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ace-malarky · 11 months ago

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Golden Years

It's a writing share Thursday I have decided so have some of the Feral family and Llinos being a Whole Badass bc I wanted to explore some Fun lineage powers

The building was a burnt-out husk, but Tamhas could imagine what it might have looked like in its heyday.

He almost remembered it, actually.

“This feels familiar, doesn’t it?” Tadg asked, echoing Tamhas’ thought.

“Like a memory,” Tamhas agreed. “But I don’t…” He stiffened, ears twitching as he heard something.

Tadg stopped a second later, tilting his head towards the old building.

There was someone in there.

They exchanged a glance and tightened their respective grips on their weapons.

“Hello?” Tadg called out.

“Ah, boys, you came!” Tilde stepped out through what once would have been the building’s main doors. “How delightful.”

“Where is she?” Tamhas asked. “Where’s Llinos?”

The human smiled. “All in good time, boys. Let me show you around first. It has been a long time since you stepped foot in here, isn’t it?” She looked back up at the ruin.

Tamhas looked up at the structure, taking in the skeletal remains of the upper floors, the roof beyond them gone. It would have been grand, once.

“This is our home?” Tadg asked. “I remember… burning. Maybe.” He glanced at Tamhas.

Tamhas shrugged. They followed Tilde inside the burnt walls.

“That was a nasty business. All in search of a legend.”

“What do you know of it?” Tamhas trailed behind Tadg, keeping a careful distance from Tilde.

The walls were scorched black and bare, and the ceiling was broken through in places, letting the stars shine through. There was nothing left but ash. Either everything had burnt or been stolen.

“All in good time,” Tilde repeated. She led them without pausing through the corridors towards the back of the building. Of the mansion.

There was a door that had not burned. It wasn’t even marked.

Tilde knocked at it, and the door swung open. She turned to the twins and beckoned them to enter first.

“Is Llinos in there?” Tamhas asked. He sniffed at the air, but all he could smell was ash, somehow. Still, after all these years.

“All your questions will be answered,” Tilde replied. “But please, enter.”

Tamhas fought to keep his ears from going back. His tail twitched against his legs.

“Don’t keep him waiting.”

He pressed up against Tadg’s side.

The room beyond the door was large, opening up far more than either of them expected. There weren’t any windows, and the ceiling was intact. There were paintings along the walls, of people both human and fox-bonded. Some of them looked familiar, in that they shared features with each other. With Tamhas and Llinos and Tadg, more so the ones that were simply human. Tamhas saw his eyes, saw Llinos’ courtesy smile, saw Tadg’s grin.

The floor was polished wood, and a rug had been pushed to the side to reveal an inset block of white marble. Beyond it was a desk, and against the desk leant a cloaked figure.

“My, you’ve certainly grown since I last saw you. Such is the passage of time, I suppose.”

“Who are you?” Tamhas asked.

“And where’s Llinos?” Tadg scanned the room, leaning as if to see around the figure.

“I remember this place in its golden years,” the figure said, ignoring their questions. “Or – well, I remember the stories of it. They were failing already when I was young, and when you two were boys – well.” He shrugged, spreading his gloved hands wide. “But you can help me restore all that. I just need one thing from you.”

Tadg pulled free his short sword. “Where is our sister?”

He laughed. “You know, I have no idea. I really thought she’d be here by now!” He stood up. “I hope she hasn’t been too badly waylaid. Otherwise, this really isn’t the family reunion I had thought it might be.”

“What are you talking about? The rest of our family’s… dead.”

“Open the vault, boys.” The figure touched a foot to the marble. “One of you should be able to. Then we’ll see about that claim of yours.”

Tamhas stared at his foot. It was more of a paw, really, covered in white fur. “You’re – like us?”

“Open the vault, boys.”

Tamhas let out a strangled yelp as Tilde grabbed his arm, twisting it back and pulling him off-kilter before he could do anything.

Tadg whirled to face her, short sword raised, but she had a dagger at Tamhas’ throat.

“Do as he says,” Tilde says, her voice silky in Tamhas’ ear.

“Alright, alright!” Tadg set his sword on the ground, crouching to examine the slab of stone.

There were no markings on it.

Tadg pressed a hand to it, trying to find a seam. Nothing. “I… I don’t know how.”

“How many tails have you?” The figure stalked forward.

“What? Just the one.” Tadg looked up at him.

The figure was wearing a mask under the hood of his cloak, but his eyes glittered faintly red through it.

“Useless.” He kicked Tadg in the side, the force sending him tumbling across the floor until he fetched up against the wall. “You.” He pointed at Tamhas. “Open it.”

Tilde let go of him.

“Tadg–” Tamhas started towards his brother.

“The vault first.” The figure latched his hand about Tamhas’ wrist.

He was smaller, but as Tamhas took another look at Tadg – he was still conscious, trying to push himself up to sitting, hand at his ribs – the figure forcibly yanked him onto the marble.

“Fine!” Tamhas dropped to his knees.

He pressed both hands into the stone. There was nothing to it. It was a block of stone, nothing more. Barely even an edge where the wood stopped around it.

“Come on,” Tamhas hissed at it.

“Step away from my brother.” Her voice was a hoarse snarl, something animal and furious in it.

Tilde gasped behind him.

“Well, well, well… you finally made it.”

Tamhas chanced a glance over his shoulder.

Llinos had bonded since the last time he’d seen her. Her fur was more of a russet than her hair had been, her throat creamy white against the battered brown of her leather armour. Her armour was scarred and smeared with blood, but she was standing steady. Her ears were flattened back, her teeth bared in a snarl, and she had an arrow trained on the cloaked man’s chest.

