Pure of Heart @sacredxflame - Tumblr Blog

So I’m archiving this blog and moving all of my ward muses to the main blog, @azurexheavens

You’ll be able to find and resume Charibert’s threads there <3

#The absolute zone is strong #Chari is going to need to be slapped #But she's gorgeous

elezenchaser:

Athral quickly makes his way down the road while Charibert is busy digging through the abandoned cart. With any luck, he’ll be out of sight before-

Nope. No. The Ward has already caught up with him again.

With a sigh, Athral stops and yanks the offered papers out of Charibert’s fingers, still glaring at the man before he lowers his gaze to scan the small stack of wanted posters. They aren’t exactly news to him. In fact, he’s seen most of them before, even taken a few to use them as fire accelerant. Only the price on his friend’s head is steadily on the rise.

He looks up again, into Charibert’s one visible eye, and unceremoniously tears the entire stack of papers in half. “Your concern is touching”, the mercenary deadpans. “Perhaps offer it to someone who cares.”

“Bo-ring~” The elezen laments. It’s clear Athral has known about this for a while and as such it just simply wouldn’t get under his skin nearly enough. Uttering direct threats to the people the Hyur cared about fell under the umbrella of ‘anti self-preservation’ and thus Charibert simply sighed and shrugged.

Part of him was tempted to put his arm around Athral to taunt him. Instead however he clasped his hands behind his back, playing to his better judgement of not getting his entire arm removed. That would be far too expensive to replace.

“So since I cannot easily get under your skin, what else is there~? Somehow I doubt you’ll let me into your pants so I suppose I will simply see how long it takes for you to grow sick of my voice.”

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

elezenchaser:

“If he did, help yourself. And don’t hurry.” The tone of his voice is deeply laced with annoyance, but Athral already knows the other won’t listen to him. There’s little he can do to stop Charibert and he’d rather not fight the mage out here - with the wide space of Thanalan’s veld, it would be far too easy for the elezen to dodge his attacks and strike back from whatever angle he’d please. Even with his vast stamina, Athral knows he would not be able to keep up forever.

Still, he only shoulders his axe instead of strapping it to his back, brows furrowed in disdain. “And what else but your word can you give me as an incentive? Because I can honestly throw you much farther than I’m willing to trust you.”

“Hmm~?” Once more the assassin’s tone is oily as he responds, a couple of flasks readily filled with the bottles kicking around and some profitable-looking goods shoved into his sidebag. He jumps back down onto the road and reaches back to root around through a smaller pouch at his hip before producing some papers.

“Mayhap I could buy that as well.” He knows a stack of documents themselves won’t attract the warrior’s attention, but it’s the contents upon them. “You last told me to stay far away from you and yours, correct~? Well, I wouldn’t want anyone to get any silly ideas about messing around with my favorite, despicable man and so I took it upon myself to snatch these up.”

Hand outstretched towards the Hyur, Charibert waves the papers a couple of times in a gesture that speaks ‘take these’.

“Or are you uninterested in seeing who desires the head of your dear feline friend? Mmm, you see, I could just tack these right back up on the board but then again... I absolutely cannot stand the idea of someone slaying him and ruining you in the process. What fun would that be?”

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

elezenchaser:

Athral doesn’t dare trust the former mage and his apparent resignation. Not when he still remembers all too well the feeling of Charibert’s needles in his back.

His nose twitches again. “Do what you want. So long as I get my payment first I don’t care what happens to the guy afterwards.” For all he knows about Ul’dah’n trading companies and their inner workings, the city would probably be better off without one of those men. Slowly the mercenary turns around but still watches Charibert over his shoulder. “Now fuck off before I decide to turn in your head for a bonus after all.”

“Then you won’t mind all that much if we head the same way.”

Blades now sheathed , Charibert makes his way to the cart first -- worth it to see if there’s anything worth taking that wouldn’t be missed. There was no love lost for the damned hellbeasts that lay half tangled in their own barding and he only took care to not touch them lest the smell rub off on himself. “Rich bastard didn’t travel with any ale, did he? Can’t loot the whole thing but I can most certainly help myself. I suspect your whole show of protecting him will get you a nice bonus regardless.” A click of his tongue as he roots through a couple bags and stands up , examining a couple of bottles.

“I’ll just follow you to the destination and wait ‘til you’ve collected your coin and all is set in stone. I don’t have any particular deadline to worry about so I will simply do what I need to afterwards~.”

