[Training] I don't care if it hurts

RONIN

This is the last Longnight I'll ever spend in the Hollwoed Grounds, I swear, Ronin was saying as they plodded their slow way up the ruined hillside, formerly home to another Governor of Torchline - though he doubted that the previous one had been nearly as handsome, and didn't bother to hide such feelings from the Attuned bond he shared with Remi. In luxere form, his antlers lighting the way, Ronin was much more at ease like this than he had been the first time the alchemist had seen him, hooved feet picking their way through hot stones and other debris.

Sometimes I wish I didn't have to go, but... to get Vanya to Aoife, so she doesn't have to look down on everything alone anymore... He gave a mental shrug, pausing to look back at his husband. It's the least I can do. I'd do the same thing if it were you. But... I'm still sorry. You know that, right? I'm sorry I have to do this.

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Perched on Ronin's impressive rack, the hawk swayed with the movements of the luxere as they plodded through ash and debris. He didn't actually need to be in this form, but given the strange changes in his abilities since meeting with Ludo during the Festival of Lights, this was the only way he could properly communicate with his husband silently, as he'd almost always been able to do before.  

I do know. He agreed, unable to hide the lingering shade of resentment that echoed in the wake of his thoughts. Ronin was not the sort to leave Vanya. He was absolutely the sort to keep the vows he'd made, and yes, were it Remi up there, the Alchemist absolutely believed the hunter would do the same for him. Still, petulant and selfish though it was, Remi couldn't help but want a reprieve from doing the right things. He never in his life wanted to hear the words, I'm sorry, but I have to do this, again.

I assume you'll want Seren to stay here? It was hardly a question. Ronin wouldn't be in any position to watch over her and they both knew well that LongNight in the Hollowed Grounds was no place for a Taliesin child.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

RONIN

One petulant, selfish and resentful, the other a slave to the vows he had made, they made quite the pair as they navigated the ruins of Apopo. And though it all passed unspoken between them, Ronin still promised himself that he would never again say the words Remi so wished he'd not have to hear. For now, though, there was this. There was Longnight, there was the coming darkness, and there was work to do.

I'd like her to be in Torchline, as far from the Grounds as I can get her, he confirmed about Seren, quietly firm about that. If you wouldn't mind, that is. If you would prefer not to take care of her while I'm not around, I'll arrange something. It was thoroughly unlikely but Ronin still had to say it, still had to make that offer for his husband.

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

No, of course. The Alchemist agreed. Not wanting to be seen as Seren's father didn't mean he wouldn't take care of her. Besides, she was a part of Ronin after all, and strangely Remi found himself stubbornly jealous when it came to her, not wanting her to be in the care of anyone but his husband.

Fanning his pale wings, Remi glided off of Ronin's tines a short distance away, shifting as he did so. "You can still speak to me. I just..won't be able to reply the same way." He explained a touch sadly. "I don't really know the extent of my new magic, but if you need to call a halt.." Swallowing, the Alchemist raised his eyes to the strangelyRonin looking ones of the stag. "Well. The LongNight monsters won't care if you do." He added with a latent shrug.

Remi might have been considerably weakened by what Ludo did, but he could still put up one hell of a fight. And even that likely wouldn't compare to what Ronin would face during LongNight.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

RONIN

The pulse of relief from Ronin's side would be palpable, the luxere relaxing as Remi swooped down and transformed back into a man. Thank you. Hopefully it's a quick week, he said, knowing that it wouldn't be. But back to business. Snorting and pawing at the ground, the Star nodded his antlered head and prepared himself, mentally at least, for what might be about to happen.

You're right, they won't. Do your worse - you'll know if I need a break, because I'll likely not be conscious any more. It was only half a joke; with the stakes so high, he would have to make sure he was strong enough to do this.

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

A break, as if he'd get that during LongNight. Remi tried not to flinch at the words, instead turning his gaze up to the lacklustre sky above and hoping he'd see something that might serve as a distraction.

"This one is new." He warned his partner, before dropping low to the ground. A ring of fire sprouted around him, but it was only meant as a deterrent so that the luxere wouldn't charge him. The real attack was yet to come. Shifting out of his body, his soul streaking forward, spirit!Remi lunged for the luxere. Whether it would be harder or easier for Remi to try and take hold of the soul of someone he knew well was about to be answered. Trying to grapple Ronin's spirit and guide his body away from where the Alchemist's own lay unprotected in the ring of fire, Remi indeed doubled down on his efforts, trying to bring the luxere to its knees.

---

Using this one:

Magic: Out of Body | Can project his spirit into the world. While in spirit-form, his body is completely vulnerable, though his spirit cannot be harmed. Can take over the bodies of animals within a 30ft radius, and can attempt to take over humans as well. (A 30 END difference is an automatic success. Difference of 20 is accompanied by extreme disorientation and mental pain for the soul in question. Difference of 10 or below is accompanied by disorientation and temporary loss of bodily function.)
Type: Grey | Rank: Mastered

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

RONIN

It didn't look new, not at first, and Ronin's confusion would be evident in their Attuned bond. But whilst the luxere was still distracted by the bright ring of fire and his husband lurking within, Remi struck. And oh, did Ronin feel it. The force that invaded his mind, while familiar, while something he loved so desperately and so fiercely that it bordered on madness, was still very much unwelcome. Remi, what are you...!

He barely got the chance to get the question out, the stag tossing his head from side to side, like he was trying to dislodge the intruder, but even so his forelegs buckled, bringing him down and under Remi's will.