“I mean it. Step away.”

Kaua and Jasper stepped into the room around her. Jasper went straight to Tadg, while Kaua stayed near Llinos, eyes on Tilde.

The figure put his food down on Tamhas’ hand, pinning him there. “Or what, Llinos?” He applied pressure and Tamhas hissed out a curse, wrapping his other hand about his ankle. “You’re hardly going to kill–”

Llinos shifted her hand minutely and fired. “Get fucked.”

He stumbled back, not quite reaching the desk before he fell to the ground.

Kaua charged to meet Tilde before she could turn on Tamhas, sweeping up her sword in a vicious attack.

“Tamhas?” Llinos took another arrow from the quiver strapped to her leg. “You alright?”

Tamhas flexed his hand. “Yes. But Tadg–” He twisted to look over at his twin.

Jasper had him sitting upright, carefully feeling for injuries. Tadg gave Tamhas a thumbs up, even as he winced.

Llinos stalked forward.

Tamhas got to his feet, falling in beside her. “They said they had you, that if we didn’t come out here, they’d hurt you.”

The figure was struggling, one hand on the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. “You missed,” he said.

“I never miss,” Llinos pushed back his hood, pulling off his mask.

He was another fox feral, mostly white with black ears and black markings around his eyes, which were dark blue with an encroaching red rim. There were fainter black markings across his head, disappearing under the collar of his cloak.

“Uncle Domhnall?” Llinos froze.

“Hello, niece.” He smiled. “How nice to see you again.”

“We have – I thought everyone else was dead? They all died?” Tamhas looked at Llinos.

“I thought so too.” She threw his mask away. “What the fuck.”

“The family was fading, you wouldn’t understand. The power, the influence they used to have–”

“So you burnt them all?” Llinos placed a foot on his stomach, keeping him on the floor.

“I was trying to get into the vault.”

“It’s locked to us for a reason,” Llinos snarled.

Tamhas felt his fur reacting like static. It felt like there was a thunderstorm coming, but there were just Llinos beside him.

As he watched, her single tail unfurled. Eight more formed like crackling spectres.

“Llinos?”

“You can open it!” Domhnall said, his eyes wide. “Bring back the golden years for us, Llinos!”

The light in the room went.

Kaua swore.

Llinos was lined with lightning, her spectral tails like a banner behind her. She leant down to place a hand on the arrow sticking out of Domhnall’s shoulder.

Tamhas reached out to her, unsure what he could even do to stop her. Unsure if he very much wanted to.

“Those years are gone, uncle. They’re in the ground with the rest of our family.”

A spark ran down the arrow. Domhnall cried out and went limp.

Llinos’ spectral tails vanished, and they were left in darkness.

“Fuck that was hot,” Kaua muttered.

Tadg snorted and then hissed at the pain.

“You really had to take out the light,” Jasper said, sighing.

“Bite me, catboy, you have night vision.”

“I don’t,” Kaua said. “I don’t think our friend here does, either.”

There was a groan from Tilde.

“He’s not… dead, is he?” Tamhas asked.

Fire flared up from the edge of the room as Jasper lit a torch.

Domhnall was lying limp at their feet.

“No, he’ll be fine.” Llinos checked his pulse. “He’ll just be out for a while, that’s all.”

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” said Tadg as Jasper helped him over.

“God, you’re all still taller, this is ridiculous.”

“I told you there wasn’t any height difference.” Jasper laughed at her.

Tamhas stepped around to stand on Tadg’s other side, putting some space between himself and Llinos.

“What about this one?” Kaua asked.

Tilde was on her knees in front of Kaua, sporting a swelling bruise about one eye and clutching at her wrist.

“She was the one that’s been in contact with us. She said you were in danger,” Tamhas said.

“Probably been spying on us for a while.”

Jasper frowned at her, tilting his head almost as if trying to remember her.

“Oh, she’ll have some answers for us as well then.” Llinos smiled, all teeth and hard eyes.

“Fuck I’m going to marry you some day.”

“You still haven’t?”

Jasper groaned. “I’m trying.”

“Try harder.” Tadg elbowed him and smirked.

“Do you know what he meant by the golden years?” Tamhas asked. He tried not to stare at the space where Llinos’ spectral tails had been.

Llinos shrugged. “Old and rich family. It’s always better for them in the Old Days. Before anyone alive remembers.”

Tamhas looked down at the stone. “We’re not opening that, are we?”

Llinos snorted. “I wouldn’t know how. Probably best left locked.”

“Come on.” Kaua hefted the unconscious woman. “You can take him.”

Tamhas glanced at Tadg, who was only slightly leaning on Jasper, and stooped to pick up their… their uncle. Llinos ducked under his other arm and offered Tamhas a slight smile.

Tamhas glanced back once at the vault. Yeah. Probably better not.

