[➳ T e c h n o ➳]

Cadence stood in the heart of the dark Kingdom, at a coronation for yet another king. The roan lord had been surprised that they were hosting this event as open to all with the war still in full swing. It was strange to stand there with no expectations that he would be attacked. That didn't mean he wouldn't be on guard, but he was capable of respecting the expectations the dark royals placed on this event. They were still mortals after all.

His amber eyes scanned the sea of familiar and unfamiliar faces alike. He stood alone and mostly observed the interaction of others. Sometimes it made more sense to be quiet and observe the crowd than to dive into it. There was plenty of opportunity to glean some information from the perspective of the observer. He wasn't really even here to make nice or anything. All he'd wanted was to be visible and present at the coronation.

It still sent a message that Utopia was there. That they were not going anywhere. Cadence was sure plenty of faces here would be displeased with both his presence and Rasa's. Akroma was there, as was Xerxes. Cadence allowed his eyes to linger on both of them as his thoughts touched on them. He wondered if they could feel his gaze.

His eyes traveled next to Thomasin and her new king Damocles. He was new. A fresh face just as she and Joker had once been. He observed the bodies that flitted around the royals like bees near a hive. Ever since his encounter with Akroma, he'd begun to wonder if the dark kingdom all truly preferred the underworld to Utopia.

It would make sense if they did. Especially if they previously held allegiance to Xerxes. A shuffle besides him pulled him from his thoughts. He was in a mostly secluded area of the coronation, so any movement nearby quickly caught his attention. His auds flickered and his head swiveled in the direction of the sound. He hoped to find the stranger who came to his bubble.

It would be an interesting evening no matter who was coming to interact. Cadence didn't plan to really go out of his way to converse with anyone other than perhaps Rasa or Akroma. That is unless Thomasin or Damocles wanted to talk with him. But that was unlikely. Cadence realized he got caught up in his thoughts again and allowed his gaze to focus in on those nearby.

Open thread for Cadence at the coronation!

[fleabittengray]

When caged birds get to sing
Does anybody get to hear them when they do?
When caged birds get to fly
Does anybody ever question why?

With her fruit finished, Rasa licked the remnants from her lips and gazed around the clearing that the Coronation was taking place in. She had to hand it to Thomasin, she knew how to make things extravagant. She wondered when the Dark Queen would tired of playing the game of thrones and would move on from royalty, retire from the crown. Rasa wondered a lot about the Queen. She was not soft or kind nor gentle, but was that only because Thomasin saw Rasa as an enemy? If there ever came a time where Xerxes turned his back on Thomasin, for whatever reason, would the Queen be able to put their differences aside and ask Utopia for help? Rasa was not opposed to helping the Dark throne with anything they might need, same with anyone else in the Dark Kingdom. That was what so many assumed about her - that she was a dictator that would only help those that fully agreed with her and would gleefully watch anyone else suffer. They were wrong. Rasa didn't want to watch anyone suffer. Well... okay, the list of those she wished to see suffer was pretty short, and at the top of that list was Carnallust the Charmer for what he'd done to Talia. Next on that list would be whoever it was that had helped Charm to capture Talia, because she knew he could not have done it on his own.

Bristling slightly, ears twitching in annoyance at her own thoughts and memories, Rasa sighed and turned away from the large tree stump she had been using to eat her fruit on. She spotted Cadence, also off by himself somewhere, and she figured she ought to go check in on him. Strolling forward, Rasa kept to the perimeter of the Coronation so as not to have to cut through the vast majority of the crowd. She could see so many familiar faces, mingling with one another, and here she was on her way to speak with her Lord. Then again, there were not many that she desired to socialize with here in the Dark Kingdom.

It would seem that Cadence had not been expecting her, perhaps he'd been lost in thought. The winged bay mare smiled as the stallion turned his head toward her as she rustled through some bushes to approach him. "Hey," she said quietly, not wanting to really draw much attention to the two of them. She motioned with her muzzle in the direction that the new King, Damocles, currently was. "Whatcha think?"

Rasa | 424 | ➳ T e c h n o ➳ w/ Cadence
notes | hope you don't mind! <3
timeline | 21 years 2 months, summer, sunset, after she eats her fruit in her open thread
"Speech"

ARTWORK BY ANI2AD

[➳ T e c h n o ➳]

The higher I get
the lower I sync

The familiar scent of Rasa greeted his nares as he peered at the two royals who were hosting the coronation. The rustle of brush and her soft voice called out to him and he turned his crown to face her. Rasa offered him a gentle smile, but Cadence didn't return one. He was tired and didn't want to be here, but felt he had to be. The roan listened to her question, she asked what he thought of the new King. Cadence turned his head to look at Thomasin's newly chosen king.

