if i had a heart;; [nirvana]

[RANJIT;;]

watch your tongue
i'll have it cut from your head
R A N J I T
save your life
by keeping whispers unsaid

Heavy snow blanketed the realm. Winter had come with the utmost fury and even the equines whose coats overgrew to protect them suffered from the malignant chill. Salmon tinged innards of his flaring nostrils showed as the ashen mogul moved sluggishly along through the thick coating of ivory particulates that covered the entirety of the kingdom. It seemed to the former monarch that nary an inch had not been concealed beneath the sheet of alabaster and a thick sense of loathing caked in his chest. The huge barrel of the beast heaved as he drug his chassis through the snow. The ebony rocks were all but concealed behind clinging rime that stuck to them, sheeting the entire ravine in ivory. The alabaster mogul held an array of camouflage against the snow, for his bodice and tendrils were nearly the same hue as the virgin snow around him. Only the coral tint of his visionary spheres, the inky spot upon his broad chest, and the ebonite tips of his thick tendrils gave his steady movement away. Plumes of fine, hot mist escaped from those flared nadars as his heavy lungs worked and a flash of that hot hatred for this abhorrent season arose once more to wrap thorny tendrils about his beating cardiac muscle. The Cadaverous Kaiser really hated winter.

Night had fallen thick around him, a veil of blackness dotted by milky pinpoints of light within the celestial boundaries. The heavens seemed very far away indeed to the huge beast who strode beneath them, now and then pausing to permit his cranial tomb to rise aloft to peer into that silken darkness. The heavens above this realm had always been strange and lovely to the former Dark king, who looked upon them with a slight fondness staining his pale sanguine oculars. The tyrant had never feared the darkness of night, for he had loved the stars too fondly to do so. There was a brief moment where he wondered, just for a second, if Adviendha, wherever she was, looked up at those pricks of light and missed him as badly as he currently missed her. An exhalation escaped and the chalky monarch permitted his skull to drop once more, caudal flicking at his hinds listlessly before falling still. Giving his powerful nape a sharp shake, the mogul continued onward, moving deeper into the valley protected by the ravine, glancing to and fro here and there to greet or nod to the various horses settling for the night. Though Obascus was mostly protected from the brumal winds that swept down from the mountains, the equines suffered along during the winter. Clouds were building in the west and the hessian knew, as he watched them through wise and cold pools of palest carmine, that by the time the sun began to peek above the line of the horizon that snow once more would be falling from swollen clouds to collect upon whatever surfaces, living or otherwise, it might locate. The equines would be fortunate indeed to escape a blizzard and he suspected one would come sooner or later.

Cautious strides brought his form around a bend in the river to the place where the Empress most often preferred to settle herself down. As to be expected, the tangerine femora stood with her back facing to the icy winds, her petite babe settled far enough off as to not be within hearing but in sight, warm near a protected spot. Musculature rippling as he came to a halt some ways off, the ivory hessian took a moment to observe the amber and ink stained bitch. She stood out vividly against the blanched landscape, her powerful chassis compact and the picture of health, if a bit thin from the winter months. Ranjit, too, had lost the weight he normally did, though by no means were either of the massive equines gaunt in any way. Her inked tendrils hung nearly to the sod with her skull lowered slightly but the slightly uneven rise and fall of her chest with each breath revealed to the mogul that the Imperium czarina was in fact quite awake. Indeed, the chalky hessian suspected she knew already that he was there, observing her without speech. When first they had met, what seemed like so long ago, the blanched brute had assumed he would need to eventually fight against her, that her ambition would drive her in an attempt to supersede his throne from him. Instead, the bay femora had proven her worth time and time again as being well deserved of the trust he had eventually laid before her and now the kaiser would not dream of laying forth a challenge to her, if ever he so desired to rule these lands again. No such longings had arisen as of late, however; Ranjit's reign would not be complete with anyone at his side by his dappled fae, Adviendha.

