"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
She had tried so hard to not show her exhaustion when she was near Warrick and his family. She had tried so hard to keep it from her features, not showing the way that her gift had roiled in her chest, fighting against something stronger than she had ever encountered. She even tried to keep it from Exist, trying to not show her twin the way that it snuck into her marrow, the edges of that cancerous disease sapping away her energy, her own health. She traveled with them to Hyaline, made sure that they were safe, and then said her goodbyes, pressing her nose into her sisters mane and drinking in that wild, beautiful energy.
It was only when she was certain that they could no longer see her that she let it creep into her features. Her neck, long slickened with the effort, remained damp, the velvet of her nose darkened with it. Her legs trembled as she traveled, and although she wanted to take to the skies to make the journey faster, she simply did not trust herself in the air. So she walked, red dragon wings curled protectively around her.
She meant to walk straight to Loess—she meant to make it as quick of a journey as possible, but the road got away from her. The path got lost and before she knew it, she was next to that dull roar of the river, that which so easily matched the roar that was growing inside her own head. Her brow furrowed as she began to realize her limbs felt further and further away, her vision going spotted in the corners and then blurry.
She should have stayed with Exist.
She shouldn’t have let her pride keep her chin up as if nothing was wrong.
She knew the limits of her gift. She should have known that she couldn’t have battled against a disease planted by the dark god himself without repercussion—even when bolstered by her sister’s strength.
She was paying the price now.
She swayed as she walked and fell against a tree, breathing heavily.
The world around her began to spin and then tilt dangerously before the darkness that had simmered just below the surface finally rose up to claim her. She leaned heavily against the tree and then slid down to the damp ground, exhaling as her head flung to the side, the crimson of her mane haloing her slack face.
it started with a perfect kiss, then we could feel the poison set in
He was calm. Oddly calm. Though that never meant much when in regards to Dovev.
He would explode at a moment's notice.
He could be a tender lover, soft touches and sweet murmurs, so unlike the hard jagged bone that shielded him. And the moment he's set off, he could be total destruction. Take down entire kingdoms, call the gods down to earth to play.
He'd be the last one standing when all the giants fell.
So, yeah. He was calm.
He wasn't particularly seething beneath the skin, though his black eyes held a chaotic tempest in them. As always, an explosion waiting to happen. One spark of a match and it was all game with him as the victor, the last one standing. Each deliberate step took him further, put more of the world in danger. Maybe that's why Violence had taken an interest in him. An unbreakable toy with destruction in his wake.
This did look a little like where he'd been when Violence held him. Those memories he'd had no issue recalling. He didn't have the typical reaction to being possessed and puppeted around either, forced to do someone's bidding without any free will. Fight and panic and survive, right? Nah.
He fuckin relished in it. Take me and do what you will.
But there hadn't been a body on the ground last time, though. Not one he or Violence hadn't put there themselves. And yet there she was just laying there at the river's edge. It almost tickled at a different memory, one certainly long lost to him now.
He could remember thinking of her color.
That it was close.. but wasn't quite right.
But that she was close enough.
And walking to her beautiful, resting body as he did now. Towering over her and eyeing her silently as he did now, admiring these precious things he shouldn't touch. Ignoring that thought, and brushing her hair from her face so gently anyway, as he did now, leaving behind a smear of blood in the tender passing of his muzzle over her perfect skin. A stain of deep red over her rich mahogany.
And in her quiet, falling for her.
She had been awake last time, stirred at his touch. And he'd pushed her down so slowly, so gently and firmly and curled around her like she was his. But she was. She was his. She still is. He can feel that she is, feel the fraying thread he'd chewed at so many times to free her from him. Why couldn't she understand he was so bad for her?
Maybe she did now.
But she was still his.
And he was still curled around her where he belonged.
Maybe this time... it was fortunate.
That he'd already forgotten their last meeting.
They snake around one another, bubbling with an illness that stems from fighting one greater than herself. The golden light of her healing swells in her chest, beating it back, trying to soothe the overworked body, the overworked mind, but it can only do so much—only so fast. So she remains trapped in the storm of it, her body still damp with the exhaustion and the fever. She had pulled herself too thin, frayed the edges of her gift. She was always so willing to do that, always so willing to push it past its limit.
Maybe this time she pushed too hard.
In her dreams, she dreams of her sister. Of afternoons spent looping lazily in the air and curled next to each other. She dreams of her daughter. The beautiful snake girl with her father’s eyes and her coloring, her bright smile and curious mind and courageous approach to everything new. She dreams of Vulgaris and the way her heart both raced and stilled around him, his quiet strength always just below the surface, of the happiness he had brought into her life. And, of course, she dreams of Dovev. Of everything that they had almost had, of the almosts and the ifs and the possibility that had once lived between them.
