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+---- Thread: [Training] rise and shine (/showthread.php?tid=11623)
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rise and shine - Ronin - 07-01-2025
It's entirely unclear whether Ronin is out for his morning run just because, or if he's in active pursuit of someone. Because with the dawn of the first day of Leafchange, it could honestly be either, and though there's no one else along the lonely stretch of shoreline leading back to the Northaven, that doesn't meant that there wasn't just a few minutes before. Regardless, as the Knight finally slows his footsteps to replace that steady pounding of his feet with the beat of his own heart, he finally feels as if he's managed to calm the thunder in his blood.
For a second or so, anyway.
Inhaling a long, deep breath and huffing it out, he stretches his arms above his head and rolls his shoulders, smiling at the sudden whoosh of icy air along the back of his neck. [say]"Much obliged."[/say] He nods to Sugar, who chirps at him before free-wheeling back around the Northaven where she definitely hasn't been keeping tabs on the houseboat in case a certain Bastion should emerge.
Kicking off his shoes to wander through the cool shallows, he emerges up on the little dock of the houseboat with the full intention of a shower and a nap. And he hopes that one of those things - ideally both - will be with his husband.
RE: rise and shine - Remi - 07-02-2025
The water is colder than expected, even for Leafchange, but Remi’s never minded that sort of bite. It’s bracing; clears the mind, sharpens the edges. He’s far enough from the houseboat that Sugar’s chirp carries only faintly over the lapping waves, but the sound still makes him pause, floating on his back beneath the pale blush of morning light. A grin curls over his lips as he realizes that his husband has returned.
Rather than call out, Remi turns and dives, body fluid and silent as he slips beneath the surface. The world dulls instantly with the rhythm of the sea replaces thought, motion replaces words. He swims easily through the shallows, navigating by memory more than sight, until he nears the houseboat where his husband’s footsteps thump softly overhead.
A single tentacle curls out of the water: It coils with slow, deliberate grace around Ronin’s ankle, the grip teasingly light—just enough pressure to register a presence, just enough to pull. And then, without warning, the Bastion tugs.
RE: rise and shine - Ronin - 07-04-2025
Ronin, in that split second, has just enough time to register three things:
1. Sugar is terrible at her job in keeping tabs on Remi.
2. A tentacle, in the right (read: crazy, stag-brained) frame of mind can feel an awful lot like a threat.
3. He can throw his shoes quite an impressive distance - directly upwards.
Barely able to curse out his surprise before he's yanked unceremoniously off the dock, Sugar has to swoop and dive out of the way of the shoes that have been yeeted out of Ronin's hand, before the rich splash of cool water floods his senses. Mostly, anyway.
Partially shifting just enough to see (to glare, if we're honest) through the water at what Ronin realises is his husband, the Knight considers swimming after him in instant pursuit, but eventually decides that surfacing is probably a better idea.
Weighed down by his clothing, he has to work a little harder to stay afloat as his head breaks the surface, where he shakes his wet hair out of his face. [say]"What was that for?"[/say] he complains. [say]"And why do I keep falling for it?"[/say]
RE: rise and shine - Remi - 07-14-2025
Sugar is very good at her job, actually. She’s simply sees no reason to ruin Remi’s fun—not when he’s clearly been waiting, coiled beneath the surface like some lovesick sea god ready to drag his favourite sailor into the deep. So instead of interfering, she loops lazily through the air above, watching Ronin splash down with a chirp that sounds suspiciously like smug amusement.
Below, Remi tugs his husband just far enough from the dock to make the swim back feel like effort—just enough to pull him into deeper waters before letting up. Saltwater shimmers over his shoulders as he shifts, completely kraken now, with curling tentacles that rise like sun-touched kelp around them. One tentacle loops under Ronin’s arms to help lift him, cradling more than restraining.
[say]Do I need a reason?[/say] he asks through the bond, laughter rich in his mental tone. [say]It’s Leafchange. The tides are good. You were conveniently shirtless. I was bored. I love you.[/say] He could go on.
Another tentacle drifts along Ronin’s side with unmistakable playfulness before curling loosely around one ankle again. [say]Besides,[/say] he adds, [say]I thought maybe I could tempt you into a game of sea monster. There have been some pirate ships that are getting awfully cozy with our shores.[/say] Perhaps seeing two gargantuan monsters battling it out would keep them away.
