Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sun was warm upon Karma's back as he flew. The lands of his parents and his childhood stretched out beneath him. It is time for me to return for a time. His children with the angeni Articuno had long since grown. One even seemed to be courting a lady of his own. That was good. Life had to be lived, after all. That was something that he hadn't understood until he had children of his own.

Somehow, Karma felt as if he had flown through most of his life until this point. He had not let himself get grounded, get attached to the forces and people around him. There had been a few that had managed to grow close to him... but most he had not allowed that much. It was his children that had brought him down to the earth beneath him, that had taught him to open his eyes to the feelings of those around him... and himself.

Almost without noticing he had begun to descend. His wings flared outwards to bank and break his speed. Soon the grass below him began to grow more definition and then it was brushing the tips of his hooves. With one last backwards wing beat he landed. Something as subtle as the wind that plucked at his braids was prickling at his memory. Something had happened in this place, or near it. Something... or someone...

He had a brief and vivid flash of a filly, brown spots dancing before his eyes.

That's right. This is where he had met her... his one real childhood friend, even though he had only met her once.

Strange that such a memory would persist so long...

The sound of a voice turned Karma's head and broke him from his thoughts. It was something so familiar...

His dark blue eyes met her bright blue ones. Pale hair tipped with color framed a face spotted with brown. In that moment, his mind was uncomprehending. Was this a memory? Could it be possible that he was reliving his past after visiting the place where it had occurred?

"Alyna." The word came softly to his lips. The hesitation that followed was not brought about through uncertainty. It was more of a stillness, the stillness that had possessed him since he was a child. "It... it is me." Or was it? It was his name that she had spoken but he was not as he had been then.... but neither was she.

A vision wouldn't need to ask such a question. She... had to be real. Karma smiled quietly, an expression that he had only recently learned. "It has been a long time."

