#sᴏ ɪᴛ ɪs ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ( ic )

[criimsoncloud]

@hellstung​ liked this for a starter !

Crunch.

V turned his head, the tip of his cane sliding neatly into the skull of a demon - a mere Hell Pride who had slipped the barriers between the realms. It was a single demon, a stray far from its pack, and V had parted from the foreign crowd with intent to deal with it before anyone else noticed. After all, though it may be one of the less powerful demons, it was surely enough to sow chaos in the streets. And where there was one, there was bound to be more.

That, and he could feel that he needed a little pick me up.

The demon turned to ash in a split second, glowing a soft lavender before disappearing. Observant eyes would see the glow slowly draw into the cane - and those with greater observation would see the faint tendrils of power trail up the cane and into the seemingly human’s hands.

“Pardon me,” V began, casual and seemingly unconcerned, addressing the new comer. “Unless you have much business here, I would suggest leaving.”

[canedwcrds]

❛ You should be resting. ❜

concerned asks | accepting

“I will be fine. I do not need to rest, just go ahead. I will catch up, I promise.”

[constellationmuses]

tag dump iv ; splinter and the ronin

[visionsought]

26, 30. | mahua!

Super In-Depth Questions!!

How does your character behave around children?What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

⚔  ⋮ 　 "I seem to be very popular here... I would love to say that I am a perfect harpy, that I get along well with hatchlings and plan on nesting some day but. But I would be lying. Young ones are fine if they are well raised by someone else. I've never felt that instinct my mother describes, I don’t see myself yet as a good parent. So I tend not to interact with children very much.

　　　 "As for your other question. I would have to give that some thought... Hm, for a harpy that lives by a lake I dislike fish. I do not appreciate their tiny bones, they... Hmph. Also anything that gets stuck on my feathers. Tree sap, honey, things of that sort.”

[criimsoncloud]

Redgrave City changed.

The last time he laid eyes upon the city, it was laid to waste - a horizon of crumble and debris, with scatterings of demons entwined within the veined streets. (It was his fault; his own blasted fault for pursuing such desperate power. Yet it was a morbid comfort; the city he had grown up in, decaying just like he was that time. A reflection of his state.)

But now, it was running once again. Evidence of destruction still was around - it was still years before it could look fully whole again. Nevertheless, where streets once was deserted and stunk like decay and rot, there was life and sound. People milling about, living their lives once again. There was a shadow in their eyes, a trauma that could not be erased in such sort time, yet they still persisted in living here, in the moment, alive.

He stopped, cane resting upon the concrete, observing the humans go about their day.

‘Hey genius, don’t go thinkin’ you ain’t human - remember, you’re human too! Well, kinda human. Human-ish. Human adjacent--’

V mentally shushed his chatty familiar - if he could, he would brain the bird upon the head with his cane. Although, Griffon did have a point. He did have to continue practicing thinking of himself as a human, if not with a slight demonic flair.

“I suppose I shan't dawdle much longer,” V murmured to himself after a few moments of people watching. “I do wish to see how the rest of the city has changed...”

[criimsoncloud]

 @dantes--rebellion​ liked this for a starter !

“Dante...” V began, name drawn out long and slow, a rumble in his voice as he spoke. He glanced down upon the older (?) man, who had ever so gracefully plopped his head on V’s bony lap. (He was glad that he filled out a little more; there was more muscle on him, more strength, more everything. The pale pallor gone, the crumbles in his skin faded. He was less of a walking corpse, and now someone who could still probably gain more weight, but nothing distressing. Traveling alone to gather himself after everything has done him well, though lonely at times.)

He set the book down, idly dog-earing the page with deft fingers. “I do understand you must have missed me, but must you interrupt my reading?” Though scolding words, there was no anger behind his words. Hands rested upon Dante’s coat - much more worn than before, but that was expected, seeing as he had been gone for quite some time.

“I was just getting to the good part.”

[criimsoncloud]

                           ( starter for @dantes--rebellion​ ;; starter call )

Truly, since his years of travel and avoidance of his home town....

Red Grave City has not changed.

There were certainly new buildings and new roads that he didn’t find familiar, though it was to be expected, with the amount of demonic activity that just seeped into the history of the city. After all, this city has weathered at least two major catastrophes within the last fifty years - the resurrection of Temen-Ni-Gru, and more recently the demonic Qliphoth...

Both of which, he had been present for in some way, shape, or form.