#writing pieces #mercenary mages #mist worlds #Llinos ferch Rhydderch #Tamhas ap Liram #Tadg ap Saril #Jasper sa Adrassa #Feral Mage #kaua burai #I did very much write a follow up piece to this in which Llinos does give in to curiosity #but that's for. some other time. idk #anyway yeah! writing!#This was mostly to explore the twins but I can't resist some Funky Magics #and then having to build in the world building to make it plausible lmao #possibly one of my favourite prompts of the last year I think #(... assuming I wrote it last year idk)

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ace-malarky · 2 years ago

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Hey those are *my* siblings back off

I woke to a message from my friend this morning that went off into headcanons about my travelling band of chaotic feral mages that then spawned this piece of writing and ok it's probably rough and yes I did just write it in the two hours after midnight but hey

you know what

I kinda fucken like it

(in which Jasper might get pissed off by his siblings but no one else is allowed to even think about hurting them)

~~~~

The laughter – good natured as it is – grates at him like the screech of a badly timed parry.

Jasper clamps his sword in his hand and flattens his ears against his skull, snapping to his feet and turning on his heel in one smooth movement.

“Hey, Jas–” Llinos starts, falling out of stance even before the music halts.

“Don’t,” he replies, barely making the word not a snarl. “Just – don’t.”

Kaua and Tadhg stop playing. Tamhas is on his front, getting to his feet.

“Sorry,” Llinos says.

“Yeah.” Jasper stalks out of the clearing they’d made their camp in, leaves them all behind.

He walks far enough that he can’t see the play of their campfire, can’t hear them pick up the halting threads of a conversation he’d been part of when they’d sat down.

It’s nights like this when Kallyin feels closest to the surface, when the fire burns under his fingertips, when everything feels just a little more… a little more.

He won’t stay away long. Just long enough to soothe out his scorched nerves. Just short enough that they won’t bother to send someone out after him, because he doesn’t think he wants to find out who they’d send to talk him down first.

Even if he knows it will always be Llinos; they’ve known each other out here too long for her to send anyone else in her stead.

Jasper lets a little fire escape on his breath, siphoning off a little of his anger. Not anger. Annoyance. He remembers the way Kallyin would prowl, ears twitching, teeth bared in a quiet snarl. She’d always held his anger, and now he held hers.

It isn’t too much later when he turns back to the forest he’s left them in. There’s nothing out here but the plains before the mountains, and he can only see them as a distant void against the night sky.

He’s stepped too well to leave much of a trail, but he follows his nose back in along the faint promise of smoke, ears twitching to catch the faint sound of conversation.

Jasper’s far closer than he ought to be before he realises that something is wrong, that he should have heard something of their conversation now, however faint. They wouldn’t have all fallen asleep without him there.

He slows to a prowl and flicks his sword partially free of its sheathe, dropping into a crouch.

The second thing he notices is that the fire is brighter than he’d left it. More spread out.

The third thing is the charm that’s been painted onto a tree, still fresh and stinking of iron. He doesn’t recognise its design, but he knows it’s been painted in blood.

A low growl slips past his teeth.

Shapes in the clearing sharpen as his eyes adjust. Tamhas and Tadhg, back to back and slumped forward, noses almost to their knees. Kaua, gagged and tied up, struggling furiously under the watch of a man holding her down with the blunt end of a spear. She’s oddly muffled even for the gag, and that must be what the charm does, some kind of silencing.

Llinos, flat out on her front like she’d been dropped, arms tied behind her, her bow in the grass beside her and dangerously close to the fire. There’s a scattering of arrows in the scuffed grass, Kaua’s sword, and another two figures watching them. They’re gesturing with their swords – little more than machetes, maybe, more suited for cutting through plants than people – and seem to be arguing. He can’t hear what they’re saying.

He doesn’t care what they’re saying.

No sign of Rhydderch, and Jasper hopes – he can’t see Llinos well enough to tell. He doesn’t think she’s bonded, he thinks that if she had they wouldn’t be caught like this, he thinks there would be more damage to their surroundings (he remembers bonding with Kallyin, the panic and the fire and the yowling pain that had nearly split his senses apart on the path).

Rhydderch must be free, he thinks fiercely, not looking too closely at the pile of their belongings. It would kill Llinos for it to be any other way.

He’s still growling. That’s his family down there.

Fire slides between his jaws, eyes sharpening to slits as he places a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Llinos hasn’t moved.

The sound of it drawing rasps in the night, amongst the creak of branches and the rustle of leaves. There isn’t any wildlife nearby.

They haven’t heard; their charm works both ways.

One of the boys – he thinks Tamhas, the fire turning his sandy coat umber – groans and lists sideways, ears flicking up.

Jasper bares his teeth and lunges from the treeline.

Sound rushes back in; the fire, the argument, the fire, Kaua’s indignant muffled curses that are half shrieks, the fire.

“You let that damned fox get away–”

“It’s just a fox, what does it matter, some dumb animal–”

Jasper slams into the two arguing men before they’ve realised he’s there; chops into one as he shoulder-barges the other to the ground, barely stumbling as he digs a foot into the ground and rips his claws through the dirt as he turns, holding his sword out.

A screech pierces the night, a rolling alarm that isn’t any of them.

The one he’d hit with his sword reels back with a cry, almost dropping his machete. He takes one look at Jasper and tries to run.

Jasper snarls and fire tips his teeth and he doesn’t let him run. He throws his sword’s sheathe between his legs and brings him down, kicking the other in the face as he turns again, towards Kaua.

The fire’s between them. It’s not as tall as he’d thought, but it’s more spread out. They’d added to it, made it more of a bonfire, a signal.

The fire under Jasper’s fingers wants to answer it. Kallyin purrs in his chest, ready to play.

The man levels his spear at Jasper, kicking Kaua away. She curses him again, digging her talons into the grass, flicking her head to try and dislodge the gag.

Something screams in the forest beyond the clearing.

Jasper’s grin sharpens as he recognises Rhydderch’s call. “You made a mistake,” he says, and his voice is barely recognisable, all low snarl and rasping threat.

“You’re surrounded,” the man replies, and keeps the fire between them.

One of the other men, coughing, sets off a flare that shatters against the sky, blinding the stars.

“You think we didn’t come prepared?”

“I think you’d like to think you did,” Jasper replies, and feints to his other side just to see him flinch. He turns his sword in his hand.

There are other people in the forest, coming closer. Now that he’s broken the barrier, he can hear them. They’re not quiet.

Llinos still isn’t moving.

“If you’ve hurt my sister,” Jasper says, “Nothing will save you.”

“Jasper,” says Tadhg, tailing off with a groan.

“There’s more of them.” Tamhas sounds a little more alert. “Mages.”

His opponent tries to take an opportunity, thinking him distracted as his ears flick in their direction, and stabs at him through the fire.

Jasper twists sideways and slaps the spear away with his sword.

The fire gutters under the draft of their weapons.

Jasper breathes in.

The fire dips some more. Shadows grow through the clearing. The flare dies above them, the stars reappearing.

Jasper blinks, his eyes adjusting to the dim light.

His opponent catches his breath, hands tightening on his spear.

Jasper lunges forward, through what’s left of the fire, and sweeps his sword up to catch on the spear’s haft, smacking it out of the way. There’s little finesse in his attack and they go tumbling as he lands, over and over until Jasper is on top and their weapons have been left behind.

He manages to punch Jasper. He hits Jasper’s cheek, splitting his lip against his fangs, snapping his head to the side.