Of the fury and pain in his eyes when he realized that the swelling in her stomach wasn’t his.
Even though he hadn’t even known her name.
She says their names now, the softest whispers as they bubble up in her mind.
Exist.
Adna.
Vulgaris.
Dovev.
She stirs, if only barely, when she feels the bloodied lips press against her cheek. Her eyes remain closed, her mind still trapped beneath the net of her exhaustion, and she murmurs incoherently. She shifts, and she aches for all that lies within her breast. She needs to get home, for her daughter, for Vulgaris, and she strains for consciousness, but it slips from her grasp. She breathes heavily, settling further into the dream.
it started with a perfect kiss, then we could feel the poison set in
His memory was slotted. Sorted. Organized in a way he hadn't prepared himself for.
This was where he took her to Ischia.
No, wait.
She asked his name, and that's the name he gave. Ischia. He set her free from him before he did something terrible. And she came for him. She learned his name, saw his home, lay in his bed. He'd only known one way of loving until he met her-- No, that wasn't true.
Wasn't there another?
But his memory was slotted.
He was only two again, only holding a strange girl he found in the meadow.
But he wasn't in the meadow right now.
He frowned. Why did he feel like he loved her so damn much then? If he just met her? Why did she look older than just a breath ago? Why did he ache so completely with her lying here next to him? Why did he wish she'd wake and tell him she loves him. Just one more damn time.
An illusion. The magician was still training him. It must be that. Was he failing? His head was spinning. But she was here. And partly, that was all that seemed to matter. Except... Doesn't he..
Her breathing changed subtly, murmured and hushed words. Incoherent to him until she said his name, and he looked down, studied her. She continued, not that he understood any of it, and he might've forgotten something...
She looked kind of sick, didn't she? He thought so. She didn't used to look like that. Five minutes ago. Or had it been longer? His head hurt and something wasn't right. His eyes pinched shut, shuddered the lazy light of the late sun. Goddamn, his head fuckin hurt! Where the fuck was Cerva.
"Heartfire?"
His voice was strained, and he reached out for her. But he found a different body, one that did not smell at all like Heartfire. Or Cerva. Or Atrani.
Atrani.
He jolted to his feet and his gaze flew around. Where the fuck was she!?
"ATRANI!" he roared, searching for her.
Leliana knew. She was with her uncle. That fuckin bastard took his daughter. His last piece of Cerva, his whole goddamn heart. His reason for fuckin breathing.
But goddamn it, the second his eyes dropped to Leliana's body he broke. Fuck, he'd killed her. Just like Cerva. He was instantly crying, throwing himself down beside her, pressing against her and sobbing openly. "Fuck! I told you not to heal me! Why'd you fuckin heal me!" Oh my god, he killed her. He fuckin killed her. "Why'd you fuckin heal me.. Goddamn it, Leliana, I told you it was too much!" He clung to her desperately, brushing tears all over her beautiful body, completely unheeded and unashamed. Fuck, he lost her. He finally killed her. He'd tried so fuckin hard to set her free, to stay away.
" when she's coming for my heart it feels like armageddon. "
It’s getting late and she’s still not home. He tells himself not to worry, not to let the emotion show while Adna stared up at him and told him all about her day. He forces a smile onto his lips when she commands him to patrol Loess less and play with her more. Of course, of course, he promises her with a light kiss on her forehead as she curls up for bed. The tiny serpent child falls asleep in the middle of explaining how the other children were no match for her in tag and he decides now is the time to slip away. Wolfbane is nearby and Adna has enough venom to fend for herself, he assures himself. She’ll be fine.
He glances over his shoulder as he quietly slinks toward the river. It was where they met, after all, and it was where he found her when she haunted his dreams each night. Vulgaris breathes in the scents of the world around him but he can’t seem to pick her out from the multitudes. Not clearly enough to track her, anyway. He keeps his ears trained for any sound like her voice but it is an angry call that draws his attention. His gray head lifts slowly before he approaches.
There she is, crumpled up on the ground while some stranger stands over her. He breathes in deep.
The scent is familiar in such a way that a typhoon of rage washes over him.
The feeling is nothing new – the burning of his skin, the blindness that comes with the hunger that is never sated. But the intensity is something he has never known and it strips away the who that is Vulgaris, leaving only the what. Only the hunter.
His eyes avoid Leliana, weak and vulnerable on the ground, and set their aim on the delicate pieces of Dovev’s throat. There is no time for explanations, no opportunity for clever excuses. Vulgaris has enough patience only for the precious seconds before his teeth find meat and his tongue tastes the perfect copper of blood. Then he will rip him, mouthful by mouthful, until there is hardly a meal left for the crows and vultures to pick at.
