[SE] be soft but unafraid to conquer
quest with Hotaru
Aurelia Murlow
the Fireheart


Age: 29 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Torchline
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 27 - Luck: 21 - Int:
Played by: Catalysta Away
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Posts: 1,182 | Total: 1,724
MP: 630
#1
Aurelia

They had only departed from the shrine the night before, setting up a small camp in Ludo's Woods thereafter so that they might prepare for what would come next. Aurelia's heart pounded against her chest, reminding her of its presence again, again, again; thump, thump, thump against her ribs. Sleep hadn't come easily. Dawn is more reprieve than anything else.

She doesn't bother Hotaru until she's gathered together something to eat, a spread of mushrooms and meat from the surrounding area. Coffee is brewed, as well; dark and rich from the grounds Aurelia's brought with her. It's a meager start, but they will need the energy if they're to commit to any search of the Greatwood.

Aurelia sits upon the dirt, using her cloak for padding, and sips at the black coffee in her tin cup for a time. Until the energy sparks within her mind enough that she can begin to think about the quest they've recently been tasked with. "I can manage what Ludo's asked of me," she says seriously, green gaze shifting from the haze surrounding them and turning upon Hotaru's presence, "it won't be easy, but the time will come and I can fulfill my end of the deal. Do you think you can accomplish what it asked of you?" Desecrating Atlas' grave, wherever it may lie, seemed a cruel task as well. Aurelia's brows shift with the concern she feels for that, wondering how Hotaru planned to go about it.
we're not in control, we never were
Hotaru Kaito
the Valkyrie
Masseuse / Headmistress

Age: 33 | Height: 5'2 | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: King's End
Level: 3 - Strg: 38 - Dext: 38 - Endr: 54 - Luck: 40 - Int:
Played by: Brit Offline
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Posts: 2,242 | Total: 6,169
MP: 9427
#2
Hotaru

It is strange in many ways to be camping with Aurelia after all they’ve done to one another. Pressed back to back beneath the stars, wrapped in separate cloth but keeping track of one another through the night. She sleeps lightly, not quite fitful but aware of every shift and shuffle of the woman behind her, rising to temporary wakefulness each time to sharpen her ears to the woods around them. When she finally settles enough to sleep, Ru fades quickly into the deep, and doesn’t rise until Aurelia comes to wake her directly. When she does, Ru blinks slowly, sleep-rumpled and hazy, reluctant to rise. Only when she takes note of the coffee the Fireheart had made does she moan indecently in wordless gratitude and slump over to the fire with her blanket wrapped around her.

Cradled around her own cup, Ru tries to get her brain online as Aurelia lays out a plan. The gravity of the promise awakens her better than the roasted beans ever could, and heterochromatic eyes rise slowly over the rim to meet Aurelia’s. Gauging her seriousness without blinking, and finding her heart lunging in her chest at just how far the woman is willing to go. Hotaru had been ready to offer the woman an out, to tell her they didn’t have to do this, not when the worst of the weight was intended for Aurelia’s shoulders. It inspires in her an honesty she never would have been prone to otherwise, and she shuffles around to sit straighter beneath her blanket. “My Goddess in my homeworld enchanted a man to kill a seemingly senseless array of people - she never explained why, only said it was a dire necessity. She was Goddess of the moon, night, and stars; and I followed her faithfully from the moment I knew what faith was.” There is a cruel irony in that now. Delicate fingers trace the rim of her cup, watching the umber liquid within as it shivers with each breath. Nothing more - because her hands do not shake. “Despite half the land trying to determine his identity, she tasked me with arriving first and ensuring any clues were eradicated. I did so, without question, even when it killed me.” When it had been a mother with a newly born babe, old friends, familiar faces.

“She had him kill both my parents.” The words hang between them with an impossible, choking gravity. Ru slowly lifts her eyes to meet Aurelia’s gaze. Smiles weakly. “I found their bodies first, as I had been ordered to. And I had to desecrate their bodies to ensure he wasn’t found until his task was complete.” She had barely made it far enough way to ensure her relative innocence before she’d lost all control over her stomach, before the tears came so hard and fast she thought they’d fill her lungs and drown her from within. Taking a long, slow breath, she exhaled and releases those memories anew, until the tension in her face fades away. Aurelia is doing so much for her. The Valkyrie owes her these sensitive, scarred parts. This vulnerability that stings and burns with lack of use. “It won’t be the first time I’ve had to destroy something sacred to me. I’ll be okay.” But would Aurelia? With the war approaching, surely there would be greater opportunity to fulfill her side of the bargain with less guilt, but Ru can’t help but privately worry all the same.
I don't think I want to be saved
long live the reckless and the brave
Hotaru has a passive magic that makes her glow with an internal golden light; it makes her appear youthful and her hair seems to look like moving sunlight. Can only subtly illuminate dark spaces.


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