[AW] there's a cure for all that ails you;

[Lysander]

LYSANDER

The first thing that catches him straight from a tear between worlds is the cold.
 
In the Riftlands the weather had followed its own mad rules; feral magic had driven it wild. Deserts were born of seas and caves crumbled into canyons, but rarely did the wind blow with a bite and a whisper of colder to come. Now that he considers it, Lysander has never seen a winter.
 
He can’t say he is eagerly anticipating the prospect. Nevertheless, stagnation is dullness and dullness may as well be death –
 
And besides, Florentine is around here somewhere. That is enough to make this world worth exploring. Not that he has the option to leave; once he has been unceremoniously birthed into this November-gray meadow, the window between the worlds knits itself shut.
 
There is a quirk to his dark lips as he watches it go, though he says nothing, only wonders for a moment what will become of those left behind. Perhaps the little Anthousai had left other tears for them to escape through; perhaps she’d be back with a way to save them all.
 
It would not surprise him, but then not much did.
 
Next he stretches, long and languid as a cat, and scratches his neat arch of antlers against a black knee.
 
Only then does he take in the world around him. Green-brown grasses blown flat with the wind that riffles its way through his dark curly hair, and thick furrows of clouds like fields that stretch from horizon to horizon, and nearly nothing else. If he is unimpressed he does not show it; he only begins to walk, a gait as feline as his stretch.
 
He knows it is only a matter of time until he finds someone. Lysander is never alone for long.



@Florentine for the mentions, and @Crux if you wanna talk midnighters - but anyone welcome!

Oh, it’s a bad, bad ritual 
Oh, but it calms me down

[Auru]

The scruffy man had snuck out of the swamp to try and get some nice grazing time in, hoping to get a few nibbles of grass in while others were preoccupied. He had hovered on the edge of the swamplands for quite some time, head peeking out from the darkness as he searched this way and that, looking for anyone nearby. Seeing not a soul, he had hesitantly slunk from the shadows, nervously trotting out into the exposed fields with more than a little trepidation, head always glancing over his shoulders.

He hadn't seen anyone in hours, but that didn't alleviate his worries. He may have picked up into something of a nervous canter at some point, and while he had put a fair distance between the swamps and himself, he had also come to an area where the grasses were much thicker and fuller, and had waster little time in crunching away. Mouthful after mouthful sated his aching belly, and he even managed to forget about the filth clinging to his coat for a moment, the man having hardly found the chance to bathe himself recently, and as such practically covered in a thin layer of dried, murky water, the occasional twig or leaf litter caught in the lion's mane about his shoulders and chest.

So, one must imagine the nervous stallion's surprise, when a rip in reality suddenly appears in the distance. Not close to him by any means, only visible on the horizon (which was quite a long range of visibility in the flat lands of the fields), but very discernible as something quite powerfully... magical.

The grass in his lips had fallen to the ground, and when another figure had emerged from the rip, Auru Geniven was swift to follow his abandoned meal, dropping to the earth and trying to hide behind the grass line. His earthy brown coat, coupled with the great distance would leave his fallen form little more than a brown lump as far as the stranger was concerned, perhaps a pile of dirt, but he had little to his figure that was extravagant, and his colors were muted compared to some others.

He nervously held his head so that his eyes were just above the grasses level, anxious eyes the hue of dull copper watching as a figure with a coat of burnished metals and bone white antlers seemed to have not a care in the world. Seemingly wholly unconcerned with their abrupt arrival and being deposited in a new place. Or was it not new at all? Had the strange figure caused that magic? Were they simply teleporting themselves to where ever they wished to be? Were they a member of the Dusk Court?

The scruffy man hadn't seen the stranger before, because surely he'd recognize those antlers. But then again, he hadn't exactly been out and about much (and had no intention to be), so... he could simply be unawares... There had been quite a few new faces teeming about lately as he peered at the passing of strangers anxiously from the shadows, but while he hadn't had the chance nor any interest, quite frankly, in interacting with them, he was sure he would recognize such a crown...

Oh Vespera, was this an attacker? No, no, it could just be a visitor from another Court, a messenger.

...Or it could be a spy making the rounds before leading in the assault.

The brown man was quick to scramble to his hooves, but in his great haste, failed to get himself properly situated. He had attempted to get up with the purpose of galloping back to the swamps, a place where at least he knew his way around, but instead, he found himself tripping over his own hooves with a frightened squeal, roughly falling back to the grasses he had only just gotten up from as his squeal was cut off to a pained groan.

He hadn't twisted anything, but the impact had knocked the air from his lungs, and his flank and chest were protesting from the sudden connection they had formed with the ground below.