Jasper snarls – he’s been growling almost the whole time, but it erupts now, fire licking out between his jaws – and catches his hands, slamming them into the ground. “No one touches my family.”

Several things happen.

A group of men charge into the clearing with their weapons drawn. Rhydderch dashes in, another man on his tail. Tamhas breaks free and throws himself at one of the men Jasper had already downed, just as he got to his feet.

Kaua spits the gag from her beak.

Jasper throws himself sideways just before an arrow whistles through the space he had been. He rolls, steadies himself, lunges forward without really getting to his feet. He grabs his sword on the way, and charges into the group as the fire blazes back up in his wake.

Kaua takes a breath and shrieks. There’s no melody to it; there are barely words. It rends the night, cuts through the clash of metal, slices the growl that buzzes in Jasper’s chest.

Two of the men stumble, go ashen, fall to their knees and scramble backwards to the tree line. Several more turn and run, disappearing amongst the trees with Rhydderch on their tail.

Jasper ducks a wild blow and twists his sword into two from the handle, palming one into his off hand. He wreaks havoc, surrounded as he is, and every slice finds its mark.

Somewhere, Rhydderch barks. Somewhere, someone screams.

“And fucking get gone!” Someone – Tadhg, he thinks – yells.

There’s only one of them still standing, and that’s either because he’s stayed out of the way or because he’s actually good.

Jasper’s keen to find out which. He could do with a challenge.

This man has a curved sword and a buckler and a taunting smirk that he levels at Jasper as he backs to a clear space.

Kaua has stopped shrieking.

Jasper steps over one of his opponents and can’t find it in himself to care whether or not he’s dead. He bares his teeth in a facsimile of a grin, eyes dancing with fire.

There’s a soft moan behind him – Llinos, finally awake.

Rhydderch appears amongst the trees, stands tall and still for a moment, and then races towards her.

Jasper’s family is safe, but they almost weren’t.

Their swords meet in a discordant clash, his second screeching against his opponent’s shield.

If Jasper cared, maybe he’d taunt him. Maybe he’d ask for information, find out if anyone hired them or if they were just being opportunistic.

Jasper doesn’t care. Not really. His family was hurt and he hadn’t been there, but he’d got back in time.

He locks the hilts of their swords together and pulls to the side.

His opponent slams his buckler into Jasper’s chest and attempts to yank his sword back.

Jasper stumbles backwards and coughs fire, staining his opponent bright with its warmth. His sword slips from his grasp and his opponent smirks, slowly repositioning as if he has the time to gloat.

Jasper swings his other sword in and under his buckler, punching through his armour and between his ribs.

His opponent has the audacity to look surprised, as if Jasper hadn’t been toying with him the whole time.

Jasper steps back, yanking his sword free.

The man staggers backwards, lifting a trembling hand to his chest. He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something.

Jasper tilts his head, lifting his sword to let the blood run off it and drip into the fire, where it sizzles.

The man falls and slowly – finally – stops moving.

One of the twins whistles.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get on Jasper’s bad side,” said Tamhas.

Kaua snorts.

“Hey.” Llinos is partially leaning on Kaua, her bow in her hands with an arrow on the string, though she didn’t look like she’d tried to pull it at any point. “Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Jasper says, and wipes his sword clean.

#writing pieces #jasper sa adrassa #llinos ferch rhydderch #kaua burai #mist worlds #tadg ap saril #tamhas ap liram #feral mage #mercenary mages #apparently that's their group tag? wild #anyway I'm gonna. go sleep now. but yeah! fucking writing!#no it's not connected to the current novel but holy shit was it good to do some actiony writing #I say knowing full well I keep skating over writing Kari's fights lmao #don't worry about it. that wip really isn't the place for them #anyway Jasper has Zuko-style swords which I love #this is set after soul of the party!#I'm not sure by how much #but it's after that and before fox family drama which is a whole 'nother thing I have vaguely written #Jasper tends to be teased most readily because he is the oldest sibling but they love him really #and he knows this just sometimes it gets too much #the rest of them probably try to get better at reading his tells after this #they're not gonna stop teasing him but they will stop poking it so far #either that or the twins try to instigate it into fights idk #just to burn off the aggression or whatever #neither of them are really fighters

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ace-malarky · 1 year ago

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🫂 for the ask game :D ~loopyhoopywrites

hey @loopyhoopywrites thaaaanks for the ask!

Share a line (or dialogue exchange) that shows the relationship between two characters.

have some fairly-early-in-their-travelling Llinos and Jasper, who have known each other for maybe two? years? at this point?

“Because they will find us a sewer and it will be gross.” Llinos wrinkled her nose. “Trust me.” She finished tying a loop in the rope and coiled it around her chest, trapping her bow against her body with it. Jasper winced. “Alright.” He lifted his feet, stamping them down for a better footing. “Just – don’t kick me in the face.” He laced his hands together and braced himself. “Don’t be vain, Jasper.” Llinos set her foot in his hands and boosted herself up from there to his shoulders. Jasper winced as she shifted up onto her toes, straining to reach. “Can you straighten up any?” she hissed down. “I’m pretty oh shit.” Llinos dropped to a crouch, still balanced on his shoulders. Jasper grunted and did his best not to drop her. “What happened?” “I may have been spotted.” Llinos wriggled her bow free. “Don’t worry about it.” Jasper grabbed onto her calves as she stood again, bringing her bow up. “You don’t get to pick the jobs after this.”

#satisfaction brought it back #mercenary mages #I have written so much of these guys over november I love them so much #and the Jasper-Llinos shenanigans are finally coming through lmao #(most of what I have written previously has included Kaua and therefore a little bit more teasing by way of Kaua/Llinos flirting.#so to have these two on their own is. fun!)#Jasper sa Adrassa #Llinos ferch Rhydderch #Mist Worlds

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ace-malarky · 4 months ago

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👀👀👀 for soul of the party?

ooh ok yeah

I really need to bite the bullet and admit that this one has stalled out and I should start from semi-scratch lmao

anyway

Selene’s gaze drifted back to the Feral as Lord Gaulivant made the same speech he always did; congratulating every entrant, talking up the duels and the jousting and making slight mention of the magic rounds, and reminding everyone of the other engagements of the tournament. A mage in the duels wasn’t unheard of – and neither was a Feral – but it wasn’t generally… done. She itched with questions and could only hope that the Feral, that Jasper sa Adrassa would turn up at some of the more social events so that they could meet. There was something about his name, too, that was familiar. But Selene would have remembered if a family of Feral Mages lived in town.

#the soul of the party #my god selene you can't just ask a mage why he prefers his sword #satisfaction brought it back #''it's not the done thing'' thinks Selene #known person who definitely always does the done thing

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ace-malarky · 8 months ago

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For your weekend wip game with the lore thing: which character(s) is most likely to be awake in the middles of the night with the painsomnias ?

(Also 3×3 whatever wip it is. You're making progress today. Sunglasses emoji)

I was gonna automatically answer for a group that wasn't on the list oops ^^; of this set - Nuvian would be awake with the painsomnias, I think

At present in the WIP he's largely nocturnal anyway for ease of his business (genteel boss of the night market) but even outside of that he doesn't sleep that much when he's suppose to, and Rosie (his li'l soul mage healer) can't do all that much for him

and a 3x3 for Soul of the Party! Slightly more than 3 bc the only thing slower than this computer is the work lmao

