just mania - open; barricaded in

[rhosmari]

SOJOURN
MALUS

No one had seen the Kingpin since the raid had happened. No one had heard nary a word or seen the bleeding lioness who most certainly needed some care. Some type of treatment. But there was nothing but there was an obvious place she was in, dwelling and stewing in her own broken reality. The home she had shared with her children was nothing more than ice and shards now. Almost as if created to be a shield and if anyone tried to come too close to the house it was almost as if the ice was alive. Striking out and threatening to stab those who were too close. Pain was a haze over the woman and she felt it to her very core. Her heart threatening to kill her. She paced back and forth like a hungry feral predator. Spilling her life essence upon the floor. Eyes blackened and the light pink gone and deeply saturated.

She was a wild thing. Unpredictable. Seeing things that she cared about broke and ruined, forced to have love turn on her. It had all been too much. Shattered what remained and if anyone chose to try and come in they would be met with something equally dangerous and out for blood.

[b]KINGPIN — COALITION — 3.5 YEARS

© MADI

[Casphian]

The raid had been difficult to say the least. So much had happened and so many lives were lost. Injuries had been obtained for many and injuries had been given by many. Solsken had been one of the ones who had received and given injuries and though he should’ve been resting alas the pup could not. His mother had locked herself away in their home and his brother was currently dead, at least he assumed so. He needed comfort and to release the pain he was feeling but of course the hellhound chose to shove everything away and instead focus on getting through to his mother.

He was currently pacing the ice wall, gaze glued to it as he tried to find a crack in it that he could slip through. And finally he found one, and the pup found himself diving towards the small opening and wiggling his body through. With much effort Solsken was finally on the other side of the ice shield, bounding towards the house and inside. “Momma?” He called out, hoping to receive an answer from the hyena.

[OLEANDER CIPHER-ELD.]

[glow=white,1,400]YOU STOOD BESIDE ME WHEN I WAS OUT OF MY MIND ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

The aftermath of the raid wasn't hard to miss, especially with everyone still recovering from it. Oleander had been safe in Aphra's home, hidden there when she heard the sounds of war. It had been frightening to say the least and she had no idea that her mother had been killed during the battle. But Aphra seemed to be okay, albeit a bit shaken up; everything seemed to be slowly, very slowly, going back to normal.

What wasn't normal however was the lack of Sojourn, the Kingpin. Oleander had really only met and interacted with the Kingpin once, but she knew that Sojourn was probably busy with super-leadery stuff. But her being absent completely was strange. And so, trying to be brave and impress Aphra, Oleander went off towards Sojourn's home to try and find her. Unfortunately for her Solsken was already here, but Oleander didn't give up just yet. "Sojourn!" She called, completely oblivious to the mental breakdown that the woman was having at the moment. She idly tried to claw at the ice-wall, as if trying to uncover Sojourn.[glow=white,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[ARVID R.]

The raid had been... pretty stressful, honestly. Even if Arvid hadn't been out in the middle of all the madness, he had been lurking by the sidelines, giving poison to all the warriors that passed. He had seen what had happened with Sojourn and Michael, and... well, that had been pretty gruesome, if he was being honest. Not so gruesome he couldn't handle it, but man Sojourn had looked crazy. Even more so than usual – not to mention the wounds that she had sustained. When she had essentially disappeared following the raid's end, Arvid had only felt even more anxiety over the whole situation. So eventually, he had decided to go and seek her out, just to see if she was alright, or if perhaps she had... well, bleeding out was certainly a possibility. When he noticed Solsken and Oleander approaching Sojourn's home, though, his heart dropped.