@Lysander

OOC: Don't mind me just gonna slide right on in here

[Lysander]

LYSANDER

It’s the squeal that draws his attention, surely as a rabbit’s would a fox. He pauses, ears twisting, the sweep of his gaze setting on a little hillock with a knee-high mantle of winter-brown grass.

There is motion there, just a stirring, just a shape. Lysander’s lips stir, too, into a quick little grin before he’s crossing the field, the sharp interest in his eyes belying the unhurried pace of his feet. Perhaps it was to be expected, but the stallion still finds himself delighted at the thought of being watched.

By the time Lysander reaches him, the bay has climbed back to his feet. He looks like he’s been made of a mud-bank, and like a strong wind might blow him over; Lysander huffs a breath and flicks a black-rimmed ear.

Such fearful things, horses could be.

“Were you going somewhere?” he asks mildly as the stranger works to catch his breath. The glint of mischief in his eye is not particularly kind. Lysander is not a cruel man – just, at the moment, a slightly bored one.

He edges a step closer, just to see how the bay would react.

“I hope you’re alright,” he says, and then adds dryly, “I also hope you’re not a guard. You’d have some work to do.”






@Auru thanks for the nudge, and sorry for the wait!

Oh, it’s a bad, bad ritual 
Oh, but it calms me down

[Auru]

After taking a moment for self-pity and to bemoan the constant bruises and scrapes he seemed to acquire within the comfort of his own mind, Auru rolled over to attempt to get to his hooves for the second time, a low groan just barely audible as he shifted his weight back onto his hooves instead of what was pretty much the rest of his body. It took him a few stuttering pushes to manage to get himself upright, giving himself a light shake like a dog, skin twitching as he shook the vestiges of his fall off of his body.

A light huff brought his head snapping up, seeing brilliantly green eyes staring at him. As a black ear flicked a pair of brown ones lowered in anxiousness as the man took a step back from the approacher, trying to put even just the slightest bit of distance more between them. He wanted to run away from the man who seemed to command magic like a god if that rip in reality itself was anything to go by, but he also didn't want to potentially give the man a reason to think Auru dangerous and strike him down.

He was caught between a rock and a hard place here.

"Were you going somewhere?"

Surprisingly, the only thought Auru managed in response, other than the terrified incoherent babble of the rest of his brain, was something that seemed rather sarcastic at first glance, but the tone in which it was thought was nothing more than wholly earnest.

Anywhere that isn't here.

The man took a step forwards with his statement, and Auru countered with two steps back. Not only restoring the distance between them, but adding to it even more.

"I hope you're alright,"

Auru felt his brow furrow for a moment in confusion, wondering why this god-man would care if he was alright. Obviously he wasn't alright, he was being interrogated by a god.

"I also hope you're not a guard. You'd have some work to do."

It took the frightened stallion a moment of genuine thought to decipher what was meant by the statement, the sheer notion of him being a guard seeming so left field and peculiar that for a moment, he wasn't sure what the stallion had even meant by that. What did he mean he 'hoped Auru wasn't a guard?'

They were both talking about the same Auru, right?

Why would he hope Auru wasn't a guar-oh.

His heart still beat against his chest like the drums of war, banging against his ribs like a prisoner crying to be set free. His skin still crawled with nervous energy and his hooves still itched to carry him off into the distance as swiftly as they could in whatever direction possible, so long as it was away from this stranger.

But all this was now coupled with the burning tinge of embarrassment as Auru felt his cheeks heat up beneath his muddy coat, the man casting his eyes to the ground not only in fright, but now in an inability to look the boyish looking man in the eye any longer. He scuffed lightly at the ground with a hoof, taking advantage of the embarrassed movement to get another backwards step in.

Hey, he may want to crawl under a rock for more than just one reason now, but he would take advantage of it if it helped get him further away from the reality-tearer, from the god in a man's skin before him. He mumbled something incomprehensible even to himself under his breath, eyes looking anywhere but at the other man.

@Lysander

OOC: Auru go blushie-blushie

[Lysander]

LYSANDER

He watches the stranger take a first step back and wears a rueful smile as he waits for a response.

The shock is understandable enough, he supposes. In the world he’d come from – the one mercifully closed off behind him, now – Lysander would be one of the least threatening things that could appear. That place could dream up such horrors as even he had never seen, and he possessed an agile mind and a long history.

Here, however, it seems that magic is either an uncommon thing – or perhaps an even more deadly one.

Or maybe this poor fellow is not indicative of the rest of the population.

He can see from the emotions that flicker across the brown man’s face that he’s comprehending Lysander’s speech, though he’s still made no effort to speak. The stallion watches, bemused, as he takes yet another step backward. “Ah, friend,” he says, gaze unmoving from the other’s face, “You have nothing to fear from me.”