But then it occurs to him that perhaps he should draw this out. There should be suffering and payment, retribution for even looking upon the face of his angel. He keeps the venom from his fangs when he lunges in and gnashes at whatever he can catch within his jaws, whether it’s air or intricate muscles. Feral, phlegm choked snarls gurgle from his throat until he stops long enough to stare at the nemesis.
“I’ll devour you. I’ll crush the life from you and drag you to where ever you came from and make an example of you.” His teeth are bared as he watches, waits.
He has to stay whole enough to make it home to Adna.
@[leliana] @[Dovev] @[Heartfire]
he can completely miss with his bite or however you want, lol. this is so fun. <3
He was sobbing, clinging to her as his heart broke all over again. Over and over, it would always break for her. His Leliana. How could he have done this to her? Why'd she always have to fuckin heal him, even when she knew it would be too much, it would overwhelm her, take her life. He didn't have to be perfectly whole, he'd never be perfectly whole.
His mourning cut off abruptly at the slightest sound, and he froze, listened closely. Someone was nearing them. He lifted his head, turned to settle black eyes on a spotty sort of guy. And he saw a familiar sort of rage reflected back at him. And he saw a threat.
And he saw clarity.
He rose smoothly to his feet, bone armor waving as he rolled his shoulders, dark eyes glittering and a twisted smile crossing his lips. This was what he was made for. To protect. To protect his love. For a moment, he thought he saw a similar intent charging at him, but he must've been mistaken. If the guy cared for her, he wouldn't have put her in danger by attacking when Dovev was directly beside her.
It was fine.
This wasn't Dov's first rodeo.
Been here, done this. For her, actually.
In a burst of stars, Dov flashed forward at full speed with a wicked grin, taking the fight as far away from her vulnerable body as he could. He saw the man's jaws open, and Dov's next foot pressed hard into the earth. His head tilted slightly, and with his weight behind it, he shoved off, surged up, angling his shoulder to slam into that welcoming mouth so eager to bite solid bone. He hoped when he landed, he'd see the idiot's teeth falling out, twinkling down like his very own little bloody stars.
With solid ground beneath him again, he spun, immediately positioning himself between the stranger and Leliana. Always between them. He was trained for protection in the way that an assassin would be. Don't waste time. Make the kill and be done. And he had every reason to fight.
Every fuckin reason to fight.
Protect her.
The man spoke, and Dov's eyes only shined in response, like polished, sharpened obsidian. Another breath-waster. Cute. Carry on, then. This would end so quickly.
I'ma give you a second just to catch your breath 'Cause I can see that your heart is jumpin' out your chest I know you gave it all, 'cause I've already seen your best
She doesn’t run. She never runs. And the fact that she is running now is more irritating than she could possibly express. Of course, what’s even more irritating is the fact that nearly the moment Dovev had taken off to gods know where (she’d tried not look. Tried to just let him go and be done with it. But she should’ve known better. She’s never been able to let things go), and instead he’d found himself and his damaged mind standing over Leliana as he broke into pieces.
And he didn’t know she’d already found herself another lover. One who’d no doubt love sink his teeth into him.
Goddamnit. She’s not cut out for this savior business. Especially when it comes to him. She should just let him fall under the weight of his own idiocy. She should. But of course she won’t. She’s too nice for her own damned good (and isn’t that a laugh).
Her legs and belly are slick with mud by the time she splashes through the shallow of the river to reach the nook Leli had inopportunely decided to nap in. Her eyes furious and hard, she has barely reached to opposite bank before the earth starts disappearing from the between the two combatants. It stretches until the river, seizing it’s opportunity, rushes forth to fill the crater she had begun. The banks erode further beneath the sudden onslaught of the water, and if the two dueling idiots didn’t get their shit together, they could damned well fall into the river as well.
As it were, it would serve as one hell of a distraction at the very least.
Stalking around the artificial bank she had created, her attention fixes on Dovev. “You’re a fucking idiot Dovev,” she growls at him, pissed that she’s here. Pissed that she even cares about saving him from himself. “And I swear on my life if you don’t leave with me now I’m shoving you into the river and laughing when I do it.”
09-28-2018, 11:41 AM (This post was last modified: 09-28-2018, 11:41 AM by vulgaris.
Edit Reason: i suck at tagging
)
Vulgaris
He’s ready when Dovev prepares his assault, ready to curl his neck just right to find a mouthful of muscle and skin between his teeth. Vulgaris doesn’t care if the headbutt rams into his chest or shoulder because pain is a sanctuary to him. Give him punishment, give him all the beatings he deserves. He’ll come back hungrier each time. But the ground tears itself open between them and he’s reminded why he hates any kind of magic in this god damned world. All the mages and their efforts to deny him an honest display of brutality send him into such a frenzy.
