02-16-2023, 03:09 AM
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code by teef
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merlin e. gwynne
long-time member of tanglewood
"the unicorn knight"
penned by teef
long-time member of tanglewood
"the unicorn knight"
penned by teef
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YOU GET ONE SHOT - 乂
actions || "speech" || thoughts
War always had a cost. She knew that, better than some but that didn't matter to her. All that mattered was protecting her friends and family, her group, her home. She was not prepared for the cost this time.
She had silently joined the others before violence had exploded over the clearing a bloody fog, her eyes fixed to the familiar handsome form of Romulus, the Kingpin of the Coalition and the man to catch her heart and eye. What a tumultuous relationship they'd had for some years now. A flash of warmth ran through the woman as she observed him in all of his glory, Taki the chance in the quiet before the storm to admire him, gaze lingering a bit too long perhaps. Could you blame her? Paw raising to brush her still tender ears and the delicate, tenderly crafted wing earrings dangling there as she smiled to herself, feeling much a young girl in first love.
Her attention was pulled back to the meeting in progress as Aesior, their Luminary spoke, his words reaching her and causing her ears to flick forward and back as she listened. The man had gone through some changes from when he'd originally raised to power and she could only assume such a thing happened under the stress of leadership. She remembered Els and Arrow at that moment, other Luminaries who had come and gone, friends she had once known. Faces she had known. Suddenly, it felt like the face of the lion leading their group ... wasn't quite his. She couldn't place it and it was far too late to ponder it as the Quartermaster of the Typhoon, Sorbet, surged at his face.
Getting to her paws as bodies exploded into combat around her, catching sight of Coalitioners leaving the meeting to avoid the combat that was quickly swallowing the gathering of bodies as her fur rose along her spine. Some words escaped a ragged looking canid at the front, up by the leaders before everything went to hell in a hand basket, and she was left to break up brawls all around or get into a scrap of her own. Turning away in an attempt to break up a fight, the Celt felt her medallion swinging widely about her neck, the unicorn's silver sheen glistening in whatever light made it through the tangle of bodies.
Oh how she wished she had her sword sometimes, wishing she'd kept it on for this meeting but it had been neutral until it all went sideways. Never again. Inhaling as she turned to dive into the fray, focusing on prying apart a few brawling pairs of individuals. It wasn't until an area around the lioness had opened up and there was enough time for the Unicorn Knight to catch her breath, that she noticed the fight going on up by the leaders. She caught sight of familiar dark and tan fur, her heart rising into her throat as she stared in abject horror. Romulus had sent the Coalition away, why hadn't he gone with them?
It felt like her paws were stuck in place, stuck in a quagmire of visceral gore and writhing bodies, chills washing over the swordswoman as she was rooter in place, helpless to watch the battle between her beloved Romulus and that pale canid from earlier. Her jaws ached as she swallowed dryly, watching the vicious fight start and end messily. When Josiah brought Romulus to a halt, the rancid stench of hot blood reaching her from so far away.
Darkness pressed in on her vision, silence filled the battlefield around her (or so it felt, as a ringing silence filled her ears), only the rough beating of her heart and the ragging agonized breaths scorching her lungs and throat. Anyone standing close to the frozen lioness would bear witness to the scent of burning wood and dust as she stood still, spots in her dark fur beginning to burn like coals before flame sputtered into life from little to nothing and roared along her spinal from the middle of her head down to the tip of her tail, a fiery dorsal strip of fire that burned so bright others might have wondered if she'd even be able to see it's glow if she looked. Her attention was laser focused on the deadly battle so far away from her reach, panting as the flames danced down all four of her limbs, flickering like gossamer strands in the breeze.
The battle between Kingpin and Sentinel raged on before it too came to an end and she was finally, finally free, shoved into by a fight somewhere behind her and she was sprinting as an ungodly scream ripped from the woman, hurling herself in the direction of the leaders, "NOOOO!! ROMULUS!!!", the highest pitch of her scream breaking in a horrible way as the Kingpin fell, the Sentinel soon meeting his own messy end at the paws of her beloved. It didn't matter the gore, the bodies she encountered as she raced to the fallen lion, as if each step could bring her closer, as if every ounce of blood pumping through her veins and body could be his. If only she was faster, if only her paws were faster, if only she hadn't frozen up, if only, if only. It was a repetitive drum in her head, voices screaming their judgement in her mind as her heart beat double time, lungs overworked as panic set in. She was so close, so close, so fucking close, she could almost feel Romulus' fur at the tips of her claws and then-
It was over. He was gone.
