ruinakete

[ruinakete]

☽ ・ 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 & 𝐏𝐑𝐄-𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 / 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 ━━━ ooc post.

hello everybody! with my formal return to the dash sent to the masterlist, I thought it only necessary to make a post regarding my muses; interpretations, changes, mission board prompts, etcetera. we'll tackle only one of these as of right now since I'm already late on the mission board—

LONG STORY SHORT? recent events have made me unsure of myself and, unfortunately, I can tell that those insecurities are bleeding into my portrayals now. I apologize if my writing seems weaker than before because of this; it's something I simply have to work through to get fully comfortable again.

—simply know for the other listed points that, after threads are cut down for one muse, a cap of five per character will be set for all and a schedule will be implemented properly next week, as I've been slacking with reply times.

as always, I'm never the one to step first when it comes to thread statuses, so if you'd like a thread dropped, please let me know! no hard feelings! otherwise, I'll continue under the assumption that all interactions are a-go. concerning the mission board, feel free to claim a thread via DMs on Discord ( @ barelyelix ), since I do not check for Tumblr IMs and I sometimes overlook server pings. down below are the prompts I'm looking for, though my interest may exceed these:

━━━ MISSION BOARD: SHOWCASE !

ZEPHIA? @ here

none, as her character is the one I am now most unfamiliar with. not open for any new non-event threads until mid-May.

EREMIYA? @motheruin

FAITH +1: the specifics of this idea need to be fleshed out more but I am interested in exploring Eremiya's fear of fire and how it subconsciously ties into religious ideals and the life of magic. whether or not they save a maiden, her main intention is to selfishly steal the spell's makings for herself, despite it just being shown off for this occasion and nothing more. (GOLDEN DEER REQUIRED)

BOOMS: of course, Eremiya will do everything in her power to report the group; they're more than a disturbance, they're taunting. however, she'll begrudgingly require a partner who is like-minded as she, since the sudden bursts of fire in the air are hardly... tame, and productivity will not prosper if she remains uneasy with every passing image of a spiraling rocket. or you can be a BOOMS enthusiast stopping her before she snitches.

otherwise, she will only be open to pick up one new non-event thread come May.

EMMERYN? @emblemartyr

HEAVY ARMOR +1: has anyone ever sat a pirate down and asked them how they felt? no? alright then, Emmeryn's interested in serving as a more, pacifist diplomat between the Leicester Alliance and the pirates. no one acts so recklessly without a reason, right? has a grievance between the two parties caused the rift? besides, the fortified sea vessels will keep her, her partner, and the crew safe. hopefully. long enough to enjoy the ride, at least! (GOLDEN DEER REQUIRED)

FAITH +1: something something persecution... religious corruption.... something something fire and sacrifice.... insert sun metaphor..... curiosity equaling bravery and the opposite....... me and Emmeryn want the skill point, further plotting necessary (GOLDEN DEER REQUIRED)

PHOTO-ARTIFEX: a way to keep memories trapped within an image? perfect! Emmeryn's all too happy to volunteer herself for testing! she doesn't mind who wishes to help either since she mainly wants to see how well the machine works, and if she can satisfy the gaps in her memory by creating new, frozen-in-time moments she can never forget. also not against swaying volunteers who only want to help technical-wise and not have their pictures taken.

SWORD +1: half for the point and half because I am absolutely enamored by the return of the silly rat orchestra MSKMWNSDJ it's highly possible that Emmeryn was dragged into this, as her place in the town may have been too far from the monastery to notice students going missing; plus, she doesn't fit the criteria of victims, per se! of course, her first idea is speaking to the culprit, so your muse may have to be bait unless they mistake Emmeryn for a student. she won't let anything happen to you so no worries! worst case scenario, the culprit can't understand the common tongue and we have to play instruments to communicate.

always open for threads, as of now! necessary to bounce her voice testing off of someone else, whether mission board or otherwise.

#☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ a bleeding dragonstone; her heart crystal ・ 【 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #passing out after this i'msotired #i did see a few muses i wanted to poke for eremiya and emmeryn so i'll recheck once i wake up from a night nap #need to catch up at a comfortable pace before everything so i wanted to start early and not miss anything else orz

[ruinakete]

TRIUMPH FLITTED ACROSS HER COUNTENANCE IN A DARK SHADOW, tamed by the physicality of her curiosity presented before her, heavy gaze studying all that rafal presented himself to be, clutching still onto his stomach as he regarded her with a slow, wary recognition. but it was not simply the tangible she sought to sink her claws into; canting her head to the side when he uttered his disbelief, though jagged, at the silence zelestia would have befitted him, tearing away at the string of his word choice until it became loose threads she could properly consume without struggle. thus, she carefully watched him and listened and observed what she could.

irreverence; rare, not easily missed by the dragon who wore her face in the plains of his world. understood from a knight's one - sided lifestyle, though whether the other mage dragon sat at rafal's feet, comfortable to crane her neck upon meeting his gaze, like she did with lord sombron before fate split the ties of their physical trust, was not known. she could not risk the pitch of loyalty, taut and feverishly stagnant, lest more revealed itself.

the mage dragon smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners as she worked to seep genuine concern into the curl of her lips, not an easy feat as it had once been in the face of lord sombron's other defect heir, "hehe, i'd hope so! my silence was anything but purposeful. hm - hm, i was startled even upon awaking here, no cause nor reasoning. so to see you this injured in my absence. . . i should have been there to help you." zephia stepped closer, but not impatiently, leaving a hand outstretched to mimic a worry to reach him in light of his injuries. "are you sure? the infirmary tent is quite a ways from here. really, helping you comes at no cost to myself."