Yet though the city has changed physically... the atmosphere never did. Humans, milling about, stuck in their own heads and selfishly concerned with only themselves... and demons, walking among the people, feigning humanity. He would have no problem with demons mingling with humans - the man would be quite the hypocrite after all, if he denounced them... but demons maliciously acting against humans and causing harm?

Well, for the right amount of money, V would be absolutely willing to exorcise them from the human plane.

Words began to form on his lips, the slightest of acid tingling at his flesh as he chanted, frail looking hands ensnaring the demon’s neck. The demon hissed, his form flickering and melting between the human guise it had donned, and its true visage as V hurriedly snarled the holy verses to banish the creature back to hell. Exorcism spells, though quite effective, always left a bad taste in his mouth - he supposed it could be because he was a legendary demon’s kin... but a weapon was a weapon after all.

The demon sizzled underneath his touch, and the possessed body dropped into a crumpled heap once V let go. A fetid smell burst into the air, but V had no care; his job was done, and he got rid of the demon as per the contract with his client - it was up to the client himself to clean up the mess of this formerly possessed corpse. Footsteps echoed onto the concrete, and he glanced up, assuming that his client, come to see that V had completed his job.

Red filled his vision.

He paused, before fully facing the familiar face. It was about time he had come across the famed demon hunter once again, especially since his line of work quite easily crossed with his...

“... Coming to greet the local competition... Dante?”

[criimsoncloud]

starter for @dantes--rebellion​

Click.

Cold metal upon his head.

A cocky smirk.

Crimson wash falls all over him.

Words, incomprehensible, yet he could hear the voice clearly.

A reverberating metal bang rings in his head.

Instant pain, blooming from his skull.

Footsteps, leaving him alone as he falls onto cold cobblestone.

                      w̨hy͝ d̶i̢d y͟oú lea͝v͞ę m̸ę-- w͟hy̕ did̢ y̕ou̡ ki̷l͠l m̨e--̢

A sudden gasp escapes V’s lungs as he shoots up from his place in bed, the sheets pooling around his waist. Chilling sweat pours down his skin, goosebumps all over his flesh. Chest heaves violently, and the overwhelming feeling of sinking into the depths of darkness blanketing his whole body. Eyes roam through the dark room, moonlight peering through the curtains being the only source of light. His eyes land on his lover, and he can’t stop his heart from seizing up in fear, the image of Dante’s younger self overlapping onto the older man. Suddenly, the weight of Dante’s arm feels too heavy - feels like hot acid, like the pain of a bullet through his brain.

Without hesitation, V slips away from Dante’s arm and away from the bed, uncaring if it stirs up his sleeping lover - it was too much, just too much, he needed away--

He just.

Couldn’t be in here right now--

He needed air-- he needed the outside--

[criimsoncloud]

@durativo​ continued from xxx

V snarled at the other man, the knife digging deeper into Dante’s flesh and nearly cutting it as he straddled his brother from above. He hated that man’s cocky grin - hated that man’s casualness and unkept nature - hated how much everyone cared and adored him - hated just how much he envied Dante and how much he had everything while V had nothing.

Hated how much he just cannot hate this man.

Hated how much he wanted to rip his throat out, carve out his heart, and keep it all to himself, for he was a greedy, selfish creature.

“I hate you so much, Dante--!”

A thin, red line formed upon Dante’s flesh, the bite of the knife finally sinking and digging deep, slicing flesh. Bright red blood oozed out, and just as quickly as he had brandished the knife to the hunter, he ripped it away, tossing it to the side with a loud clatter. Blood continued to spill everywhere, staining his hands, those silver locks of Dante’s, their clothes, but V had no care. He clutched the sides of Dante’s head, and with a growl, crushed Dante’s lips with his. There was no finesse in this kiss, no tender foreplay. Just a feral need to completely consume the man, to dig his fingers in his chest and rip that beating heart out.

[criimsoncloud]

@durativo​

"If he shows up, I'll hold him down, you punch him."

“I’m half afraid my fist would crack on one of his armor plates.”

[criimsoncloud]

Starter for @hartbeating​

The feel of fabric surrounded him.

It was warm - soft and cozy.

The smell of something pleasant drifting into his nose. Nothing putrid or rotten, like the Qliphoth or the underworld itself... but something that reminded him of safety. Of comfort.

This couldn’t be the afterlife... could it?