[center][size=26][color=#6173A1]⊰[/color] [color=#FFBC43]♔[/color] [color=#6173A1]⊱[/color] [color=#FFBC43][u][color=#22202E][b]JAYMES AUGUSTINE WYNDHAM[/b][/color][color=white]ＸＸＸ[/color][/u][/color][/size] [size=10][color=white]XXXXX[/color][size] [img]http://i.imgur.com/7mn6I3E.jpg[/img] [size=9][color=white]XXXXX[/color][size] [size=21][size=15][color=#FFBC43]▬▬▬ [color=#871C0A]ღ [/color]▬[/color][/size] [color=#4C0700][b]YOUNGER PRINCE OF GALLISTER[/b][/color] [i][color=#871C0A]!!![/color][/i][/center] [imgleft]http://i.imgur.com/0YErCp1.jpg[/imgleft][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][list][size=11][color=#22202E][color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]jay. jamey. august. (it's probably best not to bring the last one up around polite company.) [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]twenty-one. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]6' 3''. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]lean. lanky. thin hips. muscles undefined; smooth. squishy. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]ginger. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]blue-eyed. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]light, peachy skin. generally ruddy. freckles on his arms. some scars on arms + palms from rose thorns. pierced ears. has a tendency to accumulate "mysterious" hickeys. [center][size=14][i][color=#FFFFFF]▅[/color][color=#FFFCF7]▅[/color][color=#FFF9F0]▅[/color][color=#FFF7E9]▅[/color][color=#FFF4E2]▅[/color][color=#FFF2DA]▅[/color][color=#FFEFD3] [/color][color=#FFECCC]▅[/color][color=#FFEAC5]▅[/color][color=#FFE7BD]▅[/color][color=#FFE5B6]▅[/color][color=#FFE2AF]▅[/color][color=#FFE0A8] [/color][color=#FFDDA1]▅[/color][color=#FFDA99]▅[/color][color=#FFD892]▅[/color][color=#FFD58B]▅[/color][color=#FFD384] [/color][color=#FFD07C]▅[/color][color=#FFCE75]▅[/color][color=#FFCB6E]▅[/color][color=#FFC867] [/color][color=#FFC65F]▅[/color][color=#FFC358]▅[/color][color=#FFC151] [/color][color=#FFBE4A]▅[/color][/i][/size][/center] [color=#6173A1]❥[/color][color=#871C0A]::[/color] A dirk knife named Lily. Used for emergencies only. [color=#6173A1]❥[/color][color=#871C0A]::[/color] He'd probably run for cover and vomit in his mouth a little if he could. If he really had to get up into a physical fight, he'd be rather informal and sloppy about it. Most of his fighting style concentrates on the defensive, dodging and blocking until he can flee and get the higher ground or hide behind something. He's best with long knives and short swords, never bigger than his forearm if he can help it. [color=#6173A1]❥[/color][color=#871C0A]::[/color] Logic; he's very good under pressure (not a whole lot, to be fair) and solves issues with methods people generally don't think of first. :tab: Aesthetics; he has an eye for arrangements, fashion, and pretty things in general, especially flowers. :tab: All things social studies; which includes history, geography, culture, et cetera -- he's totally in love with it. :tab: Language; he's fairly eloquent, despite his devious nature. :tab: Stealth; nobody would get away with filling the arch-duke's dresser full of frogs if they weren't sneaky. [center][size=14][i][color=#FFFFFF]▅[/color][color=#FFFCF7]▅[/color][color=#FFF9F0]▅[/color][color=#FFF7E9]▅[/color][color=#FFF4E2]▅[/color][color=#FFF2DA]▅[/color][color=#FFEFD3] [/color][color=#FFECCC]▅[/color][color=#FFEAC5]▅[/color][color=#FFE7BD]▅[/color][color=#FFE5B6]▅[/color][color=#FFE2AF]▅[/color][color=#FFE0A8] [/color][color=#FFDDA1]▅[/color][color=#FFDA99]▅[/color][color=#FFD892]▅[/color][color=#FFD58B]▅[/color][color=#FFD384] [/color][color=#FFD07C]▅[/color][color=#FFCE75]▅[/color][color=#FFCB6E]▅[/color][color=#FFC867] [/color][color=#FFC65F]▅[/color][color=#FFC358]▅[/color][color=#FFC151] [/color][color=#FFBE4A]▅[/color][/i][/size][/center] [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]Losing his brother. Losing his family. Getting disowned. Discovering himself. Death. War. Wasps. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]The biggest dream of his is to get somebody, anybody at all, to love him unconditionally for who he is. He tries to reason that this person is his brother, but he will honestly go for anyone. He also hopes to gain some kind of position of power within the political circle where he can apply his social studies skills and perhaps nudge some newer-age ideas into the ring. Living the "good life" has always been a goal, but he doesn't really know what it means -- it just kind of involves being lazy and luxurious. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]Open-minded. Playful. Witty. Daring. Gregarious. [color=#871C0A]❧[/color][color=#6173A1]│[/color]Sybaritic. Desperate. Insecure. Recalcitrant. Promiscuous. [center][size=14][i][color=#FFFFFF]▅[/color][color=#FFFCF7]▅[/color][color=#FFF9F0]▅[/color][color=#FFF7E9]▅[/color][color=#FFF4E2]▅[/color][color=#FFF2DA]▅[/color][color=#FFEFD3] [/color][color=#FFECCC]▅[/color][color=#FFEAC5]▅[/color][color=#FFE7BD]▅[/color][color=#FFE5B6]▅[/color][color=#FFE2AF]▅[/color][color=#FFE0A8] [/color][color=#FFDDA1]▅[/color][color=#FFDA99]▅[/color][color=#FFD892]▅[/color][color=#FFD58B]▅[/color][color=#FFD384] [/color][color=#FFD07C]▅[/color][color=#FFCE75]▅[/color][color=#FFCB6E]▅[/color][color=#FFC867] [/color][color=#FFC65F]▅[/color][color=#FFC358]▅[/color][color=#FFC151] [/color][color=#FFBE4A]▅[/color][/i][/size][/center] [color=#6173A1]❥[/color][color=#871C0A]::[/color]So that whole "standing in the big brother's shadow all his life" thing hasn't worked out for him very well. He loves his brother, half to death, even, but he's always heard from his parents [i]"Damon did this"[/i] or[i] "Damon did that"[/i] or [i]"Damon's so smart"[/i] or [i]"Damon will inherit the land someday and he has to know what he's doing, so for the gods' sakes, would you please let him concentrate on his studies and stop asking him to play?"[/i] He doesn't blame his brother for it. As a matter of fact, he admires Damon greatly, and, in many aspects, aspires to be like him. However, at about ten, he decided that, since all the responsibility to be great was Damon's, he didn't really have to try at all and could basically do whatever he wanted. While he reasoned it was all for fun, most of this decision was based off simply wanting to be as loved as Damon seemed to be. Which, of course, he was, he was just never told as often as Damon was. Essentially, Jay became a deviant. He'd be the kid who put the sewing pins in the ambassador's chair, or covered the entire lecture hall with olive oil and wooden beads for no reason other than it was funny to watch people fall down. He'd only ever attend his lessons if he thought they were truly important (which was almost never; he only barely learned to read and write, and his tutors always had to chase him down). As he grew older, his deviance traveled into his sexual lifestyle, and he experimented quite [i]thoroughly[/i] with various members of the court and castle staff to see what would happen. He learned that having a certain feminine quality to him helped him score both sexes, so he grew his hair out and started wearing a bit less... "traditional" clothes. Again, he will attribute this to simply "wanting to live the good life", but most of these were habitual behaviors to get his parents to notice him more. Every step of the way, he was on his brother's heels, two steps behind and in the shadows, trying to prod him out of the way so he could be noticed -- and every two steps behind Jay was his sister, worried out of her mind about his destructive behaviors. As he grew older, he calmed down, matured a little more, and really sat down to think about what his parents wanted out of him and his brother. While he wasn't the crown prince, he considered that maybe someday he'd have to take over some position of importance. When Damon wanted further education, he shipped out with him, deciding to really crack down on his studies. What he discovered was that he was a very bad student and a horrible procrastinator -- but there was one subject he absolutely adored, and that being social studies. History, geography, human relations, they were all wonderful and fascinating, and he gorged himself on information about his neighboring countries. He found a love for every culture, even those of Gallister's enemies, and saw himself hungry for more and more. For what was probably the first step out of his brother's shadow, he found himself afraid to venture too far from his tether. He always tried to discuss such things with Damon, to relate to something with him, to get to know him better. Now the ball has arrived, and Jay has really seen it as a saving grace. Not only will it give him the opportunity to interact with the royalty of different cultures, by marrying someone, maybe his parents will actually see him as proper or something! He's very nervous, but he hasn't considered seriously what marriage means or who he'll marry and how -- the procrastinating part of him is completely oblivious to the consequences. [/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list][/list]

