Court of the Fallen
like a wild thing - Printable Version

+- Court of the Fallen (https://cotf-rpg.com)
+-- Forum: Out of Character (https://cotf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=26)
+--- Forum: Important (https://cotf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=27)
+---- Forum: Archives (https://cotf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=38)
+---- Thread: like a wild thing (/showthread.php?tid=2785)

Pages: 1 2


like a wild thing - Deimos - 02-08-2020

Sometimes hunting was a necessity, and other moments it served as a distraction, a deterrent, a means of practice, honing skills and tactical measures. Perhaps today it was both: putting skills to the test, while allowing his mind to wander into the depths of precision and prowess, rather than anything else weighing it down. Here he didn’t require machinations or ruses, schemes or diabolical ministrations, just careful, hushed footfalls, patience, and accuracy. On his back were the familiar bow and its matching quiver, on his belt were several blades, daggers, and knives, and he’d left his rendered sled, now accompanied with wheels, over by the entrance of the labyrinth, eyeing the warren carefully in the early morning haze. The sun had risen, but just barely, intending to beat the heat, to not be worn town by alarming degrees and temperatures, while animals wandered and tended to their own sense of nourishments and meals. Whether or not his hunting partner would want to venture into the maze’s confines would be her choice – they could always seethe and torment those obnoxious squirrels if necessary.

So Deimos waited, in the press of the thickened woods, beneath shadows and hovering canopies, ready to embark into honed havoc.


RE: like a wild thing - Hotaru - 02-19-2020

Being a seamstress in a place like the Grounds means that she is often having warmer articles requested of her, and with her creation magic suddenly reluctant to work with her, Hotaru has to prepare for the end of LongHeat with furs and skins that will please her customers. Or so she would explain to anyone who may question why she is out on this hunt with Deimos. In reality, the maiden needs little to no reason to be coaxed away from her pins and patterns. Especially with the offer of violence and destruction on the table. She may be the epitome of beauty and grace, but Hotaru would sooner wear a swathe of fresh blood than an evening gown. At least she is lucky enough to have a brother in arms who recognizes this in her.

Sunjata's dagger is lashed to her hip as it always is as she approaches, a simple bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. Nothing quite so beautiful as Deimos' creations, but adequate. The arrow tips being metallic in nature is all she cares about. A dark, creative inquiry having drawn itself to the forefront of her mind as she had packed for the early meeting in the dense shadows where she inevitably finds Deimos. A question she hopes to answer today. [say]"Any particular game we're hoping for today?"[/say] Smooth voice is slightly softer than normal, aware of delicate ears and creatures that cling to life nearby, not wanting to startle away their prey so early in the day.


RE: like a wild thing - Deimos - 02-20-2020

Merciless, blood-thirsty things, primordial callings and stirrings in malicious, unrelenting flames: recognizing it in her because he had it too, because they’d always followed those patterns of destruction, of demolition, of wreckage, of ruin. Habitual and routine, even in times of repose, to plot out orchestrations and tactics of warfare or melee, desperate to crush something under their feet before it’d even reared its head. A hard thing to break, to wash away from their stained, enigmatic, vehement souls, and so sometimes he just accepted it, walked the fine lines of defensive maneuvers and sieging procedures. Today all he wanted to do was slaughter.

[say]“Not really,”[/say] he answered her at the approach, at the entanglement of mountain essences, at the rage, the smoking, fanning motions, unwinding under his skin. To puncture, to pierce, to maim and maul something in those frustrating aspects, when nothing seemed to go well, when everything was a horrid, horrific mess. [say]“Unless you hate those squirrels.”[/say] His eyes lifted in general to the speaking rodents, who’d already started their incessant outcries, chatter, and nonsense (this way calling towards the entrance, and then bounding for another intertwining branch). He’d be content to rampage against anything at this point, irritating squirrels or otherwise.


RE: like a wild thing - Hotaru - 02-22-2020

They come together like tectonic plates meeting, and their discordant desires are all the more destructively beautiful in chorus with one another. Hotaru's eyes move towards the furry devils in the branches at his words, watching their bodies race atop the Labyrinth walls as they call eerily into the air. [say]"What a coincidence, because I do hate them. And I have a particularly delightful quest that involves fending off attacks with this little thing,"[/say] she says with a wicked smirk alighting on her face as she pulls the crop Frey had given back to her out of the loop on her belt. Waving it around playfully so that the leather fold at the top waggles about.

