NOTHING BURNS LIKE THE COLD

【ＳＵＦＦＥＲ　ＷＥＬＬ】

[saelyrasia]

INJURED/BLEEDING SENTENCE STARTERS. || ACCEPTING

@embercrested​​ said: “I don’t think that’s suppose to come out.”

DEATH HAD TAKEN SO MANY THINGS. NEVER AGAIN WOULD SAE KNOW THE PLEASURE OF A HOT MEAL AFTER A BATTLE, NOR RELIEF IN THE PATTER OF RAIN AS IT COOLED WARM FLESH. SENSATIONS TURNED MEMORIES -- RELICS OF THE DAYS BEFORE THE NOTHINGNESS -- LITTLE WAS LEFT OF THE WOMAN SHE ONCE WAS. & WHAT DID REMAIN, SAE FOUND LITTLE USE FOR. THE PAST WOULD ANCHOR HER IF SHE LET IT, PREVENTING HER FROM FULLY EMBRACING THIS NEW CHAPTER IN HER LIFE, FROM DOING ALL SHE WAS CAPABLE OF. 

YET, THERE WAS ONE THING ARTHAS HAD NOT TAKEN, ONE ASPECT OF HER OLD SELF SHE DID NOT SHY AWAY FROM -- HER ABILITY TO APPRECIATE BEAUTY. THE NATURAL WORLD HELD SO MANY WONDERS; THE ENDLESS VARIATIONS IN LANDSCAPES AND ECOSYSTEMS HAD LONG SINCE FASCINATED HER. IN FACT, THEY WERE PART OF WHAT HAD PROMPTED SAE TO LEAVE HER PEOPLE, TO SEE THE WORLD BEYOND KALIMDOR, TO FIND THE PIECES OF HERSELF THAT HAD ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE MISSING. 

NEVER HAD SHE ANTICIPATED LOSING SO MUCH. 

DRUSTVAR WAS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE, IF A BIT GLOOMY, BUT SAE DID NOT MIND. THE DENSE FORESTS AND MOUNTAINS REMINDED SAE OF HER CHILDHOOD ATOP HYJAL, WHEN THE PIGMENT OF THE TREES NO LONGER SANG IN UNISON BUT HARMONIZED ACROSS MANY HUES. THE AUTUMNAL LANDSCAPE INVIGORATED SAE, PROMPTING HER TO DO SOMETHING RATHER OUT OF CHARACTER. SHE TOOK OFF HER PLATE, ALLOWING THE BODY SHE FELT SO DISCONNECTED FROM TO TRULY BE IMMERSED IN THE SURROUNDING WORLD. SAE DID NOT EXPERIENCE ANY PHYSICAL SENSATIONS, BUT HER MIND WAS MIRED IN LONGING, FAR AWAY FROM THE BUSINESS THAT BROUGHT HER THERE. 

THE SOUND OF FIGHTING PULLED HER AWAY FROM HER REVERIE, HEAD TURNING TOWARD HER CAMP -- THE SOURCE OF THE NOISE. PICKING UP THE BLADE AT HER SIDE, SAE BOUNDED THROUGH THE TREES, HER SPEED INCREASING WITH EACH STEP. IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE THE SCENE CAME INTO FOCUS -- A HORDE OF WICKER CREATURES HAD DESCENDED UPON THE PARTY, INTENT ON RAVAGING EVERYTHING IN THEIR WAKE. 

SAE CAME FROM BEHIND -- THE CRACK OF HER BLADE ANNOUNCED HER ARRIVAL, AS IT CAME CRASHING INTO THE WOODEN BODY OF ONE OF THE CREATURES. FRENZIED BY THEIR SUDDEN ARRIVAL, SHE FELT NOTHING BUT ANGER AS SHE CUT THEM DOWN, ONE AFTER THE OTHER. IT TOOK SOME TIME, AND THE WORK WAS FAR LESS PLEASURABLE THAN THE SLAYING OF FLESH, BUT SAE SAW IT DONE. AS SHE WRENCHED HER BLADE FROM THE BRANCH IT’D BEEN STUCK IN, SAE LOOKED UP TO SEE THAT NONE REMAINED. 

