#ᵇᵃᵗᵗˡᵉ . original poster

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ǫʙ . salvation

The man’s mutterings were soft, weakened. He’d been repeating the mantra for weeks since their last encounter, his attempt to flee. Cinder wanted him broken, brought to heel. Mercury had been put in charge of that, && while he disagreed with the methodology she was using, Mercury could not fault her for the desire to see such a powerful man working for them.

He enters the room, closing the door behind him && plunging the room into darkness once more.

“Ready to play our game?” He asked with a smile.

Broken, bloody, && ruined beyond repair,         He, @qrwvviid, will become his toy.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ʀʙ . spoils of battle

The sensation of feeling was terribly unpleasant. It had been nearly an hour since his Aura had recovered enough for him to walk without the constant, lancing pain that danced tiny patterns over his spine, weaving deeply into the muscles && bones of his arms as though it belongs there. With so much of his body no longer protesting the vicious attack, he supposes that it does belong. The prosthesis is incredibly crude, barely more than a hunk of poorly shaped metal cradling his thighs with primitive affection.

Such primitive touch against a barely healed wound would supply him no relief. Mercury keeps his face impassive, staring ahead as he slowly worked his way around the clearing, unable to move faster without potentially reopening the scab that lay healing under the cotton wraps. His Aura remains slow to return, but little, steady pulses of healing would surely make him truly battle ready.

Regardless of the attempt of his breeder’s to set back that pace in favor of an obedient, docile combat drone. He would not subject himself to such a disadvantageous position without the promise of appropriate gains in the future. A shake of his head brings him from the calculations of the future towards his current efforts of recovery. Nothing could be done until he healed himself appropriately enough to formulate a valid escape.

“You can rest boy.” His sire’s words are met with a single swift nod, && the boy limps carefully to a shady tree. It’s bereft of its usual flock, instead housing a single raven. It was high up enough that he couldn’t discern whether or not it was a Grimm, but given that the wildlife had not silenced itself, it was safe to say it was one of many natural creatures. Allowing a measured breath out, he looks up at it. His father was near, so Mercury did not consider it prudent to attempt calling the corvid where it could be seen - && shot - by Marcus.

Might is right, governed by a blade && feathers of steel,             She, @nvvrrmorr, reigns above the family she calls her own.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ǫʙ . tribal king

Ouch. Mercury’s body aches all over as his body absorbs the impact of a boot against his stomach. Being caught off guard was not something Mercury could say he cataloged as an acceptable experience. His breath comes short - Aura already tapped out for the day as he slumps against the cage he was in.

The man standing before him is the same one who had captured him on his return to Cinder’s base.

He’d only just finished his scouting mission for the location of the potential White Fang camp so that she could threaten Adam when he’d been caught by the man, dragged back to their camp.

His gaze is dragged up to the man. He was handsome, at least that’s a point in his favor to aesthetics.

A god of bad luck, power courses through his veins,              He, @qrwvviid, has a boy with broken soul.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ǫʙ . damage

Well... shit.

He woke suddenly and silently, keeping his breath even && slow to match his previous breathing pattern. Gray eyes crack open a sliver, && he manages to catch a glimpse of his surroundings. Definitely not his hidden base with Cinder && Emerald. The walls are too smooth, the location utterly anonymous.

The last thing he could remember was the buckling of his left leg’s prosthetic, collapsing below him as Cinder && Emerald fled from him.

Their abandonment was not surprising, but given Cinder’s typical operations, it was logical that she would abandon him if it compromised her success rate. After a long moment, he gives up on the pretense, lifting his head up to look around properly, eyes opening to observe around himself without the pretense of sleep.

He who fights monsters has a choice to make,           The left eye of the world, @qrwvviid, walks a fine blade’s edge.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ʏxʟ . welcome

Beacon was a particularly pretty place. Gunmetal gray observes the building, exploring lazily while Qrow bamboozled Glynda into allowing them to share a room. By now, the rumor of him kissing Qrow has probably made the rounds through the student body. He stretches out, raising a fist to knock against the door of the room he’d been sent to.

Qrow Branwen’s nieces lived here. With a faint smile, he waits until the door swings open, revealing a blonde with a dog.

“Hello. Qrow sent me here to meet you.” He offers a hand out. “Mercury Black.”

One of blood && of family ties,          She, @ryoshan, is the first family of Qrow Branwen.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

This is Sen with an Independent, Selective, && Private Mercury Black of RWBY. Can you please give a Like/Reblog if you would be interested in rping with Mercury?

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ʀʀ . stargirl

Blinking stars free from his gaze, Mercury isn’t sure where, exactly, he’d ended up. Only that someone had so inelegantly crashed into him while he had been exploring - read, mapping - out the layout of the academy. He takes a deep breath in, feeling the heavy weight on his chest with something like mild nostalgia.

Gaze sweeps down, && he looks at the girl on his chest critically. “So... are you going to just sit on my chest && crush me forever, or do I have to pay a toll to get you off?”

Ruby Rose. Emerald’s ‘friend’.

A girl embroiled in a conflict she should have been avoiding, She, @rosescattered, has come across an agent of Salem.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ᴋɴs . digging

The stars are bright out. Mercury lifts his head up from where he’s observing some of the ruins, head tilting lightly to one side. It’s been some months since Mercury has begun to work with them, && her uncle had allowed them to go together to a small dig site in Forever Fall. Mercury had wisely not said anything - the dig was considerably��larger than the foolish man knew. “Not much of a vacation,” He said wryly. “But your uncle isn’t here for this one, at least.”