[say]"So how about we go entice them into a game of Whack-a-Squirrel?"[/say] Hotaru will have to aggravate them enough to spur them into turning and attacking instead of fleeing, but that's just part of the fun in this little hunt. [say]"And the runners can be lunch if we get peckish while we look for some bigger prey."[/say] She certainly needs a refresher course with her bow, and the big-tailed bastards will be more than adequate practice with how nimble they are.


RE: like a wild thing - Deimos - 02-22-2020

His brow arched at her hatred, at her abhorrence, towards the squirrels – a muffled bit of laughter implored through his chest, through his throat. But her newest item, and apparent quest, were more intriguing, and his eyes followed the smirk, the movement, of her crop. [say]“Impressive. What were you asked to do?”[/say] Sojourns for deities and heralds had been foreign to him recently, until he’d requested Safrin’s assistance for Amalia’s legs and spine – uncertain what Hotaru would’ve asked for and what she was asked to do. It clearly wasn’t gathering leaves.

But it wouldn’t take much to entice him to some sort of vehemence, not now, not after the waves of frustration, vexation, and death; needing the achingly familiar violence stirring beneath his veins, a sharp, keen note of disaster orchestrated by them, instead of constantly the other way around. [say]“I am game.”[/say] They’d been a vexing contortion during his own quest, when he and Sunjata ventured into the labyrinth, searching for the efas herb. Persuaded, the Sword advanced then, towards the entrance of the warren – the squirrels inveigled instantly with his closer presence, their outcries pouring along senses, echoing across vines and boughs, crawling across the top of the hedges.


RE: like a wild thing - Hotaru - 03-04-2020

The folded leather taps rhythmically against her thigh as she grins back at her brother in arms. [say]"To repel beastly attacks with the crop, and - far less fun - to get someone to switch sides. Loosely defined with what that entails."[/say] Of course, considering the deity she'd gone to and her own inclinations, Hotaru has plenty of ideas of her own to accomplish that particular task. Though Deimos surely doesn't want to hear about that.

His assent is anticipated, appreciated. Despite the chaos and darkness of Caido, so few people seem willing to indulge in their based instincts. Even here she is still the equivalent of the monster under the bed, the bloodied maiden luring fools to their watery deaths. Dark, hopeless, distrusted. Deimos is not that way, is happy to bloody his palms beside her, even if it is only the blood of various woodland animals.

They advance upon the gaping maw of the entrance, fearless and ferocious as the warning alarms go off in squeaky, mimicking voices. Hotaru grins and slaps her crop against the walls, sending a few skittering away with angry chitters more befitting their actual species. She continues to strike against the wall as far as she can extend, trying to force one into lunging or leaping across the chasm for Deimos to pluck from the air.


RE: like a wild thing - Deimos - 03-05-2020

His brows lifted, repelling beastly attacks was easily rendered and done, though the latter portion of switching sides caused the briefest of calculations, before he decided not to bother submerging himself into those fathoms. [say]“Of course,”[/say] loose definitions and vague undertones, predilections of seething graces or deity scrawls, meant to not be manifested in whole directions. [say]“We can at least get the first out of the way.”[/say] She was on her own in the other details.

In truth, he was content to unravel some mayhem, some bedlam, some wreckage of his own, instead of constantly fighting the onslaught the world provided. Here it was simplistic: blood for blood, vexation rendered mute, obsolete, tides of their storms and provisions, prowess in the long-lost acrimony. There were no dragons reigning down upon them. There were no friends’ lives cut and abolished within an instant, no chance, no opportunity, to erase the moment. They were clear-cut and precise, annihilation simply for annihilation’s sake; a controlled aspect of vehemence and violence he hadn’t been able to unleash, unfurl, in ages. Perhaps it was the same for her: lifetimes expanded in harsh climates and realms, only to be composed, comprised, into something entirely different here. Time for shared bloodshed, for vitriol and constancy.

The Sword notched an arrow into his bow as she advanced, watching, waiting, as her crop flew through the air with distinct cracks. The squirrels maneuvered out of fear or distaste, several marching in different directions along the top of the hedges – he drew his bowstring taut, before releasing the thread, allowing it to fly towards one rodent chattering on the edges.