AS SUCH, SHE LOWERED HER WEAPON, AND APPRAISED THE STATE OF HER COMPANIONS AS SHE STRODE BACK TOWARD THEM. EVERYONE SEEMED TO BE IN GOOD ENOUGH SHAPE ; PERHAPS, THEN, IT WOULD BE WISE TO SCOUT THE SOURCE OF THE ATTACK. A PLAN BEGAN TO FORMULATE IN HER MIND, BUT THE THOUGHT WAS INTERRUPTED WHEN SHE HEARD THE YOUNG WAYCREST SPEAK. CONFUSION COLORED SAE’S FEATURES, BROWS DRAWN TOGETHER AS SHE STRUGGLED TO ASCERTAIN WHAT THE GIRL HAD MEANT, EXACTLY. BUT WHEN SHE TURNED TO LOOK AT HER DIRECTLY, LUCILLE’S EXPRESSION SAID IT ALL. 

SAE’S EYES TRAVELLED TO HER MIDSECTION, WHICH WAS NOW SPORTING A DEEP GASH. BLOODLESS ENTRAILS POURED OVER THE OPENING OF THE WOUND, AND SAE’S RAGE DOUBLED IN ITS INTENSITY. WITH A CLENCHED JAW, SHE TURNED BACK TO SEE A TRAIL OF HER INSIDES MARKING THE PATH SHE’D JUST WALKED. FANTASTIC. 

WORDLESSLY, SAE MOVED TO RETRIEVE HER ORGANS. AS EACH ONE WAS GATHERED, SHE DID HER BEST TO REMOVE THE DEBRIS FROM THEM, BEFORE STUFFING THEM BACK INSIDE THE GASH. NO ATTENTION WAS PAID TO THE ANATOMY OF WHERE THINGS WERE SUPPOSED TO GO. NO, SAE’S MIND WAS TOO BUSY CURSING ITSELF FOR THE FOOLISHNESS OF HER ACTIONS. HERE WAS WHY SHE NEVER TOOK THE ARMOR OFF, AS IF SHE’D NEEDED SO GRUESOME A REMINDER. & WHAT HAD IT ALL BEEN FOR? AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY. IF SHE WAS NOT CAPABLE OF FEELING HER INSIDES BEING RIPPED APART, WHAT USE WAS THERE IN CHASING THE EMBRACE OF THE WIND HOWLING THROUGH THE TREES? 

ONCE HER INSIDES WERE BACK...INSIDE OF HER, SAE HELD THEM THERE WITH HER LEFT ARM, BEFORE FINALLY UTTERING HER REPLY -- 

              ‘     EXCUSE ME. 

SHE READJUSTED THE GRIP ON HER WEAPON AND TURNED HER HEAD TOWARD THE TREES. BLOOD WOULD BE NEEDED TO MAKE HER BODY WHOLE AGAIN, AND SAE WOULD WASTE NO TIME. A BEAT PASSED, AS SHE SENSED THE PRESENCE OF LIFE IN THE FOREST AROUND HER, AND THEN SHE WAS GONE -- TAKING OFF IN THE DIRECTION THE CREATURES HAD COME FROM, IN SEARCH OF A LIFE TO TAKE. 

[saelyrasia]

SEND ME  💬FOR A STARTER BASED ON A GENERATED LINE OF DIALOGUE. || ACCEPTING

@lathsuledin​ said: 💬

SAE'S TALL FRAME WAS LEANED AGAINST A STONE BUILDING, ALL BUT HER GLOWING EYES INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE SURROUNDING SHADOW.  IT WAS REMARKABLE HOW SIMILAR THIS WORLD WAS TO HER OWN; BETWEEN THE PETTY SQUABBLES AMONG RACES, THE TENSION BETWEEN THOSE WITH MAGIC AND THOSE WHO FEARED IT, AND THE EVER-PRESENT THREAT OF DEMONIC INVASION -- SAE FELT, IN SOME STRANGE WAY, AT HOME IN THIS PLACE. 