It is true for the most part, though he flicks his tail at a fly-buzz of irritation when there is still no reply, no effort to speak. It has been a long time indeed since he has been met so fearfully; for the first time he wonders what he looks like. He can feel antlers, a foreign weight, but nothing else seems particularly out of place.

He can also feel weariness rushing in, filling the places where his magic had been, and hunger, and thirst. It all combines to make him more impatient; with a shake of his head he steps forward again, closing the distance between them, tilting his head in an effort to force the man to meet his eye.

“Can you at least point me in the direction of someone more willing to talk? I’m looking for a girl – golden coat, purple flowers in her hair. Has she passed by here recently?”

Surely Florentine was not too far ahead of him (how wrong he is, in multiple aspects). Maybe that accounted for the stranger’s fright – that he’d seen not one but two horses canter out of a tear between worlds. Still, Lysander does not reopen the space between them; he has things he’d much rather be doing than standing in a field, talking to himself.



@Auru

Oh, it’s a bad, bad ritual 
Oh, but it calms me down

[Auru]

"Ah, friend, you have nothing to fear from me."

I am calling bullshit.

He didn't say it, but certainly thought it.

He nervously debated whether or not turning and just flat out bolting would be worth it, given the way the man seemed to be growing more and more irritated as the time went on. Auru nervously looked from side to side, unsure as to what exactly the man wanted him to say. He hadn't exactly been asked a question, and he felt that his nonverbal response was more than indicative of how he felt regarding the statements already put forth in the... one-sided conversation.

“Can you at least point me in the direction of someone more willing to talk?"

You didn't ask me anything, asshole. I can talk just fine.

"I’m looking for a girl – golden coat, purple flowers in her hair. Has she passed by here recently?”

Momentarily forgetting that he should be frightened of the... possible god, Auru flicked his eyes up to meet the slightly taller man's gaze, ears lowered in momentary irritation at the insinuation being made. Auru had a voice that he could use just fine, just because the man seemed to think that suddenly appearing out of thin air and giving someone a heart attack and following that up with embarrassing them was perfectly fine didn't mean that sensible people wouldn't still be stunned to silence.

Jerk.

But a girl with a golden coat and flowers in her hair certainly did sound familiar.

Too familiar.

His back distantly ached at the thought of her.

He cleared his throat quietly, flicking an ear as he shuffled back a little more, still subconsciously and fully consciously trying to add distance between them. The man was still very much so someone to be wary of. But that didn't mean Auru would just lead any old person to the ruler of his court, he may be a coward and he may prefer to keep to himself and stay out of court life, but that didn't mean he'd just lead any old person to his leader. Especially not someone who looked so dangerous.

"W-What do you need to speak to Sovereign Florentine for?"

He returned his eyes to the ground as he asked the question, irritation rapidly having faded and the nervous man now finding himself once more in a situation that was more than slightly uncomfortable.

@Lysander

[Lysander]

LYSANDER

If Lysander had had a more specific idea of what was going through the stranger’s head, he would have been amused. But even as a god that particular power had never belonged to him, and so he only watches as the brown stallion continued to display clear signs of anxiousness.

Then, at last, the fellow met his eye. This time, Lysander stays put when the other shuffles back again, shifting his weight to his right side and cocking a hind hoof. He smiles benignly when the stranger finally speaks, and then –

“Sovereign?” he repeats, and for the first time surprise flits across his face, brief as a passing shadow. It’s followed by the return of the smile, warm as a new sun. The little Anthousai has been busy indeed, and for the first time it occurs to him that the play of time in the rift-window she’d made might not be the same for both of them.

How interesting.

“She’s an old friend of mine,” he says quite truthfully, “though I have not seen her since she was a girl.” He tilts his head, then, considering the stranger before him. Flora’s new title brought up all sorts of questions, but he didn’t have much hope in answers. “Tell me where I might find her, and I’ll leave you to your…grazing.”



@Auru

[Auru]

"Sovereign?"

Auru was rather confused as to why that was so surprising, but decided that perhaps it was best if he didn't know. He nodded nervously as he still continued to look at the ground, digging lightly at the soil with the point of a hoof as he tried to combat the need to run that caused his limbs to tremble. At the very least, embarrassment kept him more grounded than blind panic, even if it made his cheeks heat and made him want to shove his head under the soil, never to be seen again.

"She's an old friend of mine, though I have not seen her since she was a girl."

Something about the strange god's tone caused the anxious stallion to blink up at him in... surprise? Confusion? Even he was not entirely sure what emotion it was that pervaded his senses and gave him the momentary confidence to meet the other's gaze, but it was present nonetheless. He only looked up for a moment, meeting the considering gaze for but half a second, before anxiousness returned and he looked downward in shame.

