t feel entirely comfortable talking about herself. This meant, at least in the warg’s mind, that she was a humble sort of creature. The Pegasus didn’t have much respect for those who were boastful – they tired her with their preening and constant self-adulation. Instead, Mephisto preferred the quieter and more reflected individuals she’d met. For in humbleness, there can be found a willingness to embrace change and learning. Adaptation was key in finding peace in one’s life.
They stop in the shadow of the citadel, and Mephisto is once more taken by the grandeur of this place. There were times when the mare would wonder, how such structures must have been built in the field of nothing, facing the west in testament to the dying sun. She would be lying if she admitted she wasn’t impressed, but still, the bustle of city life was not one which suited her well. Instead, Mephisto would have been much more comfortable in the shadows of the trees, the brackish waters of the swamp, or even the tall and lush grasses of the fields. Still, today they had a purpose in coming to this place. The two needed to make introductions, so as not to be seen as outsiders to Terrestella.
It didn’t take long for Marisol’s council to approach, and Mephisto’s cerulean eyes focused on the approaching kelpie with little more than quiet curiosity. Anandi was as much a stranger to her as anyone else here, for even though Mephisto had come to this place some time ago, she had only really seen the Halcyon barracks and the king. So much had changed since then, and she hadn’t even a notion of what she’d missed. Still, Mephisto finds a slight sense of relief that it isn’t Marisol who greets them, unknowing of how the queen would treat her absence. Would they believe her a deserter, or would they be willing to listen to her strange and wildly confusing circumstances? Only time would tell.
“Anandi,” she lets the name roll off the tongue with a lilting sort of tone. “Well met. My companion and I have traveled from the swamplands. She is new to this place… and I… well, I haven’t been around much either.” Simpler to leave the circumstances be for now. “I am Mephisto. We have come so my friend can offer her services to Terrestella.”
Aofe’s hide prickled with excitement and, well, prickles, but she was sure she’d have time to groom later. She picked up her neat little hooves a little higher and held her head up, slouching was not an option when everyone around was now at least two heads taller than you. She gasped a little when she saw the new mare, she reminded her of depictions of the old god of the lake. A kelpie. She knew how it felt to be stared at and she blushed and tried hard not to look like she was fascinated but also not to look like she was looking away on purpose. She knew that felt just as bad sometimes when others looked at you in surprise and then suddenly averted their gaze. It made her feel like a freak. Although she did feel the kelpies piercing verdant gaze glance over her. Was that interest or hunger in her eyes?? Aoife chuckled quietly at the thought.
She let Mephisto speak first, before she introduced herself also. “Hi there, I’m Aoife” she smiled in her trademark dewey-eyed manner, looking to Mephisto almost as if for approval. She was still childlike in many ways, a guileless little thing, as hard as she tried to seem worldly and experienced. “I know I’m small but I feel I can be of use to the Queen and the court in some way or another.”
She shuffled her hooves penitently and stepped from one side to the other a little.
There was much to dislike here, in the dusty bustle of the court. The sound, the smell, the lack of space. It was so utterly unnatural, all that stone carved and balanced, stacked and spiraling into the sky; yet in its unnaturalness there was something awe-inspiring. Someone once stood there on a blank expanse of grass, swaying deliriously in the wind, and they imagined something bigger. Something that would outlast not just themselves but the grass, the trees, the seasons.
It was a testament to power, and something about that stirred the kelpie at her core.
Still, Anandi would be the first to complain that the city was sometimes noisy and often stank. But the sea was always there, always close enough to be a reprieve for anyone who dared to brave the rocky shoreline. And escape she did, as often as she could. Even now: clean, dry (except for a small wet stain on her neck: Anouk, her bonded) and anointed in rose oil, lean in a little closer and you’ll find she smells of the sea.
Anandi listens quietly as the strangers introduce themselves. Mephisto carries herself with a quiet dignity, yet the emissary senses some sort of anxiety-- guilt?-- which she silently takes note of. Aoife is charmingly guileless. What a sweet little pet.
“It is a pleasure to meet you both, Mephisto and Aoife.” She dips her head courteously. “And a pleasure to have you join the court. From where do you come? Or have you been living in the swamp all your life?” Her speech is airy and cordial, but amusement shines in her green eyes. Anandi had many barely-contained opinions on those who chose to live in the Tinea.
“Regardless, I hope you find Dusk to your liking. And don’t worry,” She laughs lightly, the sound sweet as rain. “We’ll find you ways to help out. There’s always work to be done around here. Do you have any particular skills or interests?”
ephisto knows the questions are directed at her friend, but it would be helpful, she decided, to make her own responses to the emissary. Having met very few in her short time here, the warg knew it was time to branch out from the comfort of her solitude, if she were ever to make this place a true home. It had been too long since she’d had a place to call hers, and as she thinks back to the broken land she’d grown to love in the Riftlands, a pang of sadness wraps around her heart.
War was never pretty, but seeing the blood against the snow of her home was enough to steal away her breath. Since the war, she hadn’t ever felt at home. Not until now, she decided, taking the resolve to move forward.
“I took an oath to the Halcyon – before Marisol became the queen... and I shall remain loyal to that oath for as long as she will have me.” How long that was, exactly, remained to be seen… but Mephisto knew she had something more to offer to the warrior queen now. In time, she’d grown to understand hew new talents more, and she’d begun to see them as an advantage, when spun in a certain light. With time, she would learn to hone her craft. With time, and with patience.
“Before coming to Terrestella, I came from a land known as the Winter Court.” It seemed a lifetime ago now – a lifetime since she’d spoken the name aloud. Asterion had been a remnant of that life, a memory of the father who’d been so instrumental in her life. Gabriel held her alliance, always.