Wicked and feral, gut-wrenching came the shriek of sheer overwhelming agony. A sound so rich with emotion, with desperation, with everything that filled her, the shriek of a witch, of a woman who had lost the only thing keeping her tethered. Claws tangled themselves in the dirt, in the gore, in whatever was left of the bastard that had done this, of Josiah or whatever his name was. The man she had loved so secretly, was gone. The jugular had been hit and she knew from many hunts that once the jugular was injured, there was no coming back. It was usually a swift death, if not filled with fear and panic.
"Marbh. Tha e marbh. MARBHACH! A Dhia, guidheam ort ... treòraich anam fhad 's nach urrainn dhomh. Dìon mo leannan."
Sobs wrenched from the dark lioness as she sank to the ground beside Romulus, a broken croon leaving her as her limbs gave out, the flames scoring along her pelt burning brighter and brighter as if it could be a beacon to guide him back. Attempting to stroke the fallen lion's mane, unaware of his state of consciousness, only wishing for him to know that she was beside him as he left their world. For all that the poor woman knew, he was already lost to them. "I'm sorry.", she whispered to him, to some entity, to herself - she didn't know. All she could feel was the aching pain in her chest, barely able to lift her head to see the red form of Diego, squinting at the lion from so far away. As the other lion approached she felt her lips curl back in a snarl before she calmed herself down. Let him come near, if he was a Coalitioner like her head told he was (if he wasn't, she would be more than happy to take out her pain on him), then he would want to remove Romulus' body from the field.
Her head whipped in another direction as she swore she heard a sound, something that broke through the violence around, between the roars and shrieks, something that felt dangerous to hear. Wasn't all of battle something that felt dangerous? What did she care, let danger come, and whatever other wickedness that rode its coattails. "Come at me you sick, sick world.", she croaked as she pushed herself to unsteady legs. She would spill some blood, some creature's blood, if it only meant everything hurt a little less.
|| Rough translation to:
"Dead. He's dead. DEAD! Gods, please ... guide his soul while I cannot. Protect my lover." ||
War always had a cost. She knew that, better than some but that didn't matter to her. All that mattered was protecting her friends and family, her group, her home. She was not prepared for the cost this time.
She had silently joined the others before violence had exploded over the clearing a bloody fog, her eyes fixed to the familiar handsome form of Romulus, the Kingpin of the Coalition and the man to catch her heart and eye. What a tumultuous relationship they'd had for some years now. A flash of warmth ran through the woman as she observed him in all of his glory, Taki the chance in the quiet before the storm to admire him, gaze lingering a bit too long perhaps. Could you blame her? Paw raising to brush her still tender ears and the delicate, tenderly crafted wing earrings dangling there as she smiled to herself, feeling much a young girl in first love.
Her attention was pulled back to the meeting in progress as Aesior, their Luminary spoke, his words reaching her and causing her ears to flick forward and back as she listened. The man had gone through some changes from when he'd originally raised to power and she could only assume such a thing happened under the stress of leadership. She remembered Els and Arrow at that moment, other Luminaries who had come and gone, friends she had once known. Faces she had known. Suddenly, it felt like the face of the lion leading their group ... wasn't quite his. She couldn't place it and it was far too late to ponder it as the Quartermaster of the Typhoon, Sorbet, surged at his face.
Getting to her paws as bodies exploded into combat around her, catching sight of Coalitioners leaving the meeting to avoid the combat that was quickly swallowing the gathering of bodies as her fur rose along her spine. Some words escaped a ragged looking canid at the front, up by the leaders before everything went to hell in a hand basket, and she was left to break up brawls all around or get into a scrap of her own. Turning away in an attempt to break up a fight, the Celt felt her medallion swinging widely about her neck, the unicorn's silver sheen glistening in whatever light made it through the tangle of bodies.
Oh how she wished she had her sword sometimes, wishing she'd kept it on for this meeting but it had been neutral until it all went sideways. Never again. Inhaling as she turned to dive into the fray, focusing on prying apart a few brawling pairs of individuals. It wasn't until an area around the lioness had opened up and there was enough time for the Unicorn Knight to catch her breath, that she noticed the fight going on up by the leaders. She caught sight of familiar dark and tan fur, her heart rising into her throat as she stared in abject horror. Romulus had sent the Coalition away, why hadn't he gone with them?