He quickly rushed over to them, gently attempting to push Oleander back before he too pressed at the ice. He called to Sojourn, a frown on his muzzle as he spoke, "Sojourn? Are you alright? We're all worried about you, and you need medical attention, I'm pretty sure!" Of course, unbeknownst to Arvid, Sojourn still wasn't in a very good mental state. In fact, she was in a terrible one. So, his shouting probably wouldn't be appreciated. Or, depending on how she was feeling now... it could lead to something even more dire.

i wanna be the sand inside that hourglass

[rhosmari]

SOJOURN
MALUS

-- tw for intense gore + suicide


Suddenly there was so much noise. So much of it. It trilled in her mind, shaking and vibrating. Her jaws clenching in almost what looked like agony as her head snapped to the side. Eyes locked on the figure of a small hellhound. Her claws flexed against the ground as she stared at Solsken but never truly seeing him. A nuisance, making much too much noise and then there was more. More shouting and screaming. Why couldn't they just stop!? It was almost shocking how she moved, jittery but so quickly she was in front of [member=18239]Solsken.[/member] and her claws lashed out to attempt to slam across the young child's face. To send him spiraling across the ground. It was enough! It was all just too much! It all dropped, the fragility that hung in the balance. The lioness felt the ice wall shatter around the house as she stepped onto the porch, her paw possibly tinged in her own son's blood. Eyes as black as night and saturated deep pink gaze almost luminous. "Shut. Up. Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" She screeched into the void as she lunged [member=18226]OLEANDER CIPHER-ELD.[/member] , aiming to sink her teeth into the child's side and thrash back and forth before then attempting to let go and throw the slug dragon away.

If that worked her sights would then set on [member=18144]ARVID R.[/member] . Little Arvid. The Mad Queen grinned, blood caking her jaws as she stepped forward. Her dark blue serpent like tongue slowly slipped from her jaws and she said nothing. There was no need. She would have her silence wouldn't she. Without so much as a hesitation the Crazed Kingpin aimed to slam her head against the child's before trying to pin him down with a bloody paw, her jaws jerking down to attempt to sink into his throat and rip it and his esophagus clean out from his body. If this happened blood would splatter up, splash across her own face and she would just laugh. She would laugh as she stumbled back, dropping the piece of viscera. "Quiet. She just wanted it to be quiet. Why can't it be quiet? It will be....it will be...." A rush of words rising out of her lips. Blood still oozing from the wound she sustained from the raid and then she reached up, bloodstained claws digging into that wound. Digging and digging and she cackled. There was pain but it overrode nothing as she hooked a claw against her jugular vein. All it took was a simple pull and a snap and the blood ran free, spurting into the air before draining so quickly.

And the Queen Fell.

[b]KINGPIN — COALITION — 3.5 YEARS

© MADI

[Casphian]

Solsken looked up at the crazed look in his mother’s eyes, tails tucking between his legs. The pup stumbled back a bit as the Kingpin drew closer and closer. He felt the claws slash across his face, sending the pup sliding to the side with a whimper. The hellhound pup lifted his head, blood dripping to the ground as betrayal appeared on his features as he looked over at his mother. He watched as she attempted to hurt the other two, gaze widening as he realized what was to happen next. A strangled gasp caught in his throat when he watched as she took her own life, tears pricking the corners of his eyes before sliding down his face and mixing with the inky black blood that was his own.

[OLEANDER CIPHER-ELD.]

[glow=white,1,400]YOU STOOD BESIDE ME WHEN I WAS OUT OF MY MIND ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Sojourn lashed out at Solsken first, with Arvid pushing Oleander aside as an attempt to protect her from Sojourn's frenzy. Unfortunately for the scientist, he wasn't able to push her far enough to avoid Sojourn's jaws clamping around her side, pain erupting through the young dragonet's body. Oleander shrieked with pain, her blood mixing in with the slime on her body as Sojourn threw her aside. The girl was still alive, but in terrible pain. Oleander sobbed from where she landed, feeling something snap - one of her wings. She trembled where she lay, crying silently and unaware of what Sojourn was doing to herself.[glow=white,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[APHRA CIPHER .]

[glow=grey,1,400]ONCE A WHORE, YOU'RE NOTHING MORE ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

TRIGGER WARNING: this post mentions gore and suicide in the second paragraph

As careless as Aphra seemed to be towards her children, there was still that primal feeling of protection that she felt for them. Her ears pricked at the shriek she heard, identifying it quickly as one of the dragonets - although clueless as to which one. Still, it was enough to alarm Aphra and the she-cat came bursting out of her home, claws unsheathed. Gaze flickering around camp, Aphra located Oleander on the ground after Sojourn threw her - and it wasn't hard to assume who had lashed out at her daughter, considering the mad Queen's snarls. Aphra ran over to Oleander's side, worry in her gaze for a moment, but upon realizing that the wound Sojourn inflicted wasn't too serious (not life-threatening at the very least) she turned to face the Kingpin.

