#hallona

[the-storm-chaser]

🪡 + Hallona's armor?

There was clattering from behind the curtain before the woman emerged in full armour, clearly looking uncomfortable.

'Alright, this is far too much for me....but I must ask....what's the deal with these gauntlets? Theyre not supposed to glow like this...right?'

[reliving-elegy]

We, the Devout, the Burning, the shattered remnant of they who were once whole...

Give us the strength to carry our friends and bury ours foes- to see the world as you once envisioned...

If only to know, one day, that we must grieve their loss and hear the endless hum.

The Violent!

The Righteous!

The Just.

VOX HAWG- FOR THE FRAIL!

[The Sarenites; Byron the Argent, Cardinal Hallona Warde and Lord of Traitors. Hunter of Hunters, Trusted of Saren, Bastion of Mortality]

(Artwork commissioned from Waltias)

[offtherackbyat]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Indigo Rd. | Black Hallona flats.

[nicht-zum-spass-hier]

#hallona #NES (hier: Ottensen, Hamburg, Germany)

[mcshep-everyday]

As Time, Unending by Lady Anne      Category: Bitextual, Ship Pairings > McKay/Weir, Slash Pairings > McKay/Sheppard Characters: Carson Beckett, Elizabeth Weir, John Sheppard, Major Lorne, Rodney McKay, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan Rating: NC-17 Genres:  Action/Adventure, AU - Alternate Universe, Challenge, Drama, First Time, Romance Warnings:  Character death Series: None Word count: 18892; Completed: Yes Summary: John is taken as a slave in the war with Geldar and gifted to the Princess Elizabeth.  Rodney is the ship's captain who loves him.  Can they find happiness in a world torn by war and hate? Story Notes: While this is nominally set on Earth (at least in my head), I have chosen to not use Earth-bound countries that anyone would recognize for my fic.  Instead, I have chosen to name my countries Hallona and Geldar.  Any resemblance to the countries of Hallona and Geldar from the SGA episode 'The Game' is purely coincidental.

[bilddagbordet123]

hallona 17.7.2019

[black-blood-black-tears]

We are the Void Where the pain is obsolete You don't have to feel a thing or think that life is not complete We are the Void Just let go and free your mind come with us into eternity and leave the rest to die. #whitechapel #thevoid #hallona #redhead #blödi #ok

[veronikasophia]

ich schau irgendwie komisch aber ich mag es trotzdem :D #hallona #ichheisseronny #ichbinmuede

[diehaareoffenundbesoffen]

Angelina Jolie has more structure in one of her cheekbones than I do in my life #layout #selfie #hallona #qoute #isokee

[reliving-elegy]

Pity

Crack

"Is it not heresy we commit, Father?!" The young girl cried, her willful silence torn from her throat. The elder man behind her relented in the strikes of the whip. He sighs exhaustedly.

"Again wit' your welshing, girl? I 'row tired of this queshtion, Hallona!" He bellows, striking her again.

Crack

She writhes as the leather connects, biting her tongue flatly to endure.

"They are monshters! Beashts! Ignorant, lying things that seek only to shurvive- who would leave ush to ROT."

"But those are our words, not theirs! We have not listened, we have not-"

Crack

She cries out again, breathing in qu-

Crack Crack

"AGHaAAH-ngH.... Father, please, they- they-" She trails off through pained sobs. The pastor growls, barking something she cannot hear through her own whines.

Crack

Biting through the tip of her tongue, she speaks her mind through the agony.

"Are we right to believe that death has meaning?!" She manages.

Crack

She writhes into her back, screaming her query louder.

"To inflict that belief upon the innocent?! They can reason, Father, they can-."

Crack

"Shtupid GIRL. They lie to themselvesh. They lie to EVERYTHING. They lie, that we may shpeak TRUTH, and RID THEM from THIS NOBLE EXISTENCE."

Crack

"-They don't-"

Crack

"-knOW! They don't-"

CrackCrack

"-THEY DON'T KNOW."

Crack

"THEY DON'T KNOW- PLEASE, FATHER-."

Hallona awakens as the next whip would strike, eyes wide and breathing harshly. Her arms twist to clutch at her back, feeling the faintest remembrance of the wounds. In the privacy of her quarters, she steps from her bedspread in distress.