It felt like her paws were stuck in place, stuck in a quagmire of visceral gore and writhing bodies, chills washing over the swordswoman as she was rooter in place, helpless to watch the battle between her beloved Romulus and that pale canid from earlier. Her jaws ached as she swallowed dryly, watching the vicious fight start and end messily. When Josiah brought Romulus to a halt, the rancid stench of hot blood reaching her from so far away.
Darkness pressed in on her vision, silence filled the battlefield around her (or so it felt, as a ringing silence filled her ears), only the rough beating of her heart and the ragging agonized breaths scorching her lungs and throat. Anyone standing close to the frozen lioness would bear witness to the scent of burning wood and dust as she stood still, spots in her dark fur beginning to burn like coals before flame sputtered into life from little to nothing and roared along her spinal from the middle of her head down to the tip of her tail, a fiery dorsal strip of fire that burned so bright others might have wondered if she'd even be able to see it's glow if she looked. Her attention was laser focused on the deadly battle so far away from her reach, panting as the flames danced down all four of her limbs, flickering like gossamer strands in the breeze.
The battle between Kingpin and Sentinel raged on before it too came to an end and she was finally, finally free, shoved into by a fight somewhere behind her and she was sprinting as an ungodly scream ripped from the woman, hurling herself in the direction of the leaders, "NOOOO!! ROMULUS!!!", the highest pitch of her scream breaking in a horrible way as the Kingpin fell, the Sentinel soon meeting his own messy end at the paws of her beloved. It didn't matter the gore, the bodies she encountered as she raced to the fallen lion, as if each step could bring her closer, as if every ounce of blood pumping through her veins and body could be his. If only she was faster, if only her paws were faster, if only she hadn't frozen up, if only, if only. It was a repetitive drum in her head, voices screaming their judgement in her mind as her heart beat double time, lungs overworked as panic set in. She was so close, so close, so fucking close, she could almost feel Romulus' fur at the tips of her claws and then-
It was over. He was gone.
Wicked and feral, gut-wrenching came the shriek of sheer overwhelming agony. A sound so rich with emotion, with desperation, with everything that filled her, the shriek of a witch, of a woman who had lost the only thing keeping her tethered. Claws tangled themselves in the dirt, in the gore, in whatever was left of the bastard that had done this, of Josiah or whatever his name was. The man she had loved so secretly, was gone. The jugular had been hit and she knew from many hunts that once the jugular was injured, there was no coming back. It was usually a swift death, if not filled with fear and panic.
"Marbh. Tha e marbh. MARBHACH! A Dhia, guidheam ort ... treòraich anam fhad 's nach urrainn dhomh. Dìon mo leannan."
Sobs wrenched from the dark lioness as she sank to the ground beside Romulus, a broken croon leaving her as her limbs gave out, the flames scoring along her pelt burning brighter and brighter as if it could be a beacon to guide him back. Attempting to stroke the fallen lion's mane, unaware of his state of consciousness, only wishing for him to know that she was beside him as he left their world. For all that the poor woman knew, he was already lost to them. "I'm sorry.", she whispered to him, to some entity, to herself - she didn't know. All she could feel was the aching pain in her chest, barely able to lift her head to see the red form of Diego, squinting at the lion from so far away. As the other lion approached she felt her lips curl back in a snarl before she calmed herself down. Let him come near, if he was a Coalitioner like her head told he was (if he wasn't, she would be more than happy to take out her pain on him), then he would want to remove Romulus' body from the field.
Her head whipped in another direction as she swore she heard a sound, something that broke through the violence around, between the roars and shrieks, something that felt dangerous to hear. Wasn't all of battle something that felt dangerous? What did she care, let danger come, and whatever other wickedness that rode its coattails. "Come at me you sick, sick world.", she croaked as she pushed herself to unsteady legs. She would spill some blood, some creature's blood, if it only meant everything hurt a little less.
|| Rough translation to:
"Dead. He's dead. DEAD! Gods, please ... guide his soul while I cannot. Protect my lover." ||
乂 - TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE
code by teef
MERLIN GWYNNE
penned by teef
penned by teef