{se} We are the impact and the glue
W <3
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: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#1
Hotaru

The letter had found her easily enough, and Hotaru hadn’t bothered sending a response before letting her body turn to feathers and golden hues that ushered her out into the sky beyond. Longnight seems forever ago now, and though her small house in the Greatwood is empty and has nothing to hold her anymore, she is torn between worlds. Between duties and desires, and an array of loved ones who stand on opposite sides. So she remains there, if only to not have to make that choice yet.

King’s End is keenly familiar to her now, and Sunjata’s efforts for the safe zone are apparent from above as she wings her way past it. Not that it helps her current subconscious thoughts of course, but she can respect how hard he’s trying to find a middle ground that Ru isn’t certain exists.

The copse of trees where they’re meant to meet is relatively expansive, but she doesn’t doubt Wessex’s ability to find her. So she transforms smoothly, human feet hitting the ground softly as she turns to gaze around the budding boughs overhead. It’s beautiful, which she’s not surprised by - she’s Frey’s follower after all - but it’s a comfort to know the weak morning sunlight doesn’t pose a real threat to the company she expects today. Wandering through the dappled shadows the Valkyrie soaks in all that the earth provides around her as she waits - impatient, needy, hopeful - for the Wraith to join her.
I'll tell you only once that if you don't love me now
you will never love me again
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.
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#2
WESSEX

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” The budding grass muffles light footsteps as a winged - yes, winged - Wessex catches up to the Valkyrie with a little effort, having followed the occasionally glinting beacon of her golden hair in the sunlight. She pulls the wings in tight against her body to avoid hitting the flaring pine trees, but does not yet shed them. And so, wistful and warm, the Wraith reaches for Hotaru’s hand, drinking her in like a woman near death from dehydration.

All her recently risky moves suddenly seem quite foolish now. How had she done them? How, and why, had she disregarded that she might potentially not have come back to his? To Ru? Even though she knows the Valkyrie would understand, she knows she’s walked the tightrope between duty and love before and would have told her to do the same, still - still, in hindsight, Wessex calls herself an idiot.

“Gods, I’ve missed you,” she murmurs quietly, now all serious worry lines and heavy thoughts. Slowly, gently, leaving plenty of room for a pause, she pulls Ru towards her, aiming to wrap her up gently with an arm snaked around her waist, and another tilting her chin up for a kiss.
there was a time that we were kind, but now
don't write me, you're not fooling anyone
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
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#3
Hotaru

She spins to meet the voice that breaks the quiet, and her smile is warm and beckoning, helping to cross the distance between them even as her eyes rove over the strange, beautiful new additions to Wessex’s figure. “As are you. You look beautiful,” she breathes, even though her eyes can hardly stray from the Wraith’s face to give the wings their due attention.

Her hand goes easily into Wessex’s, twining their fingers together as if the lacing of their knuckles will make it harder for the other woman to leave, might prolong their time together. There’s an ease that only exists because of her ignorance of the risks Wessex has been taking. It leaves her relaxed and soft in a way she hardly gets to be - seemingly in contrast to the lines of stress and weight that appear on Wessex’s face as her voice dips low. Golden brows knit for a brief moment - concerned - before they’re smoothed out anew as she is sufficiently distracted by the slow embrace that folds her into the Wraith’s arms.

Tilting her head obligingly to the angle Wessex’s fingers gently direct, her own hands don’t leave themselves idle. One arm wraps around the taller woman’s waist in kind, and the other lies flat and splayed over the expanse of her collarbone, right over her heart. Incapable of stopping the pleased hum in her throat as their lips finally meet, prolonging it as long as she can. Letting their lips part and retreat only to press back in, needing her fill before she can bear to part. When she does, forcing her eyes reluctantly open, the hand on Wessex’s chest lifts to gently cradle her nape. “Are you alright?”
I'll tell you only once that if you don't love me now
you will never love me again
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.
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#4
WESSEX

Their reunion, the first touch in too long - it’s sweet. Achingly so. Even without a physical reaction, Wessex‘s heart makes up for the lack of anything else.

As they part, the demigod gazes at the Valkyrie with hooded eyes, longing and affection all wrapped up in a melting icey blue pool. And she has to laugh, because that’s a loaded question these days, isn’t it? “All things considered? Yes. I’m alright.” For now. And most especially, because Ru is there. “Are you?” The tiniest frown mars the corners of her smile as she resists being pulled into anything other than the joy of this moment.

“I’ve got a bit of planting to do.” Indicating the copse they’re in with a jut of her chin, she follows it up with second task. “And need some bark for a thing. Join me?” Because unfortunately for the two of them, Wessex rarely gets enough time to just be. There’s always something to do. Something to build. Someone to save.
there was a time that we were kind, but now
don't write me, you're not fooling anyone
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
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#5
Hotaru

It’s an undeniably loaded question, but the answer lightens the burden of worry that so often rests heavy on the Valkyrie’s shoulders, and her lips turn upward in relief to hear it. “Good,” she murmurs simply, rising to press a soft, barely-there kiss to the corner of Wessex’s mouth when it twitches downward moments later in expression of her own mirrored concern. Kissing it away plainly before she answers. “Much better now you’re here,” is her playful reply, but the softness of her expression is all sincerity. “I’ve been well. Things have been almost too quiet.” Admittedly leaving the Valkyrie restless, aimless. Rarely ever without some grand plan or goal, she chafes in the waiting period they are all stuck within, contending with boredom at every turn.