~~~

She spotted Elise with Llinos and Abigail and Everly, but didn’t join them. She wasn’t going to be much use at conversation, and besides. Harder to single her out if she was in a group.

Stars above, but she needed some air. All this waiting – maybe she and Llinos should have simply startled them in the warehouse.

“Selene?” Carlin caught her arm as she bumped into them.

“Sorry, Carlin.” Selene shook her head, refocusing away from her spiral. “Were you saying something?”

They frowned. “Are you quite alright? Saro hasn’t said much, but...”

“Ah.” Selene smiled and lifted her arm free of them. “Yes, I’m doing fine.”

“Are you sure? You seem-” they searched for the word- “distracted. Caught up in something.”

“Distracted is right,” she replied. “I’m just trying to find someone, that’s all.”

“Ah.” Carlin smiled almost sadly. “Jasper sa Adrassa? I’ve never seen him outside of the park.”

“Even for the end of the tournament?” Selene took the out they gave her, even if it twisted something inside. “That seems unsportsmanlike.”

“Well, he’s only barely a man,” Carlin said lightly. “And he was disqualified. I would hope he isn’t plotting anything.”

“He’s not like that.” Selene frowned. “But - my apologies, Carlin, please excuse me. I need some air.”

“Of course.” They stepped back. “And - please, Selene? Don’t... get into too much trouble?”

“I’ll do my best.” She smiled and made for the great sash windows that led onto the balcony.

#weekend wip game #satisfaction brought it back #the soul of the party #nuvian didn't even have the decency to turn up in this part of the scene lmao #(he's in the bit literally after this but alas. bridging)#I'm making progress but at what cost #the work computer Did Not Like opening things today lmao #is this because the doc is like 131 pages? maybe #more likely because the computer is a piece of shit #the other answer was gonna be razar ori of the guardians

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ace-malarky · 2 years ago

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Oh Hey, You're A Sharp One

I stopped to pull some food together, but uh. Yeah! Writing! This comes not long after The Pros and Cons of Catboys

These two really don't ever get a normal meeting ok

Although. To be fair. After this they just sort of start travelling together anyhow.