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Predator though he was, doing this brought not an ounce of satisfaction to the Alchemist. He could feel his resolve dominate over Ronin's, though not for his husband's lack of trying. Remi was simply more practiced in this area, new as the magic was.

The worst part of it all? The Alchemist wasn't done yet.

From the dusty vista of the volcano, a lion trotted forward. Incorporeal, its parted jaws revealing dripping fangs very much suggested it wasn't aware that it could tear the luxere limb from limb. Rather than letting Ronin go, the Alchemist tried to keep the stag's knees buckled as the lion slunk forward with all the slow confidence of a master predator.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

RONIN

Remi would feel it, undoubtedly - the way Ronin's heart began to thunder in his chest, the way every part of him screamed to try and buck away from the control the Alchemist held over him, the mental fortitude he tried to pull together to throw against the opposing will.

And that all amplified as the lion appeared before them, adding the luxere's instincts to flee into the mix - and damn all that he was, but Ronin was heedless to resist it.

His forelegs might be useless, but that didn't mean he didn't try to spring away with his hind legs, stones skittering away over the hot earth as he tried to run - an embarrassingly pathetic feat when he had precious little control over his own body.

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

Hating the unbridled terror he felt from the luxere's prey-mind, Remi left the creature in a rush of unhappiness. Perhaps he should have stayed, should have given Ronin all he could have, but dark as the Alchemist might have become, there were certain things he simply couldn't do. To certain people, anyways.

As the luxere flailed, the lion charged after. Adding fire into the mixture to give the ghostly creature a halo of heat, it snapped its jaws, roaring a blood-curdling scream. Back in his own body now, Remi blinked at the scene before him, cheeks flushed with embarrassment and self-loathing.

But still, there was more he could do.

Trying to force the luxere forward with fire and leonine spirits, Remi would create the illusion of Fiat Lux in all its terrifying splendour. Ronin hadn't been there to see of course, but he know would. How the cries of laughter turned to screams. How the colours of the festival were suddenly swamped with red. How spears of ice were thrust into the crowd.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

RONIN

Finding suddenly that his limbs were once more his own to control, that the force in his mind was gone, Ronin seized back his senses from the part of him that wanted to flee from beneath the lion's teeth and claws. He turned about, hooves thundering across the earth as he moved as if to meet the predator head on. Had the lion been real he'd have tried to toss it overhead with his antlers, fire or no fire, but then in a heartbeat the big cat was the least of his worries.

Ronin skidded to a halt as Fiat Lux blurred to life before him, as screams echoed and gurgled in the mud, as spears of deadly ice glittered in the skies overhead. And he found himself rooted there, unable to make himself go forward or back, gazing helplessly around for what they both knew he would be searching for.

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

"Ronin.." Remi called, or would seem to, in a broken voice. Should the luxere turn, he'd see the Alchemist on his knees, impaled with a spear of ice. Blood hadn't yet seeped through, and for a second, it just looked like Remi had grown a spike and was merely holding Aoife strangely close.

That is when the lion would lunge. It wouldn't affect him physically of course, its claws drawing no blood. But oh how it would chill his bones and send rivers of fear coursing through him.

Aoife wasn't moving. Remi's white shirt suddenly bloomed with rings of red. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, and though he seemed to be saying something, no sound could be heard above the fray. More frantic now, Remi clutched at the girl whose pretty yellow party dress was now similarly stained crimson.

"Ronin..." Another Remi appeared, bloody and broken. A hole in his chest, tear-streaks down a face covered in mud. He sank to his knees with hands tipped with claws, clawing out his own throat with Aoife's name on his lips.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing

RONIN

This was not what Ronin had been expecting when they had suggested going to train up on the volcano. He'd been expecting to dodge fireballs and rocks, not this. Not this yawning, endless nightmare, whispering his own name insidiously in his mind as the world screamed and his daughter died over and over again. He'd imagined it so many times (oh the guilt of not having been there) but to see it here and now was worse than anything his brain could have come up with.

The lion pounced and coarsed through him, the spirit form making him feel numb with cold, turning his legs to water and silencing any thought he wanted to send Remi's way. No, stop, he desperately wanted to say. Or This is too much, I can't do this. But of course nothing would come out, of his thoughts or otherwise, and the luxere violently tossed his head as if that might let him escape the blood and horror of the festival he'd not attended.

Ronin didn't know when he'd buckled to the floor, or when he'd shed the luxere form in favour of his own. He didn't know much at that point, on his knees and hunched in on himself, his arms protecting his head as if he could ward off the attacks on his mind with something physical. He trembled violently, chest heaving with silent sobs, and even the ground beneath him felt a million miles from here.

maybe i'm a runaway train, maybe i'm a feather in a hurricane

The circle of firelight around Remi's body dwindled as tears struck in bright and painful points behind his eyes. Just like Ronin's, the Alchemist's chest heaved in silent convulsions that made his lungs scream and his teeth ache with the effort of keeping his lips together. Crawling forward, ignoring the rocks as they pressed into his knees and shins, he reached for Ronin. Fingers slithering through the hunter's dark hair, curling around his head to pull him forward, Remi leaned in, pressing his forehead against his husband's. His other hand struggled to clasp Ronin's, desperately needing him to be close. Part of Remi wanted to tear both their clothes off in that moment, if only to better press himself against the Star.

Instead, he just breathed breath after shuddery breath into Ronin's hair as tears poured from his eyes. "It..will be that...and more.." He managed after a moment, his voice sounding weak and faraway to his own ears.

THE ALCHEMIST

maybe it's a long gray game, but maybe that's a good thing