RE: like a wild thing - Hotaru - 03-19-2020

Though she longs for a mightier weapon, for now she will simply have to utilize her crop. It is for a greater goal, no matter how frustrating her lack of power. Perhaps she'll keep it after her quest is through and use it for something more fun. That is a pleasant enough notion to keep her mood from souring. Especially once they advance into the space between the ominous, looming walls. Adrenaline begins to hum to life in her bloodstream as she and Deimos maneuver around each other, as familiar as ever despite their new physical forms.

The squirrel Deimos aims for is sprightly and savage, the arrow sailing over its fluffy tail and glancing off the stone, sending it chittering angrily as it leaps from the wall. Whether to attack or escape is unknown, and never will be, because Hotaru's crop comes down in a punishing blow that strikes the annoying creature from the air. It lays stunned on the ground, and she swiftly throws her dagger to end its life before it has a chance to suffer. Or escape. Its brethren call out in their human echos, racing away as Hotaru kneels to retrieve her dagger. [Say]"One down,"[/say] she jokes over her shoulder at Deimos. Entirely confident that his luck will improve.


RE: like a wild thing - Deimos - 03-19-2020

To match their obnoxiousness, the arrow sailed over the fluffy movements of the squirrel’s tail, missing. A certain edge rolled along his jaw, eyes narrowing briefly, and was just short of raising his hackles at the stupidity. Despite his apparently lack of assistance, Hotaru’s strike was true, the blow of the whip slashing, smacking, and slicing through the air, the squirrel’s evasion worthless, as it staggered, and was brought to an end by her dagger. She made no point about his error, kind of her, since it already grated and seethed on his senses. He arched a brow, nodded, and then deliberated his next move – violence not to be outdone.

Perhaps there was no need for weapons then – placing his bow down, and contorting the savage inclinations within his blood. Familiar, greeting death like an old friend, its sharpened, honed tenacity brimmed and brewed along a once-Reaper’s soul. There for eternity, an insistent, wicked dominion for two separate lifetimes, following him through prestige, intimidation, and demise, the life drain pulsed in its maddening, glorious wake. It’d been a long time since he’d had to utilize it – and the incantations acted as if it required a stretch, a leisurely, languid stroll through ichor and devastation, recalling its roles, its acrimony, its pernicious, paralyzing scales. Silent and sure, it slid and slithered from his presence, a boundless entity in his control, sliding over hedges and vines, over boughs and branches, singling out several squirrels chattering on the edges, believing they were out of harm’s way.


RE: like a wild thing - Hotaru - 03-19-2020

For all his prowess, luck alone can turn the tide of war. Even if it's war against squirrels. So of course Hotaru doesn't mock or tease for such a thing, confident in the man's abilities and intimately aware of how frustrating such a thing can be when you train religiously.

Magic seems to be their next choice, and as Hotaru collects the limp body for skinning later, she turns her heterochromic gaze to where Deimos advances. Bearing down on the group with a broiling darkness they cannot hope to escape. Straightening from her crouch and idly wiping her blade free or blood, Hotaru watches as the first squirrel twitches and spasms, making a cacophony of confused noises as its life is abruptly siphoned away from its furry vessel. It falls off the wall in an anticlimactic relaxation of its entire body.

Hotaru, dagger still in hand, electrifies the metal with a touch of her fingers and throws it with deadly precision. It's an imperfect strike, but the lightning is enough to finish the job when the blade only cuts across the squirrel's back. It dies dramatically, twitching and spasming until its organs shut down. [Say]"Look at that, we've already got enough for lunch. Well...for me,"[/say] she teases as she bumps her hip against Deimos as she passes to retrieve her dagger once more.


RE: like a wild thing - Deimos - 03-20-2020

Immensely satisfying to watch them pulse, shrivel, shake, and shudder beneath his ministrations; a lost art, finesse, in all the days he’d spent providing aid, protecting, guiding, sheltering. Just violence, just vehemence, just the simplicity in something he used to always grasp – an unwinding release. Pleasing, gratifying, as they twitched, as they lost contortions and control, as the silent, unseen rapacity tethered to their limbs, to their sanctity. He smirked once in Hotaru’s direction; she’d understand, as she often did, that sometimes the Reaper was buried underneath, but never too far gone.

