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+---- Thread: [God Quest] Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger (/showthread.php?tid=10910)
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Remi - 03-20-2025
Ronin's firebolts slam into Remi with a shocking, searing force that's entirely unexpected. Pain flares through him, fierce and deep, as if the bolts burned something vital beneath his skin. He grunts, teeth bared in a snarl, but doesn't pause; gods know he's endured worse, even if this feels uniquely sharp.
[say]"You know,"[/say] Remi calls out dryly, launching himself into the air after his husband with a powerful beat of his wings, [say]"usually when you get this rough, we at least have a safe word."[/say] The wind whips around him, buffeting his feathers as he closes the distance, cradling the rose protectively against his chest.
Then, with a sharp exhale, Remi unleashes his magic, aiming not for Ronin's physical form but for the very soul he loves so desperately. [say]"Hold still, husband,"[/say] he grumbles, not without affection but certainly without apology. [say]"This will only take a second."[/say]
Magic: Soul Strike | If successful, knocks the soul out of the body. An out of body soul can't affect its environment for 1 turn during combat, or for 20 seconds in normal threads. Contested END(Remi)/STR (opponent)/LUCK roll. Range of 30 ft
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Court Official - 03-20-2025
Remi's soul strike misses
Remi HP: 1350/1545
Ronin HP: 900/900
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Ronin - 03-20-2025
If nothing else, the proof that Ronin really isn't himself is the lack of ridiculous banter between them, because in response to Remi's quip, the Knight does little more than bare his teeth in a snarl. [say]"Oh?"[/say] he hisses, and perhaps it's the way they are angled, or that he knows Remi likely expects him to dodge, but he does as his husband suggests and holds very still in the air. And of course, we all know how that goes. [say]"One,"[/say] he counts dryly, glancing at himself and finding that he's still very able to use his wings and his magic.
Raising his eyebrows as if to say WeLp, Ronin surges forward once more, three more firebolts readied and spearing off towards the man he knows he loves, deep beneath the purple haze of Dahlia's instructions. The only saving grace, if it can be called as such, is that he's been told to kill and not to run, so at least Remi doesn't need to worry that the Knight will disappear.
He just has to worry for his life.
Magic: Radiant Firebolts | Ronin may summon radiant energy as a fiery projectile. Control is excellent, and multiple projectiles may be created at once. (In quests or other combat situations requiring dice rolling, only 3 firebolts may be created per post). Range: 60ft
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Court Official - 03-20-2025
Ronin's starbolts hit.
Remi HP: 1155/1545
Ronin HP: 900/900
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Remi - 03-20-2025
Remi swears sharply under his breath as Ronin’s starbolts connect again, the burning sting of magic lancing through him like lightning through stormclouds. It's agony, sharp and bright and somehow different—worse—than anything else he's felt in a long, long time. Gritting his teeth, Remi folds his body protectively around the rose, feeling the heat sear dangerously close, but by some miracle, the delicate petals remain untouched.
[say]"Honestly,"[/say] he growls, wings snapping open again as he surges upward after Ronin, pain making his voice rougher, his tone sharper. [say]"You're being impossible."[/say] His fingers tighten around the stem, blood dripping lightly from where thorns pierce his palm—fitting, he supposes bitterly.
He pushes forward, eyes narrowed, his magic crackling around him once more, reaching out to Ronin’s soul with ruthless precision, once again attempting to shove his husband's stubborn soul out of his body long enough to finally end this.
Magic: Soul Strike | If successful, knocks the soul out of the body. An out of body soul can't affect its environment for 1 turn during combat, or for 20 seconds in normal threads. Contested END(Remi)/STR (opponent)/LUCK roll. Range of 30 ft
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Court Official - 03-20-2025
Remi's Soul Strike hits
Remi HP: 1155/1545
Ronin HP: 835/900 **cannot move this round
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Ronin - 03-20-2025
[say]"Isn't that normally one of the things you like about me?"[/say] Ronin growls, the words spoken half through the Attuned bond so as to be heard over the roar of the wind. Remi surges up and the Knight soars down to meet him, something fierce and golden already setting aglow in his chest, promising a wave of golden light that would normally soothe away injuries but will, this time, burn like the fire of the sun itself.
Blessedly, though, before Ronin is able to unleash his Smite, something slams into him with force enough that it drives the air from his lungs - and his soul from his body, coincidentally. Blue eyes already cold with a foreign sort of hostility grow dull and blank, the Knight's wings falling entirely limp as his trajectory downwards becomes more of an act of gravity than willpower. Sent into a clumsy freefall, Ronin begins to fall like a stone towards the wide and yawning ocean below.
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Remi - 03-20-2025
Remi doesn’t waste a breath, doesn’t pause—not even when Ronin’s soul is flung out into empty air, leaving his husband’s body plummeting like a stone toward the darkening ocean below. Instinctive panic pulses hot and sharp through him, driving him downwards with an urgency that borders on desperation because if
The Bastion dives, wings folded tight, the wind tearing at him as the waves rush up to meet them both. [say]I've got you,[/say] he thinks through their bond, mental voice strained as if Ronin could somehow hear him through the void where his soul hangs suspended. But gods, he needs the words anyway—needs something to anchor himself as the sea surges upward.
They hit the ocean in a violent spray, the impact bruising but meaningless compared to everything else. Without hesitation, Remi reaches out beneath the waves, fingers clamping around Ronin’s limp hand. With a desperate surge of determination, he forces the rose into Ronin’s palm, fingers tangling over his husband’s and driving the thorns deep into his skin.
