#*cuts off your tail to make a sword* D: but I didn't THINK about how you'd then have a SEVERED TAIL for the rest of the fight! D:

[paradife-loft]

welp, I continue to learn about the world and the people in it by means of violence and murder 😢

Knight Artorias continues to be one of my absolute favorite boss fights

"victim of the Abyss" is the sexiest description one can read on a soul in this entire game by far

decided midway through fighting him that I wanted to go for a no-healing kill, mostly to prolong the experience and see if I could, and: success!! I can and did!

[forthedancingandthethriving]

(I d e a s.)

TW: Blood, injury, and death

○●○

"Shit-!"

Tama let's out a muffled cry as she's dropped to the muddy ground. The cloth around her muzzle is stained with both blood and now mud too.

She wriggles in her binds the best she can to sit upright. Mud and rainwater cling to her fur as she squints, head throbbing and vision blurry.

It had all happened so fast. Some random Cats had broken into her room, grabbed her, and ran.

Tama didn't know whether to be annoyed or upset, considering this was becoming a slow recurring theme. Cats were taking her a lot more often now. Word was slowly getting out she was from the long forgotten Aire Village, and they were known for their strange affinity for magic. Among.. other things.

"Found you." The voice of Dolion hisses. There's two pairs of footsteps.

"I'm going to make you wish that it was Valiant who found you first."

"W-Wait? Cozbi?! Is that-?!"

Tama squeezed her eyes shut, and it felt as though someone was covering her ears.

Do not open your eyes, kit. The wind whispers to her. Do not open them.

She doesn't. She doesn't open her eyes to see Dolion cut down the kidnapper's body. She doesn't hear how he snarls.

She does, however, feel as she's picked up.

The paws move from her ears, and Arthur whispers, "you can open your eyes, Tama."

Tama doesm. Arthur is smiling down at her, his cream-colored fur gently catching the light. He presses his nose to her forehead. "You aren't hurt, right?"

She shakes her head before pointing to the cloth around her muzzle. He blinks in surprised before carefully cutting it off. With a soft hum of a spell, the cuts and bruises on her were gone too.

"What happened to the other bad guys?" Tama asks softly.

Arthur doesn't look down at the blood mixing with the mud. "They're all taken care of. Do you know why they took you?"

"They said something about getting paid.." She remarks softly.

He nods. "Sleep. We'll be back at the castle soon."

The kit nods and rests her head on his chest, closing her eyes. He watches her closing, before the Flamepoint cat turns his head.

His ears lower a bit, seeing Dolion standing over the one body and the few others he had cut down when the first dropped Tama. The brown and white Ragamuffin cat's grip on his sword was trembling.

"They knew your old name." Arthur spoke softly.

"Someone back in Devos employed them." Dolion finishes his thought, turning his head.

Silence hangs for a moment before Dolion kneels down, plucking an emble off of one of the kidnappers. He frowns.

"What.. is this?"

Arthur approaches and his ears pin back.

The emblem seemed to be golden, but it was far too yellow and orange. Carved into it was something clearly.. not a cat. It’s muzzle was too long, and it maw was wide open. It was standing on four legs, fur bristled.

".. terrifying." Arthur whispers, tail bristling.

Dolion pockets it before sheathing the sword he held. "Lets get going. Valiant's going to what to know what happened."

"Do you think she'll be upset?" Arthur frowns as the two begins to walk. "That we just killed them?"

"No." Dolion answers matter of factly. "You know she won't."

He nods softly, and his tail gently wraps around Dolion's. He smiles as his partner's does the same.

○●○

He kneeled before the queen, wrists bound behind his back. Commander Valiant held the tip of her sword to his neck, but her face was conflicted. Arthur stood by the queen's throne as Queen Melody looked down with a slight frown.

"You were desprate." The queen of Luminos finally spoke. "You wouldn't have taken King Umbra's bounty if you weren't."

It was silent before he spoke. ".. You're right. We're all desprate." He laughed coarsely. "I thought that, 'hey, here's a chance to get out of this hellhole'."

He hung his head more. "And, even if I fail, I'll die. I won't have to stay there anymore."

Valiant's eyes had softened the smallest bit. "Who did you work for?" The commander still demanded.

".. the group has no name." He admitted. "But, sometimes, we go by the Teeth in the Dark. It's what the Cats in Devos call us."

".. what is your name?"

"Cozbi."

Queen Melody frowned. "If Arthur hadn't stopped you from putting that poison in my tea, would you have still done it?" An unknown emotion crossed her eyes. "Or.. would you have drank it yourself?"

The silence hung in the air. His answer was apparent.

"Valiant, step away from him."

The commander nodded, and she took those steps back. The heels of the queen clacked as she descended the stairs. Soon, she kneeled in front of her would-be murderer.

Gently, she cupped his face to make him look at her. Gently, she brushed a finger over his fur.

"Be one of my retainers," she offered, "and I will offer you protection from Umbra. This incident will never be spoken of. I'll make it seem like you disappeared." Queen Melody smiled gently. "You'll be safe here."

His throat had felt so dry, that day.

And yet the tears had fallen when he said yes.

○●○

Cozbi. "A liar, sliding away."

Dolion. “to deceive,” “to lure craftily,” “to use deceit” or “to lie.”

To outsiders, the name seemed almost identical. But not to Dolion. This new name was not only his way to atone, but to till do what he did best. Lie, to keep himself safe. But now, it extended to those he cared about.

Entering the palace, he merely smiles as Nimbus and Ambrosia rush up, with the Songbird taking the now sleeping kit from Arthur's arms.

"They're getting bold." Queen Melody remarks as she approaches. From behind, the familiar sound of metal clanking as Commander Valiant approaches is also heard. "This is the first time they did a kidnapping."

"That, and someone from Devos did it." Dolion narrows his eyes.

"Devos?" Nimbus's fur bristles. "How do you know?"

"Their accents, and.. this." He takes the emblem out of his pocket. From the way it was made, it was clearly from Devos. There craftsmanship was undeniable.

But the animal..

"That's some sort of canine." Nimbus frowns.

"Canine? Like those strange animals SMG8 sometimes has?" Valiant tilts her head

The Avatar nods. "Sort of, yeah. But it's really hard to tell what this one is.."

"Regardless, I'll bring this up with King Damien next time I see him." Melody sighs. "I thought the cats of Devos were happy under his rule! By Bliss, I'm going to get gray furs at this rate.."

Dolion frowns as he looks at the emblem.

He didn't know why.. but he had a sinking feeling that this wouldn't be the last time they'd see this symbol.