The creak of the wood-

Crack

"haH-...AHH..." She whines sharply, rushing to the stand that hosts her breastplate. Wincing as her hands stop comforting her wounds-

Crack

"ggAH.-AH..." Hallona squeals, biting her tongue with great force as she had become so familiar. Her hands move quickly to dress her torso in mail, the metal flaking down against her skin-

Crack

She growls, suppressing her thoughts as she donned her breastplate. Leather straps touched both sides of her-

CrackCrack

She endures again. Her upper body now entirely coated in steel and tied tight, she pats her back again instinctively....

Nothing. The feeling of cold metal on her palm. Hallona gasps in pain as she opens her mouth, now filled with the taste of iron. She covers her mouth with her palm, attempting to staunch the flow. Crumpling to her rear, Hallona plants her back against the wall gently, pulling her knee to her chest.

Rocking slowly, she closes her eyes as tears begin to roll.

Voice softened by her bloodied hand, she weeps.

[reliving-elegy]

Clueless

"It is so often that mortals draw early conclusions about we Immortals that I have come to entirely dismiss their curiosity. Frankly their minds are enervated so thoroughly by the mere passage of time that asking them to figure the answers out on their own seems to insult a great many of them. 'Why not give the answer?' They'll ask, alongside whatever colorful commentary is in fashion for their maiden tongue."

"There's no real meaning to an answer without understanding how you get there. It's common knowledge- something they should've picked up on in elementary studies. I remind them of this, and still, they feel entitled to the end result. When I refuse, they seethe. Or riot. Or weep. Or whatever else you can think of- each has their own idiotic justification, and each idiotic justification has its catastrophic ending."

"There are, as anything, exceptions to this. Some who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; willing to waste their lives listening to what they would eventually conclude without my aid. To those few, who want for nothing more truly than to learn, I am sorry the rest of your kind are blatant fools as opposed to self-aware ones. I'll indulge them enough to satisfy or confuse- whichever comes first."

"Yet, clueless as the lessers are, what they ask always boil down to the same general array of banal queries: 'What does it mean to live?', 'Where do we go when we die?', 'What is your favorite color?', and on and on. The answers are simple enough to defeat their want of lore in short time; eager to forget what obvious things they now recognize."

"But a query stood out, if only one. It came from a girl little more than half my height, with verdant eyes that saw hate lingering beyond its moment. The bitter, burning gaze of one betrayed by their reality at every shift and change; that failed to glean hope from their own thoughts. Let it be clear that I am not easily unnerved."

"She, through that hateful perception of the world, saw me as the enemy, as most mortals tend to do. 'Bringer of the End', 'The Great Liar', something-something- none of that stuck, but she really wanted it to. So, running routine, I dismiss their raving, reiterate that I've no ill will toward humanity in spite of its many, many, maaany flaws, and bid her to find another fixation."

"Like any well-indoctrinated fanatic, this was ignored. What I did not account for was her... spirit, for lack of a better term. Rather than enforce her religiously-charged nonsense again, she sought to know why I was the enemy."

"Why must you love being cruel?"

"To which I was taken aback: so close, so close to the question she wanted to ask. I am, after all, a reflection of the world; distorted and cold and distractingly attractive and incredibly humble. In her frustration, she'd let a part of her own psyche slip, to question what could answer her own faults. Feeling generous... I corrected her."

"Why must I love cruel things?"

"The look she gave me... rather, the look she had through me- she was pierced. I counter my detractors by tricking them into asking the right questions of their own accord, letting them spiral into madness or begrudging acceptance of their own volition. But then, that moment, that instant could have been... she would have done something foolish."

"I, myself, am no stranger to cruelty. Being cruel is entertaining, true. Being an untouchable, unfathomable thing capable of cruelty- doubly so. But I do not love being cruel, only what comes of it."

"I do not love the cruelty that befalls others, but what it makes of them. Tragedy, misery and pain twist others from what they were to what they are. If I did not love cruel things, then I could not love what is left afterward. All reality would simply be a chill, morose void of utter insignificance; for nothing could ever be appreciated."

"If one cannot love cruel things, one would be incapable of love."

"She looked at me again, her once hateful gaze suffocating from the joint weight of guilt and revelation. So long had she been astray from herself that doctrine was her only direction. What must have become of her? To convince a mortal- a child- that because she wanted to understand evil, she- herself- was evil?"

