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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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 Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:25 am
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:36 am
There were days when it was almost okay. That's the thing about the past. Sometimes, it didn't stay in the past. Sometimes, it pushed into the forefront of your mind and forced you to remember things long gone. Or soquili.
Gone.
Earyende had picked up her supplies from the traders and began the long journey back to her sea cave. It was a lonely place, but then loneliness had it's own sort of charms. If you were alone no one could hurt you, or leave you.
And that was good.
She would make necklaces back at her cave, trade them back to the merfolk for items she could not obtain elsewhere. They would give her shells and stuff to grind for dye when she went to the world above. She would sit on her rocky outcropping in the middle of the ocean and she would work the colors into the white shells. Making them always brought her joy.
She paid no attention to where she was heading or what she was doing. Her mind was occupied with things she would make, designing them in her mind. She was fully consumed by the thoughts and not noticing of anything going on around her.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 2:01 pm
The morning had been a long one; Lazuli had been woken up incredibly early by his sisters. They hadn't meant to wake him up, of course, but they could talk rather loudly. So could their mother, when she felt the need to, and that had happened this morning, as well. Father was a different matter, usually quiet and listening carefully to situations before speaking a few words, if he chose to at all. Otherwise, both of them were calm and affectionate, tending to their duties for the herd when their children didn't distract them.
That was one thing that Lazuli appreciated about his parents: they knew their position in the herd and wanted to be there. He, on the other hand, still had no idea what he wanted. The Corsairs were too hardcore for him, and he didn't have the bartering skills to know a great deal when he saw one, like the traders - he didn't know the value of all the treasure that got hauled into the reef. He sort of liked the idea of adventuring, but he hadn't ever heard of a person adventuring without robbing and looting along the way.
Sighing a fountain of bubbles, Lazuli let the air in his lungs carry him upward from the bottom of the reef, where his family's cave in the coral was - and saw something bright blue swimming by above him. Curious, he altered his course a little, to swim beneath her until he could - hopefully - not scare her when he popped up in front of her. That was when he saw her intense, pensive expression. "Miss, is everything all right?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 2:27 pm
Earyende was so consumed with her own thoughts that the sound of the stranger's voice terrified her. She dropped her bag of goods and treaded water staring at him with wide fearful eyes. Swim! Her mind ordered her.
But she was frozen, unable to move. She let out a little squeak as he looked at her. Why wasn't she swimming off? Why was she staying?
She wasn't as fearful of him as she should be. It was dangerous to talk to strangers, to make friends. Dangerous, she kept telling herself. But still, she did not move.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 1:08 pm
Lazuli stared back at the mare for a moment in stunned silence, surprised by her apparent astonishment and - perhaps - fear. It took him another moment to realize that she had dropped the things she had held in her mouth, and as soon as he noted it, he dived for them.
If he had been a Corsair, he might have simply swum off with her goods. But Lazuli didn't - because that wasn't something that was ingrained in him, and for once, that seemed a good thing. He might not be able to hang out with his friends and keep a clear conscience, but nor could he steal from an innocent mare to whom he'd done nothing but frighten. Grabbing the bag from its slow descent in the water, Lazuli swam back up to her.
Studying her for another moment, he saw that some of her appeared to be veiled in seafoam, a strange and beautiful sight. He dropped the bag to balance it on his forelegs. "I'm sorry to have frightened you," he said, moving a little closer. "Here are the things you dropped. They didn't hit the seafloor or anything, so anything delicate ought to be fine." Mentally scolding himself for talking so much, he hoped filling the silence wouldn't make it more awkward.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:04 pm
When the mer stallion went for the bag she dropped, instinct told her to swim faster than she ever had and make her escape. But for some reason she stayed.
Maybe he would take her stuff and leave. But luck or fate, as you would have it, was not on her side. He came to her bringing back her bag with him. He was the color of moonlight on water. His hair flowed out behind him in a haunting way. The artist in her wanted suddenly to paint him, she wondered if she had the right shades.
She felt her cheeks grow hot as she extended her hoof to take it from him. She nodded slightly, not sure what to do. Earyende wasn't use to interacting with other. For the first time, in awhile, she wanted to say something. But there were no words.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:04 pm
As the mare extended her leg toward him and snatched the bag back toward herself, something about it struck Lazuli as odd. His gaze followed her hoof, her foreleg as she retracted it, and then he realized what he was looking at: the upper half of her leg seemed to fade away into an ether, filling the water around her with bubbles. When he caught himself staring and wondering if her leg was whole beneath the veil of bubbles, he shook himself free of the trance of watching the bubbles float away. He looked back up to her eyes, the color of sunlit shallows. "My name is Lazuli," he murmured; his voice was almost shy in the quiet of the water. After a moment, he swallowed his bashfulness and chagrin at his staring and nodded to the mare. "I'm not a Corsair, so I won't take your things. I would know your name, though, if you... if you would give it." He felt his skin heat underneath the scales over his cheeks. Why had his tongue stumbled so?! So embarrassing! If his friends had seen... They would have laughed and stolen in front of him to take the mare's goods and then left him there, floating guiltily. Well, maybe they wouldn't be that harsh, but the idea was enough to make his blood feel colder.