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

elezenchaser:

Even with what little magic remains to the Ward now, the aetherical shadow of his former weapon is strong enough to block another strike. More so, it pushes back with a force that leaves Athral stumbling backwards. Only years of experience and instincts lodged deep in the beast’s mind help him regain his balance in time. The flickering image fades away quickly enough but it has already burned itself into the mercenary’s eyes.

Like Charibert himself, Athral raises a hand to cover his right eye. The tips of his fingers brush against his brow, where a scorched scar remains from his run-in with Ramuh, now well over a year ago. It throbs. Athral hisses.

“As if you ever could.” He glares back at the elezen. There’s so many better ways to spend his time and most of them include his payment for a job well done, as well as several tankards of beer. “For someone who’s already lost a few body parts to me, you’re still awfully keen on fighting me head on”, he remarks, annoyed.

“You’re infuriating.”

He stands upright once more, disgust coloring his expression as he straightens his body and grips hold of his blades once more. There is a prospect of entertainment in fighting the Hyur but, as Athral just said, he’s already lost once. Without the element of surprise the odds were stacked against him and there was nothing to be gained now that his target had escaped.

“Ugh... whatever. You have done enough to ruin my day already. Go running back to get your money, I’ll kill the bastard another day.” A click of his tongue and he makes to step back, eye still fully focused on Athral as he moves. He won’t break his gaze from the predator until he’s certain it’s safe to do so.

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

elezenchaser:

Athral is prepared for the magic, albeit it’s nowhere nearly as strong as he remembers it to be. Swiftly the chain is detached from the hilt of his warming axe completely and the heavy blade meets the slim steel of Charibert’s dagger. The force of the hit would be enough to fell a man twice the mage’s size.

“Run!”, Athral commands through clenched teeth, without looking behind him. The hyur merchant doesn’t need to be told twice.

“Now”, the mercenary growls, his voice much calmer than before, “let’s play.”

If Charibert were any normal man it might have been enough to incapacitate him as well. Instead a twisted amalgamation of aether springs to life around the assassin as he’s thrown back and into a roll, an ethereal staff blocking the axe from cleaving down upon the elezen as he puts distance between them once more. Just as soon as it appeared, the image of the transformed Ward knight vanishes from around the mage.

Charibert straightens himself as he comes to a stop a distance from Athral only to clasp a hand over his bandaged eye. His other blade remains between him and the warrior and he hisses. With his prey gone and the aether in his body aching once more he finds himself contemplating retreat instead.

A click of his tongue as he takes a step back, not daring to look after the escaping merchant when Athral is right before him like this.

“You’re lucky I can’t reduce you to ash...” he hisses in return. He could try but that use of aether... the thought was actually horrifying to the former mage. “Push me , however, and I might risk it just to get you off my back, mutt!”

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

elezenchaser:

The mercenary scoffs at the insult and quickly adjusts his stance when Charibert leaps onto the cart. With the broad blade of his axe he deflects the darts aimed at the merchant. Of course Athral is well aware this cannot be all.

He’s proven right the blink of an eye later, when a handful of small orbs are tossed his way.

He doesn’t bother to figure out what they are - poison, likely - but immediately shoves the merchant away, onto the road that leads to the next small town. With a flick of his other hand, the chain on his axe comes undone and lashes out like a whip, wrapping around Charibert’s forearm. Around him, small explosions go off. The raised dust and sand blinds him and the noise rings in his ears, but Athal doesn’t need those senses to ensure the chain sits tight.

He pulls.

Charibert scoffs at the chain wrapping around his arm, quickly channeling what fire aether he can through the links to steadily begin heating the axe in Athral’s hands. At this time he turns just slightly, aiming another strike towards the merchant --

-- and the darts fly far off their mark as he’s pulled from his vantage point and forced to attempt tugging back. A futile effort, seeing as Athral’s raw power far outmatches his own.

Unable to break away easily he continues his efforts to try and ignite the axe itself, ignoring the pain as the chains begin to seep through the layers of his clothing and begin to burn his skin. He’ll make that bastard drop it first. Managing to right himself slightly he then raises his free arm to have his blade meet Athral first instead of any part of his body that would be far more vulnerable to an axe.

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

elezenchaser:

“Come a little closer and I’ll show you. Maybe hold out that other hand-”, Athral interrupts himself to turn and bark at the merchant who was about to run off. “Stay here, if you wanna live!”