THE PEOPLE OF THEDAS DID NOT SEEM TO SHARE IN THAT SENTIMENT, HOWEVER. DOUBTFUL, SAE FOUND IT, THAT THEY HAD EVER SEEN ONE OF HER KIND BEFORE -- NIGHT ELF OR DEATH KNIGHT. THE COLD, GLOWING EYES OF UNDEATH DID ENOUGH TO DISTINGUISH HER ON AZEROTH. NOW, EVEN HER EYEBROWS SET HER APART -- EVERYTHING ABOUT HER PHYSIOLOGY ALIEN TO THOSE AROUND HER. THEREFORE, SHE RARELY ENTERED HIGHLY POPULATED AREAS, FEARING THE UNREST HER PRESENCE MIGHT STIR. 

THAT NIGHT, AN EXCEPTION WAS MADE, FOR SAE HAD HEARD RUMORS OF ONE WITH A CONNECTION TO THE HOLE IN THE SKY. SOME SAID HE HAD BEEN THE CAUSE OF IT, OTHERS CLAIMED HE WAS THEIR SALVATION. 

SAE WAS INTENT ON MAKING HER OWN JUDGEMENT.

THE MARK ON HIS HAND ALERTED HER TO HIS PRESENCE, WHATEVER POWER IT CARRIED INTERFERING WITH THE DARK MAGIC BOUND TO HER. THAT FEELING GREW AS HE DREW NEARER, UNTIL HE WAS MERE STEPS AWAY. 

SAE STEPPED OUT TO BLOCK HIS PATH, THE EBONY PLATE SHE WORE REFLECTING THE GLOW OF THE MOON. HER VOICE WAS LOW -- WORDS SPOKEN CAREFULLY BUT QUICKLY, SOMEHOW ECHOING IN THE AIR BETWEEN THEM -- 

               ‘     MIDNIGHT. ON THE BRIDGE. COME ALONE. 

WITH THAT, SHE WAS GONE, RETREATING AT A SPEED NO MORTAL WAS CAPABLE OF. HER DESTINATION? THE FOREST, WHERE SHE COULD RETURN TO THE SHADOWS IN WAIT OF HIM.

[justanotherrpmeme]

Send 💬  for me to make you a starter with a random line of dialogue from this generator.

[saelyrasia]

☠   ☓  KORVAS-BLXXDTHORN.

Kor’vas offered a more friendly smile than the one before as they shook hands. The cold didn’t bother her too much… She had spent long enough among Shivarra and Naga to be used to odd companions. The green glow of her eyes did wander from the other’s features, back down to where Sae had been wounded. Furrowing her brow slightly, she tried once more. 

“Stiches then? I know that reaching some places on your own can be an absolute nightmare… Unless this is a polite way for you to get rid of me.” She didn’t say it with even a hint of self-pity. “… in which case, I understand that my… presence… may cause alarm to some people.” 

               ‘       DO YOU FORGET TO WHOM YOU SPEAK?

THE NOTION WAS SO ABSURD, SAE COULD HARDLY BELIEVE SHE’D VOICED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. AS SHE WITHDREW HER HAND, SAE’S EXPRESSION REMAINED UNREADABLE, HER MIND STILL STRUGGLING TO CONTEND WITH THE CONCERN BEING SHOWN. SHE COCKED HER HEAD TOWARD HER WEAPON, BEFORE CONTINUING -- 

               ‘       YOU DO NOT ALARM ME. I REQUIRE BLOOD MAGIC TO MEND MY FLESH. BEYOND SACRIFICING YOURSELF FOR THAT PURPOSE, THERE IS LITTLE YOU CAN DO.

[saelyrasia]

☠   ☓  ELFLINQS.