Breath escaping him in a slow expiration, the beast lifted his cannons in a high stepping walk to break through the layer of rime atop the snow until he reached her. Though not often given to overt displays of affection to anyone but the tiny temptress who he was beginning to finally understand would never return, the achromic beast permitted his pale muzzle to brush along the inky tendrils that hung from her nape. Dental weaponry were unveiled enough to place an affectionate nip to the withers of the femora as the huge hessian moved to stand beside her, assisting in blocking the wind from her by taking the brute force of it against him. The mogul slung his crania over her shoulders and let his chassis rest against her own, grateful for the steady warmth and the glorious sensation of a bodice near his own. Ranjit sighed, coral gems half-closed against the wind. "I am sorry to hear of the Reckoning and Evictus, Nirvana. I know you and the Reckoning were close. I will gather a few members of the militia and see if we can succeed in driving out or slaying this wolf pack that is haunting our doorstep." His low rasp of a voice rumbled forth, vibrating where his chest rested against her bodice, the guttural quality of it more pronounced as it always became during the cold months of the vicious winter. The wolves that had taken refuge within the ravine and the surrounding landscape posed a problem for them all, the monarch knew, and they would need to be dealt with shortly so that they claimed no more victims. He thought, only briefly, of his uncle-son, Sarwin, whose life, too, had been claimed by the wolves of Obascus and felt a prickle of sorrow roll through him, though it moved on swiftly. He and Sarwin had not been close and the black bastard had borne no love lost for the ivory former-king. Ranjit felt little for the brute now that he no longer strode this earth.

count;; 1159
tagged;; nirvana
notes;; i have an unbelievable amount of ranjit muse omg

[♕BEFERA]

The blackness of night was quiet and still save for the eerie voices of the wind sifting through the barren trees of Obascus. Nirvana stood stoic, head hung comfortably low. She wanted to sleep, but too many things wracked and rattled her mind at this hour for her to catch a wink of precious rest. Since the war had ended, her life had somehow stayed just as complicated. With the birth of her heir, Styx, she took on a new level of responsibilities that she couldn't have even imagined being as difficult as they turned out to be. She looked up slightly, now, her violet gaze falling upon Styx's small, dappled frame. His fiery tendrils were vibrant against the white of the snow, even in the dim light of night. The wind was harsh tonight, and Styx was still so young. Nirvana was worried constantly that if she allowed him to stray from her that he might not survive his first winter. He always wanted to go off on his own, which was admirable in some ways, but mostly very dangerous. The little Prince didn't think about the wolves that lurked at the borders, nor the biting cold that could freeze his bones. There were worse things that loomed outside of Obascus's borders that he could not even imagine, and Nirvana knew that one day he would experience all of that horror. The wolves, though, had been worrying Nirvana since this hell of a winter had only started to rear its ugly head. They had moved in due to lack of prey, and Nirvana's hope was that when spring came, they would return to their old hunting grounds. She didn't want to lose anyone else to their wrath. The deaths of two of her dearest confidants had been too much already. She could not bear coming upon another half-devoured, bloodied corpse. It was then that the brindled Empress heard soft but heavy hoofbeats in the snow. She did not look up, as over the sound of the wind, Ranjit's breathing rang clear. His rasping tone became more severe in the cold, and Nirvana wondered if it bothered him any, or if he simply accepted it an ignored it. Nirvana parted her maw to speak, but before she could utter a syllable, the former Dark King's warmth enveloped her. The gentle but powerful touch of his maw upon her shoulder was nearly overwhelming. Nirvana still held feelings for the pallid hessian, feelings that she could not begin to deny. She kept herself from actively pursuing the brute, as she knew that his heart belonged to the small, dappled witch, Adviendha. Nirvana had never really cared much about Adviendha, save for when she had been her Queen, and that seemed to be only a brief time to the orange Empress. Ranjit had always been the voice and the strength and the power during the duo's reign, but maybe Nirvana only noticed Ranjit because she wanted to notice him. These thoughts raced through her mind as the alabaster beast's frame, like a flame against her cold skin, pressed against her. The Queen, though wary of these affectionate touches, welcomed the warmth that Ranjit brought to her, and the shield he provided from the wind. He spoke then, his tones low and sounding almost sickly, but still strong in spite of their rasping. Unseen by the ivory brute, the Empress's blackened maw frowned. She didn't appreciate the declaration he had just given, but she knew he was only thinking of her and trying to help. She couldn't blame him, not really. He was used to giving orders and carrying out plans that had been conceived within his own mind. Nirvana wondered if going after those wolves now was the best thing to do. A blizzard was on its way, that much was apparent. Maybe it would drive the wolves out before they needed to engage their numbers. And The Reckoning... Nirvana wanted to say that they hadn't been all that close. She had enjoyed his charm, his beauty, yes, but they had never been more than business partners in Nirvana's eyes. She had lied with him because she needed an heir, not because she loved him. She cursed him for dying, for leaving his son alone, without a father, but she had never loved him, not really. A moment of silence passed, and it seemed to serve to honor Nirvana's fallen entourage. The violet-eyed Empress's voice came then, careful not to speak too loudly over the wind, as she did not want Styx to wake. "I worry for my son's safety in his home. I worry that they'll take him from me, too. I want to oust them, I do, but it's obvious: a blizzard is coming, and we cannot afford to lose anyone to its wrath, either." She paused as a gust of wind rolled over the intertwined stallion and mare. "I appreciate it, I really do, but let us wait until the spring. Or... at least until this storm passes." She desperately hoped that Ranjit would understand. Nirvana saw in her mind a group of her finest militia members freezing in the high elevations of the ravine and the wolves coming upon their iced bodies. She would not allow such a worthless death to come upon her most trusted. The brindled Empress exhaled sharply and turned her skull toward Ranjit's chassis, taking in his scent, his warmth. She wanted to lie near her son and sleep, and the fiery Queen closed her violet eyes, ready to give in to her exhaustion. words: 925 tagged: Ranjit muse: p good - sorry it took a while