"Of course, this collision of truth and memory was overwhelming for her, and she reached for a blade. Took my leave, but no offense- like any lesser, she would need time to understand. Wherever her travels took her then-onward, she would see the answer on the horizon as a dim torch within the mirror-fog of faith."

[reliving-elegy]

Verdant Horizon

We enter the scene to see Hallona and the Lord of Traitors marching alongside each other. Little time has passed relative to their last discussion. Relative to exhaustion, however....

"....Lord of Traitors, please state an estimate of travel relative to our current position."

"Sola Mor Nine Eight Five Two Eight Five Six-"

"Estimate to six places."

"Sola Mor Nine Eight Five dash Two Seven Seven, proceeding southwest at an even cadence of 7 kilometers per hour; crosswind slowing progress, humidity of ground-"

"Ignore environmental factors."

"Sola Mor Nine Eight Five dash Two Seven Seven, proceeding southwest at an even cadence of 7 kilometers per hour; noting temperance and status of attached personnel to be below average-"

"Excuse you?"

"-to be suitable for travel. Remaining distance approximated to 5.483 kilometers. Estimating arrival at entry point by Time-1947."

The Cardinal Hallona glances up to the night sky, the sun having fallen what felt like hours ago.

"...Re-state with regards time estimated for travel."

".......I say again; distance 5.483 kilometers, Time- One, Nine, Four, Seven."

Hallona's gaze falls back to the ground, looking at the vast, yet-untread path left to march.

With a quiet tsk, the bags under her eyes becoming heavier by the mere sight. There is a brief silence as she considers the situation. With a hesitant flutter in her voice, Hallona addresses the Lord of Traitors once more.

"......Cite using standard terminology?-"

"We are not there yet, Cardinal."

"I know that, but-"

"You do not understand?"

"Well, you said it so quickly."

"....I did not change my rate of speech."

"It seemed quick."

"Have you considered that embarking on an 18-hour march without having rest and exercised for several days may have had an ill effect on your cognitive ability."

"Wh-What? Preposterous. "So long as I am with purpose, I am without weakness."

"Page 246, Verse 5."

Hallona chuckles to herself, straightening her posture victoriously.

"....The context of that passage references the indomitable strength of many, Cardinal."

"Well, I am many things!"

"You are one person."

Hallona darts her eyes at Lord of Traitors, whose vision remains affixed on the path ahead.

"Do you doubt my ability, Lord of Traitors?"

"I do not doubt it. However, I am capable of understanding you."

"As a Cardinal of the Sarenites."

"As a woman."

There is a great and deafening silence. Lord of Traitors' head slowly turns to face Hallona, whose eyes betray a quiet, seething rage.

"-As a well-trained, highly educated, physically fit woman who is only capable of so much."

"Now you're most certainly speaking quicker than usual."

"I am not, but I am averse to conflict where it is unnecessary."

"Are you sure? Perhaps conflict would help us resolve this difference."

"No."

"Certain?"

"Yes."

"Good-"

"You are not without limit, Cardinal."

Hallona's half-heated anger fades with his final point. She lets out a defeated, groaning sigh.

"...I realize. But we must press on."

"But not today."

"Yes, today."

"....I do not wish to see you harmed-"

"-Thank you-"

"-In a way we have discussed prior to engagement. You cannot be expected perform if you are to enter combat fatigued."

"Then it's very fortunate we don't intend to engage the target."

"You are ignoring the expectation-"

"I have ignored NO detail."

The pair are quiet. Hallona's frustrated breaths and the sound of muddied boots against the ground are all that fill the air.

A moment passes. The Lord of Traitors flexes his fingers at his sides. Hallona looks off and away from the road, trying to find another distraction to hold her focus.

"......Purposefully underestimating the likelihood of a negative response is unwise.... Cardinal."

There is no response.

"...You have the right to retain hope."

"...Not at the cost of your well being."

Hallona's face betrays her fear of the situation, though her expression goes unseen by the Lord of Traitors.

"Let us refrain from idle discussion for the time."

"...Alright."

The two continue their march quietly for around thirty seconds.

"..........Forty-three minutes."

"Hm?"

"Forty-three minutes, Cardinal."

"....Oh, you mean... remaining. Right. Yes that's... reasonable."