but the subject shifted unto her hound, to which she blinked back an owlish gaze before forcing her expression to falter, breaking apart to delight as she giggled, urging serenity in the twitch of her eye at the word; generous. "uhm, he didn't say anything about generosity, but why would i not know of that? however, he is quite a strange man. he seemed nearly overcome with pride when retelling the memory. unlike how. . . well, he reminded me of. . ."

the statement drawled off into a mutter, where she cast her gaze to the side in faux contemplation and shook her head to mimic ache. damn her impatience! not considering the importance of naming which man took griss' face, too overcome by inescapable grief shared between the shattered pieces of a mirror she and zelestia were fated to be. but, despite this, she allowed her attention to falter until rafal looked elsewhere, his indescribable reaction flattened into a warning; an order this dragon had to swallow before her smile twisted itself into a scowl.

she ought to wait out those ten seconds, if only she would forget whose body she was trying to fit into.

"hm? i'm zelestia," came her answer, brows furrowing in worry alongside the diminishing weight of her smile, "but lord rafal, you had already said my name. . . do you not recognize me? should i. . . ah! is it my robes?"

☽ ・ something i'm not, but something i can be ━━━ zephia & rafal

/ post - battle BOEL thread.

#toaboel2024 #rafent #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ something i'm not; but something i can be ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #was weighing the options she could play to before having to fully flesh out the chart for zephia's second arc / long term support plan #you'd think i was writing an otome game with how many pathways i wrote on my whiteboard for each single decision she makes #absolutely love how rafal's reaction remained “fanged” despite first mistaking her as zelestia #“is zephia pretending to be zelestia fully?” my friend you have no idea how fucked up her plan for rafal is ... i'm so excited #i hope this fall out and ensuing cat fight is so bad the drama of it destroys the trout population (me #also i kept grimacing every time i wrote zephia speaking like zelestia and i think that's the only right response to any of her posts here

[ruinakete]

🧃"Oh well aren't you beautiful? Here, take another one." Camilla gives the woman a wink before tossing her a second juice.🧃 "I'm Camilla by the way."

THERE WERE LITTLE OFFERINGS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BATTLE; most food and drink, the meager amounts, held in the hands of assigned attendants were for those unable to rise after their defeat in their respective matches and, regarding the few consumptions that were allowed of them, they were given in odd, small boxes unable to satisfy a mere child's hunger.

thus, there came the slightest narrow of her glare when a scrambling attendant first pressed the small carton into her hands. zephia had not sipped nor opened it; quite fortunate that none had witnessed her claws struggling to pick away at the plastic encasing the straw which, in her eyes, was highly foolish of a design.

another was tossed to her and, simply on instinct, she caught it within her claws and blinked between the carton and the lady. late came the recognition of her compliment, drawled alongside a definite wink.

and who was she to deny the physicality of her beauty? "how kind of you, lady camilla! though i would reckon you are not the first to say it, you are maybe just the first to be as lovely as myself. hm - hm! you may call me zephia," pride flared within her chest, merely out - lived by the fangs in her smile and the claw she stubbornly pierced the box's sealed opening with.

if out - lived was an understatement, then it became less when the dragon tipped the box back to sip at it and, immediately, tore it away from her mouth. her head tilted to the side, countenance dark with a scowling grimace as she licked away the icky sweetness filling her mouth and coating her fangs.

"is this. . ." juice? had they not anything less sweet? not even something nearly equivalent to a stronger cup of. . . oh, how disgusting. "nevermind. i will not have this. have you nothing stronger? or at least. . . bitter?"

#toaboel2024 #maligknightsthorns #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ to appease the handmade goddess ・ 【 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 】 . #THANK YEWWWW!!! the mothers are meeting :softsmile: #but also damn yall don't got alcohol here what the sombron am i supposed to do with icky sweet juice :( #now zephia just has another juice box she's just default woman standing emoji with

[ruinakete]

THOUGH THE MAGE DRAGON SETTLES AGAINST THE PODIUM IN A COMFORTABLE LEAN, the luxury of lounging without worry and care is nearly nonexistent in body, not mind, amongst those who sit before her, condemned to their desks until their freedom is called by the bell of fulfilled attendance. until then, they are simply the blank faces of undeserving, curious things. so utterly resistant to the methods in which she deems worthy for their lectures and seminars; rudely so! as she is quite the generous professor, more so than she'd be regarded as in the eyes of fell disciples.

a student's gaze lingers elsewhere and her claws poise to snag at their shoulder, rather than the tender skin of their neck, following the tilt of her head, softly whispering, "your tome is on the desk, not on your seating partner's face. focus, dear. . ."

and they focus for the entirety of the lecture after any scolding, if outlying factors were to be ignored for the general impression; surprisingly stiff in their obstinate rowdiness despite the thin - lipped, too - kind smile she offers them once she catches their tome closed and attention directed at silent, under table conversations.

yet they are the quickest to leave when the bell echoes through the hallways and corridors. the tome in her hand is shut. arms laid across the podium's flat. the door to her room opens just as silence finds her, tilting her head down to gather a few breaths and flex the joints of her claws.

