A Perilous Journey (Private RP)

Odette | Concubine

"Dear Cascade, if this was in your plan then at least show me a sign..." Odette thought tiredly, shifting her weight as much as she could on the small bed that had been prepared for her, but her swollen belly and injured leg left her to do little more than shimmy awkwardly in place for a moment before giving up with a sigh. Not for the first time she wished fruitlessly that her husband was of a smaller breed, then perhaps their foal wouldn't be straining so hard against her sides. Traitorous thoughts followed of a stallion of her own size, of sea-foam eyes and the gentle touch of a muzzle tracing the line of her throat for only a few precious seconds. Those seconds have haunted her dreams ever since the last time she saw the cleric of her heart. "And please, spare Eden long enough for me to kick his ass..." she quickly added to her prayer just as Hawkeye returned from his brief step outside. She smiled fondly at him as he approached, and leaned into his touch. She didn't love him, not in the way a wife should, but she was fond of him. He was a friend if nothing else.

"I'm about as good as I can be at the moment. I will feel much better once we arrive in Sedo." She replied, turning her own gaze over to the other's gathered in the chamber when the emperor addressed them. She felt oddly exposed laying as she was, injured and incredibly pregnant, and surrounded by mostly strangers. She hadn't told Hawkeye, and he hadn't said anything to her, but she was now a week past her due date for their child. Which wouldn't have been too much of a concern if it weren't for the pains which had been coming and going in steady waves since they boarded the ship and she'd had her wounds treated. This may be her first pregnancy, but she studied with Eden enough in her youth to know how labor worked, though she didn't want to alarm anyone, not yet at least; everyone needed a chance to relax, to catch their breath and figure themselves out before she started another panic by adding 'oh by the way I'm about to have a baby right now' to the chaos of their day. 

words: 391

Selora | The Traitorous Outcast

It had been only a couple days since the mixed group of traitors, diplomats, and civilians had set out on the Southern Gulf. The trip thus far had been easy going, despite the circumstances. Selora’s leg throbbed, the burns on her front left ankle treated and wrapped by the ship’s makeshift cleric. Yet she stood to the back of the boat anyway, on the wrap around lower deck behind the captain’s quarters. She stood motionless, chin resting on the tall banister and left leg bent to touch the knobby rails. The roan mare breathed deeply and slowly, her eyes resting themselves. She felt rather alienated from the group, despite them questioning her on her injuries and if she truly was okay. Though she didn't mind the attention, she was uncomfortable with who it was coming from. Nearly every equine involved in the decision to demote her was on this ship, and it made her skin crawl. Midas had come over to question if she was fit to attend the meeting, yet she could barely bring herself to look at him. Her lilac eyes gazed over at him solemnly out of respect, yet she said nothing. She had no place here. She should've stayed within the borders of Inaria; she should've stayed and found Alec, the one horse who had ever truly understood her situation. Selora did not know whether Midas had seen the small glass bottle floating along in the frothed waters behind the boat. If he had, she wasn't sure if he would have spoken up about it. Yet she could hardly care. Within that small glass bottle rested a letter to Alec, a stallion who she recognized as one who sided with the Flock. She could not blame him, after all the Talori had done to the pegasi. It was heinous, what they had done; how they had treated them. Yet how much more holy was she than the Talori? She had been and still wrestled with being a traitor. The mare had been branded for it, after all.

Yet the least she could was make eye contact with their current Serora ambassador. But she couldn't bring herself to speak even a murmur of sound to him. She may very well be the reason they were on that ship, with all that she knew. If only Hawkeye knew the extent of her knowledge… She had been surprised by the sudden attack by the Flock, simply by the full extent of how far they were willing to go to get their point across. Murdering innocent citizens… yet did she blame them? Of course not. The Talori had murdered innocent pegasi for centuries. They were at fault here, were they not? Surely even the proud Emperor himself could not deny this.