[RANJIT;;]

watch your tongue
i'll have it cut from your head
R A N J I T
save your life
by keeping whispers unsaid

Well did the monarch recall his muted tracking of the young prince outside the boundaries of the illustrious kingdom and into the lands where no one ruled and all could come and go as they pleased. The petite child, young and believing himself to be utterly invincible, held no concept of the real world and the malicious dangers that it presented to the equines of this realm; Styx had no idea the number of predators that would so ache to snap him up in their jaws and feast upon his young flesh. It was, of course, no fault of his own; Ranjit, too, and Nirvana surely, had been much the same way when they were but children. With youth came the idea that nothing could harm one and that one was simply indestructible, a belief and ideal that Ranjit had seen fell many a foal in years far too few. Though he had been there then to stop whatever might have occurred, the fact remained that, had he not been, all three foals might have ended up dying in the jaws of whatever came along first. Though the mogul liked to believe that no Imperium would dare to harm to son and heir of their Empress, as a former ruler himself the ivory hessian bore no naivety towards the hatred some felt towards the throne that Nirvana controlled. The war had more or less succeeded in uniting their great allegiance but dissenters were something all empires and kingdoms faced. Not to mention the treaty with the four equines ruling Altus had to be tenuous at best and the chalky monarch had never trusted the Harbingers. The siblings were power hungry and he wondered when they might once more be marching into war.