@saelyrasia asked· : · “ [ CHALLENGE . ] ” \ ·accepting.

night elves repel him , they slaughter the oblivious innocent and it simply makes his blood boil . their boldness , ·their desire for MALICE & malice alone . at least he knew of one dark elf , that couldn’t stop herself from hurting people .· human , dwarf or hobbit or elf· ;· legolas couldn’t sit still and watch her slaughter yet another trembling fellow as her past time .

near the river .· a young woman strayed too far from the laketown , and her unfortune led her to the hungry elf that was perhaps awaiting her .

legolas reached there faster than death ,· he carefully guided the girl behind himself and held one of his pale blades to other . eyes glowing blue , electric . ·the prince doesn’t look bothered , nor his limbs tremble unlike the peasant that stands behind him . ·softly thanks him in her common language ,· yet legolas’ attention is caught by the night elf’s threat and her FERAL mannerism . he raises a brow . ·· ❝ it would be best for you to turn around , and leave our borders immediately . unless your life is as cheap as your morals . ❞

FINALLY. FOR TWO WEEKS SAE HAD HIDDEN IN THE FOREST, LYING IN WAIT OF HER ENEMY. SHE’D COME TO THIS LAND IN PURSUIT OF A DEMON, BUT SHE HAD NOT PURSUED IT FAST ENOUGH; IT HAD MANAGED TO REACH THE TOWN BEFORE SHE DID, MASQUERADING ITSELF AMONG THE MORTALS IN AN ATTEMPT TO EVADE HER.

SAE DID NOT ENTER THE SETTLEMENT AFTER IT, KNOWING THE CHAOS HER PRESENCE WOULD STIR AMONG THE LIVING. INSTEAD, SAE OPTED TO WAIT -- SATING HER HUNGER BY KILLING HIGHWAYMEN AND CRIMINALS, WHOSE EXPLOITS BROUGHT THEM BEYOND THE EDGE OF TOWN. 

IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME; THE DEMON WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO HIDE FOREVER. IF IT TOOK ON THE FORM OF A HUMAN, IT WOULD HAVE TO PLAY THE PART. AND THAT MEANT, EVENTUALLY, IT WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE THE TOWN -- FOR ONE PURPOSE OR ANOTHER. THE ONLY VARIABLE OF WHICH SHE WAS UNCERTAIN WAS SIMPLY WHEN THAT WOULD OCCUR. 

THAT DAY, THERE HAD BEEN NO MISTAKING IT. THE DARK ENERGY THAT CALLED TO HER OWN TRAVELLED BEYOND THE AREA OF TOWN IT HAD CONFINED ITSELF TO, EDGING NEARER AND NEARER THE FOREST. WITH HER WEAPON DRAWN, SAE BOUNDED THROUGH THE TREES AT AN IMPOSSIBLE PACE, HOPING TO GET THE DROP ON IT BEFORE IT SENSED HER IN RETURN. 

THE FIGURE OF A WOMAN DREW NEARER, AND SAE RAISED HER BLADE -- READY TO STRIKE -- WHEN A LITHE FIGURE SLIPPED BETWEEN THEM, ACTING AS A SHIELD BETWEEN HER AND HER TARGET. HER SWORD-ARM FROZE MID-AIR, THE GLOW OF HER EYES REFLECTING BACK IN THE BLADE POINTED AT HER. A COLD VOICE RANG INTO THE AIR BETWEEN THEM, TENSE WITH RESTRAINT. 

                ‘     STAND DOWN. YOU INTERFERE IN MATTERS YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. 

A WHITE-HOT RAGE BURNED INSIDE OF HER; HOW MADDENING IT WAS, TO HAVE HER PREY JUST OUTSIDE HER REACH. IT WAS UNLIKELY, SAE THOUGHT, THAT HE WOULD SEE REASON. HER DARKNESS COULD NOT BE SO EASILY CONCEALED, AND THE LIVING WERE RARELY CHARITABLE IN ASSUMING A DEATH KNIGHT’S INTENTIONS. 

APPEARANCES, AS SAE WELL KNEW, WERE ALL TOO DECEIVING. 

               ‘     THAT CREATURE IS NOT NEARLY AS HELPLESS AS IT SEEMS.

[saelyrasia]

taking a writing break to play some da:o. going to work on memes when I return, so send one in! 

