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Entry tags:
- !event,
- *npc: cyrus,
- arcane: silco,
- arcane: vander,
- black butler: sebastian michaelis,
- ennead: set,
- expanse (the): amos burton,
- final fantasy xiv: cid garlond,
- final fantasy xiv: emet-selch,
- final fantasy xiv: hythlodaeus,
- genshin impact: kaeya alberich,
- granblue fantasy: eustace,
- mortal kombat 11: shang tsung,
- oc: liem talbott,
- orv: sooyoung han,
- persona 5 strikers: sophia,
- tiger & bunny: barnaby brooks jr.,
- until death do us part: mamoru hijikata
TDM + GAME OPENING š
Who: Shard-Bearers, new and old
What: Seeds take root
Where: The Tree of Life, Highstorm, Springstar
When: October 14th and onwards
Warnings: Potential for (mild) body horror, death, dismemberment
Welcome to Kenos! As a reminder, all players are required to fill out an application, which are now open. This does include characters/players from Aion Teleos, so please donāt forget to fill one out! Any character/player that does not submit an application will be swept from the communities and the Discord after applications close.
Activity Check is optional this month, but is highly recommend so Christy can check her fancy program so that you can earn Activity Reward Tokens! Activity will be able to be submitted shortly after applications close. You can find more about how we do AC here.
This log is Game Canon. Any characters who are not apped to the game will disappear. If Cyrus or Yima are asked, theyāll explain that this happens sometimes, since not every soul has a strong tether to Kenos and sometimes return to the Timestream. Theyāre fine and may even return to Kenos one day, but for now werenāt able to make the full journey.
As a reminder, your character has a Shard somewhere on their body that encompasses their soul, so keep note of where you're sticking it on their person for reference! Additionally, they have a tattoo of their Aspect somewhere on their body. Please be mindful this Aspect will be assigned to you upon approval and whatever you choose for the TDM may be temporary (for new characters)!
For the Highstorm and Springstar prompts, both cities will be fully open and accessible to all characters once they are saved from their rather harrowing ordeal at the Tree of Life. For prompt ideas and any general information about the cities and what you can find there, please see the Navigation page and check out the locations!
New players are welcome to join our Discord Server if you haven't already!
When they emerge from their cocoon/the ground, characters may be wearing their normal clothes, or they might be nude. Up to you!
At some point in the days after leaving the Tree of Life, new Shard-Bearers will have a dream, even if they're usually not capable of sleeping. All new players should read this post, since this details how they'll learn about both factions and their goals and should help them make a decision in which Faction they'd be drawn to.
New characters will not have access to any canon abilities on the TDM.
Your character will be offered temporary housing either at the Heliopolis district or Yima's manor for the first few weeks after their arrival. They will also be given a stipend for basic supplies like clothing and personal effects, and food is served in the cantina (Heliopolis) and at regular meal times in the Dining Room (Yima's manor). Once they Harmonize, they will get personal permanent chambers and a fancy retainer in their Faction's city. Wow! š
Characters may be Harmonized to their Faction (if that makes sense for the character, of course!) by the time of this log. This is more for IC reference, and just wait until application acceptance to do the OOC paperwork!
General reminder that your character won't have access to their powers until they have Harmonized.
CODING
What: Seeds take root
Where: The Tree of Life, Highstorm, Springstar
When: October 14th and onwards
Warnings: Potential for (mild) body horror, death, dismemberment
I. BEARING FRUIT (new characters only)
It starts out as a pleasant dream. Youāre in your favorite place, with your favorite people. Itās a moment of idyllic comfort.
And then, it goes wrong.
The sky turns dark above, and as you look up, you see the black expanse of space spotted with faraway pinprick lights of stars. Yet, theyāre not stars. Youāre certain. Theyāre watching you. A billion eyes all looking down, and they spill forth as if sky itself was a dam holding back those dark waters. You reach back to the people youāre with, but theyāre frozen in place. Their eyes are black, reflecting only the expanse of dark eyes.
So you run, even though you know you wonāt escape it. You glance back and see it not overtaking, but consuming. The landscape around you is being devoured, and you can see it cracking apart. The world itself is breaking, and it cracks under your feet. You fall, and the billion eyes chase after you until the darkness swallows you whole. Thereās agony as if youāre being ripped apart, and then—
You cannot see. You cannot feel. You simply are. Yet even so, impossibly, a womanās voice speaks gently.