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Court Official - 03-20-2025
Ronin has been cured using one of Vi's roses.
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Ronin - 03-20-2025
I've got you.
Ronin is sure he hears it as he falls, from the strange space where he exists outside his physical body, and though the void-ravaged part of him seethes and rages, somewhere deep, deep down, he feels nothing but relief. Guilt and shame and relief that this might finally be over, like he might be able to see again as if the fog is about to part at last.
He comes back to himself at the same time as his fingers are clamped around the stem of Vi's Rose, his body surging up to break the surface without his needing to instruct it. Gasping in a desperate lungful of air, already his fingers have released the bloom - spent, now, its magic used up in cleansing his body of the infection - and his hands slap at the water to try and grab on to any part of Remi he can reach.
[say]"Gods--"[/say] He gasps, grateful for the salt water to hide the way his eyes are already stinging, Ronin dismissing his wings so they might not drag him back under, and so he can better draw the Bastion to him. [say]"Gods, I-- Remi, are you--"[/say] Okay? Hurt? [say]"I'm so sorry, she - Dahlia told me to... and I couldn't stop it--"[/say]
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Remi - 03-20-2025
Relief washes through the Bastion with a pull far greater than the ocean tides currently tugging at them. He shifts quickly, the lower half of his body rippling into powerful tentacles that help keep them both afloat so that they might focus on one another rather than trying to battle the waves. His wings vanish into nothingness as well before he's reaching out for Ronin to tug him close.
[say]"Shhh,"[/say] Remi murmurs roughly, pressing his face into Ronin’s hair as water streams down his cheeks, mingling with saltwater that could easily hide tears of relief. [say]"It’s alright. You’re alright."[/say] His fingers tighten in the Knight’s shirt, clutching at him like a lifeline, as if afraid to let go lest he have to go through this ordeal of trying to pin Ronin down again. [say]"I’m fine. Better than fine now that I'm not forced to chase after you,"[/say] he murmurs, and while there's humour in his words, the music of it dies quickly.
Drawing back only enough to see Ronin’s face, the Bastion brushes wet hair away from his husband’s eyes, sea glass gaze bright with fierce, stubborn love. [say]"I’ve got you,"[/say] Remi repeats softly, the words firm and unwavering. [say]"And I'm the only one who gets to say that."[/say]
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Ronin - 03-20-2025
Luckily, after said ordeal Ronin has no intention of trying to escape Remi's grip, and as he realises his husband is working to keep them both afloat, the fight leaves him entirely so he might hold tightly onto him instead. It isn't alright, he wants to protest - the infection, the threat against their children that still stands, the violet hued island in the distance, the encroaching void and all the Family want to bring to Caido - nothing is alright. But as his arms wind around Remi's shoulders and he hides his face away in the crook of his neck, he can fool himself enough to think that it just might be, for a second.
[say]"I'm sorry,"[/say] he whispers, allowing himself to be manoeuvred to face the other man properly, his hair plastered to his forehead, water dripping from his chin. [say]"Good,"[/say] he grates out, needing to hear the words again more than he'd expected. [say]"Even if that was a really stupid thing to do, wasting a rose on me."[/say] Shaking his head, the humour might be dark but at least it's humour again, Ronin drawing the Bastion close against him once more. [say]"I missed you, even though I've been right here."[/say]
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Remi - 03-20-2025
Remi's breath catches softly at Ronin’s words as he allows his fingers to trail gently along Ronin’s jaw, tracing droplets of seawater as if he's memorizing the shape and feel of him all over again. There's a brief flicker in Remi’s eyes—something tight and fierce and tender all at once—as his thumb brushes across Ronin’s lower lip, the Bastion's expression softening into a complicated sort of smile. [say]"It wasn’t a waste,"[/say] he murmurs firmly, quietly, voice thick with the kind of emotion that threatens to spill over if he's not careful. [say]"I would burn down an entire field of roses and lilies if it meant having you back."[/say]
He shifts them slightly, keeping their heads well above water with an effortless flex of his tentacles. [say]"I missed you too,"[/say] he whispers roughly, leaning forward until their foreheads touch, noses brushing softly. [say]"If anything I owe you an apology for not noticing sooner."[/say] Remi adds quietly as guilt begins to darken the fae-blue tint of his emotions. [say]"It was Sunjata who told me, since he can see those who are infected, which...well, I suppose you now have that gift as well."[/say]
RE: Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger - Ronin - 03-20-2025
[say]"A field of them?"[/say] Ronin flashes a smile back at Remi that manages to be both sad and happy at the same time. [say]"I'll be very careful to stay away from the void from now on. We can't even find that many, let alone afford to lose them,"[/say] he mumbles, his fingers threading through the back of his husband's curls as he's ferried forward against him. Letting out a shuddering breath, his guilt treacle thick and twice as dark, Ronin shakes his head at the other man's apology.
[say]"I'm not sure you would have known unless we were around any void creatures,"[/say] he admits. [say]"It's... insidious, almost, how normal you feel, especially when the Family are at a distance."[/say] Pressing his eyes shut, the Knight clutches Remi suddenly closer. [say]"I don't care about any gift or curse I might have gotten. Thank you, for bringing me out of it."[/say] At least this way he isn't a danger to anyone anymore.
The opposite in fact, when it comes to the void. But then it isn't as if his skillset has been particuarly useful against it anyway.