[saelyrasia]

☠   ☓  THIEDAS.

          “     there     must     be   another   way     .     there   is     always     another   way     .     ”          /          @saelyrasia·   .

UNBLINKING EYES BEHELD THE SCENE BEFORE HER: A LARGE BODY OF WATER, THE REMNANTS OF WHAT HAD ONCE BEEN A BRIDGE JUST CRESTING THE SURFACE. TO TRAVEL AROUND IT WOULD WASTE THEIR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE, AND SAE DID NOT HAVE THE PATIENCE FOR SUCH AN ENDEAVOR. 

                   ‘     I MAY BE ABLE TO ASSIST. 

SAE READJUSTED HER GRIP ON HER WEAPON, THE STOIC LOOK SHE WORE UNCHANGED AS SHE HARNESSED ITS POWER. LONG STRIDES BROUGHT HER TOWARD THE WATER’S EDGE, AS ONE OF THE RUNES ON HER BLADE BEGAN TO GLOW IMPOSSIBLY BRIGHT. A FLASH AND IT WENT DARK, PROMPTING SAE TO STEP OUT ONTO THE WATER’S SURFACE, WHERE A SHEET OF ICE FORMED BENEATH HER FEET. SHE TURNED TO LOOK BACK AT THE PARTY, SURROUNDED BY A DENSE, GRAY MIST -- THE ICE GLOWING BLUE WHERE SHE STOOD.

                  ‘     REMAIN CLOSE.

[saelyrasia]

☠   ☓  PRIMECHICAGOWIZARD.

Cole was in a near constant flux of agony. Pain and sorrow only two of the heavy emotions to sink down into his guts, twisting them up, absorbed from the world around him to turn inside over and over again. Like he was some cauldron, and the world’s pain was the wooden spoon in which to stir up the slob. In the moment when it seemed his words had struck, when she spiraled down into her own self reflection to battle with the dialogue inside, he seemed unusually calm. 

Watching her, waiting while she sunk hard into memory drudged up from the tangle that otherwise kept them at bay. It wasn’t always easy to reach the source without first picking apart what held it back and often it was pushed deeper as a result. It was the rotation of grief he found he encountered along the course of his journey, a struggle he was more than willing to endure in order to help.

He watched - openly STARED without blinking, feeling a flutter of something inch between them. Some manner of understanding he hoped she would maintain when she arrived at her revelation. It was Solas’ concern that he would eventually be tainted by the influence of the outside world - a place he should not BE but WAS. As happened to most of his kind in one manner or another. 

The longer one was removed from the Fade, from the world between, the more they were changed and not in a good way.

It had happened to him, without him knowing. He was more conscious of himself those days, but it didn’t mean it would always be so. He didn’t want that understanding to slip away.

Would it be the same….

…. for her? Maybe, though it might have already happened, evidenced when he detected a pulse of anger mingling with what he misinterpreted as understanding. Quite different responses at opposite ends of the spectrum. He was still getting used to feeling from outside of himself rather than in.

“It’s safer to play with fire than toy with the spirit realm.” He felt himself forcibly dragged to his feet, held steady under the intensity of her rage. 

He appeared somewhat distressed, huffing out a breath that carried his words

“The gift of words I’ve brought you should have eased the torrent of your anger, crashing, cresting in a crescendo on the inside, but it seems to be getting worse.” It was a confusing contradiction for him to face. “Did I get it wrong?”

Or was she just different? Like HE was different?

“Will feeling pain, make me complete?”

INTENSITY RAGED BEHIND HER EYES, AS SAE STRUGGLED TO DISCERN SOMETHING USEFUL IN HIS TONE AND EXPRESSION. THE EMOTIONS OF OTHERS WERE FAR EASIER TO DECODE THAN HER OWN; MOST WERE CONSISTENT IN THEIR REACTIONS TOWARD HER, BUT THIS MAN PROVED TO BE AN EXCEPTION TO THAT RULE. FOR, SAE SAW NO TERROR IN HIS EYES, DID NOT FEEL HIM TREMBLING BENEATH HER GAZE. RATHER, HE APPEARED TO SHARE IN HER CONFUSION, THOUGH HE CONTENDED WITH IT FAR DIFFERENTLY THAN SHE. 