"what is it?" comes the snap of the mage dragon's tone, curtly low to the extent of edging the rumble of both a growl and purr. but there is only the click of a shut door that answers her, though swiftly followed by a faint stomp and the shrill voice of. . .

sangria eyes narrow and fall to the pathetic sight of elusia's second princess, clutching her skirts and making a fuss, alike the little girl she has always been. annoyance softens into the dull warmth of amusement, accompanied by the click of her tongue piercing against her top teeth before mage dragon straightens her posture. fangs unsheath themselves behind her smile when she croons, "no? hm - hm, i find this quite humorous."

quickly, zephia pulls herself from the podium, always satisfied with making the first step in closing distance between herself and those who gaze upon her as if a ghost. but her steps round where hortensia stands, until she is between the door and the reddening princess; not at all a stranger to herding people away from possible retreats.

she tempts a lean forward, "do i get the joy of making a student out of you again? oh, how darling of the monastery to grant me this pleasure." a pause, and her grin widens. "hmph, well aren't you just an awful red. what is it? do ghosts frighten you, princess?"

the second princess' no good, very bad day!

#hydrangeaceae #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the second princess' no good very bad day! ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #will keep future replies shorter! BUT OH EM GEE!! HORTENSIA!!! #very cheesed with zephia's record of startling and making other people anxious / sweat upon seeing her

[ruinakete]

THERE IS DISCOMFORT IN THE DARKNESS; the damned revelation that this mage dragon is no more a babe in the shadows than a true child might be; lacking only the grand naviety and size of the latter. though never one to become clumsy on its feet, it treated the forest as one would a stranger's home━━━always cautious and waiting, entirely receptive to the hand of its host, whether welcoming or otherwise harsh. wary, slitted eyes. sheathed claws. light, imperceptible footsteps. but whether the host would be the woods themselves or━━━

THUNK! goes the arrowhead into the spine of a tree, mere yards away.

━━━the prey within it, has yet to be determined. after all, this mage dragon is simply a guest beneath the canopy of branches and leaves above the forest ground. but it seems as though the same can be said for the student, caught beneath the taut hook of a rope which, despite the dragon's preference for more self - sufficient teachings, could not be snared with jutted - out, cut glass.

brushes bristle when it stalks closer, claws snagging the dagger sheathed beneath the shadow of its skirts. past the spines of the forest, where trees have begun to loom their branches overhead, dangles the still, poised body of strung - up prey. and this dragon, as gracious as it is yearnful for the thrill of the chase, does not seek the importance of lunging now. instead, it kneels to cover itself behind the wealth of bushes before rearing its claws back.

to bleed is to become receptive to pain, and pain, darling pain, is the greatest motivator to send any animal into a sprint.

the dagger flies from its hand when it abruptly flicks its wrist forward, yet it does not lie to wait there to see where the blade cuts. its claws break the bark of wood as it rises, slow and patient. and, off, again does it stalk, rounding the clearing and waiting once if only to snap a fallen stick between its claws; as much a warning as it is a statement.

You are not fast enough, human. Run.

the wolf’s gaze.

　 　❛　mission board: recovery, sword +1 — kleine & zephia

#ghostruck #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ recovery ・ 【 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the wolf's gaze ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #rolled an 18 for the dagger throw! you can choose where it lands but she's essentially aiming for kleine's arm / shoulder to disarm him! #methinks zephia's end goal is mainly to introduce the fact that it's impossible to leave her “game” unscathed instead of outright chasing #AND WOOOO KLEINE TIME!!!! #very much enjoyed the starter ... especially the sense of haste within it all :softsmile: #sorry for the lateness btw this has been sitting in my drafts orz #also i'll prob be using zephia's name very rarely in this thread to heighten the sense of her being “in da zone” for this exercise

[ruinakete]

THE CLOSE SERVANT OF HER LORD WAS SILENT; watching and waiting with the gall of an apathetic sheep, uninterested in participating with the naive instinct of allowing itself to be herded. her claws remained clasped before her, a sentiment of self - imposed restraint despite the girl's unnecessary rambles of righteousness and morality and the supposedly invisible complexities of human imperfections. such brash subjects she could, and did, scoff lightly at, amusement bubbling a low, raspy laugh within her throat until it tumbled from her lips.

shoulders trembled with a twisted mirth that too garnered the incredulous shake of her head, jewelry clinking together with each swing and sway from where they accessorized the curves of her crescent horns. all golden, all from efforts that were cherished by gifts of luxury. and that, in its simplest form, in all she stood to be, was what humored her the most from the girl's insistent barking.

to imply that zephia━━━she who had lived more lives within a single existence than any snarky girl could hope to breathe━━━knew not of the humanity she surrounded herself with. thus, came the soft sigh, drawing two - toned eyes to gaze almost disappointed at the armed girl. "i do not need to sit above your pathetic kind to delight myself with witnessing all that occurs. besides," another laugh, sharper than before, "even standing beside you humans allows quite the spectacle."

because such a pedestal, above both dragon and mortal beneath it, belonged to her lord and none other.

she arched a brow, pursing her lips in time with the hum rumbling her throat. "lacking? me? oh, you know not who you speak to, girl. but! i forgive your ignorance; i had not introduced myself before your temper arose unprovoked."

sangria eyes flit down to where the girl laid a hand on the hilt of her blade. and, of course, as if to splay the red paint of a target upon her chest, she shrugged and stepped forward; once, twice, before moving to meet both her gaze and body. "oh dear. . . how immature of you. threatening to attack a clergywoman who poses no danger." drawled past unsheathed fangs in an all too mocking tone, accompanied by the condescending tilt of her head, "especially when i promised to help before you became too great for the likes of myself."