So as they rocked seemingly aimlessly on that ship, destined towards her country of origin - which may not even assist the Talori in this time of war, Selora could only ponder on if her letter would reach the winged stallion she had had the most refreshing of conversations with only a couple weeks before the attack. Wave Mother, if you hear me now, guide your currents to bring my Alec the letter… Please, Cascade. In all your mercy, deliver and protect it. She then prayed her previous prayer would not go unanswered, that the oh so merciful Wave Mother would not ignore her pleas like she had the pleas of the pegasi who suffered through so many sacrifices… perhaps she would just be noticed by the Goddess. Perhaps her prayers would finally be answered. It was such a simple thing that she required… would not even the Gods see to it that she could have at least this one small happiness in her chaotic life? Of all the things she could ask for - the materialistic mare could have asked for her beautiful home to stand tall in this time of desctruction, for the safe travels of herself and her companions on their journey to an unlikely ally, for the grace of her deceased child… her prayer had been simpler than all of these things, would it not be too big or too small for the Gods to grant it?


Post 1
Word Count: 700

Since departing from the shores of their home, Amara was fairly distant. She spent most of her time on the deck by the railing, gazing at the waves parting from the ship's keel cutting the water. If she wasn't by the railing, she'd be under deck, sleeping. There was much indecisiveness about whether she should have left with the small group... It was like being among a crowd of horses who were far more important than her- Except for the disgraced ambassador. Amara snorted, staring hard at the horizon. It was suffocating to try and act all dignified around them when all she wanted to do was bound around like a small, excited filly who was ready to see the world for the first time- She was! Yet she reserved herself to a cold attitude towards the crew of the ship and many other equines who would approach her. She needn't have time for their silly questions... She would crawl out from bed when the moons were at their peak, standing to observe the stars and the water.
Amara took in a deep breath. So their home was now in a state of chaos, hm? She could have stayed, stayed behind and find out what happened to her new home- She could only imagine it captured as some form of headquarters. She really wasn't sure what could have happened to the palace. There was a small smirk creeping on her lips, a brief chuckle.

Well, at least she was getting to explore somewhere else....Albeit under some extreme circumstances. Yet Sedo... Their shore would be within sight soon and Amara could possibly break free- She just couldn't shake this uneasy feeling of sickness in her stomach. It became difficult for her to sleep early in the morning- resulting in her waking up before many to simply rush out and empty her stomach contents down the side of the ship... How dignified. She wished it could have been for the satisfaction of seeing the stars burning bright- Nope. It was whatever this illness was. Guh. The uneasy feeling made her fear for her own life. Would Sedo accept them and offer to help? Shelter them from the heat? There were so many questions. Amara sighed heavily, flicking her large ears back in frustration at her many questions.
Whatever, they'd be answered soon.

She lifted a leg, ready to return to the cabin but hesitated. She saw that the emperor had briefly stepped out before returning inside. Amara rolled her eyes, placing her hoof down and slowly making her way back to the cabin, appearing in the doorway.

Selora | The Traitor

The waves had seemed to become more and more cruel, as if they wished to swallow the ship they sailed upon. The roan mare stood solemn where the Seroran ambassador had left her, alone on the wrap around bridge-like railing at the stern. Selora could heard all that went on behind her - the concubine was going to give birth, and soon. Yet all Selora could think about were the letters, the sounds of alarmed voices fading away into the back of her consciousness. Her second letter was floating away to what she prayed was the shores of Aquore, and a letter to her dear friend Jala was en route as well.
Her lilac eyes looked to the setting sun - another day of sailing has passed by, another day of sunburnt backs and idle chatter from the rest of the group. Pointless, it all was. Despite how silver-tongued, how diplomatic she was usually, Selora could not help but keep to herself. Solitude was a cruel mistress, but she felt so out of place, it couldn't have been helped no matter how hard she may try. Everyone on that ship was of some importance to the mission, and then there was she - the traitor, the liar, the thief of precious knowledge known to so few even within the borders of Aquore. There was so much she knew that the Sultan himself would never know without her aid… and perhaps that was why she was there, to tell him the truth for the first time in her career. But she could not get her hopes up, she couldn't be the savior of the country. After all, the Emperor himself sailed with her. He surely would have her killed - or worse, sent to Eithne as a slave, if he came to know that she was even thinking about sabotaging their plans to win the aid of the Serorans. It made her sick thinking she may be branded again over an ordeal she would have good intentions for. She would be punished for doing something good in her life, for once. But that was sacrifice was it not? And what more did she have to lose?