"It is."

"....I guess I could have... done the math."

"You did not."

"I was expecting you to tell me."

"I did."

"Yes, but... earlier."

"You asked the wrong question to receive that answer."

"I did no such thing."

" "How much longer?" "

"....How much longer....?"

"The question you should have asked. "How much longer?" "

"....You didn't seem the type to appreciate non-specific questions."

"....I am not incapable of reading intent. I... have difficulties. It would be beneficial if you were to ask what you mean to ask."

"....I.... apologize."

"There is no need."

"...But-"

"There is no need."

The two look back to the path ahead. In the distance, the peaks of a vast wood rise into view. The two look toward the night's horizon with quiet confidence.

"....Forty-One minutes."

"Forty minutes, twelve seconds, Cardinal."

[reliving-elegy]

[ruth to hallona.]

he wrung his hands nervously, standing outside the door. he took a deep breath in (he had seen others do it) and rapped on the door three times, unsure if this was a good idea. he could just appear in the room and bypass this strange custom, but he knew it was rude and decided to do things the human way. "knock knock!" he saw cass say that once.

Moments passed at the entrance to Mercy Redoubt before a white-dressed nurse would meet Ruth's strange request. She busily addresses a subordinate attendant, her eyes away from the man as she opened the door. Turning to face him, a startled look would cross her face before recognition set in.

The woman notes his prior assistance of the Redoubt and bids him inside. Though markedly less frantic, the interior of the outpost remained tightly packed with both patient and physicians. Familiar with shuffling crowds, each silently makes passage for the rose-haired Immortal.

The heavy oaken door to the Redoubt's Operations Room is sealed; a set of voices in the midst of conversation behind it.

[reliving-elegy]

A recording of the drabble 'Half-Truth'.

Cardinal Hallona performed by Mary-Anne Stanek.

[reliving-elegy]

Opportunity, Part 2

(Read Part 1)

(Recommended Listening)

The door is pushed open slowly to introduce the Lord of Traitors, armed and armor-clad as he usually was. In fluid fashion, he turns and walks the door closed again. As he does, he affixes the metal lock into position at the entrance's base.

Hallona notes the gesture with measured unease.

"What thought brings you, Lord of Traitors?"

The man rises, turning to face Hallona; his expression replaced by the cold ceramic mask that he represented.

"...You have not reported to the Officer's mess in 14 days. It is protocol to confirm information regarding daily action at 0800 on-"

"-all dates, excluding emergencies and when special circumstances are enforced." She completes. "There have been no infractions, Lord of Traitors."

The Lord of Traitors refrains from speaking a moment. To most, this would be indicative of disapproval. In his case, however, Hallona recognized a more specific behavior. Feeling childishly guilty, she continues with a quiet correction.

"...Unless I am mistaken-"

"You have additionally failed to report to the barracks for six days. This is-."

"Not against protocol."

"You must be rested to lead, Cardinal."

She sighs defeatedly. Returning to the table, Hallona rests her hands on the parchment, staring down the spiked pawn once again. The Lord stands idle as she fades into contemplation.

"...It shouldn't be possible." She admits, a twang of distress in her words. "We've bled three battalions in less than a season."

"Accounting for desertion and serious injuries, we have lost 30% of our number."

"To one.... one." She growls through clenched teeth, her shaking hands drawn into tightened fists.

"ONE." She cries, slamming the table in frustration. Softening instantly, she rests one hand back over the pawn and places the other over her eyes. She breathes rhythmically, slowly pulling her senses back to her.

The Lord of Traitors looks to Hallona, then the pawn. The situation lacked an apt comparison, but compassion seemed necessary to emulate.

"It is... unprecedented."

"It is.... it is..." Hallona mumbles, a suspicion crossing her mind. She looks back down to the pawn with a puzzled, concerned expression.

"....Unreal." She murmurs. Hallona looks up at the Lord of Traitors with revelation in her eyes. He stood silently as she maintained her gaze, leaving the room in a dead quiet. A moment later, he begins to recite.

"According to the Santima Avenna-"

"Please don't quote the book at me. I am no fledgling."

"Then I do not understand. We are aware of the Great Liar's whereabouts. He is not responsible for this."

"There must be another."