thus, the dragon smiled in a blatant taunt, "but go ahead. strike me, girl, and you will be torn apart by a hound's teeth. hmph, i wouldn't even have to touch you for you to just become a memory. a memory i will forget in less than a decade; dare i say a fortnight?"

when the magpie sings

#pridedprincess #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ when the magpie sings ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ fracture ・ 【 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 】 . #don't feel obligated to match lengths! <3 #since we've discussed this in dms; this is now your ooc and ic permission hit her if you wish it! #rolled a 1 for owner awareness so he doesn't know they're outside rn

[ruinakete]

gentleness action prompts edit/interpret sender/receiver roles as you see fit

breathe - muse a holds muse b closely to help them wind down after a stressful day/event

stop - muse a holds muse b back from walking back out into the fray

melt - muse a holds muse b’s face gently, drawing circles into their cheeks with their thumbs

acceptance - muse a kisses muse b’s forehead and lingers

redemption - muse a holds muse b’s face together and rests their forehead against them

home - muse a pulls muse b closer until muse b’s face rests in the crook of muse a’s neck

finale - muse a wraps themself around muse b to keep them from harm

classics - muse a tends to muse b’s wounds with more care than necessary

honesty - muse a wipes muse b’s tears away from under their eyes

recovery - muse a rubs muse b’s back repeatedly to help work tension out their body

anxiety - muse a intertwines their fingers with muse b’s to ground themself

repose - muse a languidly slips into muse b’s arms while muse b is lying somewhere

subtlety - muse a gently brushes their hand over folds and wrinkles on muse b’s clothing

intimacy - muse a braids/brushes/works knots out of muse b’s hair

domesticity - muse a rests chin on muse b’s shoulder to read/see what they’re holding

second-nature - muse a runs their hand through muse b’s hair who’s leaning into them from behind

casual - muse a slinks their arms around muse b’s to sit closer

wounded - muse a sways muse b and themself back and forth as a soothing mechanism

care-taking - muse a rubs muse b’s arms repeatedly to get some warm into them

excuses - muse a brushes their thumb lightly against muse b’s rub some dirt/dust/etc away

courting - muse a rests one hand on muse b’s back and holds out the other for muse b to hold to help them climb up/down something

simplicity - muse a playfully runs their finger along the bridge of muse b’s nose in one swift motion

#☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ in the mouth of his dragon ・ 【 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒 】 . #ACTUALLY ... ik this was reblogged for emmeryn but .... i'm ...... i may have been charmed by the zephia zelestiaisms ........ #i still have things in my inbox but surprisingly none of them are ic things only hcs so!! barely treat since it's my birthday week idc idc #these are really soft / cute so unless you specify for zephia some of these will be zelestia au. likewise these will not so gentle i fear #not open for eremiya i cannot imagine it with the general populace i fear

[ruinakete]

♡ ・ kindred beasts, shared breaths ━━━ boel drabble, featuring zephia & eremiya

TRADITION WAS MERELY A SPECTACLE AMID THE STUDY OF HUMAN NATURE; in which, in all aspects this mage dragon knew itself to be familiar, came the assumed predictability of the bishop's reaction once all was prepared and she had been herded into the tent's corner without struggle, like the very sheep she pretended to wear the flayed skin of. thus, predictability bled into a loose stream of evasiveness and retaliation,

bishop returned its gaze with not a hint of emotion. dragon bared its fangs in the kindest of smiles. bishop stepped right. dragon followed suit. bishop stepped back. dragon closed the distance.

"sister eremiya," it drawled in a low hum, reaching for her when the next retreating step bumped her lower back against the abrupt edge of a table. claws flex above her stomach, a ghost's threat of physicality, and━━━ah, there it was. the twitch of her otherwise stern countenance, curling her lips into the small beginnings of a scowl. it pushed further, tilting its head to the side as it mimicked a purr, "won't you tend to me?"

and her answer was ever so obstinate in the face of that in which she had no fear for or to. "do not waste your breath," raspy, not unlike the growl of a beast condemned within a human's throat, "you have paraded those wounds long enough. i want nothing to do with you nor your dirty faith."

an arched brow and a wider grin was all her refusal evoked from it, to which her frown only deepened, to the extent of furrowing her brows and twitching her nose.

"hm, disappointing. even after i spoke so highly of your talent to each attendant who wished to close these wounds themselves." zephia offered a half - hearted shrug of one shoulder, pulling back its claws to clasp its hands behind its back. though it straightened its posture, she had not budged from where she leaned against the table and away from it. another hum, "i suppose i'll be forced to ask my hound for aid, instead. but, ah, i'd hate to bring this up with him. he's prone to dramatics when it comes to me, i fear. you know how children get."

the slightest glance was laid upon eremiya, not ignorant to both the sudden twitch of her hand nor the stiffness of her once relaxed shoulders. amusement brightened two - toned eyes and, once the delight formed itself as laughter within the back of its throat, it played the innocent gasp of a sheep. "oh? do you know him? my darling hound; griss is his name. mark on his cheek? scarred? half - done and half - cut robes? quite the sight, no?"

but the emotion darkening eremiya's gaze could not be fright, no, for her body would have followed the reaction in full, from trembling hands to twitching eyes. thus, mage dragon opened its mouth to continue, before the sudden twist of the bishop's clenched fist tore its very breath from it. gasping, it halted itself on instinct. the magic seeping from her fingers was recognized, swiftly, though little could stop the unconscious stumble backward, a clumsiness it immediately righted.