He slowly fluttered his eyes open, the warm yellow light flooding his vision. The first thing he did was to sit up, yet a jolt of pain screamed through his nerves. A groan left his lips - no, this couldn’t be the afterlife, not with this sort of sensation following him to the grave. Slowly, he sat upon the bed, the blanket that cocooned him pooling upon his waist. He took a glance at his hands; the deep black markings just faded and gone, and the faintest remnants of cracks still present... but not as severe as before.

V brought a hand up to his temple, eyes shutting tightly to remember what happened - he could recall stumbling blindly, vision faded--

The warmth of the young man’s body supporting him--

The pain in his legs, trying to still his death march--

Standing before the demon, titanium cane raised--

Flesh flaking off, crumbling into the wind--

Then, nothing--

Questions began boiling into V’s mind - where was he? What happened? Did Urizen die? What happened to Dante and Nero? Why--

His train of thoughts halted when he heard the door open, and V glanced up, spotting a woman in black hair. He couldn’t help but freeze; this woman was completely unfamiliar to him. His head tilted slightly, and lips parted to speak. “...Where am I?”

[criimsoncloud]

“ now now, don’t black out yet. ”

Black spots littered his vision, shuddering breaths wracking through his body as he tried to fight the pain that coursed through his body. His dark master was not very lenient - blood slowly dripped from the open wounds, though not at all large and gaping. His wounds were small, enough to cause pain and misery, but not enough to permanently harm him. V’s arms shook, and he could feel a sticky, oily hand grasp his hair, yanking it hard and forcing his gaze upwards. A cold shiver passed upon his body, and a glow of something bright entered his peripheral.

It took a second for V to realize what it was.

“God, please, no--”

Chains rattled as he furiously struggled, a sudden rush of energy flowing through him, determined to flee from the red hot metal that was coming his way. But there was no where he could run, not chained and collared like a miserable dog.

He wouldn’t heal from this - he couldn’t! All he was, was a pathetic human--

“Please-- Don’t, anything but--”

His voice was cracking, the life that once felt snuffed out from his capture back, if only to escape the permanent brand.

“Anything but-- I will do anything--”

[criimsoncloud]

@durativo​ liked this for a short starter

“Dante, I’m afraid I will have to... decline your invitation. I’m afraid I’m not feeling very well.”

[criimsoncloud]

@thefatalmarksman liked this for a borderlands au starter !

'To any interested Vault Hunter... or anyone wanting to earn perhaps a bit of coin... come to the shack overlooking the Slag Sear. ‘He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence...’

I’ll be waiting.’ 

His request had been up on the ECHOnet for a long time; not many hunters passed by the Eridium Blight anymore. After all, the Vault in this area had been already opened, and the insides - as V heard, anyways - was just monstrous, and not filled with the power and treasures most hunters craved. It was just a grave of abandoned Hyperion facilities, infested with bandit clans and crazed psychopaths. Home.

So, colour V surprised when he saw that someone picked up his request.

Ensuring the Siren collar was affixed to his neck and the ports secure, V stood, walking out of the shack, leaning on the walls and waiting for the hunter to arrive.

“Greetings, hunter. Here for the request?”

[criimsoncloud]

@kisscflife​ continued from xxx

“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt trying something new; I’ll hold my opinions on these traditions until I have finally experienced them for myself.” He flipped the little ad around, trying to see if there was any significant information on it that he needed to know; yet there wasn’t much, really. “How long do we have to prepare for this event?”

[criimsoncloud]

[intoxicated]

sexual tension meme ( still accepting )

He didn’t know who made the first move between the two of them.

Perhaps it was him, when he couldn’t really hold himself up anymore due to the many glasses of alcohol that had disappeared down his throat. Or perhaps it was Dante, when he reached out and stopped V from falling down and knocking the still smouldering cigarette, saving the shop from burning down. All he could remember from then on, was leaning into the hunter and drunkenly pressing his lips to Dante’s... but he also remembered Dante picking him up and practically throwing the both of them on the couch.

He clung onto Dante’s bare shoulders - when did he lose his clothes? And how unfair that Dante was undressed, and V was still in his outfit! - hands grasping on taut muscle. “Mmm... Dante, izz too hot...” V slurs, the long tan coat he had worn now much too stuffy for his tastes. Clearly the alcohol has gotten to him, since all his eloquence seemed to have flown out the window. “Help me...?”

He reluctantly lets go, fumbling at the sleeves of his coat and shirt, fingers no longer nimble to properly use a button.

“Dante--” V whines, still struggling while underneath the hunter. “Can’t... need it off!”