The parallels between them were clear. A shared meeting as foals and roughly the same path since then. Travel. Children. Return. Still having never picked up the finer details of discerning the emotions of others, Karma couldn't quite tell how Alyna felt about all this. Himself, he was content with his life. It had happened the way it did and couldn't have possibly happened otherwise. Though what he had shared with the angeni Articuno wasn't love in the romantic sense it was certainly a connection he did not begrudge, even after its ending.

The knowledge that she had met Nirvana was new to him as well. Nirvana had kept that a secret apparently, that or just hadn't thought it important enough to tell him. Whether he knew about it or not, however, it was another place that his and Alyna's lives had intersected. Does that make this the third time? Or have there been more connections than that?

Her last words recalled him to the soft memory of that shared day together. "I do remember," he said softly. "And... I'm glad that you were able to find your path." It was a saying that his mother had often told him and that he had sometimes found occasion to tell his own two children. Finding your path in life was one of the most important things in living, or so he had been taught.

He paused uncertainly after Alyna's chuckle and blinked a little, the smallest amount of confusion touching his features. "Is there something funny? I don't understand..." Teaching himself to say that simple phrase, 'I don't understand' was yet another of his bridges between himself and others. He still might not understand their motivations all the time... but now he was making the effort to try.

Some things never change. Karma was still thinking about her first comment when she made her second. Some things never change. He repeated the phrase in his mind and thought it over. It had a beautiful simplicity... a connection to the overall themes of their lives.

"I've been hoping to meet you again as well." He said the reply to her almost automatically, distracted by his internal ponderings. It was after he said it that he paused again. The feeling of that statement didn't convey what he felt. "No... that's not correct. I have looked favorably upon a potential future meeting but I... I have felt that we were going to meet again."

Felt. That seemed like a more natural expression of his thoughts. He had felt that this thread of their life would come together once more. His face lit up with a peaceful serenity at that realization. A slight breeze plucked at his braids and swung them against his neck, green on blue. His were the soft colors of the serenity that he felt.

"Fate has worked to guide us here, Alyna."

The soft smile had returned to Karma's face. It was beautiful, this meeting that Fate had wrought. It was as beautiful as the winter sky. It was as beautiful as she.

As beautiful as she? He ran the thought through his head a second time before accepting it. Yes, Alyna had grown to be a beautiful mare. That much was undeniable. She did not have the ethereal grace and beauty of the angeni that had born Karma's children, but she had a beauty of her own. It was something more ephemeral. Something more fleeting. Something like the color of leaves in the autumn... impermanent and taking beauty even from that impermanence. It was a distracting train of thought.

"Tell me," he cut through his own thoughts. "Tell me of your children and your mate." He was curious to know of this part of her life. It was strange to think that he had last seen her as a foal and now she had foals of her own. Or perhaps they were adults, as his children were. It had been some time, after all.

Karma found it easy to imagine Alyna having vivacious children. It seemed that they had taken after their mother. That was good. The world would benefit from more soquili like her being in it. He mentally reviewed through the various young strangers he had met but didn't recall any bearing a particular resemblance to her. It would seem that she had many encounters with his family but that the opposite had not occurred.

"My children," he began thoughtfully. "They are..." What small string of words could he use to describe such beautifully intricate creatures? Words would not do them justice yet Karma made the attempt. "They are sometimes like myself, sometimes like their mother, and sometimes entirely their own. I know no other way to describe them."

His eyes caught for a moment on Alyna's hair. It was nothing like the shimmering mane that Articuno had possessed. Her hair, and the hair of his offspring, seemed to float effortlessly around her. It was ethereal in it's beauty. Alyna's hair was something far more tangible, far more earthy. It wound and twined about her face and itself like the threads of their own lives wound about each other. Beautiful.

"Articuno and I," he said, using her name instead of the term 'mate.' He did not know that calling her that would be accurate, since it had never been a permanent arrangement. "We were meant to meet but not meant to linger long in each others lives. We have since parted ways, though she is still a precious memory in my mind... As was my meeting with you."