Iām sorry it couldnāt be saved. But, come, itās time to wake.
You wake with a start, cradled by soft, velvety plants, and sticky with a sap that smells faintly of honey and iron. You can see the veins of the leaves that hold you, lit warmly and gently by what looks like a crystal embedded above you. Yet, itās odd, because that crystal calls to you. When you reach out to touch it, itās warm. Familiar. Important. You donāt know why, but you know you must hold onto this, because now it feels wrong for it to be suspended in these leaves. So, you pull it out.
The light starts to fade, but only in time to see as the leaves cradling you immediately start to soften and crumble, and with it comes a torrent of dirt. Soft, loamy soil starts to fill the space around you in the dark as youāre buried. Or, rather, you already were. You reach out through the dirt desperately, and your hands finds a root, so you pull while you clutch that precious crystal so close that it almost feels like it sinks into you (in your panic, you donāt notice that it does). You reach out again, and this time, your hand hits open air and plenty of sturdy roots around to grab.
From a seed youāre born, and like a sprout, you make your way out of the ground.
And once youāve clawed your way out of the soft earth and the roots, nearby, you see the soil shift. Another hand comes up to grasp desperately for something, anything, just as you had been.
And then, it goes wrong.
The sky turns dark above, and as you look up, you see the black expanse of space spotted with faraway pinprick lights of stars. Yet, theyāre not stars. Youāre certain. Theyāre watching you. A billion eyes all looking down, and they spill forth as if sky itself was a dam holding back those dark waters. You reach back to the people youāre with, but theyāre frozen in place. Their eyes are black, reflecting only the expanse of dark eyes.
So you run, even though you know you wonāt escape it. You glance back and see it not overtaking, but consuming. The landscape around you is being devoured, and you can see it cracking apart. The world itself is breaking, and it cracks under your feet. You fall, and the billion eyes chase after you until the darkness swallows you whole. Thereās agony as if youāre being ripped apart, and then—
You cannot see. You cannot feel. You simply are. Yet even so, impossibly, a womanās voice speaks gently.
Iām sorry it couldnāt be saved. But, come, itās time to wake.
You wake with a start, cradled by soft, velvety plants, and sticky with a sap that smells faintly of honey and iron. You can see the veins of the leaves that hold you, lit warmly and gently by what looks like a crystal embedded above you. Yet, itās odd, because that crystal calls to you. When you reach out to touch it, itās warm. Familiar. Important. You donāt know why, but you know you must hold onto this, because now it feels wrong for it to be suspended in these leaves. So, you pull it out.
The light starts to fade, but only in time to see as the leaves cradling you immediately start to soften and crumble, and with it comes a torrent of dirt. Soft, loamy soil starts to fill the space around you in the dark as youāre buried. Or, rather, you already were. You reach out through the dirt desperately, and your hands finds a root, so you pull while you clutch that precious crystal so close that it almost feels like it sinks into you (in your panic, you donāt notice that it does). You reach out again, and this time, your hand hits open air and plenty of sturdy roots around to grab.
From a seed youāre born, and like a sprout, you make your way out of the ground.
And once youāve clawed your way out of the soft earth and the roots, nearby, you see the soil shift. Another hand comes up to grasp desperately for something, anything, just as you had been.
II. MORAL HAZARD
There are new Shard-Bearers at the Tree of Life, and Yima has asked that the earlier arrivals go to greet them and help them. These arenāt people from Horos, after all, so theyāll have many, many questions. As Yima explains, the roots of the tree rise up to create caverns underneath, and itās there youāll find the new Shard-Bearers. And indeed, with careful steps to not slip on the mossy roots, down you go. Perhaps Communion will help you find the new Shard-Bearers, but it might be a confusing process for them.
The roots all start to look the same, to the point that youāre sure that youāve already been through this passage. You turn around, and most of the people you had come here with are gone, if not all of them. Itās confusing and unsettling, and strangest of all.. Youāre starting to feel ill, even if that wasnāt something normally possible for you. But continuing forward, you do eventually find an unfamiliar face of a new Shard-Bearer. They look no better than you feel.
Before introductions, however, roots around you shift suddenly until youāre enclosed in a room together. From the roots, a face forms in the wall. It speaks in a creaking, uneven tone, as if it werenāt used to speaking at all.