"if you ever command that runt to stalk me again, i will rid you of your stupid dog." her fist remained closed, stubbornly withholding the stolen energy within the intangible gates of nosferatu. then came the scowl, spreading so naturally across her face that zephia could not help but utter a small, breathy laugh at the successful sight.

a shaky inhale racked its chest, but it continued to prod and poke despite the heavy exhaustion weighing its body. "you're c━━━confident, sister." her gaze narrowed; it wheezed out another laugh. "he'd tear you to shreds in seconds."

and, just as it had been torn away, the loosening of her fist filled in the gaps in the mage dragon's chest, seizing its breath and forcing it to settle on its own. though it shivered at the wealth of magic given back, unmeasured to the extent of evident noticeability.

eremiya clicked her tongue, unimpressed seemingly, "yet he had not."

obviously not. "hm - hm. . . because i told him to keep you alive. what fun are you dead?"

silence, a dreading pause, before she sighed and took hold of her staff from where it stood leaning against a nearby crate. "you have been healed, zephia," she said, "now leave me be and remember my vow."

fangs unsheathed behind its grin as it tilted its head almost curiously, "see? now was that difficult to do?" as she would have bent to its expectation in no other manner. a revelation she could only scoff at. yet her gaze only widened when it leaned to ask, "though i remember you making a great deal over not knowing how to control your magic. but after a feat like that. . . had you lied to surprise dear ol' me, i wonder?"

a pause before eremiya masked her incredulity with a sneer and shoved past it, "the battlefield needs me. make yourself useful and return to whichever den you crawled from, fool." softly, with the twitch of zephia's ear, she sighed, "how exhausting. . ."

OBLIGATORY INTERMUSE BOEL INTERACTION, FINISHED !

#toaboel2024 #motheruin #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ she; who motherhood laughs at ・ 【 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 】 . #the second i thought of zephia wearing her wounds in pride i knew who she'd want to heal her . . . these two are sick i fear #context regarding the incident; in their drabble series zephia had griss stalk eremiya for information until she was deemed paranoid enough #+ to meet at a vulnerable state. it worked and now eremiya is scared of griss and despises zephia / thinks she's immature. #each time they meet; zephia is trying to break down eremiya's elusiveness and eremiya is trying to deconstruct zephia's show of strength #hence eremiya telling zephia that she isn't interested in performing magic in her service and zephia forcing it whenever they meet #eremiya who thinks zephia's sombronisms are dirty and zephia who thinks eremiya's gangrelisms are pathetic . . . . i hate them so much #i just need them two to get away from each other and eremiya to put in a restraining order on zephia #also wanted to flavor nosferatu in a more concentrated manner yfm? steadily keeping the line of energy taut between mage and victim but #not fully completing the spell to extend its strain? yeah this is just nonsense MKDSMKDEWMEKW

[ruinakete]

THE RAPID HUNGER THAT DROVE BOTH CONSUMPTION AND CURIOSITY WAS AS MUCH A SIN AS IT WAS A VIRTUE; the quarter of a musing remembered from the lips of an abbot, second of a name she had not cared to memorize in the heart of his irrelevance. the very moment she was disarmed and forced to forfeit her participation amid battle, her focus narrowed on the kin of her sole lord━━━a priority upheld ever since her hound had laid the revelation of the twins' existence at her feet. though fortunate, there had been a strange acidic burn spread along the back of her throat when she woke to ponder the pledge of her allegiance to - day. to wear the invisible sigil of his house was not a declaration of flock loyalty, nor shall it become anything more than an advancement in sharing the same space of air as he.

finding rafal was not the concern, as it would be completed through any means necessary, whether through the threat of another or the sabotage of battle, but the true misfortune showed itself in the lack of spectacle he made. from those she found, standing or sitting along the edges of the fields to await assistance, they provided little aid with their words. to the extent of twitching her two-toned eye and nearly snapping the thin thread of self - control she prided herself to contain.

what was she to do when there wasn't a great deal of impressions on him besides the disdain of overbearing lectures and sharp tongues? should she provoke the blade of his curt antagonisms with the prodding of her own? should she prompt an approach by offering her hand at tending magic? to tame a soul, you must give it reason to run to you first; rafal was older than veyle had been when the latter first met the kind smile zephia could once wear.

hm, but perhaps she was pondering this to the point of exhausting the reality. first impressions were only gates to the person's vulnerability; thus, mage dragon caught the fell dragon amidst his retreat, ignoring both student and affiliate alike as she stalked swiftly after him. similar to the attentiveness of her own hound, retracing his steps was easy enough, as he seemed nearly overcome with a sulking demeanor upon leaving his prior battle. however, her strides stretched too long, awkwardly spread in light of unrecognized anticipation and his suddenly - realized limp that the distance between them grew shorter and shorter before she had a moment to discern whichever dreadful feeling continued to claw at her throat.

"the last living mage dragon." griss' gaze had flickered from the window to the dragon, herself. "zelestia was her name, i think. . ."

"lord rafal?" came her call, abrupt despite herself, made the very moment they were far enough from conflict and meddling attendants. claws retract to clasp her hands together and fangs sheath themselves behind her smile. though not a measure of her kindness met her eyes, which searched restlessly for a dent or crack in his countenance.

mage dragon canted her head slightly to the side, clinking together the jewelry she proudly wore, accessorized similarly to the open yet stagnant wounds that tore the fabric of her robes. but unlike rafal, zephia had not suffered the heavier brunt of her opponents; a note she stored in her throat to articulate properly later. for now, as long as he would allow her, she smiled and offered a meager look of worry.