"You crazy bitch!" Aphra snarled, though immediately shut up as Sojourn started to dig into the wound she sustained from the rescue raid, followed by the woman reaching to her throat and ripped it in a swift movement. Aphra stood there in shock for a brief moment, mouth agape. The Warlord could only stare at the fallen Queen, with what Sojourn just did to herself coming as quite the shock. Aphra was faintly aware of Oleander crawling close to her, and the mother gently covered her daughter's face with her tail. Oleander didn't need to see this. None of the kids did.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[ARVID R.]

( tw // gore && death )

What... was going on? It all happened so fast that Arvid couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't do anything. Instead, he was just forced to watch in shock as Sojourn lunged at Solsken, and Oleander. The thane's voice was firm as he said, sounding anguished, "Sojourn, stop! We only want to help y–" He wasn't given a chance to finish his call, though. Sojourn was already rushing in his direction, and although he managed to stumble backwards, he still couldn't dodge her attack. A cry of pain left him as the kingpin's teeth sank into his neck, but he couldn't speak for much longer. Vital parts were torn from his body without any remorse from Sojourn, and his blood spilled out over the ground, staining it a dark and horrifying red. Arvid barely managed to glance around as he felt himself drifting, catching sight of Aphra rushing over urgently. He knew that it was too late for him, though. You couldn't just replace an esophagus.

It was a shame, really. Arvid hadn't been the best kid – he knew that, even if he liked to think of himself as the best. Still, he had tried. He had been a pretty good kid, and a canine with plenty of potential. And yet... here he was, his life cut short by the very person he had been trying to satisfy. To help. There was a sort of poetic tragedy, as the dire wolf's lifeblood spilled out onto the ground beneath him, and his multicolored eyes fell shut. His heart slowed before eventually coming to a stop, his body going limp as his head dropped to the side. The others may have only been injured, but Arvid? The young thane was gone, leaving nothing more than a brief and hopeful legacy behind.

i wanna be the sand inside that hourglass

[angelembrace]

"Gods have mercy on us all."

Enough was enough. When would it end? Surely he couldn't have been the only one to expect this ending, he knew that Sojourn was their Kingpin, expected to leas them and in turn they would follow and trust her judgement, but he hadn't. He had not trusted her ability to handle the stress of managing the remnants of the Coalition since the first breakdown he witnessed, where she threatened his safety over statues. An opinion that was not her own. Was she a horrible person in her own right? Debatable, he didn't find that he thought she was, just unstable. Very unstable. If she was capable of threatening her own over something seemingly miniscule, surely she had the capability of causing harm over something like this, where a normal, sane being would have understandably had a breakdown.

He had been too late, as per usual lately, watching with widened eyes as everything unraveled before him, both slowly and too fast to process. Arvid had managed to survive the raid, and yet was still brutally murdered in the end by Sojourn. Sojourn. Part of him insisted that Arvid should have known better, but Angel was still well aware that the Kingpin had needed attention medically and she was refusing it. Logically, it had made sense to try and make her come to her senses over her health, but Sojourn was not simply a mourning woman having a hysterical fit. She was completely unhinged.

One ending became two, just more blood for the Coalition to remember, he supposed. Two very different legacies that he knew would mean nothing in the end now. Would they survive by the end of the season? Would they put her statue in the Hall of Kings? Beside her mother, her father? Ones she destroyed?

The injured. Focus on the injured. The dead were helpless. "Oleander, we need to go." Angel offered a paw with a gentle tone laced with urgency, wary of touching her wing specifically without any ways of supporting it. The quicker to the Guru, the better. Solsken was still in there, he knew that, but he could walk, and a facial injury would only shake him up at worst he believed, the pup was tough in his own right and Oleander was still so young. Shock would be a heavy threat.

your little hands of paradise, give them here and hang on tight

— Reggan