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:21 pm
His words were easy on her ears, soft and lilting to her. But his had been too. She had loved him with all her being and when he was done with her, he had walked on to the land where she could never follow. It was worse than just leaving her, because he had cut her out of his life completely as though she had never existed. But for her, there was a large empty hole that he left behind. She had to be careful, had to try harder than she wanted to admit to not fall into that abyss.
He was not a Corsair, that part was calming enough. But she had not spoken for months, a year perhaps? The words were hard to form in her throat even if it was as simple as her name. She faltered and flushed crimson.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:39 pm
If he had not been focused on her eyes, on her face, Lazuli might have missed the movement of her lips that belied that, indeed, she did have the instinct to speak. Perhaps just not the voice for it. Have I gone and scared her completely speechless? His mother would filet him for bringing so much fright a creature who had far from expected him. "I'm sorry to have scared you so badly," he said, keeping the same soft tone of voice. He swished his tail and propelled himself back a few inches, to give her more personal space if she wished it. "If... if you'd rather I leave you alone, I can go." Though he spoke the words, and would follow through, something about this mare... Something about her struck him. Perhaps it was the silence she kept, or that she had been swimming so absentmindedly, unaware of her surroundings... But something about her struck him as despairing - deeply, deeply despairing.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:46 am
He backed away from her and she thought about the one she had lost. He had always pushed her back, made her love him by being there. By being constant. And this stallion, well he wasn't pushing anything onto her not even his friendship. There was something kind in his eyes and his face, something she had missed looking for in others when she kept her eyes carefully averted.
Without meaning to she found herself speaking, her voice a hoarse whisper from so much disuse.
"Stay," she said simply. She cleared her throat tried to form some more words, but didn't quite know what to say.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 2:06 am
Lazuli was just getting ready to back away from the mare and leave her in peace when she croaked out a single word, one that for some reason sent his heart soaring - stay. As if she trusted him enough, only by observing him, to let him stay in her presence. Nodding slowly, Lazuli swam a tiny bit closer, retaking the distance he had put between them for space before. "All right," he said, giving her a small, shy but encouraging smile. "I will leave if you ask me to, as well." Lazuli thought back on her voice for a moment; it had been soft and rough, but the pitch was sweet, as if her voice would be lovely with more use. How long had it been since she had spoken? Surely it would be rude to ask. "If you don't mind my asking a second time," he said, "might I know your name? If only so I have a way of thinking of you that isn't as a... Seafoam maiden, if that isn't offensive." He hoped it wasn't, but he certainly couldn't think of her by color scheme; there were too many other mares in his life to get her mixed up with. His mother, his three sisters most of the seathi ladies of the Grail - all had some kind of blue attached to their coloring.
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:47 pm
Simple as that, he would stay or go as she asked. It gave her a kind of freeing feeling of power. He would listen to her, it had been a long time since someone really listened to her like that. Since someone took her emotions and feelings into consideration.
When he asked her, her name again she swallowed hard and closed her eyes. "Earyende," her voice came out a little clearer this time. It had been a long time since she had said her name, since she had even considered telling anyone.
"Lazuli," she said back a little stronger. "Like the blue stone?" She could see it. The light beautiful coloring of him that would be lovely to paint, like the opaque inside of shells. Kind of blue and kind of white, a sheen that was lovely to look at, a pretty work of art.
She tilted her head at him, trying to keep her eyes from averting.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:21 pm
Earyende. The origin of the word was foreign to him; he'd never heard anything like it before. It was elegant and mysterious, just as its owner seemed to be. He smiled at her connection of his name. "Almost like the stone," he replied. "My sister, Lapis, is the other half." Of course, their true names didn't match quite so well; Astra and Llyr Tiarnán weren't quite so perfect, but that was because their names were their own. They were their own people, even if the wishing star that had brought them down from the heavens had made them near-twins.
"Earyende," he said, pronouncing the new name carefully, as he did with most new acquaintances, to make sure he was getting it right. It would be shameful if he called her by the wrong name or mispronounced it for the entirety of their time together, however long or short it might be. "I'm afraid I don't recognize it. The name must solely belong to you, I'm sure?" He met her bright turquoise eyes as she tilted her head at him, smile unwavering.
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:32 pm
For a moment, she didn't realize that she was replying in her mind to him instead of outloud. The only one she'd talked to out loud anymore was Krystallos, her brother. But he was more than that to her, he was her other half. He was the only one in all the world who had never disappointed her and would never leave her. That's what family was supposed to be. That's the kind of family it seemed this stallion had. She could hear the love in his voice, and in inside her woke up a longing that she'd long since denied herself--the need to connect with someone.
She surprised herself when the words came out almost easily, "It means "Daughter of the Sea." She felt the corners of her mouth twitch, his smile was infectious.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:55 pm
The silence stretched on between them, and for a moment, Lazuli feared he had said something wrong, or that she had determined to be silent again. Her eyes, so rich in hue they could almost be jewels, gazed at him for a few seconds, and then the mare seemed to return to herself. "Daughter of the sea," he mused. "It more than suits you, I must say." In hope that he wouldn't make her self-conscious, he kept himself from nodding his head toward her legs or her belly, from which bubbles and sea foam seemed to ebb and flow with the current around them.
"If I might ask... What is in the bag that I startled from your grasp? And my apologies for that, again, Earyende. I should have approached you less abruptly."
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