"hm. you seem to be on your last legs." a thoughtful pause. sangria eyes fell to where his hand curled around his waist. "do you require a hand to the nearest tent, milord? i'd hate to watch you limp your way there when i could lend my help."

and softly, along the narrow of her gaze. ". . . griss has shared quite the story of you with me; nearly breaking his jaw and all. so to be felled to this extent. . ."

@rafent !

☽ ・ something i'm not, but something i can be ━━━ zephia & rafal

/ post - battle BOEL thread.

#toaboel2024 #rafent #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ something i'm not; but something i can be ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO MATCH LENGTH I WAS YAPPING!!!! #tossing around the idea of zephia outright manipulating herself to fit the closest aspects of zelestia that she could infer and while that' #+ close to what she's doing methinks the only actual end goal is to test how approachable rafal is and how he sees griss. similar to what #+ she'll attempt to get out of nel .... #rolled a 7 for peer help so she didn't get much impressions from spectators besides saying he's a mean teacher MDMKMWEMKEWME #idk can you tell i'm excited for this thread MKDSMKWE :sob: #i have so much more to ramble about but i'm kicking myself out of tags i can't

[ruinakete]

IF THIS SECOND LIFE MUST BE SPENT AS A LOOMING THREAT ABOVE THOSE WHO ONCE CONDEMNED HER, then this mage dragon would play the strings of a ghost until her performance was deemed finished; a finale to be dictated by the sole lord she allowed applause from and for. the monastery was her theater, and the gronder fields, in all of its unstained and traditional glory, would simply be an extension of her haunting grounds.

thus, she stalked from tent to tent, unsheathing claws behind her back when a medic's gaze fell worryingly on her untended figure for a beat too long.

in the eye of her church; thou who bears thy wounds farther than thy peers becomes deserving of lord sombron's pride for but a night. to draw out the touch of suffering, even if light, remarked the existence of self - sacrifice. so, shamelessly, she smeared crimson across her forearm without much thought, focused not on the pain searing beneath the split skin, but on the back of her lord's defect.

it had not missed her sight that the defect wore a lack of wounds and, with a disappointing croon rasping the back of her throat, the mage dragon spoke the subtle act of treason into the air, "you have forgotten your origins that easily, lady veyle? and so shamelessly too, hm? you nearly have me impressed."

claws curl from where they remained interlocked behind her back. by the time veyle had turned, zephia already closed the distance between them, smiling softly at the sight of a faint reflection within the defect's eyes. "had the battlefield frightened you? hm? did you run away? again? is that why you hurried to rid yourself of any signs of failure?"

each question was rapid - fire, delivered without a beat or pause; the ghost of a finger prodding at the girl to amuse herself with a reaction or bite, in the absence of favor to tame or break.

@misericordel !

☽ ・ i keep losing all that you have ever known ━━━ zephia & veyle

/ post - battle BOEL thread.

#toaboel2024 #misericordel #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ i keep losing all that you have ever known ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO LEONBARELY THREAD DELIGHT!!!! #can't wait for them to burn the tent to the damn ground /j #the way zephia regards veyle post-death makes me think a lot of thoughts that i cannot articulate but just know that the hypocrisy of it al #+ astounds me. hating veyle for having what she could not despite being the very thing that she once wanted in terms of mother / daughter. #i think a lot about how zephia feels about veyle as a whole and hopefully i finish that meta post soon so i can get rid of this brainrot

[ruinakete]

☽ ・ something i'm not, but something i can be ━━━ zephia & rafal

/ post - battle BOEL thread.

#delete later

[ruinakete]

CHIVALRY IN THE FACE OF A SEETHING DRAGON IS AS MUCH INSULT AS IT IS THE MEANS TO CHAR; a musing she is left to hardly ponder when all comes to an end━━━realizing the moment is lost before iron is raised against her. despite herself, zephia utters a scoff, grimacing at the mere suggestion of playing a hand at defeat when she still stands, both armed and unstaggering and constant in the narrative of a force of━━━

LLOYD 5/5HP hits ZEPHIA 0.5/6HP with iron sword. [ roll: d20 = 17; -1.5HP ] ZEPHIA 0/6HP

embarrassment. it brings heat to her face and sours the back of her throat, a sharper pain than that of the man's blade striking curtly at her hand━━━unable to do much but watch as exhaustion weakens her grip into completely giving out, releasing the hilt of her sword without struggle. claws close around air and sangria eyes narrow to slits, but she does not raise a hand to retaliate.

instead, with a twitching eye and plastered smile, she bows her head. "fine. . . it seems that aiming to disarm is harder than that to kill. . . hmph, a pity." and, with a shrug of one shoulder, she turns to leave before a meddling medic can witness her defeat and rush to her side; an irritation she had little hope for. a dismissing hand is waved back in farewell, "but oh well! have fun with the girl! she's a difficult one."

unsurprisingly, there is no harm nor guilt in leaving lapis to deal with the faces of three opponents. at the very least, it is an escape to avoid any awkward chatter the girl may offer in the happenstance of them winning.

ZEPHIA HAS BEEN DEFEATED! and is pretending she forfeited for the better of the world!

ah, how embarrassing.

@lazulienne or @ylisseanstar !