It would seem as if he leaves an opening, shifting his axe just the slightest bit to the side - an involuntary movement to anyone watching, but entirely intended in fact. If the Ward-turned-assassin wants an invitation to attack he’ll have it now.

“You look like an absolute fool attempting to protect that man. If they pay you enough coin would you bark as well?”

Perhaps something of a hypocritical statement: both men were here for the sake of their paycheque and yet protecting someone felt like such a waste. He’d have to find a way to get rid of that shivering merchant if he was to have any fun playing with Athral. At least this time he is out in the open and not cornered in a dark cave.

“Let me deal with that for you so we can really play!” If Athral at all thought Charibert was going to make any move towards him he would be wrong. In an instant the assassin took off and jumped upon the top of the cart, turning to throw more darts towards the merchant. It wasn’t the most elegant of attacks nor did he think the first one would hit, but much like a cat stalking a mouse he was toying around now, hand slipping into a pouch to retrieve small explosives and lob them towards the warrior’s charge next.

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

@elezenchaser

Athral growls and pushes the lanky elezen off with ease, though likely in no small part due to Charibert leaping out of range himself. Apparently the former Heavens’ Ward has learned his lesson from their last encounter, as annoying as that may be, and rather keeps his distance.

Athral jumps off the cart, dragging his merchant-charge with him. It wouldn’t do to get the man killed simply because there was too much of a distance between them for him to block another oncoming attack. As happens with the chocobos only a moment later. The mercenary’s lips curve down into a frown. His nose twitches as he glares at Charibert.

“Neither did I, so if you’d kindly fuck off; I have work to do here and I believe I told you to stay the hell out of my sight.”

Charibert certainly does seem more wary this time, his gaze focused more on Athral than the merchant at this time. He would have to separate the two - not a huge task if he still held mastery over his flames, but the distance and Athral’s skill were both great enough to keep the assassin at a distance.

“Now now, is that how you talk to a friend~?” There’s a soft , rhythmic clinking of his steel claws against the hilt of the blade in that hand, an impatient tapping of his foot as he studies Athral and looks for any opening to strike down the merchant.

“Surely you cannot believe you can both fight me off and protect that miserable man? Why not let me get this over with quickly?”

#elezenchaser #smouldering blade [post-reactor];;

Of course there would be trouble, were an Ul'dah'n trading company to hire a mercenary for the sole purpose of protecting one of their merchants. Not that Athral usually minds - those are rather well-paid jobs for him after all. And of course he expected there to be trouble in the form of at least one attempt on the merchant's life. This IS an Ul'dahn company after all. Still, he'll have to demand a bonus for the daggers that he blocks with his axe belong to none other than Charibert.

Merchants... among the lowest of the low targets, if Charibert were to rank them. The mewling begging of a rich coward was hardly enjoyable, merely the sight of a blade would have them cowering and offering money to be spared. No, the real worthwhile marks - the one’s he’d take at a discount - were those with a history in combat. Pirates, knights, gladiators... those who put up a fight and crumbled slowly before breaking apart.

For that reason he intended to make this quick. Dive in and make a clean kill, perhaps take out a guard or two -- but he had not managed to spot the man hiding back beneath the canopy. Perhaps it had been the angle of the sun and shadows, or the lack of depth perception that came from having only one good eye, but there was a clear and brief expression of shock as his blades were repelled by the warrior’s axe.

Quickly he put some distance between himself and Athral by jumping back onto the road ahead of the cart. A quick shake of his sleeve dislodged two poison-coated darts, quickly thrown to incapacitate both cart chocobos. There weren’t many places for his quarry to run to or hide, making this all the more interesting to the inquisitor-turned-assassin.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you out here, my dear~.” he cooed, raising a blade as he prepared himself to lunge once more. “I’m aware you missed me dearly but you’re presently in my way. Do you mind~?”

#elezenchaser

Angels are terrifying, hence Charibert...

Or as @purgebyfire put, “that flaming son of a fuck”

Can’t say I disagree.

#sketch #my art #ser charibert

nightbloomnest

Another attempt of a previous and not so old work mostly because the face was extremely awkward and the overall outfit was a bit too ostentatious for a wandering Dark Knight. Hair was changed to white because she looked better that way, and cut short because it was a bit of an IC discussion that made better sense than having long hair.

#eyes emoji #before she freezes him again #shhh

arsonsuggestions

my name is the crackle of fire, the sound of trees succumbing to flame and crashing down into a bed of sparks. it is not meant to be spoken. it is meant to be witnessed

#this is but a mercy [musing]