"I'm not sure what I think yet. So far most have been the same, and are uninterested in a good relationship with Utopia. They're allied with the Underworld. You can't help a Mortal or befriend one who's already made you out as the enemy." He answered her. It wasn't unusual for him to have such a critical take on things. It had been happening more frequently, and continued to worsen the longer the war went on. His brown eyes returned to find Rasa's face once he finished what he was saying.

The lord only hoped she wouldn't take his sour demeanor personally. He had seen her weary from the war too, but it had been different. The roan flicked his tail as he returned to watching the party before them. There were so many dark equines and they all seemed so unreachable. "What do you think of him?" Cadence asked in response. He wondered how similarly they felt on this matter. Usually, they were on the same page with things. It made it easy to be her counterpart.

"Do you think any of them will ever see us as anything other than their enemy? It makes it difficult to be close to Isolde." He murmured almost haphazardly. Isolde was the daughter he'd had with Sephora that he had told Rasa about earlier in the war. He couldn't promise to keep her safe as much as he wanted to. He was going to do his best. His gaze glanced over to Charm and he visibly scowled.

Cadence was surprised at how petty he was feeling today. "And then there's Charm. You know he told me he'd tortured a Utopian of ours... who was it?" He turned to face her. It wasn't going to be an easy topic but he wanted to know. He also wanted to know if it was something that happened while they belonged to Utopia, or before.


"Speech"

// WORDS - 411| // TAGS - fleabittengray | // NOTES - bleh feeling a little rough today sorry this sucks

_{Chibi by Amourali}

[fleabittengray]

When caged birds get to sing
Does anybody get to hear them when they do?
When caged birds get to fly
Does anybody ever question why?

Cadence seemed distant and troubled, but Rasa didn't find that at all surprising. They were in enemy territory, were they now? And in the midst of a war that none of them wanted, not even her? She knew she was going to be the one blamed for it, the one who would take the greatest hit for it, because she was the one that declared war. But everyone seemed to be forgetting why she'd done it. Nehemiah had been attacked and kidnapped entirely unprovoked! And then swallowed by the Mists before she could secure his return. The guilt was maddening. She should have done things different. But she did not think that talking to Xerxes or Teca would have gotten a better outcome. They were devils through and through. Arrogant to a fault. They did not know how to be kind without asking for anything in return. There was always a catch. Anyone aligned with the Underworld willingly could not be trusted.

Her question about Damocles had Cadence turning his head to seek out the newly crowned King of the Dark Kingdom before he answered. "I'm not sure what I think yet. So far most have been the same, and are uninterested in a good relationship with Utopia. They're allied with the Underworld. You can't help a Mortal or befriend one who's already made you out as the enemy." She sighed, settling near Cadence with a soft frown upon her lips. He was right. With those so firmly rooted in darkness, it was hard for Utopians to find any allies in this Kingdom. "Still, we cannot give up on them," she said quietly, because as much as she'd been through the ringer, she liked to think that some good remained in most equines.

"What do you think of him?" The bay angel was quiet for a moment, seeking out Damocles and Thomasin in the crown, and then her gaze drifting over the other subjects here in the Keep. "I'm not sure, but I have a feeling like all is not what it seems. I just don't know what that something may be." Her eyes settled back onto Cadence, ears twitching as she said, "I was hoping that I would see Leviathan's friend here. Nessa. I believe she called the Keep home. But I suppose it would be safest for the girl if Thomasin has no idea that I or my son know who she is." Levi and Nessa had met as young foals and he quickly become best friends, despite the lack of ability to physically interact with each other. They had grown an emotional bond unlike any other.

"Do you think any of them will ever see us as anything other than their enemy? It makes it difficult to be close to Isolde." Rasa gave a shrug. "Thomasin is firmly set in her ways. I doubt she would agree to any sort of alliance or friendship in the near future. Perhaps we could try to discuss with Damocles at come point, though there's no telling how he'd react to such a conversation. I don't know him. He seems to have come out of nowhere..." Perhaps he had been a guard, someone close to Thomasin, someone she could trust. Rasa did sincerely hope she got someone at her side that she could truly trust and work with. "And then there's Charm. You know he told me he'd tortured a Utopian of ours... who was it?"

At the mere mention of Charm, Rasa's ears flattened against her skull and she snorted, grinding her teeth briefly and then sighing. "That is a long story, and a story that I still don't have all the details to, to this day." Her tone was quiet, not wanting to be overheard. "Talia was the angel held captive by Charm. It happened before I was Lady, and she did not get brought back to Utopia under I was Lady. It's complicated. A conversation for Utopia, but not for here, where we may be overheard by the wrong crowd." Her tail flicked, and a heaviness settled in her chest. "But Talia's never been the same since her time spent captive."

Rasa | 693 | ➳ T e c h n o ➳ w/ Cadence
notes | xxx
timeline | 21 years 2 months, summer, sunset, after she eats her fruit in her open thread
"Speech"

ARTWORK BY ANI2AD