She was successful once more, electrified denizens, nostalgic regimes pressed and vibrant, snaps of sizzling chords, familiarity in the scalding approach. His eyes went to the spasming rodent, no sense of sorrow or loss for its death. There was a roll to his gaze at her hip-check and comment, shaking his head, but fondly, pooling his attentions back to the remainder of squirrels chattering away, clearly irritated at the losses and demise of their allies and compatriots. He siphoned the waves of life drain away, and instead turned, twisted his palm, so fire unfurled.

A blistering, scathing reach, but perfectly controlled, the art honed along the vivid cries and turmoil of LongNight: an infernal gathering marked solely for a pair of the rodents chattering animatedly at him. [say]“Perhaps you can have some already cooked.”[/say] A shrug, as the flames sought to consume, to devour, to entirely eclipse the forms.


RE: like a wild thing - Hotaru - 03-26-2020

Deimos has long endured her teasing and antics, since she was barely more than a girl with big dreams and dirty morals. That has never changed, and her smile only warms at his fondly rolled eyes, at the familiarity of his presence at her side and the havoc they have always wreaked together. Havoc that hilariously grows as Deimos' fire reaches out into the space before them, only to be blown by the winds between the walls, sending the flames skittering against autumn-dry foliage climbing the stone. Everything goes up in flames immediately, killing a few squirrels and driving the rest in droves away from the pair.

Hotaru gives a startled laugh, shielding her face and leaping away towards the opposite wall. But she's not intimidated, trusts that Deimos can wrestle control away from the natural elements to contain his own, and so she laughs above the crackling and slaps her hand high on the wall, electricity arcing up the stone to strike a running squirrel, sending it twitching and spasming off the wall to her feet. [Say]"Cooked or burnt?"[/say] She laughs easily, plucking her own victim from the ground.


RE: like a wild thing - Deimos - 03-26-2020

Ridiculous.

A spark of derision and rancor coiled within his bones as the embers unraveled far too quickly, far too vast, far too wild. His usual countenance was one of perfected control and composure, and he expected his enchantments to follow suit – feral, savage, and wild, but dominated by his decisions and strength. Instead they warped and licked along the walls, careening along wind and crackled, decaying leaves, foliage crackled and defied within moments, succumbed, consumed, devoured in its rampant haste. The squirrels counted too, perhaps, but he hadn’t intended to smoke and fume the entire walls of the labyrinth.

His eyes narrowed to an unimpressed decree, even more irritated than his usual solemn, stoic regard. Within a second his hands extended outwards, calling to the wayward embers, and they spiraled along, vacating the once-green barriers, partitions, and beginnings to the warren, interloping with scorch marks, burnt edges, and the scent of singed fur. [say]“Oops,”[/say] the Sword shrugged, perfecting the art of nonchalance while inwardly he was a seething maelstrom of contempt for his own failings. If it were any other structure, he might’ve cared more – he trusted the entanglement would survive, live to thrive on its smoldering convictions. He did, however, unleash a torrent of water to douse any remaining simmering effects, watching it rise, fall, and cascade, until he was finished with his bidding.

A sigh followed, watching the slip of her electricity snap and crackle, the squirrel’s death knells signaled in a singular squeak and twitching of its form. [say]“Do you have enough?”[/say] Or were they to unleash more – hesitant to destroy every other contortion in the vicinity.


RE: like a wild thing - Hotaru - 04-01-2020

Hotaru is only too familiar with the frustration he feels, recalling the horrible learning curve she'd experienced when she'd first received her ball-lightning magic. Such a difficult skill to master, not that the hurricanes had been much easier. Especially when uncontrollable elements impart themselves upon you in the worst kind of way and tear down your finely honed efforts. As such she does not comment upon it yet again, waiting for the fires to die out against the stone as it consumes what remains of the foliage, leaving behind dark scorchmarks but with no fear of setting off a forest fire. Not that it was much of a worry as Deimos promptly douses it with conjured water, his nonchalance suspicious.

Hotaru waves it off, giving him the space he needs to seethe over his failure as she counts the squirrels at her hip. [say]"I think we have more than enough, care for some larger game? Or would you like to cook them up now?"[/say] No need for such things like pots and tables for these two, so well-absorbed in the entanglement of nature as they are. Fire and a spit is more than enough for Hotaru despite her pattern of indulgence and opulence.