Give to take. A sacrifice. To live.
Characters can pick one of the following options, but the decision must be made unanimously. If one character takes a drastic action (such as murdering another), itās counted as a failure for the group.
This can be done in groups of 2 to 4 players, and Loremasters recommend three if you can swing it! Itās more fun when you get in philosophical debates, right? Regardless, when your group comes to a decision, please record it here. These donāt have to be fully threaded out to be recorded, so the conclusion can be discussed OOC if you prefer. Actions can be submitted until October 21st, after which groups will be informed of what comes of their choiceā¦
When a group receives the antidote, they'll be released from the tree's thrall... But will have a hard time waking up. It feels like something has grabbed onto their spine.
The roots all start to look the same, to the point that youāre sure that youāve already been through this passage. You turn around, and most of the people you had come here with are gone, if not all of them. Itās confusing and unsettling, and strangest of all.. Youāre starting to feel ill, even if that wasnāt something normally possible for you. But continuing forward, you do eventually find an unfamiliar face of a new Shard-Bearer. They look no better than you feel.
Before introductions, however, roots around you shift suddenly until youāre enclosed in a room together. From the roots, a face forms in the wall. It speaks in a creaking, uneven tone, as if it werenāt used to speaking at all.
Give to take. A sacrifice. To live.
LET'S PLAY A GAME...
As the Dryad will explain, characters are now trapped in a room and have been poisoned by the spores that the lichens underfoot release. An antidote lays beyond the roots the dryad has curled around you, but to access it, you must make a sacrifice.Characters can pick one of the following options, but the decision must be made unanimously. If one character takes a drastic action (such as murdering another), itās counted as a failure for the group.
- Each of you must offer up a personal/treasured memory. The memory will be shared in Communion with all characters assembled, and then will be destroyed. No character will retain the memory or memory of its Communion.
- Each of you must offer up something physical. A finger, a toe, an ear, itās your choice. The dryad will offer a knife if this is chosen that will sever the body part of choice cleanly and immediately stop any bleeding.
- Offer up another. Kill one person in the room.
- Refusing is also a valid option. Characters will get more ill as they debate until they start to find it difficult to breathe, and theyāll die quickly after.
This can be done in groups of 2 to 4 players, and Loremasters recommend three if you can swing it! Itās more fun when you get in philosophical debates, right? Regardless, when your group comes to a decision, please record it here. These donāt have to be fully threaded out to be recorded, so the conclusion can be discussed OOC if you prefer. Actions can be submitted until October 21st, after which groups will be informed of what comes of their choiceā¦
When a group receives the antidote, they'll be released from the tree's thrall... But will have a hard time waking up. It feels like something has grabbed onto their spine.
III. DREAMING OF HOME
You may wake with a start from your deliberations (or arguments) with a jolt of pain from the base of your spine as something is pulled away rapidly. A dark-haired man who looks to be in his thirties or so holds you carefully, but as soon as you start to regain your senses, he sets you back and holds up his hands.
Woah— Woah there, itās fine! The tree was, uh, trying to take you back is all. Youāre fine now.
As long as youāre not going to attack him, he offers a friendly smile and a hand to shake.
Nameās Cyrus. Sorry about the rude awakening. Letās get your friend here unhooked too.
And indeed, glancing over, you can see the person you met in that room laying nearby, and it looks like a vine has snaked underneath them to exactly where something had just been pulled from youā¦ Best not to think about it, maybe. Or if you've been unlucky enough to be one of the last people rescued, you might find vines and roots starting to grow into your skin. It's fine!
Cyrus will gladly introduce himself to everyone, and will further explain his position in Meridian and Springstar (see the NPC Page) and the goals of Meridian itself (see the Faction Page, save for the italicized section). But most importantly, heāll explain that he knows it sounds like something overly optimistic. Itās fair to be skeptical. Heāll produce a small glass bead from a bag heās carrying. It looks like the necklace he wears, though not lit up. Heāll explain that the force of Meridian is a gift and can be a tether to your home, if you let it. As his fingertips light up, the energy is infused into the bead, which heāll hand to you.