Shame of what, he wasn't quite sure, but it leaked into his senses and took upon every aspect of himself for its own, and he felt lesser simply standing there, inferiority creeping in the longer he stood before this strange god who seemed to look down on him so, no matter how much he might deserve it.

"Tell me where I might find her, and I'll leave you to your... grazing."

His cheeks burned once more as he closed his eyes as shame plucked at the flesh upon the back of his neck. It caused a prickling tingle so like that of panic and fear, but rather than cold claws it was like heated, tapping nails, bringing forth goosebumps but burning its way through his skin with its tickle rather than freezing his very essence.

Copper eyes flicked back and forth for a moment, before the man half-heartedly tossed his head to the east, sort of a vague gesture to where the keep lay.

"Sh-She um... well... the k-keep is over to the east, a-and that is u-usually where a sovereign o-ought to be..."

He dug at the ground for a moment, edging a step or two back as he rolled his thin shoulders in discomfort, stepping back and leaving a breadth of distance between the two of them as more words spilled from his mouth in a frantic gush, the horse with the fangs of a lion unable to stop the rush in his discomfort.

"Y-You can't m-miss it... big c-castle, f-fairly close to the s-sea b-but if you see the ocean y-you've gone too f-far..."

Oh for Vespera's sake why couldn't he just shut up already?

He shuffled back a few steps more, giving some semblance of a nod and continuing to shift in place, wanting to turn tail and run but also not wanting to anger the strange god in case his service was required more. He certainly didn't want to be hunted down before the time came to meet his maker.

@Lysander

OOC: Sorry for the delay! But here's the nervous boyo for ya <3

[Lysander]

LYSANDER

Around them blows the breeze, fingers tousling their hair, lonely and cold. Lysander can find none of the strange things of the Rift on it – no sickness, no whispering trees or clockwork creations. That had been a mad world, a machine running down, leaking magic like oil.

He’s not had the time to wonder if finding this place a ‘normal’ (as much as anything was ever truly normal; all life had a way of making things messy) one would be an adjustment. Finding out that Florentine was a queen is quite a start to making him think it isn’t. Not because of any merits of hers – he would trust her as a sovereign, even knowing her only as a child – but because, in his timeline, she’d only left the riftlands a few days before.

Curious.

All this has him considering, mouth quirked in thought, but his attention returns in full to the stranger when he gestures. There is a pang of…not quite guilt, but dismay, that squeezes like a fist at his heart as he watches the stallion. It is never his intent to cause shame, and he only very rarely went in for fear.

“Thank you,” he says, and dips his head. For a long moment afterward he considers the stallion, his lionlike mane, and lion’s eyes, and less than a lion’s heart, and Lysander’s lips twist into something wry and soft. He comes no nearer (he has pressed the boy enough), but his voice carries over the distance between them.

“I am sorry for startling you. I forget how much of a shock such a thing must be, to some.” A last smile, almost fond, before he turns and takes his leave, heading for the east, for a castle by the sea.



@Auru ahhh poor fellow

[Auru]

"Thank you."

Auru bowed his head in turn. He may be frightened and very unsure of himself, but he had been raised with some semblance of manners, and he acted on learned instinct, returning the gesture politely as he had been raised. Orange eyes find themselves unable to look at the god's face, but he does hear the words, and even if he is afraid, he does notice the softer tone in which the are spoken.

“I am sorry for startling you. I forget how much of a shock such a thing must be, to some.”

And with that, the strange god was on his way.

Auru stood for a moment, simply watching the other go, before slowly beginning to take steps in the opposite direction, looking over his shoulder every other one to watch the figure fading into the distance, both looking to see if he was being followed and to see if the god wanted to wreak any more havoc on this world. Seeing nothing, his pace increased to a trot, and when the other man had faded into nothingness, a frightened gallop, even if it was not breakneck, it was still rather fast.

How much of a shock such a thing would be to some people?

What, was that normal where the god came from?

Well, he assumed that if the other man really was a god, then it would make sense for such a thing to be commonplace, but what was a god doing in Novus?

For Vespera's sake, what happened to the days when the most dramatic event was inter-court conflict and someone with magic? When had gods started crawling out of the woodwork and toying with the lands of Novus at their very whimsy. It left poor natives like Auru estranged and very frightened and confused.

But, at least, it seemed that poor natives like Auru weren't their intended targets, and he managed to scamper his way back to the safety of the swamplands without having gotten so much as a second glance from the world-traveling god.

@Lysander

OOC: Just thought you might like to be pinged to read the last post. ^^ Whoo, my first officially finished thread on here. Got a proper closing and everything. :D