It’s an unfair thing, then, that Wessex does not have what could be considered the luxury of that state of being, no matter how Ru herself despises it. But the Valkyrie does not begrudge the Wraith her busy life, content to spend time with the other woman no matter what shape that takes. “Of course, lead the way.” Though she reaches to twine their hands together as she says it, intent on soaking in what she can in their allotted time. “I heard there were plants at that strange festival in the swamp, but what is the bark for?”
I'll tell you only once that if you don't love me now
you will never love me again
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.
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#6
WESSEX

Gods, but this woman is beautiful and endearing, and the Wraith is as fully under her spell as anyone with a truly split allegiance could be. “You’re too cute,” she murmurs, smiling at the quip and butterfly kiss. Her own lips respond with a chaste kiss to Ru’s forehead, almost afraid to keep her at anything but arm’s length right now, lest she get sidetracked in physical comforts. “Feels like the calm before the storm,” she offers with a side glance as they pull apart, wry only for a moment.

She’s trying to keep the world out there and the two of them in here, and the storm is not allowed to be in here. So when the Valkyrie tells her to lead the way, she chuckles, having no idea where she’s going, and turns to a random direction, where there seems to be a bit more room in between the boughs. “Something to be able to put out fire,” Wessex says with a smile, conveniently scooting arund the edge of how her new power would kill flames. “Since, y’know, it’s an obvious danger.”

They reach the small glade, really just a space where two or three pines had died, and nthing had yet taken their place. It’ll do. She kisses the back of Ru’s hand before dropping it and squatting down to the ground. “Did you go to the festival? Did it seem weird to you?” Which feels like an understatement and an overstatement. Everything is weird these days.
there was a time that we were kind, but now
don't write me, you're not fooling anyone
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
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#7
Hotaru

Cute is a word rarely used to define the Valkyrie, and yet the endearment infused in the word makes her warm from within in ways other sentiments can’t compare to. It makes her smile privately, unseen and undeniably pleased as Wessex kisses her brow lightly. Even as it turns wry in imitation of Wessex’s twisted lips moments later, the warmth of the touch lingers on her skin. “We’re close enough now I think we can safely call it that.” Which is why it’s so difficult to sit with, the motionlessness. The waiting.

At least here and now they don’t have to contend with that stillness. They wander hand in hand, the Valkyrie an attentive ear that conveniently does not read into deeper connotations. “For yourself or any of the family in your vicinity?” It skirts dangerously close to details best left unknown, but Ru doesn’t want to know the intricacies, merely curious how widespread the helpfulness will be. Privately concerned for the younger Ascended and their delicate states. Strong as Kiada might be now, Ru would never stop seeing her as the young girl she’d lost to the portals, or the marginally older young woman she’d lost again to the fires in the Climb. It didn’t help that now, she would never age physically, leaving her eternally in need of protection in Ru’s eyes.

The Valkyrie’s nose wrinkles slightly, huffing an amused sound. “No, I didn’t want to tempt fate this season. I already had a nasty run in with a spirit, courting a second encounter seemed stupid when festivals around here aren’t terribly exciting.” Unless death and destruction counted as exciting. And she’d been quite content to hide away and sulk until her curse had run its course, no matter how miserable it had made her. Watching Wessex as she goes about her planting, Ru props against the dead tree and entertains herself with merely observing. Happy for these stolen moments away from the world.
I'll tell you only once that if you don't love me now
you will never love me again
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.
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#8
WESSEX

There’s a ghost of a smile on her lips as Ru picks up on the real purpose of her fire-damper power. “What kind of good Ascended demigod would I be if I wasn’t always tring to protect the family?” And while Wessex may sound glib and even casts a lighthearted glance at the Valkyrie, the truth is a dangerous undercurrant here. She can’t give them all her powers, so maybe, just maybe, she can create a bubble for them.

Because if she were going to fight Ascended, she would come in, literally blazing. Let the flames do the work for her. Wessex can’t be the only one to think of this, so best to try and prepare for worst case scenarios.

With her head down and her hands busy scraping a trowel against the cold, harder than usual ground, she can pour all her love for her family and Ru into creating a hole for this seed. It seems like a foolish endeavor, what with the temperature and all that, but Wessex is nothing if not stubborn. Healthy, black dirt quickly coats her hands and nails when the tool doesn’t seem to do well enough, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. “A nastry run in? What happened?” Not actually concerned, given that she'd just been assured that Ru was okay, Wessex is obviously curious, treading dangerous close to teasing.