Taking the bead into your hands, youāll take a birdās eye view of your home world as if your consciousness is split, since youāll still perceive standing in front of Cyrus at the tree. Rather than a vision, the view of your world is absolutely real, youāre certain. Itās a glimpse at the world that you thought destroyed, and if you focus on a particular place or a particular person, youāll find the view shifting rapidly to it. No one you watch is aware of your presence, but simply continues about their daily life, whatever that is. But after about a minute, the view will fade as the light in the bead also fades.
Thatās an iliachtida, a sunbeam, and when infused with Meridianās light, allows someone Harmonized to it to check in on their world, he explains. It also acts as an anchor that tethers their soul to their world in the Timestream. With it, their world canāt entirely disappear, so eventually, they can go home. Itās a gift heāll allow anyone that wants it to keep it, but indeed, theyāll be unable to use it again without first Harmonizing to Meridian.
To help manage threadload for the Loremasters playing Cyrus, we ask that you only tag him with the character you are most likely to app. Similarly, new tag-ins will not be accepted after Monday, October 17th.
Woah— Woah there, itās fine! The tree was, uh, trying to take you back is all. Youāre fine now.
As long as youāre not going to attack him, he offers a friendly smile and a hand to shake.
Nameās Cyrus. Sorry about the rude awakening. Letās get your friend here unhooked too.
And indeed, glancing over, you can see the person you met in that room laying nearby, and it looks like a vine has snaked underneath them to exactly where something had just been pulled from youā¦ Best not to think about it, maybe. Or if you've been unlucky enough to be one of the last people rescued, you might find vines and roots starting to grow into your skin. It's fine!
CYRUS, THE TRIBUNE
Cyrus is the NPC heading up the Meridian Faction, and is available to thread with under this header. Cyrus has come to the Tree of Life to help rescue the Shard-Bearerās from the Tree, so heās not going to be inclined to explain too much right away, since heās on a mission, but heāll stick around once everyone is successfully freed from Prompt 2 to speak with anyone that wants to. The following is just an OOC summary of information in case you do not need to thread with Cyrus:Cyrus will gladly introduce himself to everyone, and will further explain his position in Meridian and Springstar (see the NPC Page) and the goals of Meridian itself (see the Faction Page, save for the italicized section). But most importantly, heāll explain that he knows it sounds like something overly optimistic. Itās fair to be skeptical. Heāll produce a small glass bead from a bag heās carrying. It looks like the necklace he wears, though not lit up. Heāll explain that the force of Meridian is a gift and can be a tether to your home, if you let it. As his fingertips light up, the energy is infused into the bead, which heāll hand to you.
Taking the bead into your hands, youāll take a birdās eye view of your home world as if your consciousness is split, since youāll still perceive standing in front of Cyrus at the tree. Rather than a vision, the view of your world is absolutely real, youāre certain. Itās a glimpse at the world that you thought destroyed, and if you focus on a particular place or a particular person, youāll find the view shifting rapidly to it. No one you watch is aware of your presence, but simply continues about their daily life, whatever that is. But after about a minute, the view will fade as the light in the bead also fades.
Thatās an iliachtida, a sunbeam, and when infused with Meridianās light, allows someone Harmonized to it to check in on their world, he explains. It also acts as an anchor that tethers their soul to their world in the Timestream. With it, their world canāt entirely disappear, so eventually, they can go home. Itās a gift heāll allow anyone that wants it to keep it, but indeed, theyāll be unable to use it again without first Harmonizing to Meridian.
To help manage threadload for the Loremasters playing Cyrus, we ask that you only tag him with the character you are most likely to app. Similarly, new tag-ins will not be accepted after Monday, October 17th.
III. SPRINGSTAR, Ī±Ī¹ĻĪ½Ī¹ĪæĻ Ī®Ī»Ī¹ĪæĻ
After your ordeals at the Tree of Life, perhaps youāre drawn to Springstar, the city of eternal sun and the seat of Meridian.
Itās currently (and fittingly) Spring in Springstar, and the bustling city is coming back to life after finishing up winter. Itās not as if the winters are especially harsh here, but youāll quickly get the sense that the people of Springstar are vivacious and happy to celebrate. Youāll find the Entertainment District to be the liveliest, whether itās at a rowdy bar or a brothel, but no matter what, youāre welcome with open arms and without question.
Of course, if youād just like to use the chance to explore the city alongside your fellow Shard-Bearers, thatās fine too. Itās easy to get lost in the crowds of Springstar and see all the city has to offer.
