{Posts}

[for Cinnoru]

The full moon rises at the edge of the Tides as the sun sets on the other, both half-submerged and half-landlocked. Over the sea, pale pink battles cold silver for dominance, clouds tinged in ever changing fading as the Sun makes his last stand- but as ever, the Lady Moon prevails, banishing her mate to his chamber for the evening and claiming rule over her sky and her children.

Far below, blue eyes gaze upwards as the Seraphim recalls the stories of her youth, a childhood left behind before it truly began. The Moon and Sun, lovers of the sky from whose quarrel day and night were created. Their children are the stars, and for a time each cycle they would join and mate, and the Lady would swell with the seed in her womb. Then, on nights like tonight when she was full, she would give birth to more stars, and begin to recede once more.

On the now silver-stained sand, the ivory unicorn sighed, discontent. Torn, she stood, facing the sea; her heart longing for the childhood she had lost to a tyrannical mother and distant father, desiring companionship, someone to trust, to be close to, to care for... but her body wants something else. First spring of the second year: the fallen angel has come into season, and aches for touches, kisses, the warmth of another against her skin. She wants a mate, but knows it not- no mare has she to tell her of her body, no confidant of friend to seek out. Confused, she gazes into the twinkling ocean, favoring her injured left fore, cold reserve dropped for once and all emotions clear on her face.

The moonlight catches her crown of horns, illuminating the crystal spires like a halo, casting a pure, beautiful glow about the young mare. The sea is gentle, but her heart is in turmoil. So quiet, the Tides; the warriors gone out to fight for the Valley, and she is fearful for them, despite the fact that the idea was hers: fearful for Nepdon, for Abbadon, for all the others who have gone, and ashamed of the fact that injury has forced her to remain behind. With a gentle sigh, Zuriel hangs her head, turning her face away from the sea. What use is a crown, with no one to share in her pride?

The rain comes. Small, silver bodies striking dark rivets into the pale sand, slowly turning it all to slick, glass mud. Beyond, the ocean sighs and throws herself upon the shore. Her usual discontenting rage of storm-tossed waves seem in a way gentle to night, as she is content at last with his embrace.

The rain precedes him. The ocean is him.

As the white foam of a cresting wave breaks into sight and crawls along the sleek shoreline, his torso draws from it. Front legs split the air and slap against the wet sand with the rest of the flowing ocean, his figured pulled entirely free as the tide is pulled away. Cinnoru stands, regal and lithe upon the solitary beach. Water runs in rivulets down his side, ending in a cascade of drops at the edges of his barrel and twisted mane tips. A smirk draws upon his lips as his cruel eyes flicker to her. With an even stride he starts forward, the ocean parting against his feet while the rain paints them both gray.

"Why does my child mourn, when she should be joyful?" Cinnoru greets with low tones on a fluid voice. He smiles, seemingly genuinely, as he curves his slender body around her as if to shield her away from the world and her weariness. Her objections to his presence, much less his proximity, don't even fleetingly cross his mind. She is of him, and she is bound to his will as any of the unicorn are. He is not a passing king for them to rebel against, he is Cinnoru. Yet he knows she would not. Zuriel, daughter of Stone and Ignatius. He has been watching her since she arrived, admiring the older beauty of her pure genes and the luscious glow of desire in her sharp eyes. He exhales into her, almost laughing. She's perfect.

"Perhaps her heart desires for more than what she has... isn't it always so." Another flash of a smirk as his lion's tail whips around to brush her flank and tangle against her hocks. His eyes dart to her impressive crown, his muzzle running up the length of her nape to set by her ear. "Come, tell me of your woes so I might fix them sweet Zuriel."

C I N N O R U
Vicory By My Horn

She opens her eyes as the gray rain begins to fall from a suddenly clouded sky, watching it strike the sand in dark spots, staining the silver grains slate. Just like your innocence will be stained, darkened, taken away... but she does not know this yet, the young mare, she only feels a chill, sudden shiver course over her, a sudden foreboding mixed with excitement. Something is about to happen, Seraphim. For the second time in a season, your life is going to change. The time has come, and you are chosen. Look to the sea.

Head raised, she looks.

A soft gasp escapes her lips as he appears, but the sound is drowned in the gently falling rain. Rising from the sea, he is a myth, a legend, but alive and whole before her, an image of splendor and grace and all she has ever admired. She has never seen him before, but that does not matter; she knows who he is; what unicorn did not? He was her forefather, her god, the name her dam had whispered to her since birth and the one she whispered now- “Cinnoru.”

He is upon her now, and his voice caresses her like cool water on a hot day, liquid and soothing and so easy to get lost in... but there is a light flashing in her mind, a signal that starts her from her awed trance. The voice is so familiar, so similar to one she has heard countless times, that she almost starts- it is Stone's voice; deeper, masculine, but holding the same cruel danger. Be wary, Zuriel. She steps away as he presses against her, but even the brief contact on her skin is intoxicating; it takes all her self-control to keep the distance of a step from his warmth. The rain is making her shiver.

“Forgive me, Lord, your presence overwhelms me.” She is acting, buying time, clearing her confused mind. She knows he will see through her ruse, but does not care; she is his heir, after all, a direct, pure descendant; didn't Stone so often tell her so? Strong, and she will prove it to him, he who has honored her with his presence. She raises her crown and turns back to him, a faint smile of her own upon her lips. She will not defy him, but she will not be his toy, either.

But oh, as he rubs his muzzle up her nape, how she wants him! Her resolve crumbles slightly.

“I do not know what I desire, my Lord.” Her voice, too, is fluid, but next to his tenor it sounds rough, untrained. “Knowledge, strength, trust in something that will not just crumble away from me... but what I do not know.” The Angel's voice is wistful, a touch of her longing returning. He's coaxing her, speaking into her ear, his tail around her hocks, and she shivers in her desire and the effort it takes to resist melting beside him. A laugh to break the tension- but it is strained, jagged, and she winces at the sound. With a childish smile, she lithely jumps away from him again, limping slightly, favoring her torn limb, sea-blue eyes mirroring his own through the rain. “Perhaps you can help me, Cinnoru, to understand my wants and quench my thirst? Can you teach me to be one with the water, my Lord, one with you?”

Silly, silly Zuriel, with no comprehension of what your words might mean.

She greets him with her angelic voice, but drifts away on unseen wings. His eyes sharpen, lip pulling back in displeasure briefly. He rids himself of these noticeable expressions, pretending instead not to notice and to respect her decision. His tail twitches behind him.

She gives in to his second attempt however, though he doesn't so easily forget the initial response. He buries it though, ears flickering to listen to her woes like a diligent father. "I am all you need to trust in Seraphim, I am the strength and the honesty you crave." He smiled comfortingly, bowing around her once more, though not touching this time, only drifting before her, bobbing like the ocean before the shore. The rain falls around them, dripping across them in silver streams.

She laughs then, a sharp sound and pulls away. His eyes blaze for a moment and the ocean screams in the distance as she crashes upon the beach. His tail flickers from side to side, snake-like. He turns his head away from her, lest she catch his subdued anger. For a moment he is silent, though he heard her. "I can give you what you seek Zuriel... I think you have been resisting the natural pull within you." He glances back across his shoulder, all the warmth and reassurance returned. "You have been fighting motherhood Zuriel." he said it simply, as if it were obvious. "As the ocean is mother to us, so you can learn to be as her and bear your own oceanic pearl." He turned, sweeping back towards her, the smile almost triumphant now. "I would be honored to help you in this Zuriel. To teach you and guide you through these storms."

C I N N O R U
Vicory By My Horn