RE: rise and shine - Serendipity - 07-14-2025
In the wind you hear voices. It sounds like children playing some kind of game with laughter and mischief. Then one screams. There’s a call for ‘Mom!’ ‘Papa!’ and other adults as the laughter stops. Glancing towards the direction of the commotion, you’ll see fins cutting the water. A pack of echo sharks lurks, ready to leap up and grab any who fall for their trap.
You’ve encountered a pack of echo sharks. This counts as a common creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements.
Echo Shark (common) - A dwarf species of shark known for hunting in packs, the Echo Shark can live in both freshwater and saltwater. They are able to mimic any sound they’ve heard and band together to increase their range of vocals. The sharks use the words and sounds they’ve learned to lure unsuspecting prey into the water, where the sharks will then leap up and drag them into the waves.
RE: rise and shine - Ronin - 07-15-2025
Gazing over his shoulder at the retreating sight of the Northaven, by the time his husband decides to trade ferrying him out to sea for cradling him against the lapping waters, Ronin has fallen into wry acceptance of his fate. [say]"Those are all very valid reasons,"[/say] he concedes, though Remi is correct of course - he doesn't need one at all. Wondering how many more tentacles he's about to find curling about him when the other man suggests a game of sea monster, Ronin can't help but bark out a laugh.
[say]"I'd be honoured,"[/say] he says, not bothering to try and struggle free of the kraken's grip; instead he simply begins to shift, all glittering scales and leviathan fronds slinking deep into the cool depths. Slinking beneath the surface to let himself stretch out this rarely used shape, he sends a pulse of amusement towards his husband. [say]You will have to catch me to fight me though,[/say] he reminds him, already cutting smoothly through the current and away.
The movement spooks and scatters the pack of echo sharks he'd barely noticed trying to entice a meal nearby; and good thing too, unless they want to become a meal for the leviathan.
RE: rise and shine - Remi - 07-15-2025
Though a kraken very likely isn’t a sight predator, he doesn’t need his eyes to immediately want to track Ronin's movements. The moment his husband’s shape begins to unfurl beneath the surface—scales glittering like starlight shattered on the sea—Remi feels it. Feels him. The pulse of his bond like a sonar beat in his ribs, the shiver of displacement in the water where the leviathan has slid away.
[say]Don’t tempt me with a good time,[/say] he thinks, voice low and warm with a predator’s thrill. [say]You know I’m easily convinced.[/say]
With barely a ripple, the kraken moves.
His bulk is deceptive; Remi glides like silk through the current, each powerful motion sending him careening through the sea. Tentacles stretch outward, a few curling in mock-search while the longer ones slice through the water with purpose. One brushes the spot where Ronin had just been, another wraps around a column of kelp—testing, adjusting—until finally, with a knowing flick of motion, two of his limbs whip outward and attempt to tangle around one of the leviathan's limbs.
1/4
RE: rise and shine - Ronin - 07-17-2025
[say]I know it all too well,[/say] Ronin agrees, his amusement rippling through the bond as he cuts his way into the lovely dark and deep. Unlike his husband, a leviathan probably can be considered a sight predator, and as the depths of the ocean stretch endlessly around him, the Knight allows himself to settle properly into the creature's mindset; ancient, patient, and always, always hungry.
A little ahead of Remi, it's only the eerie sense of something inevitable and unfurling nearby that has him twisting in the water, impossibly quick, and the tentacle coils around a few bubbles just shy of where he'd been [say]Rude,[/say] Ronin quips, laughing softly, before he coils in on himself and rushes at the kraken to try and bullrush him.
1/4
RE: rise and shine - Remi - 07-17-2025
He should’ve known. Of course he should’ve known. There’s not a creature in the sea—myth or otherwise—who can outpace Ronin once he commits to the chase. So when the bubbles burst uselessly against his limbs, and the leviathan darts past like a living torpedo, something ancient and instinctive stirs deep in the kraken’s chest.
Predatory irritation—low, visceral, more thrill than true frustration—pulses through the bond like a dark current.
[SAY]Show-off[/SAY], Remi mutters, not with words but with a flick of emotion sharp as a fishhook.
As Ronin coils and surges back at him in a rush of scales and pressure, the kraken doesn’t dodge. He embraces. Tentacles erupt outward with a sudden, startling speed in an attempt to fully wrap around the leviathan's sleek form. His aim is to bind himself around the draconic creature, and, if possible, to wrap a tentacle around his jaw.