Itās currently (and fittingly) Spring in Springstar, and the bustling city is coming back to life after finishing up winter. Itās not as if the winters are especially harsh here, but youāll quickly get the sense that the people of Springstar are vivacious and happy to celebrate. Youāll find the Entertainment District to be the liveliest, whether itās at a rowdy bar or a brothel, but no matter what, youāre welcome with open arms and without question.
Of course, if youād just like to use the chance to explore the city alongside your fellow Shard-Bearers, thatās fine too. Itās easy to get lost in the crowds of Springstar and see all the city has to offer.
IV. HIGHSTORM, Š»ŃŠ½Ń-Š±Š»ŠøŠ·Š½ŠµŃŃ
Or maybe Highstorm, the city of twin moons and the seat of Zenith is more to your liking. Itās certainly the quieter of the two cities and is a relaxing, meditative place if thatās what you prefer. The chill in the air is constant, since itās Autumn in Highstorm and the eternal night doesnāt help keep things warm, exactly. Snow isnāt out of the question at this time of the year, but itās beautiful in the moonlight.
Because of the cooler weather than Highstorm is prone to, youāll find many of its delights inside rather than outside. Libraries and museums are popular in the more introspective city, though itās easy enough to find something that might please you. For example, the indoor hot baths are popular at this time of the year too. Youāll find the people are kind, if cool-tempered, though if you mention the fact that youāre a Shard-Bearer or allied with Zenith, theyāre more likely to warm up.
Though much like Springstar, it may just be more interesting to explore the city with a fellow Shard-Bearer. And as a resident may warn you, itās best to stay in the city. Wandering out into the marshes and forests isnāt advised. Of course, if you do, just contact a Loremaster to find out why. ♥
Because of the cooler weather than Highstorm is prone to, youāll find many of its delights inside rather than outside. Libraries and museums are popular in the more introspective city, though itās easy enough to find something that might please you. For example, the indoor hot baths are popular at this time of the year too. Youāll find the people are kind, if cool-tempered, though if you mention the fact that youāre a Shard-Bearer or allied with Zenith, theyāre more likely to warm up.
Though much like Springstar, it may just be more interesting to explore the city with a fellow Shard-Bearer. And as a resident may warn you, itās best to stay in the city. Wandering out into the marshes and forests isnāt advised. Of course, if you do, just contact a Loremaster to find out why. ♥
NOTES
01 and fair warning to anyone else this is going to be a nasty thread <3
Horos was simply an exception to his usual rule, and in Kenos, he was trying to correct it. There was not a war here where his viciousness was a valuable asset. So far, it seemed this was a place where the polite, unassuming butler would thrive. A gentle hand and a gentle touch would bring about the desired result. But even in his short time in Horos, his actions werenāt forgotten, and much less by the woman that had received the most ruthless of them.
ā¦But here in the roots (in a dream), he didnāt have the power that allowed him to overtake her with relative ease. The Dryad speaks its instructions, but Sebastian is ignoring them. His expression is immediately cold and cruel, and very much the sort that he only ever revealed before he killed someone. Itās more instinct than anything else, because heās well aware that while confined to a human form, heās outclassed compared to her. ]
My, my. We really must stop meeting like this, Miss Hayame.
[ He knows enough of her character to know that a confrontation was unavoidable, that smooth, sly words wouldnāt soothe her. Itās probably because he knows that he leans towards his nature rather than away from it. He takes a smooth step to the side, but itās to keep distance between them. As if there was much to be had. But his cruel smile is mocking, because even if this is very much a situation not in his favor, heāll at least provoke her and bring out the worst he can. That is his nature, after all. ]
I suppose you would be so willing to let bygones be bygonesā¦?
ā« tonight, i'm living in a fantasy, my own little nasty world
The demon who had plucked her left eye from her skull and left only a raw, weeping socket behind, however... Him, she remembers, as the last face she had seen with the perfect vision that made her so deadly an archer.
There is a moment, just before the roots close them in, when he comes into her now limited field of view and the recognition flashes blatantly over her face. The sight, the smell, the sound of him, every bit of it fills her senses... and a chaotic jumble of images come rushing back. Blood, blood raining from the sky. The bite of a pale scale in her hand. The feeling of her two hearts strained to their limit as she ran and ran and ran towards a goal she failed to reach. The sensation of pain without physical injury, of a shard dimming in her hand...]
