They crash into one another, and like water, Tigris flows away from Euphrates, out of harm’s way, only to return the next moment, curling herself against his chest, the very picture of a timid girl seeking refuge in her brother’s embrace. But, tender as she was, Tigris was no tremulous thing. She was a wolf, instinctively and intrinsically shielding the throat of her beloved protector, so that if anyone wished to harm him, she would uncoil herself and strike with all the malice of an enraged viper. But there was no need for venom or vengeance this day.

Cool and collected, despite the racing of her heart, the blue-eyed filly circles around her brother, pausing to rest her chin upon the small of his back. When she ceases in her flowing movement, she is at his far side, her shoulder in line with her brother’s hip. It was not because she was afraid or incapable (though, she didn’t mind strangers thinking that - let them think her weak, if it meant they’d underestimate her). All they had, really, was one another, and in this life, only Euphrates could fight for her without her feeling scorned, for she was more than capable of fighting for herself. The only thing that mattered more to her than her autonomy was the precious life of her brother. And how she would fight for him, if he ever needed her to.

(Even if he didn’t.)

From her carefully calculated distance, the young filly scrutinises the spotted stallion, tilts her head delicately at his words, and senses the intent behind the slant of her brother’s gaze even before she shifts her focus imperceptibly to him, for the span of a heartbeat. Alone? The word almost brings a crooked smile to her lips, wicked-sharp and cunning. Never. Euphrates doesn’t speak, but Tigris is not at all surprised. After all, he knows the part he is to play, and as always, he plays it so well. The girl with sapphire eyes couldn’t let him down.

Her pink lips part in a soft sigh, and Tigris hesitates, her attention dipping to admire the contrast of the green residue against the ivory of the stallion’s skin. “But we were waiting for you,” the filly finally says, her voice soft and small, her eyes wide and apologetic, as if she were wounded by the tone of Khajiit’s words, chastised at the thought of him being upset with her. “I promise we’ve been careful,” the sabino filly continued hastily, almost stumbling over her sweet words, eager as she was to reassure. As far as promises went though - she could promise nothing else, nor did she dare enlighten the exhausted stallion. In his current state, Tigris didn’t want to worry him with the details.

“Though... It’s not in our nature to remain idle and sheltered. Nor will we ever find ourselves entirely beholden to anyone except each other.” The resonance of her words ran deeper now; her voice was still as soft as it had been, but there was a hint of ice. It was not so much a subtle warning as it was an expression of truth.This was the way she and her brother had been formed, and nothing would change them. They were not stone, to be shaped. They were water, shapers of themselves. They could become mighty, if they wanted - as formidable as the mighty mountains that gave their birthplace its name. But in the end, even glaciers were just rivers of ice.

The river twins were begot of an adroit mind, borne of an enigmatic soul. They could not help but be sagacious and beguiling.

“Tell us something,” Tigris implores now, the course of her interaction no longer still on the surface, they were entering whitewater territory now. “Something only our father would know.” The demand is a reasonable one in her eyes, but reason is only a small part of it. She wants to learn how far she can push him before he pushes back. It is a chance for her to learn, and grow. Perhaps some small part of her seeks the belonging their mother could not give them.The ocean belongs to all of the islands, and none of them, but the wellspring, from which the river flowed, is where their story truly begins.

This is the way Tigris is; she will always seek to acquire something precious from any soul she meets, before she’d ever give up something of herself. Her loyalty. Her cunning. Her affection, and the honey-sweet words of her lips. But never her heart.

That would always belong to Euphrates alone.

TIGRIS;
twin River spirit of khajiit & charybdis