She seeks more than the past,           The lady @loreseeks is looking for a deeper reason.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

s . dance

Mercury does not practice often, his combat ability. He dislikes (but not really) being seen, if only because watching him makes others realize his weaknesses. He knows the flaws in his fighting skill (of course he does, he studied every flaw in every style he ever learned), but others knowing it annoys him.

Just a little bit.

So he stops, frozen in a kata when he realizes that someone has entered, instead observing the person from an upside down gaze.

“Hello.” He says the words amiably, pushing on his hands to flip forward onto his feet with elegance grace. “I hadn’t realized someone else was using this area as a practice room.”

A stranger in a strange land,           She, @iincinere, has found a hollow soul.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ᴅᴡ . sparkle && shine

It had only been six months since his mother’s murder, && Mercury could admit to being impressed with the speed of his father’s work.

The losses were extremely significant to him - two missing limbs, over half his Aura permanently removed, && his body in a constant state of healing && degradation - but the gains, however minor, were not to be overlooked.

The loss of Aura merely allowed him to hone it to the quality of a fine chef’s blade - with less at his disposal, he was learning to make do with what he could. Two limbs short was teaching him the art of flexibility - when left alone without any means of travel, he’d learned how to travel with only his arms.

It did not outweigh the loss of his limbs, however. His most critical weapons lost would take years to relearn the use of, to establish the quality of his replacements.

A sound echos from above, the assassin’s head snapping up immediately from where he was repeating his own self-made workout. Someone was here. Not his father, if the sound was to be believed - the echoing cadence of this stranger’s steps was too even for a perpetual drunk like his father’s to be a match. Mercury swings down from his position, finding a better, more concealed location from which to observe his quarry when they inevitably entered.

The keypad to the bolt-locked door gave a fizzling sound, beeping in alarm before going silent. Thusly disabled, the door creaks open, allowing the stranger inside.

Chasing the rumors of the heir of a fortune,        He, @prabhutv, has been seeking an heir to a legacy.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

❝Can I get an Amen?             He comes out of the Shadows,       To offer me his Blessings❞

Indie Mercury Black, Penned by Sen

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ʷˢ . frozen champagne

Her glossy hair trails over her shoulders like stretched out platinum strings. Dressed in muted blues && glowing white, she appeared more like a yuki-onna than a honored hostess. He holds the glass of bubbly between two fingers, twirling it round && round as he observes with heavy-lidded eyes. At last, he can see her hands starting to shake. Someone said something stupid, it seems, && all it takes is a slip of his wrist to distract one of them, thus dragging the rest along with them in response to their vain twitterings. On the way, he snags a flute of champagne, humming under his breath.

Standing in front of her, he blocks her view of her father, offering her a reprieve as he offers the glass. “I couldn’t help but see you were getting a little stressed.” He smiles at her, doing his best to mimic the sympathy he’d seen Emerald direct towards Cinder when she wasn’t doing well. He wasn’t sure how well it was working however - he hadn’t had much time to practice.

The lonely heiress, locked in a glass cage of frozen thorns,            She, @mosaickd, lives in the dragon’s frozen hoard

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ɴᴀ . sweeping shawls

The dancer is as elegant as she is tragic, spinning around on her stage like she is the only one who exists, glittering shades of delicate chiffon && diamond latticed shawls. The length of her hair seems to melt into her clothes, blooming out as though she was under the sea.

It’s his first night as the bodyguard of the young woman, && he’s decided to observe her practice from a distance, the lights of the stage reflecting off of her dance clothes && throwing rainbow light in dizzying spirals around the young woman.

When the performance is over, Mercury makes himself known, clapping softly.

“You were lovely.”

The stars align under a thousand skies,            She, @seiriina, makes the fates weep at her ethereal designs.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

Starter call! I’ll be doing these when I get home. Mutuals only please.

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ᴍᴠ . nightingale’s song

A child did not belong here. Slim in stature, still fresh enough that his cheeks remain rounded && cherubic, Mercury looks much like a spider lily placed in a bouquet of plain daisies. Darling, by the standards of most maternally inclined women && perhaps even some of the more fatherly men among this motley, terrifying group - but undoubtedly out of place. Despite his features, his gray eyes are sharp, weaving through the crowd as they make way for him.

Mercury has earned his place among them with is savagery, razor wit, && unending determination.

He comes with the intent of selecting another request - hopefully one that would take him from the cabin he currently resides in with his breeder. scanning the listings, only one catches his gaze that meets his criteria.

The request to discover the identity of the mysterious Lady Nightingale. Plucking it from the board, he reads the paper thoroughly. The writing is perfectly penned - whoever wanted the woman’s identity must carry a grudge.

The price for her identification is high. Capturing her - if they are even a her in the first place - is even higher.

Replacing the paper upon its’ perch against the cork, he takes his marker && stamps it upon the red line that indicated who was currently in the middle of such a monumental undertaking. Turning around, he notices a new face - or perhaps an old one, freshly returned from a task of their own.

Information is paid for with the lives of people,      Lady Nightingale, @vulpesque, hides more behind her smile than words

[heartlxssxne-blog]

ʟʀ . butterflies && white lies

His body has been here for some time. Mercury can see the bones of his father’s body... It seems nobody has given him a funeral.

There’s dust, curling over the remains of the stairs that once led to his father’s bedroom. He watches it with the same amount of dispassion as he had when it had burned down.

Melted glass. Covering the kitchen floor. The crystal that his father had prized so much had turned upon him && set the house ablaze.

&& voices, from his old abode, the laboratory mostly untouched except for the research area. Silent, he glides down to observe the intruder.

Oh. How deliciously ironic.

Hunted for different reasons && a different cause,         He, @saecris, has found the lab of a madman.