She notes the subtle amusement which Anandi expresses at the swamp, and offers a half smile in return. “Though I must admit… the most interesting of things can be found in the swamp – it’s worth exploring.” Not the least of these interesting things was Mephisto herself. For in the last several months, the warg had hidden away in the shadows of the bayou, while honing her craft and learning more about it’s strange ways.
In the darkness and the brackish waters, she was able to hide away unseen, ignored by all by the occasional healer and the heron who seemed to find Tinea’s newest occupant most-interesting. Still, it was good to be back in the land of the living, finding her way once more in the strange new world that was the Court.
She felt a little bit like a foal watching the grown ups talk as the two mares conversed. Not only her tiny stature in comparison but her naïveté and confusion. When Anandi addressed her she nodded politely at the aquatic equines honeyed words and replied when questioned. “I lived in Tinea for a few weeks but before that I lived in a mountain village a few weeks travel away.”
She listened with curiosity as Mephisto recounted her own origins. It was no surprise to her that the pegasus was a soldier. She had the stoic, stable spirit of a warrior. She wondered in passing, what Mephisto was actually doing in the swamp. Maybe it was just the miasma of the place but she got a sense something was happening below the surface of Mephisto’s poised calm front, like strong currents beneath calm water.
In response to Anandi’s final words she thought momentarily, her small fluffy ears twitched a little and she flipped her long unkempt tresses, briefly thinking about what a pain it was going to be to clean and braid them. “In my village I was a fighter, but I have the strangest feeling that I’m at a disadvantage in this land” she chuckled self-deprecatingly “but I could still be good at that in some way, maybe.”
She shuffled her hooves a little as she looked down at them nervously.
Mephisto speaks of her homeland, then Aoife speaks of hers. Anandi listens carefully, and though she does not say anything immediately she takes note of where each mare is from so that she may ask each of them about it later, in private. “So the three of us are all immigrants!” She says finally, with a smile. “I’ve only been here a year or so.”
Talk turns to the Tinea, which Mephisto speaks of with quiet, graceful pride. Anandi smiles obligingly. “Oh surely, there are some amazing things to be found in the swamps. I heard there’s a plant there that only blooms every ten years or so-- a single, massive flower, taller than a horse!” She glances from woman to woman, delicately gauging each mare’s reaction. “The strange and extraordinary thing about this flower is that it smells like a rotting corpse. The scent is so potent and so disgusting, it’s hard to get close enough to see the magnificent bloom.” She speaks with the hushed excitement of a girl telling a scary story around the campfire, disgusted by the tale but, even moreso, enthralled.
Still, she did not have any real interest in splashing through the swamp. It was too far from the ocean, too foreign. In a way, although she would die before admitting it, the swamps scared her. There was something eerie about them that did not sit right with her.
Aoife speaks of where she might be of service and the emissary leans in close. “A fighter?” Anandi laughs, but it is not unkind. “I daresay your size could actually be a mighty advantage, wielded the right way. And even if you were not a soldier, there are many ways to put your experience to use in the army.” The emissary could be cold, even sometimes cruel, but she did believe in earnest that everyone deserved to have a place. She truly wanted to help Aoife find that place within Dusk Court, and her words are alive with eagerness. “We are currently without a single tactician, the rank specializing in military strategy.” She chews her lip absent-mindedly as she thinks about it. The tactician rank was typically reserved for soldiers who had served in the army and proven themselves, but Andi was sure she could put in a good word with Marisol, if Aoife wanted…
“Ah, well, I’m sure we’ll find a place for you.” She moves on from the topic cheerfully. “Is there any part of the court you’d like to see or learn more about?” Her glance shifts to Mephisto. “Same goes to you, Mephisto. Or if there’s anything you’d like to show Aoife, by all means, take the lead!” Without instruction, Anandi steers them towards the gardens. They were usually her first destination when playing the tour guide, but she was always open for suggestions or questions-- they made the whole spiel much more interesting.
here was an easiness between the three mares which brought a sense of relaxed peace over Mephisto. She manages even a smile as she listens to the small mare ask about fighting, nodding approvingly to Anandi’s reply. It was good, she decided, that the Emissary welcomed the newcomer with a suggestion of helpfulness instead of a scoff. This was what drew her to Terrestella in the first place – the acceptance and the openness of its people. Without question, Asterion had welcomed her here, what seemed like forever-ago now. So too, she would repay the favor to those who came to this land in the future.
Her thoughts drift back to the swamp as the kelpie mentions its mysterious flower. “Every ten years? I’ve never heard of such a thing…” Her incredulous murmur holds a sense of appreciation, even as she wonders aloud, “Is it a coveted thing? Perhaps it offers healing properties or some benefit that the smell masks?” It was curious thing to wonder about, though Mephisto wasn’t sure that she would ever be lucky (or unlucky?) enough to witness the blooming with her own eyes. Still, she filed the bit of information away with all the rest, continually learning about this place she called home now, continually surprised by things which had yet to be discovered.
As the two engage in discussions about rank, the dark mare gazes toward the sea, her mind wandering to the battalion she’d left behind. Would they wonder where she went? Would they offer a welcome to her routine? Marisol hadn’t thrown her out, so that was something… but how would those she trained beside handle the news of her new power?
Mephisto shakes away the thoughts, catching the last bit of Anandi’s question as she offers a soft and appreciative smile. “I actually need to attend to something at the barracks,” she offered quietly, nodding to Aoife with reassurance. “It seems you’re in good hands now – but you know where to find me.” With that, the dark Pegasus turns away to leave the two to their exploring. “Thank you, and I look forward to catching up again soon,” Mephisto offers, before swallowing her self doubt and beginning the long walk toward the Halcyon barracks once more.