He doesn’t slow down though. He never learned how to be afraid and so he makes the leap to Dovev’s side using what momentum he’d had from his charge. There is a moment when his hooves sink into the mud and he hurries to move forward, closer to Leliana in the moment of confusion. The skeletal thing says nothing and the strange girl is dripping wet while she berates him. The serpent turns his head to listen but loses interest when he realizes her rage is directed only at the other. A sigh eases from him as he realizes their opportunity has come and gone. There will be no bloodshed today and he must face the reality of the situation.
Vulgaris moves closer to the unconscious Leliana and touches his lips delicately to her forehead. She’s still warm, which gives him hope, but her breathing is so weak that it unsettles him. His kisses are desperate and clumsy as he traces them all over her face. There’s never been a need for him to try and put someone back together before. He’s wholly unequipped for moments like this.
“Leli, wake up. I can’t raise Adna by myself,” he mumbles against the mess of her forelock. “I can’t go home without you.”
Already he’s forgotten Dovev and Heartfire, too preoccupied with scraping every idea from his brain and finding each one as useless as the last. It was never supposed to be like this, he thinks. They’re supposed to be together forever.
“You’re going to be my queen and I’m going to give you the world.”
The promises come spilling from his lips so easily. All the words he’s thought and thrown away because they sounded so stupid in his head. Nothing he could dream up was ever good enough to say to her.
" ancient language, speak through fingers. the awful edges where you end and i begin. "
@[leliana] @[Dovev] @[Heartfire]
i had to post before leli so we could have a cheesy sleeping beauty moment. sry guys.
The chaos of the moment turns into a roar in her head.
She can feel it prickling against the back of her skull, the separate thread of voices breaking apart and then weaving together again. She can feel it pressing there, a full pressure that turns both painful and soothing, pushing her to the surface and then drawing her back into the muck.
Exist.
Adna.
Vulgaris.
Dovev.
Their names are the only things on her lips, a constant reminder. She has to wake up. She can’t stay here. She reaches for the surface, fighting for consciousness, fighting for clarity, but the second she brushes her fingers against the membrane of it, she is pushed back.
Exist.
Adna.
Vulgaris.
Dovev.
Her exhaustion is deep and she aches with it, but it shifts. She can feel the ground beneath her tremble. The voices around her begin to sharpen, increasing in volume. Her head screams in protest against it and she wants to cry out but it’s muffled in her throat. She wants to open her eyes. She needs to get home. She needs to get home to Adna. To Vulgaris. She needs—
Finally, the membrane of her fatigue stretches and breaks.
Her eyes flutter open and the world is different than she remembers it. It doesn’t make sense. The ground is damp and shifted and her vision is blurry, spotted. “Vul?” Her voice is shaky and she calls out for him, her eyes focusing enough to feel him standing over her, to feel his lips cool against her feverish forehead. She sighs in her throat, nearly falling back into the sleep again, but she stirs at his voice. She shifts and fights to get to her knees, shaking as she climbs to her feet. She stumbles and then reaches for him, trying to find support.
“W-Where am I?”
She doesn’t remember coming to the river. Barely remembers leaving Warrick and family.
Her voice is strained and she leans heavily against him, her heart catching in her throat when she sees the scene around them, as the disjointed pieces begin to come into focus.
“Dovev?” She swings her head around, trying to make sense of it. “What happened?”
it started with a perfect kiss, then we could feel the poison set in
She is always calm. Always steady. And the fact that he has brought her to the brink of rage twice now is infuriating in and of itself. The truth of the matter is, if the dam bursts, he would never stand a chance against the tidal wave she could become She might pretend at serenity, at control and less frightening ability, but pretense is all it ever was. He might berate her for her icy calm, but he hadn’t truly wanted to see her wild and reckless. Not when destruction is woven into her bones, the marrow of her soul.
She could end them all in an instant. And they wouldn’t even know it was happening until it was too late.
He’s never understood that, not really. And so, even now, that tenuous thread of control weaves through every one of her actions. Even when she grinds that river bank into nothingness.
The snakeman jumps the ravine as it widens, bravery and love and stupidity combining to make that slippery leap. She had divided them to keep Dovev from entirely losing his mind, but apparently waiting five goddamned seconds is too much for him. Eyes narrowing, a scowl tugs at her lips as Dovev does what he does best. With murder in his eyes, he turns after Vulgaris.
For fuck’s sake, she had warned him.
Abruptly, the ground beneath his feet opens, the newly dug ravine stretching and widening to swallow him into the water below. With barely a glance at the pair of lovers, she turns to follow the degrading bank. To follow Dovev. He’d wash onto shore soon enough. Probably sooner than she’d like. But if she could keep him from tearing back up that slope to fight a ridiculous and doomed battle, it would be sufficient.
i see your sins and i want to set them free
With toli's permission Heartfire went first to keep Dov from attacking Vul again :| lol
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