[vicious aggro pinging] hey... lol... so did anyone else hear that // boel r1, battle 11

#toaboel2024 #peerlessscowl #fangedjustice #ylisseanstar #lazulienne #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ [vicious aggro pinging] hey... lol... so did anyone else hear that ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #GO DOWN FIGHTING LAPIS!!!! #anyway bc of lloyd's gentlemanness zephia's making her embarrassment everyone's problem

[ruinakete]

MAGE DRAGON TASTES THE PAIN BEFORE IT IS RECOGNIZED THROUGH TOUCH; gentle claws pressing at her side and returning with little stain, only to determine how many wounds she grew to bear through the numbing tolerance any child of the fell church would have. though few injuries, the ones that had sunk their teeth into her had done so well. a revelation quite easily dismissed at the brodian's faintly registered voice.

a click of her tongue. "that girl. . ." is muttered through a clenched jaw, bland in its curious fondness, not unlike the instinctive pull between foreign forces, before zephia proudly regains her stance, trusting the curl of her claws to maintain her grip if all else fails. each breath is both strangled━━━

CHROM 2/5HP hits ZEPHIA 2.5/6HP with red beads. [ roll: d20 = 11; -2HP ] ZEPHIA 0.5/6HP

━━━and second on priority to the snap of a bead. this time, somehow, it is tossed with acute accuracy, easily finding a target against her arm just as it unfurls itself into a burst of magic. hissing, mage dragon stumbles back for but a moment, strictly righting herself the very second she notices the stutter in footstep.

nearly in retaliation, claws raise to dissolve the false emblem, pulling not just from the tome at her hip, but herself as half of the formula.

ZEPHIA 0.5/6HP misses CHROM 2/5HP with miasma. [ roll: d20 = 1; -0HP ] CHROM 2/5HP

but the magic, seeping from the pages of her tome as viciously thick steam, merely thins once beckoned by her hand. mage dragon does not stumble nor stagger, only swaying on her feet as is; incredulous before she is ever wrong. still, incorrigibly embarrassed at the happenstance of her undeserved misery being witnessed, she bares her teeth in a smile (?) and hisses at chrom, despite her gaze hardly leaving the swordsman standing afront, "i expected a blade instead of tossing jewelry, emblem. . . hm! i'm almost disappointed."

@peerlessscowl !

[vicious aggro pinging] hey... lol... so did anyone else hear that // boel r1, battle 11

#toaboel2024 #tags when i wake up

[ruinakete]

INCREDULITY IS A DAMNED SORENESS IN HER COUNTENANCE, furrowing her brows and twisting her face into a grimace upon realizing who calls to her so. though whether or not the direct cause of the disgust is the face belonging to the retainer or the crimson finally trickling through the cracks of her scales is a feat to determine, even for herself. and, unfortunately, or not, she nearly forgets the girl's name until she's the target of poorly executed and surely false encouragement.

before the faces of those not well met, mage dragon remains dismissive in light of wariness; regarding lapis with all but a heavy sigh before a shadow shifts above the stained grass before her. steel sings through the air━━━

RAVEN 6/6HP misses ZEPHIA 2.5/6HP with armorslayer. [ roll: 4; -0HP ] ZEPHIA 2.5/6HP

━━━and ends its note in the air, not stuck within flesh or fabric. dragon slinks out of the swords' path and maneuvers elsewhere, until decent space makes up the gap between mortal and beast. through the heat and unquelled tension, the natural apprehension melding with the itch to return to what she knows, it is easy to ignore the pain throbbing between her eyes.

the same cannot be said for the body that hits the ground, in the wake of their fall. sangria eyes recognize them only after a moment has passed; that, yes, that is, or was, her ally, and yes, they have been bested. thus, their relevance swiftly leaves her. all until lapis is the one to reach them, calling both them and a medic to rise while at the ready. the child was an asset, unfortunately, as to who should zephia assist now with her fake smiles and sheathed fangs, herself or the brodian retainer?

no matter, since the happenstance of them requiring aid proves fruitful in terms of shifting focus. a fault of the prey that she meets with stained claws.

ZEPHIA 2.5/6HP hits RAVEN 6/6HP with steel sword. [ roll: d20 = 20; -3HP ] RAVEN 3/6HP

a nod to the child's retreating form, and the beginnings of a scoff in her following, "of course," before mage dragon is left at lapis' side. an unrecognized, simmering emotion in the back of her throat reveals itself as a burning incredulity, still, but she offers the girl a smile, "hm-hm, it will take more than this to crack me, girl. surely, you would know this by now. . .?"

@lazulienne and @peerlessscowl @fangedjustice @ylisseanstar !

[vicious aggro pinging] hey... lol... so did anyone else hear that // boel r1, battle 11

#toaboel2024 #tags when i wake up

[ruinakete]

So this woman really was a clergywoman of the monastery. How odd. And to know that they would continue to cross paths due to this...It did not settle right in Lachesis' chest but there was naught that she could do.

At least on the fake battlegrounds could they come to grips with the raw emotion capitulated by evil and right. Lachesis stops by Zephia the morning of, when faculty are still setting up for the situation.

Eyes meet and the Nordion princess holds her own, shoulders proud and hands on her hips, only a feather's breath from grasping her sword.

"Know that I do not approve of you," the lioness speaks, her voice the calm of the sea but the depth of the oceans. "And I will always fight for what is right, despite whatever you pose for in the monastery."

Her eyes glance at the wide expanse of horizon. Maybe in another time, she could find it beautiful. 