2/4
RE: rise and shine - Ronin - 07-18-2025
[say]If I can't show off about this, what can I show off about?[/say] Ronin asks, all wry amusement and boyish drama. [say]Besides all the other stuff we're able to do between us, of course.[/say] But then he's barrelling towards his husband again, and though he aims to bully right into Remi, as the kraken's tentacles unfurl, the Knight is forced to pull his slippery fish stunt again - and he succeeds, quiet delight unfurling through the bond.
[say]Are you getting slow in your old age, husband?[/say] he wonders with a flick of his tail, jagged teeth bared as his maw opens and he whips around again, this time trying to playfully snap at one of the many, many tentacles that are trying to slither around him. [say]Besides, I thought we were supposed to be frightening ships with all of this nonsense. We should be nearer to the surface, don't you think?[/say]
2/4
RE: rise and shine - Remi - 07-23-2025
[say]Of course you will,[/say] Remi replies dryly, the words edged in fondness even as they coil through the bond like seaweed in a current. [say]You've not failed yet to find things to show off about, and I doubt if you'll start now.[/say]
The kraken tries, truly, to twist and spin free—but it's a half-hearted thing at best, because he already knows how it ends. Ronin's too quick by leagues in the water, and so it’s with the inevitable snap of jaws that a set of teeth sink into one of his tentacles. A flicker of real pain flares between them—sharp, then gone again like a muscle twitch—before Remi lets out a mental huff of amusement. [say]Maybe I am getting slow in my old age[/say], he concedes, unbothered. [say]Or maybe I just enjoy letting you catch me.[/say]
Still, the suggestion about the surface draws a ripple of agreement—though not without one last jab. Fine, Remi allows with a put-upon sigh, like someone being asked to rise from a very comfortable seat. [say]But only if you’d be so kind as to unhand my tentacle first, husband.[/say]
3/4
RE: rise and shine - Ronin - 07-24-2025
[say]I like to think of it more as showing you things I am proud of,[/say] Ronin almost sings back through the bond, despite the admittedly ominous movements of two gargantuan sea monsters drifting through the deep. [say]You know, like successfully baking a souffle. Or catching a fish with a bit of string tied to my toe. Or being the ultimate winner in a game of kraken/leviathan kiss-chase.[/say] Laughing, he nevertheless feels the flinch of pain in his husband's thoughts, pulsing his apology and immediately releasing the kraken's tentacle.
[say]You don't want to hold hands as we swim to the surface? I'm wounded,[/say] he protests, playful as he coils and turns in the water. [say]Come along then - maybe there will even be a ship for you to sink when we get there.[/say] And so off Ronin goes - but not before he tries to cheekily slap the kraken with his tail to ensure he gets a head-start that he absolutely does not need.
3/4
RE: rise and shine - Remi - 07-24-2025
Remi might have opened his metaphorical mouth to protest—might have argued about who really won their game, if not for the sudden smack of Ronin’s tail against his face. It’s not hard. It’s not even all that painful. But gods, the audacity.
The tentacle he’d been about to use for a smug gesture instead flops backward like an offended ribbon, and through the bond comes a hiss of theatrical indignation. [say]That. Was. Rude.[/say]
Like a thunderhead rolling beneath the waves, the kraken shoots forward, the bulk of him propelled by a whip of force that disturbs the sea in a wide radius. There’s no subtlety to it—just brute power and momentum, tentacles streaking behind him like streaming banners. He aims straight for Ronin with the full intent of grappling the leviathan the way he might wrap around the hull of a galleon: tight, inescapable, and very much with the goal of dragging him down.
[say]If I'm not allowed to win, I'm certainly not letting you gloat about it[/say], Remi growls, voice all warm thunder, though he'd certainly sound like quite the idiot if he missed his target yet again.
4/4
RE: rise and shine - Ronin - 07-25-2025
Positively cackling in response - it was rude, and Ronin would do it again in a heartbeat - the leviathan cuts through the water and makes directly for the surface. He has no idea whether there are any ships about worth spooking, but that has long stopped being the point of this outing, he realises. Nevertheless, as he manages to break the surface (with a dramatic roar to mark his presence, just in case, you understand) - he's been so focused on his upward trajetory that he's left himself wide open for an attack by tentacles.
The exaggerated roar turns into a genuine snarl of surprise, the sound grating and shrieking through the air as he's clutched by a number of the kraken's appendages. [say]No fair, you've got more legs than I have![/say] He doesn't care if it makes sense, the leviathan writhing and thrashing in an attempt to free himself as Remi starts to drag him deeper into the depths.
4/4