Her deep thoughts were interrupted by a chattering bird that was sitting on the railing beside her, a mere foot from where her chin rested. At first, the roan thought nothing of it - bird song was a common sound that so many overlooked. But in the middle of the ocean? Her ears perked straight up, tail flagging as she realized why the bird was there. Had her dead Alec finally sent word of his well being? Or perhaps Jala, to tell her that her beloved had survived the bombings?

She untied the letter gently from the bird's foot, though she was anxious to unroll the scroll that it held just beneath its bright blue wings. Her thoughts raced with expectations of what the words would say - Alec telling her that he was well, that he and his precious daughter had found refuge in her proudly standing home? The scroll was unrolled in haste, her telekinesis shivering in her urgency to keep her emotions together. Lilac eyes absorbed the scribbled words on the parchment, but as she read on, her heart crashed into the pit of her stomach. She wanted to vomit, she wanted to jump off of the ship and swim her way back to Aquore. Selora fell to her knees, tears reaching her eyes before she could hold them back. The letter read, in charcoal of all things,

"Selora

Before I write anythin g else, please, SEND HELP. The Flight has killed our defend-er. I hear many others have been captured and killed. I have managed to escape with many others, but my parents have gone missing, and I believe now that they are dead. They were at the ceremony, and my ma was expecting.

I cannot trust the Flight. My best friend claims they are here to help us, but I cannot trust them. They have killed loved ones, and because of them, my siblings, my best friend Tegan, who has wings, and I are stuck far away from Inaria. We do not know if the Flight has left the city or not, but many refuges who escaped to this place have said that they are still in Inaria and that it is mostly destroyed. If we go back, they will surely capture us.”

There was a break in the letter, his words sounded distressed, terrified, unsure whether he would live to see his next sunrise. Tears flowed from Selora’s eyes, dampening her dark cheeks and tracing along the scars she had been marked with as a child. The letter continued on a piece of wood - she could only guess that the bark was a broken piece of firewood the poor child had used in desperation.

I cant tell you where we are, because honestly I dont know were we are anymore. It has been many weeks. The day the Flight came feels so far away now. But we are hungry, and tired, an we are not sure if it is safe to go back. Please, for my family and friends, SEND HELP. If you escaped anywhere past the barrier mountains, then go to your old herd and tell them. We are dying, and I dont know how much longer I can last here. I dont know who Alec is. There are many pegasi here who have escaped to this place too, and many of them were injured from the Flight. I can only hope that this friend and his daughter are safe. But if he is not part of the flock, then he has either been captured as well or something else. Hopefully he has only been captured and not killed.

...I don't know how much I can take, Selora. For now we can only cling to what this jungle has for us. But it is little. And we cannot go back with those terrorists searching for us. I dont know if we will see each other again. If we dont, I just want to say Im sorry for yelling at you. Even if we get help I dont know if I will survive by then. But for the sake of my brothers and sisters, and my other friends who are with you, I beg you, send help. I just want them to be able to happy again.

Regards,
Jala.”

Her leg throbbed with the weight she had pressed upon it, but it was a mere twinge to the utter agony that plagued her whilst reading that poor colt’s scrawled words. The Emperor had to know what was happening to his people in Aquore.

Not even bothering to wipe her tears, Selora stood quickly and sprinted the short distance from the stern to the bow where the rest of the group was. “Emperor! You must read this - words from your people! They are suffering!” The words came from her mouth so quickly, she did not have a moment to take in the situation before her. The concubine was about to birth the Emperor’s child. But the words were already spoken, and everyone had heard the urgency in her voice before she could bite the words back. She stopped short just behind the group, her chest heaving with dehydration and the energy it had taken to shove herself off of her wounded leg. Oh, Cascade, please let them listen.

words: 1265