"I've got my eyes on you," Lachesis warns her. "Zephia." The name comes off a bitter taste on her mouth.

Turning, she leaves the mage dragon presence. She has said what she needed to. Eyes flit and turn back for a moment. Yes, she is still there, a danger on the wind. But Lachesis will not avert her gaze, her step, her movement, for any second longer.

MAGE DRAGON HAD BEEN RESTING IN COMFORTABLE SILENCE, seated on a spare stool with their back to the pole of a newly set-up tent when a golden-haired nuisance came by to proudly parade her hopeless mortal morals as if each minute spent at their side would count itself in the shape of a plumed feather. and how unfortunate they were that fate would lead this beast into their path, after having dealt their obligated hours tending to the poor ego laying lachesis' hair straight.

in fact, there was little shame in the sigh zephia exhaled, grimacing at the sight of the girl before them. if not for the publicity of this arrangement, though they had no hand in meeting this time, they would have damned it all and lunged at her; no stranger to tearing away at the skin of one that irritated theirs.

instead, they listened, nodding politely and clasping their claws together in their lap. "you do not? oh. pity," was all they offered in conversation, regarding both lachesis' words and herself, as a dismissed concept and thing.

where her gaze glanced elsewhere, theirs had not.

"you are not the first nor will you be the last. now if you would?" a gentle gesture was made then, a shoo-ing movement timed awfully well with the turn of her back. and, just like that, the beast left the dragon's den, not any more wary than she already was, maybe. but that came to no matter to zephia.

if lachesis knew what was good for her and her noisy righteousness, she would leave the hound to tend to themselves. yet she was no smarter than that storefront owner had been, those weeks ago. it seemed griss would need new prey once all returned from the gronder fields.

#pridedprincess #toaboel2024 #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ to appease the handmade goddess ・ 【 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 】 . #HIIIIII LACHESIS!!!!! awugh #as much as i wanted to have zephia insult / threaten her methinks that a 2nd approach would be all she needs to deem lachesis as hound food #thank yeww for this!! love that lachesis has been the only one so far to see through / misunderstand / confront zephia's bullshit

[ruinakete]

SANGRIA EYES FLIT FROM BODY TO BODY, not able to measure the manners in which each being held themselves━━━whether confident in the grip of their blade or clumsy and tripping over themselves in the heat of a pursuit━━━before the simmering conflict around them burst at the seams, guided only by the low screech of a horn overhead. all standing upon the fields were suddenly thrust into the sights of others. ( she'd lost the sight of both hound and fell dragon in the plumes of dirt and steel. unfortunate, but highly probable during the beginning. ) and the warfare, as familiar as breathing through battered lungs came to her, had not blinded the mage dragon as much as the image of an emblem did, a sore reflection without a sword on his person.

CHROM 4.5/5HP hits ZEPHIA 6/6HP with red beads. [ roll: d20 = 5+2 = 7, -2HP ] ZEPHIA 4/6HP

but the lack of a weapon only meant the presence of another, so swiftly, zephia corrected her stance, feet apart and arm raised to shield whatever force would be thrown toward her. though she blinked at the narrow sight of a crimson bead, her arm braced the majority of the magic that unfurled within itself upon impact. neither dragon nor willpower was shaken.

a man shifted before her, ducking beneath another before setting his entire team on separate feet; two-toned eyes remained vigilant. "watch yourselves!" came her cautious warning but the irony of it quickly showed itself when the immediate aggressor bared his fangs at her rather than an ally.

LLOYD 6/6HP hits ZEPHIA 4/6HP with iron sword. [ roll: d20 = 7, -1.5HP ] ZEPHIA 2.5/6HP

iron cut through fabric with ease, chipping away dark scales to break a wound into her side. pain, itself, was not foreign, so the mage dragon had not stumbled or yelled, merely clenching her jaw and masking the tremble of her hands with the weight of her sword. though provoked, and itching to bite into what had bitten her, she instead moved elsewhere, gesturing for the boy to fill in the space she once stood within.

ZEPHIA 2.5/6HP rotates the BLACK EAGLES to the right.

"move!" curt and unwavering. "damn that emblem. . . no matter. we switch opponents! chase after them if you must."

@lazulienne !

[vicious aggro pinging] hey... lol... so did anyone else hear that // boel r1, battle 11

#toaboel2024 #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ the cruelty of a mother's greed ・ 【 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ [vicious aggro pinging] hey... lol... so did anyone else hear that ・ 【 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 】 . #lycianlynx #ylisseanstar #peerlessscowl #fangedjustice #lazulienne #cutting this down into reasonable sizes took forever wow that was hard

[ruinakete]

madam pretty lady ma'am are you fighting please don't get hurt ma'am yayyy pretty lady yayyyyy go pretty ladies

awww,

darling 🥺🥺🥺🥺🙏🏽💕!!

this pretty lady will not get hurt and will kill? murder? knock out her enemies in your honor, small random purple girl who has not given me her name yet. go, pretty ladies! ( only me, lord sombron's prettiest lady: zephia ) "

#☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ a bleeding dragonstone; her heart crystal ・ 【 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 . #i casually write this as zephia is knocked down to 2.5/6hp btw she is a liar #SENDETTA WHO I LOVE!!! bernie's photo is going on zephia's office wall as a sign of “i tolerate you” #smth smth girls uniting against odin dark's fanfiction smth #waiting for the day they actually interact and the world falls apart bc of senbarely chaos MKDMKWEMKKDS #not tagging this as toaboel but it's toaboel