Llinos isn’t trailing at the back of the caravan – she’s exactly where she’s been told to walk – but she maybe isn’t paying as much attention as she should be. The road has been long since almost sunrise and ok she knows they needed the job, but come on. They couldn’t have spent just one more day in the last town? It wouldn’t have hurt anyone’s profits – she knows for a fact they’ll get to the next town ahead of schedule because they always do – and who knows, maybe it would have been good for morale.

It would have been good for her morale.

“Eyes on the trees, Llinos.”

Her hands don’t tense on her bow. That’s important to know. She was not startled.

“Those sure are some trees,” she replies, flicking her gaze over the forest on one side of the path.

Rhydderch shows himself for a moment, standing at the top of the bank between two trees and looking down, as if he’s checking on her. Then he disappears back into the undergrowth with a flick of his tail.

“See, Rhydderch has it.”

Jasper hums. “Glad one of you has your head in the game.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Llinos leans out to see down the length of the caravan. “My head’s plenty in the game. Just a quiet game, that’s all.”

Jasper grins and starts to form a retort, but he’s interrupted by a yell from the head of the caravan.

“I didn’t jinx it,” Llinos says, lifting her bow up and reaching for an arrow. “That doesn’t count as a jinx!”

Jasper decides not to answer as he draws his sword and turns to meet the bandits appearing from the forest.

Kallyin bounds past Llinos and snarls at someone. Llinos raises her bow and fires, bringing one of the bandits down before he’s cleared the forest.

Jasper is fighting at her back; she can hear the clash of sword on sword, but ignores it in favour of stepping around the side of the caravan and firing down its length at another attacker.

Rhydderch barks, somewhere in the forest, and then yelps.

“Go!” Jasper calls, before she even looks around.

Llinos lowers her bow, grabs an arrow in hand, and charges up the bank and in amongst the trees.

They haven’t all charged the caravan. She’s fast, and they’re not expecting her, so she gets the drop on them. Two bandits fall to her before they get to their feet, dropping their own bows and drawing hunting knives.

Llinos jumps back, turning away one knife with her bow, wincing as it shaves some wood off. She ducks another and twirls an arrow in her grasp, stabbing it into his gut before coming up inside the reach of the other fighter, too close for him to get a swing in. She smacks her fist into his face and knees him in the groin, yanking the knife from his hand and stabbing it through his neck.

There’s a flash of red and Rhydderch is there, blood staining his bright fur and something that looks suspiciously like fingers in his mouth.

“Caravan,” she says to him, laying an arrow on the string of her bow.

Someone’s chasing after Rhydderch, knife held awkwardly in his off hand.

Llinos fires the arrow into his chest, and he falls backwards.

Rhydderch races towards the caravan, tail a banner behind him.

Llinos crouches, half behind a tree and ducked into a bush, and listens for anyone else crashing around the forest.

Rhydderch barks at something behind her, followed shortly by Kallyin’s loud snarl.

Llinos lowers her bow and takes another arrow from the quiver strapped to her leg, and thinks that maybe she should have kept that knife. The body’s just there.

It doesn’t sound like there’s anyone nearby, although it’s hard to tell exactly with the fighting still going on by the caravan.

She puts her bow down, inches out from her cover, and reaches for it.

Something cracks nearby.

Llinos throws herself towards the sound before she can think and stabs out with the arrow in her hand.

At the same time, something stabs into her side, sliding easily through the worn leather she hasn’t managed to replace yet.

“Ow.” She thinks, briefly, that it’s a strange kind of defence spell that means the attacker stabs herself.

“Llinos?”

She knows that voice, hadn’t been thinking about it for the whole day, but ah- “Kaua?” She looks up, finally.

With Llinos on her knees, Kaua is taller just now. It’s strange to be looking up at her.

“What are you doing here?”

“Nice sword.” Llinos grins. She hasn’t let go of the arrow. Her hand’s brushing up against Kaua’s armour. She must have found a gap in it. “Very sharp.”

Rhydderch barks behind Llinos, and it’s a struggle to whistle for him, but then Kallyin is there anyway and Jasper not far behind.

“Mind giving us a hand back?” Llinos asks. “We’re a little- uh- cut up?”

Jasper sighs.

#writing pieces #Jasper sa Adrassa #Kaua #Llinos ferch Rhydderch #Mist Worlds #hey guess what they still need a group tag #Mercenary Mages #might work for the moment?#injuries #I do not go into much detail #this was a very quick thing I wrote anyhow #back in the beginning of the summer I think #I might just share more of this sequence tbh #I'll space it out some but yeah

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ace-malarky · 2 years ago

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TSOTP; They walked into that one

oh shit yeah I was gonna share some writing

fuck what was it again

oh yeah, this;

(there will be a bit more build up later. I haven't actually caught up to this scene yet)

Jasper crashed into Solaris’ back, curving around him so that Jasper hit the ground first, rolling them both across the floor into the shelter of an open crate.

“Hey-” Solaris started.

Jasper pushed his head down and hunched over him, back to the open storage room.

An explosion punched through the building. Walls crumbled and the ceiling started to crack.

Solaris heard a yelp from one of the twins. Jasper’s arm tightened around him, shifting them both further into the shelter of the crate.

The building fell, so loud that Solaris couldn’t hear anything but the crash of brick and the groan of metal, the shattering of glass.

Jasper tensed and Solaris felt more than heard him hiss.

Jasper still had a hand on Solaris’ head, keeping him small below his shelter.

Solaris turned his head sideways to look up at Jasper, meeting his slit-eyed gaze. Jasper’s ears were flattened to his head, his teeth bared in a silent hiss.