You-
[The dryad is talking, and she hears it, but she also does not.
The demon is talking, and she hears it, but she also does not.
Her blood is boiling in her ears. If her nails weren't cut to the quick, they'd be digging blood crescents into her palm. The one pupil left to her dilates and contracts as her mind switches rapidly between the man in front of her and the man in her memories. She smells smoke and dust in the air. Her enemy is there, whichever reality she falls into. He's smiling, like he'd smiled then, smug and cruel and self-assured that she was nothing to him. Like he had when he'd jumped out of reach and looked down at her, her perfectly intact eyeball danging by the ripped optic nerve from his wet fingers.
Hayame's teeth grit, the muscles along her jaw clench, her throat bobs as if attempting and realizing that speech in that moment is impossible-
Before she suddenly lunges across the confined space of their root-made cage, giving him all of two seconds to react before a half ton of muscle and rage slams into the space he now occupies.]
no subject
Good.
[ Itās just one word said simply to her recognition, but itās dripping with the kind of vicious, hungry bloodlust that only a demon could express.
His skill is no less sharp when heās essentially trapped in a human form like this, at least, and in her state of mind, he can ready well enough when she charges. Two seconds is plenty of time relative to that, and just when he would be in striking distance of her hooves, he darts to the side to avoid her. Thereās not much room to maneuver in this cage, and though she was clearly well-trained to counteract it, she still had limitations for that equine half. Sebastianās hand goes to the breast pocket of his jacket where heād hidden a weapon (just in case, of course), but finds it missing. Without missing a beat, he grabs at a root he looks like he can break instead. Itās not the best of improvised weapons, but itāll have to do.
With a snap thatās only prevented from cutting into his hands by his leather gloves, he turns to face Hayame with the root readied like it was a stake, but itās probably time enough for her to have begun to reclose that short gap between them. He wouldnāt be able to avoid her, so heāll at least face her head on and take her down along with him. Such is the hope, at least.
It might be lost to her rage, but there are still details here she might notice. For one, that dodge wasnāt nearly as impossibly fast as what sheād seen before. Itās still fast and speaks to someone as well-seasoned to battle as she, but not inhuman. Second is his eyes. Theyāre not a monstrous, glowing red as bright as blood. Right now, theyāre just a very normal amber. ]
no subject
With how fast he had moved the last time they faced one another, Hayame wouldn't have been surprised to slam into the roots across from her and not feel bones snap between them and her powerful body. She doesn't this time, either, but that doesn't mean she doesn't notice. He's slower this time. She tries to unclench her jaw, to snarl in his direction and demand to know if he thinks this was some sort of game, but it doesn't happen. Was he trying to play with her, like she recalled from that dark, dark city?
Hayame doesn't have powers. Even in Horos, when they'd been available to her, she had refused time and again to use them. So the fact that those among their number who relied on anything but biology might be limited in some way right now... It's not something that's occurred to her, even though a distant part of her recognized certain differences. Not just his speed. His eyes.
But her eyes (eye) are afire. By the time he's readied his improvised women she's already rounded on him again, begun to close the gap as he'd anticipated... but she sees the sharp, splintered root, and rather than do him the favor of impaling herself on it in her desperation to reach him and wrap her fingers around his neck... she half-rears instead, not enough to fully bare her vulnerable belly but high enough to kick out at his hands (and what was in them) with hard, vicious hooves.]
hayame making me learn so much about horse bones!
A hoof instead meets his shoulder area with a crack that splits his collarbone. Itās his turn to snarl this time, a breathed out, animal sound, but it just makes his amber eyes wild instead. It hurts, viciously, but it just pushes him away from his preferred, elegant composure. Heās sent back to hit the wall behind him from the force of her kick which also gets him to drop the root, but itās nearly forgotten. She has him cornered anyways, so it hardly matters.
He comes close again, relentless and reckless, but itās also to bring him within range to put his full weight into a single kick down on the long pastern bone of the leg that had kicked him. It may only be a humanās strength, but thereās a demonās precision and calculation behind it. He knows where itās thinnest and weakest, and he wants to snap it. ]
teaching people words like "withers" and "fetlock" is my only legacy
Logic is trailing behind, struggling to catch up to instinct, but fight or flight triggered by the sight of what her hind brain had identified as one of the biggest threats to her survival amongst the aions. Just because they had become "shard-bearers" instead...