Taking a moment to sit back on her heels and fish the seed out of her pouch, the demigod keeps glancing up at Ru even as she starts to bury the seed, obviously all ears for the tale.
there was a time that we were kind, but now
don't write me, you're not fooling anyone
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
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#9
Hotaru

It’s a rhetorical question she’s sure, but Ru squeezes Wessex’s hand slightly and angles a raised brow her way. “Someone who remembers to take care of themself first?” But even as she says it, her tone makes it clear it’s lighthearted; she understands why Wessex feels she has to make up for the weaker Ascended, why she makes herself a martyr and shoulders their fates alone. Ru isn’t much better, even with her more solitary, self-centered nature. Her loved ones are fewer, but her protection is no less rabid.

Blowing out a frustrated, amused breath, the Valkyrie tilts her face to the sky. “A nasty spirit playing tricks on shrine visitors. It chose to disfigure me. With Halo being frozen and out of reach, and LongNight to contend with, it was easier to wait it out than fight it.” Or stubbornly seek Frey again, even if the herald may have healed her once they answered. Watching as the seed is placed in the dark, cold soil, the Valkyrie meets Wessex’s flickering gaze and smiles. “Only thing it hurt was my vanity.” Which was effective, but overall harmless.
I'll tell you only once that if you don't love me now
you will never love me again
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.
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#10
WESSEX

Yeeeaaaahhhh, there’s not much Wessex can say to that. So she doesn’t, pressing her lips together in sheepish expression and bending studiously back towards the hole that is suddenly so very interesting. Even though she could look at Ru’s face all day, my, how dark and hard this earth is…

Of course, once the seed is planted and the soil is pushed back over it and the Valkyrie starts talking again, she pushes herself back off and brushes the dirt from her hands. “Disfigured? she echoes back, pausing suddenly, even as she hears the reassurance. And part of her is a little sad that she wasn’t trusted with such a trying time. She tries to hide it, ducking her head and pretending to make sure the seed is planted tightly in the ground with a stamp of her foot. “I suppose… it could have been worse. Do you remember Adam? One time he got cursed with having hair grow fom parts of his body it wasn’t supposed to grow from.” With a deft shake of her head in both amusement and nostalgia, Wessex pivots to her next task: collecting bark.

Picking the healthy tree next to the one Ru leans on, she takes a knife from her boot and begins to pry away a section of the pine tree’s bark.
there was a time that we were kind, but now
don't write me, you're not fooling anyone
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
Change author:
Posts: 2,241 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#11
Hotaru

The sheepishness breaks what little pointedness remains on Ru’s face, and she smiles fondly. She can’t ask Wessex to change, not when it would make her a blatant hypocrite. They each want to keep the other safe (and the other-others, their families and allies and and and…) so they’ll keep going round in these circles until the war has chewed them up, spit them out, and revealed to them what’s next.

If Ru even gets to see that part.

Hotaru winces with the repeated word, distastefully recalling yet again those awful days. Was her vanity a curse given to her by her mother? Perhaps. But she’d thought so many times of going to Wessex in those days, even in one of her Attuned forms. It doesn’t matter now; she hadn’t, for better or worse. Though she does laugh openly at the anecdote the Wraith shares, vibrant imagination a willing wingman. “I would almost say that’s worse, but it might have been nice for winter. Like a fur coat without the urge to eat raw meat.” Which must sound very strange without the context of Attunement to anyone outside of Caido.

She trails along as Wessex pats the earth one last time and moves on to her bark collecting, happy to simply be there in her presence. “How much longer can I steal you away?” she asks softly, careful not to let any inflections in her tone that might imply the level of her longing, or her bitterness over the war’s determination to keep their visits brief.
I'll tell you only once that if you don't love me now
you will never love me again
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.
Wessex Theskyra
the Wraith
General of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 47 | Height: 5'8'' | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 12 - Strg: 61 - Dext: 60 - Endr: 61 - Luck: 58 - Int: 2
LOKI - Mythical - Dragon (Energy Blast)
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,156 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#12
WESSEX

“Is that what it feels like?” Genuinely curious, it seems like Wessex has forgotten that with an animal shift comes animal hungers. Other instincts - flight or fight - and other senses - are ready and available to her, but hunger is one of the few things forever out of reach. Of course, she remembers hunger and the way it would gnaw at her belly every Deepfrost, she remembers the taste of meat, how it would make her mouth water, but perhaps the urgency of such things has dulled over the years.

Without going too far down the memory rabbit hole, the Wraith wrenches one last bit free, one side terribly sticky, the other side rough and scratchy. Pocketing the prize quickly, she tries to rid the blade of some sap, keeping her focus on that one thing until it is cleaned to her satisfaction. Finally, she turns to the Valkyrie and puts all her accouterment and toys away, giving her a wide smile. “For at least a few more hours. So I’m all yours” She reaches for one of Ru’s hands, now easily swept up in the fantasy of the two of them. “And I think for my next trick I’m going to ask to be able to stop time. Just so we can have more of it.”

If they only had time.

{Fin}
there was a time that we were kind, but now
don't write me, you're not fooling anyone


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