Solaris glanced beyond Jasper to the roof, and his eyes widened as he saw it crack into chunks above them.

He pushed back into the crate, yanking Jasper with him, scrambling further into the shelter they’d found. Would it hold?

Was this it?

Saro would kill him if it was.

The ceiling fell.

Jasper grunted.

The crate splintered.

Everything went dark.

Solaris rose back to consciousness slowly and in a haze of pain.

It was mostly dark. There was a thin flame flickering nearby, enough to see Jasper. His eyes were mostly expanded pupil, a ring of shifting red bright around them. They were reflecting the flame back in a way that was distinctly not human. His ears were half raised, tilting back and forth.

Solaris closed his eyes again.

“Don’t do that,” Jasper said. “Can you move?”

“Ow,” Solaris said, testing out his fingers and toes, then his legs and arms. “Yes.”

“Good.” Jasper grunted. He had one hand braced against the ground behind Solaris, arm locked and trembling.

“Is that the ceiling?” Solaris asked.

There was a slab of stone slanted against Jasper’s back. The crate was bowed above them, cracked but not shattered.

“Help me move it?” Jasper asked.

Solaris wriggled out from under Jasper, hissing at areas which were probably forming bruises. Nothing broken, everything hurt.

“Alright.” He pressed his shoulder to it, feet braced against the floor.

Jasper’s other hand had the fire hovering above it.

Solaris filed that away to ask about later.

“On three,” Jasper said, shifting to face the slab.

They didn’t manage to tip the slab. They created enough of a space to squeeze out from under it.

When they let the slab go, it crushed the crate beneath it.

Solaris evaluated Jasper again, wondering just how strong he really was.

Jasper was staring at him as well. The flame was out above his hand, but there was enough light coming in through the missing walls.

They were both covered in dust and splinters.

“Your hat,” Jasper said, lifting his hand to his head.

Solaris’ hands flew to his own and found his hat tangled in the collar of his coat. “Thanks.” He pulled it back onto his head, doing his best to tuck most of his hair under it.

Jasper twisted an ear, dust falling from it as he turned away. “Tamhas? Tadg?” He raised his voice to call for the others. “Still there?”

Tadg appeared first, climbing out to stand on a mound of rubble, his clothes grey with dust. He was favouring one foot. “Yeah.” His voice shook a little.

“Just peachy,” said Tamhas, voice muffled.

Solaris looked around for him as Tadg whined.

A dark paw stuck up out of the rubble, two fingers held up in a ‘V’ shape. “That was exciting.”

Tadg laughed, his relief clear in the sound, and limped across to free his brother. “We really brought the house down, didn’t we?”

Solaris snorted and scrambled across to help.

Jasper groaned.

#writing pieces #the soul of the party #Solaris Taskeral #Jasper sa Adrassa #Tadg ap Saril #Tamhas ap Liram #Mist Worlds #was this written for Tadg's last line? maybe #you'll never know #this was the last scene I wrote before november started #since then I have mostly been writing chronologically #sometimes skipping bits #like there's scenes I know I need to add in later #actually. what I know I need to do and it's sort of biting me already.#is name half the god damned sidecast lmao #they're all just numbers #and I need to get a... like a tournament order thing for the duels #maybe when my table is not covered in stuff that needs packed

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ace-malarky · 2 years ago

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The Pros and Cons of Catboys

Have some writing I meant to put up yesterday lmao

I think possibly the first thing I wrote of Jasper n Llinos and Kaua? They’re all very ridiculous and I love them

Jasper was sitting against a tree, journal against his knees. He'd been sitting that way for a while, long enough for the sun to have set beyond the trees. The fire didn't give off enough light to see the page, but he just hadn't put the book away yet.

Llinos was sitting on the opposite side of the fire, cross-legged, shaping stones into arrowheads. The steady, gentle tapping was a comforting noise. Background ambience to all their campsites.

Jasper closed the journal, looped the ties about it, and set the charcoal pencil back into its pouch.

"If you bonded fully, you wouldn't have to stop writing with the sunset," Llinos said, not taking her eyes from the arrowhead forming in her hands.

"I'll add that to the list of pros," he replied.

His lynx was sitting loafed nearby, eyes mostly closed but attention on the trees and the shadows they contained.

"I didn't have much to write, in any case."

"I'm sorry, are my teachings no longer good enough to write down for posterity?" Llinos grinned.

"Were they ever good enough?" Jasper smiled back.

Llinos' fox barked in clear amusement, and she shot him a dark look. "Traitor." But she scratched along the side of his jaw as he lolled against her side, putting away her tools.

"Why haven't you bonded fully?" It wasn't something he'd asked before. It was something he tended to avoid, actually. The subject wasn't taboo amongst feral mages, but it was personal.

"Hasn't felt right." Llinos shrugged, almost off-hand. "We quite like being in two bodies."

Her fox yawned and butted his head into her lap.

"We might some day," she said, playing with his ears. "When we're ready."

Jasper nodded. "Got your own list of pros and cons?"

Llinos grinned.

"Got another pro for you," Llinos said, leaning against the window beside him.

"Oh?" Jasper didn't look up from his journal.

They were in the small room that had been the only one left to rent in the inn. Two beds (which the innkeeper had given them a very apologetic look about), a rickety table with vanity and matching splintered chair, and a small window out over the courtyard at the back where the staff hung the washing.

"You might finally get a date."

"What."

Llinos cackled as he stopped writing, the pencil lead actually breaking as he pressed it to the page a little hard.