Hayame had never chosen flight.
Bone cracks (his). Animalistic noises snap and snarl (his and hers). The heavy sound of impact with the floor (her). Each move is taken or parried, he's slow(er) but he's still sharp, still far too composed. If her hoof had been planted solidly on the "ground" when Sebastian's heel slammed into her leg, the bone might have broken between the two forces. Only the sheer luck of having started to raise her leg for another sharp lash of kick saves her from the type of injury most devastating to her kind. The bone is probably cracked, the deep bruise of impact will still handicap her, and the pain pitches her to the side in the direction her tendons and ligaments strain. She barely manages to pull the limb back in and prevent herself from falling fully onto her side, set to hit the ground on her knees-
But her hand whips out in the wake of lashing hooves to tangle in the front of his clothing and rip, trying to slam him to the ground before she reaches it.]
no subject
She wobbles and starts to pitch down, and Sebastian is there to meet her. Heās limited in what he can grasp at, since she has a full foot on him at her full height, but as her human half dips, his hand shoots out as well in tandem with hers coming out for a grab. Even if he could have redirected to try and push away her grip, he simply doesnāt want to. His hand is flat and firm in a point, and he punches out to hit just underneath her ribs with his palm up. If he had his strength or his claws, it would be vicious and almost certainly fatal. As is, itās another cruelly precise strike since itās her kidney heās aiming for. An open fist would hurt and bruise, but the pressure at a point could rupture.
Sebastian doesnāt get to see the result or how her face might twist in pain, because her hand easily finds its mark when he isnāt defending against it. Hayame throws him down, and he hits the gnarled ground of roots hard. Thereās another crack as his face hits the ground first, and the broken nose and the white-hot stab of shifting bone in his collar stuns him, if only for a moment. Thereās no shuddering breath that might be expected, because with that, he simply chooses to stop breathing, since itāll stop the shift of bone minutely.
Sebastian starts to push himself up with the better arm, and his own blood drips from his nose and down his face, but heās still grinning. It wasnāt so openly monstrous when his eyes and teeth were human, but heās still terrifyingly relentless. As their eyes meet for a tiny second, their thoughts are likely exactly the same.
Heāll rip out her throat.
Sheās just a moment faster to it. ]
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The cry of pain as his hand jabs sharply into her torso just beneath her ribs she twists into more a roar that a scream, but only barely, desperately unwilling to give the man who had taken so much from her more to hoard. Again, she is only saved from more devastating injury by the virtue of her biology, the different musculature of a jinba's torso that must be thicker, stronger, to keep balance between her upper and lower halves. She mustn't let her attention waver for even a second. Her muscles surge, she slams him hard into the roots and hears the crunch of his nose, the impact of his face-
A moment later her own knees slam to the ground, she has to catch her weight on a hand that almost crumples with the impact, her lungs all heave and she gathers herself for the next, she has to move or he'll find some advantage-
But their eyes meet instead. The same thought, feral and wild, appears in both of their minds. A world away, Hayame had once watched Matsukaze, his arms bound, use the only weapon close at hand to him in order to escape from overwhelming odds... when he'd lunged and dug his teeth into her brother's neck. It was a bestial, undignified move of a desperate, cornered thing, not a person, and she'd always lived her life desperate not to give humans any more reason to think of her as an animal, but now, now as they both bare their fangs at each other-
Hayame is the faster one.
She lunges. Her far hand swings in fast to slam her palm into his forehead and dig her fingers into his dark hair so that she can whip it back, force his throat to bare, pale and taut and so fucking soft. Before she can doubt herself, before he can find some way to win and rob her of her life and her revenge in one fell swoop-
Hayame's fangs dig in to Gabriel's throat, breaking skin, biting in deep until blood wells up hot and thick in her mouth and only then... Only then does she rip.
In Achamoth, this demon had promised her a sweet death. But Hayame never promised the same.]
cw for vore... thoughts... š§ smh
Sebastianās muscles tense to lunge towards her himself, but heās beat by a moment. Her hand collides with his head, and he still pushes forward stubbornly until his head is wrenched back. His eyes widen in surprise, but he still barks out a single laugh, surely the last sound heāll make—
He laughs because heās a demon, after all. Even as her jaw closes around his throat, thereās still cruelty he can give.