"Cardinal. The Santima Avenna-"

"-states specifically that the Great Liar is the only lone being capable of wielding the Unreal. I know what the book says." She exclaims loudly. The man goes silent once again. With a pang of guilt, Hallona continues.

"...Apologies. I did not mean-"

"Explain." He interrupts, null to her words. Pausing, Hallona clears her throat, hesitating a moment before speaking again.

"...The Santima Avenna specifies 'only lone being'. Redundancy is.... rarely present in the text. When the scripture was originally evaluated, they believed it an error in translation."

"It was concluded to be an instance of error on the part of the one who transcribed it- the Listener." The Lord of Traitors adds earnestly.

"But the Listener did not misunderstand. Not once. Which means we did."

"How have we failed?" He asks. She frowns at the implication.

"We did not fail. We merely misinterpreted what was intended as a vital detail as excess."

"...You have described failure." He concludes. Hallona sighs softly, looking back down to the pawn.

"What I meant to say-"

"Why did you not begin with that-"

"What I mean to say is that it is not a lone being." She establishes. The Lord of Traitors takes a moment to consider contradictions.

"....Our reports have not spotted another active adversary in the area. They are-"

"It doesn't have a body. Correct." She answers, lifting the pawn, rolling it between her fingers.

"....We have not divined spirits or wyrd activity in the area."

"Then it doesn't have a soul." She remarks, continuing to flit the piece around in her hand. The Lord considers further, reaching no solution.

"....Apologies. I cannot confirm your suspicions. There is no threat that may sustain itself without a body or soul of its own." He states plainly. The Cardinal stop playing with the marker, grasping it firmly. She places her thumb and forefinger against the spikes ball on the end, drawing blood as she began to pull.

"Then it is borrowing one."

The pawn snaps.

[reliving-elegy]

Opportunity, Part 1

(Recommended listening)

The Cardinal Hallona stands alone in the operations chamber of Mercy Redoubt. Presiding over a map of the surrounding area, the warrior recovers from a bout of frustration, breathing slowly and heavily.

The parchment is torn in several places, kept together by thin strands of binding thread. Stone markers and tools of measurement are scattered across the room- used in hours of careful, but ultimately useless planning.

Hallona observes a particular region of forest, marked by a jagged black figure- a pawn with the head of a Morningstar. Her hand hovers around it, lightly tapping her fingers in a rhythm familiar to her upon the thin paper.

Tap-Tap tap tap Tap-Tap tap tap

Seconds became minutes became uncertain as she wandered within her mind, lost in contemplation of her next move.

One adversary. One Immortal had brought her forces, which had stood ready to cut down dozens dozens- no, hundreds- of potential threats. Two decades of preparation, training, grueling efforts, restless nights, blood and an ever-immersive fear seeking to swallow her whole. Two decades since she had been given a chance to make true the faith of all that had lent themselves, their kin, their offspring, their very lives in service to this cause.

To rid the world of things that wrongly believe themselves above reproach, and shame, and death.

In less than a month, all of them may have died for nothing.

Tap-Tap tap tap Tap-Tap tap tap

The Cardinal's eyes look through the table, now lost in ruminations.

What beast could cause such damage? What manner of monster had taken residence in that wood? What unimaginable power must this abomination possess?

Tap-Tap taptap Tap-Tap taptap

(End Recommended Listening)

Knock Knock

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap thup

The Cardinal looks up from the map, toward the great oaken door of the chamber.

"Engaged." She answers flatly.

"Understood. Knocking serves to interrupt this."

The bluntness of the answer caused Hallona to flinch. With a subdued chortle, she takes a moment to prepare her response.

"I might have expected one of the trainees to interrupt me, but you? Since when does the Lord of Traitors run intelligence to a busied war room?" She questioned

"I am not running intelligence."

"Not running intelligence? Then why are you interrupting-" Hallona begins before catching her thought. An expression of mild confusion crosses her face, turning softer as she considered who she was addressing.

"...Have you come to... speak with me directly, Lord of Traitors?"

"Yes. This would be easier without a door in the way."

With an amused sigh, the Cardinal raises herself off the table. She tightens the straps of her gauntlets, glancing over herself in the reflections of the metal. Noting her hair's frayed look, she corrects it as best she can. Clearing her throat, she calls to the visitor.

"Enter."

(Read Part 2)