The pale oculars shifted to return to the young warrior slumbering not far from them. Though he could tell from the set of the young brute already that Styx would be near enough to the same height as his dam, he seemed like he'd be leaner than Nirvana was, perhaps taking more from his sire. The coltine would make for a good leader if his mentors could corral the incessant need of a foal to be wild and to roam off from their keepers; he possessed about him a good head and a strong heart, two things all leaders and rulers came to need. Though headstrong now, the beast knew the colt would grow out of it; Achilles, on the other hand, perhaps not so much. Though the ivory bastard loved his nephew, the horned foal could be a nightmare to handle and had not taken after his relatively level-headed parents as much as one might have expected or hoped. Ranjit knew that eventually Achilles would end up in much the same capacity as he himself currently acted for Nirvana and as the foal's father had acted for Ranjit himself; adviser to the crown and a steady hand to keep things in line when the ruling head was busy with matters elsewhere. Mordecai had done such a thing with a graceful ease during Ranjit's own reign and he had come to love the brute as the brother he had never had in this life or the previous, accepting the teasing and returning it with ease and a steady smile. That the horned brute and Ranjit's own graceful sister had finally joined together pleased the pale monarch deeply, for it had been obvious from the minute that Mordecai had laid eyes to Litala that he had adored her. Their union pleased Ranjit and he had made it known with amused glances towards the pair, sly with laughing eyes.

The low speech of the tangerine fae had the beast uttering a low noise deep in his chest, a sound of agreement. The frigid winds attested to her words, howling like the very creatures they worried over, barreling into them and the pale stud shivered slightly, tucking his hindquarters some to try to blot the chill out. Though the militia would have been more than capable of driving out the threat, Ranjit knew that risking the strongest stallions and mares would be a wasted and foolish effort and he nodded against her, quietly accepting her wishes. If spring came about and the pack continued to present an issue, then they would mount an attack upon them. Ranjit simply found himself hoping that spring would come sooner, rather than later; though they were strong now, that strength would only remain so long as food and water could be located and with the thick snow covering everything, it had begun to prove difficult to locate food beneath the layer of white. The former king knew well the values of protecting the young and old in this time; elders were wealths of wisdom and deserved to be treasured for as long as possible while the youths of this land and others were the future. There would be nothing without the past or future, no present for he and this mare to stand here and enjoy a few minutes of quiet with one another. None, so far as he knew save for those lost to the wolves, had perished thus far this winter but Ranjit also knew that winter still had a few weeks left in her and that perhaps the worst had yet to come. All that could be done was to hunker down and wait out the coming storms and hope that when they passed there would still be something left behind.

The heavy skull slung back over her neck so that the ivory hessian could press their cranial tombs together and inhale the scent from her nares, a trusting and adoring gesture he had used on Adviendha now and then, though the main difference came from the size of the two mares; with Adviendha, a swing too harsh of his heavy head could seriously wound her and while the same could happen to Nirvana, the Empress was a lot larger than his dappled queen would ever be. The monarch exhaled quietly, leaning his skull against Nirvana's, enjoying her warmth and presence. "Until spring, then," he murmured in low agreement, ceding to her wisdom and smiling faintly. Perhaps it had been so long since he had been in charge of an entire allegiance that he had forgotten the heavy weight of duty but he had not considered what she had until it had been pointed out. It was further proof still as to why she was such a great ruler. "There will be flooding this spring. The snowfall is much heavier this year than as of recent. We will need to watch the weather closely." The bowl of Obascus could prove a danger to them all if the melt from the snow flooded it and Ranjit wanted not to see them driven from the valley that had proven so good to them recently. He exhaled once, a heavy snort, and took a half-step closer so that they could lean more heavily into one another and could better draw on the heat of the other. His eyes returned briefly to her son and a certain softness came into the hessian's coral gems. "He is a handful. I found him with Achilles the other day and the child I brought back with me after I slew FEAR. He will want to go further come spring but if you want, I will follow behind and be certain he is not in danger. He need never know that I am there." Ranjit's low rasp of a voice crooned into Nirvana's ear, quiet and meant only for her in the howl of the wind and his body stood warm against her own; their stance was intimate and close in a way he'd allowed few others.

count;; 1297
tagged;; nirvana
notes;; oops it got bigger instead of smaller sorry beef