His hand comes up to grasp at her face as she bites, but of course itās not just a desperate move. Like everything else, itās deliberate. He wonāt be able to truly hurt her all that much. He knows heās lost. But he can give a last torment to her mind if not her body. Sebastianās hand comes up to her empty socket just as her fangs pierce his flesh. Despite himself, there is another sound, a pained, wet, choked-out noise, but that just makes his hand dig in. Itāll hurt, but itās a psychological game more than that. But itās not only that.
Sebastian learned something in Yimaās basement about Communion that heād tucked away as a detail he would likely use one day. He just hadnāt expected it to be so soon. His mind almost crashes into hers as he tries to force his way into Communing with her. He doesnāt know if it will even work, but heās hoping that her attention is too focused on him to fully block him out. The pain he feels, the way skin and flesh tears as she jerks her head back, he wants her to feel it too. Her own fangs digging and ripping into her own neck, how blood floods out to the point where sheās not sure whether she'll drown or bleed out.
It wonāt last long, if so. It canāt, because even if a grin of visceral, twisted delight is still on his face, even he canāt survive an injury like this. ]
cw for justā¦ violence and gore Iām sorry
Last time they had collided, heād left her to collapse in a heap of pain and shame on the rubble, begging for him to come back and finish her rather than saddle her with the disgrace of such a defeat. But if she could revenge herself upon him, cleanse that dishonorā-
His blood wells up in her mouth as her fangs break the delicate skin of his pale throat and punch through tendon and muscle into his windpipeā¦ right as his hand finds a grip on her face. Her snarl is wet and barely parasable through the mouthful of demon in the shape of a man that has become just a mouthful of squirming, resisting meat, but then-
His thumb finds the edge of the makeshift eyepatch gone askew on the struggle and punches past the flimsy defense into her raw, empty socket. Hayame screams in pain but more in shock, her eyelids tighten and spasm uselessly on his knuckle but she refuses to let go even when she feels his thumb pressing so painfully deep in her head against the ocular nerve heād severed by sheer force that she feels white lances spearing into her brain. She digs even deeper, her jaw near cracking with the force in which she bites, his blood bursting suddenly hotter and more forcibly down her throat as she punctures the artery, savages it with her sharp teeth, and when she suddenly feels her world widen to include his thoughts, his pain, as if she had somehow ripped her way into his mind as well as his throatā¦
A different woman might have pulled her teeth out and recoiled in fear, clutching at her own neck as the injury echoed in her body and made her fear for her life. But those would be the actions of a woman who was careful with her life, not one who had once shamefully feared death but now almost longed for it if it would actually mean an end to the endless stream of foreign lands and impossible magics and no ways to get back home again she she could understand or believe in.
So what Hayame does is fight through the pain. She ignores that empathic bond forced upon her, that as she wounds him she feels the wound herself, she digs her uninjured hand into his hair to hold his skull down to the root cage floor, a heavy foreleg sprawled over his body to try and keep him from bucking or kicking-
When she digs in with her teeth and then hauls her head up with enough force to bring his throat back with her in a sick, wet rip of blood and flesh.]
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Her teeth tear him open, and the intensity of the feeling is exactly what he forces into her brain. Nerves screaming, muscle spasming against his will, and the thick, heavy feeling as blood seeps into lungs. Itās dying in slow motion. Yet, he doesnāt struggle underneath her grip. Blood spills out of his neck rapidly, and he just lets the hand that had been buried in her face fall limply to his side as she pulls her head back away from him. The Communion weakens and fails, almost stuttering as his consciousness drifts away.
The toothy, wild grin softens, and it would seem to be from his approaching death, but itās still too calm for that. His eyes are locked on hers sharply, and the look he gives is cruel and cold, as if somehow, he was the victor here. If he were to die, after all, he can think of no better sight. Itās a wild and uglily distorted face full of vicious hatred, dripping his flesh and blood. In simply one fight, heād dragged someone down to such a beastly level.
What a depraved and exquisite pleasure.
Itās hard to tell the point he dies, because things around them begin to change. Roots around them coil and move as if they have a mind of their own, and the creaking voice of the dryad they had both ignored speaks again. ]
Failure.
[ Theyāre peeled away from each other and pulled back into the living tree, since it seems that the Tree still has plans for them yet. ]