"Everyone loves a catboy." Llinos shrugged, still grinning.

She dodged away as he reached to hit her.

"You know I'm right."

His lynx, watching them from one of the beds, yawned and lowered her head onto her paws.

Llinos' fox was sitting upright on the other bed, tail thumping against the cover, jaws cracked open and tongue hanging out.

“No you aren’t.”

Llinos smirked.

“You don’t have any proof.” Jasper shook his head, leaning back in the chair, freezing when it creaked.

“You want me to get some?” Llinos yanked open the window and leant out. “Hey!”

“Llinos-” He lunged to grab her arm, to pull her back.

She pushed him back, laughing. “Yeah, mind answering a question for me?”

Jasper couldn’t see who she was talking to in the courtyard below.

“Thoughts on catboys?”

He heard the laughter though, that was for sure. Almost bird-like, but raucous and rough.

“Not a big fan of cats,” the person outside called up. “I’m sure you can understand why.”

“I think I can understand.” Llinos nodded. “But ah – Jasper, come here-” She reached out to grab his arm.

He struggled against her, of course, but then her fox got underfoot and tripped him into Llinos’ side.

“What if this became catboy?” She propped him up against her side, adjusting her stance so he didn’t topple her over. “Just as a purely aesthetic question.”

In the courtyard below was a bird who was a person. Or maybe she was a person who was a bird. Her feathers were iridescent in the sunlight, and there was a sword leaning against the well beside her that was almost as tall as she was.

She was watching him just as intently as he was studying her. “Maybe,” she said eventually.

“Big ol’ lynx, with long tufty ears, and toe beans,” Llinos said, tugging at his shaggy hair in an affectionate sort of way.

Jasper growled and grabbed Llinos by the waist, swivelling on his feet to unbalance her.

Llinos squawked and her fox yelped, darting back as Jasper’s lynx leapt from the bed to cut him off. “Hey-!”

Jasper tossed her through the window and onto the slanted roof.

She rolled gracelessly across the tiles and fell to the ground. Jasper watched long enough to make sure she got up alright, and then slammed the window shut.

His lynx placed a massive paw on Llinos’ fox’s head as he crouched into a pouncing pose, trying for a game, and pressed him further onto the floor until he relaxed his back legs.

Jasper returned to the seat and took up his pencil once more.

Llinos tumbled over the tiles, attempted to slow herself, realised it was a failed effort and settled for making as good a landing as she could under the circumstances all in a matter of moments.

She hit the ground in an almost controlled roll and fetched up against the side of the wall, her knees tapping against it. She hurt, but nothing seemed too badly damaged.

“Well.” She stared up at the sky. “Last time I try to help him make a decision.”

“Need a hand?” Feathers splayed across her vision as she squinted up.

“Thanks.” Llinos took the proffered hand and stood up. “Woah.”

The bird was strong; she’d pulled Llinos to standing like it was nothing.

Llinos glanced back up in time to see Jasper shut the window. “I hope he doesn’t think I’ll sleep out here tonight.”

The bird laughed and shrugged. “It’s not too bad under the stars, with the right company.”

Llinos turned to grin at her, stepping back a pace as she dusted herself off. “Llinos.”

“Kaua.”

“Where do you think I’d find the right company?”

“Well, there’s an inn full of travellers right there,” Kaua said, pointing towards the building in front of them. “But ah... they won’t know all the best places to go.”

“See, can’t trust travellers for shit.” Llinos leant back against the well beside Kaua. “So I need someone who lives here, right? Got any recommendations?”

Kaua eyed her, then dropped from the well to her feet. “I told you, I’m not much of a cat person.” She strapped her great sword to her back.

“That’s alright. Just Jasper that’s the cat person.” Llinos watched her, and heard the shouts of surprise and outrage coming from the door into the kitchen. “How do you feel about foxes?”

Rhydderch came racing out of the kitchen door, tail flat out behind him, and circled the well to stop beside Llinos.

Llinos scratched his ears as she waited for Kaua to reply, and gently pushed Rhydderch forward.

Kaua watched as Rhydderch stretched out his nose to her. “I think I know a place.”

#writing pieces #Llinos ferch Rhydderch #Kaua #Mist Worlds #Jasper sa Adrassa #Jasper and Llinos are prime sibling content but alas #people will assume they're probably dating bc they don't look related and they're very casual with each other #this lessens once Kaua starts travelling with them #though actually. while Llinos and Kaua (and Kitty) are all very definitely Gay #I have no idea about Jasper. hm.#probably ace by default lmao

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ace-malarky · 2 years ago

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Heads Up 7 Up Tag #10

thanks for the tag @stuffaboutwriting!

Have some of the newer Dichotomy stuff, ft. Solaris and Jasper meeting for the first time

“You’re Jasper,” Solaris blurted out, squinting into the shadow of the hood. “You’re in the tournament.”

“And you’re... not,” the man replied. “I don’t recognise you as one of the workers, either.”

“Solaris. I’m part of the investigation.”

“No, you’re not.” He hadn’t lowered his sword.

“I’m investigating.”

“In a manner that suggests nothing good, as opposed to helpful.”

“Suggests a different angle,” Solaris suggested. “Can you lower your sword?”

hmmmm hey. if your name has an ‘L’ in it. you’re tagged. go for it.

#tagged and bagged #solaris taskeral #Jasper sa Adrassa #dichotomy #mist worlds

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ace-malarky · 3 years ago

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So there was a post going around recently that I can no longer find but anyway it prompted this piece of writing so that’s excellent

But yes. Catboys.