SUCH BRAVERY FROM SUCH A FRAIL CREATURE WAS STRANGE, INDEED. EVEN STRANGER WERE THE WORDS HE SPOKE -- THE INANE QUESTIONS HE ASKED. EASE HER ANGER. HAD HE TRULY THOUGHT HIMSELF CAPABLE OF SUCH A THING? 

LAUGHTER PASSED PARTED LIPS -- THE SOUND HOLLOW AND COLD, FOR THERE WAS NO HUMOR IN IT, MERELY SATISFACTION IN KNOWING THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER -- 

                      ‘       I AM NOTHING BUT ANGER. 

IT WAS A TRUTH BUT NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH, AS THE POWER OF HIS WORDS HAD PROVEN. ANGER WAS HER DRIVING FORCE; IT KEPT HER IN THE FIGHT, PREVENTED HER MEMORIES FROM CONSUMING HER. YET, THOSE MEMORIES REMAINED, DESPITE THE DISTANCE SHE’D PUT BETWEEN HERSELF AND WHO SHE USED TO BE. HER LINGERING HUMANITY WAS AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, ONE SHE KEPT AS FAR AWAY FROM HERSELF AS SHE DID THE OUTSIDE WORLD. 

ALREADY, IT HAD COME TOO CLOSE, & THIS ALL-CONSUMING ANGER WAS A RETALIATION AGAINST IT. THE GRIEF HIS WORDS HAD INSPIRED REAWAKENED SAE TO THE EMPTINESS SHE FELT. FOREVER FRACTURED BY HER TREATMENT AT THE HANDS OF THE LICH KING, SAE DID NOT REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO FEEL WHOLE.  

THEREFORE, SHE HAD NO ABILITY TO TRULY ANSWER HIS SECOND QUESTION, AND TRUTHFULLY -- SAE HAD NO IDEA WHAT HE MEANT BY IT, NOR DID SHE CARE TO LEARN. HER PRIMARY GOAL WAS TO ASCERTAIN WHAT SORT OF CREATURE HE WAS, AND WHETHER HE HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE HORDE OF UNDEAD SHE’D TAKEN SUCH PLEASURE IN STRIKING DOWN. 

                     ‘       YOU SEEM EAGER TO FIND OUT. 

MAINTAINING HER GRIP ON HIM, SAE RAISED HER WEAPON. THE BLADE PULSED WITH A DARK ENERGY, EMPOWERED BY THE SOULS IT CONSUMED. HER OWN SOUL DRIFTED SOMEWHERE IN THE FLUX, OSCILLATING BETWEEN THE BLADE AND THE CORPSE IT POSSESSED. 

                    ‘       I WILL ONLY ASK ONCE MORE: WHAT. ARE. YOU?

[saelyrasia]

heading to bed! feel free to send in one of these, if you’d like. ❤️will get to them tomorrow, along with replies. 

[justanotherrpmeme]

Send 💬  for me to make you a starter with a random line of dialogue from this generator.

[kinguponthesea]

It is not death  a man should fear, but never beginning to live

Independent Multimuse, with muses from Asoiaf, Greek Mythology, WoW, Witcher, and many others.

[saelyrasia]

Does Sae feel joy? Desire? Lust?

Sae is capable of feeling both joy and desire, but she cannot do so easily or reliably. An important thing to know about Sae is that she will always feel negative emotions more strongly than positive ones. I think, in time, the gap between them can be slowly chipped away at, but as long as her soul remains bound to her runeblade – that fact will remain. 

However, this does not mean that positive emotions do not impact her – quite the contrary. Sae actively closes herself off to most of her emotions, along with anything relating to her old life or her old self; her default state could be described as rather distant and unfeeling. So, even a brush with joy/any other positive emotion will really throw her off, even if that joy is a whisper when compared to the shrieking of her anger. 

As the two main emotions she feels are anger or bloodlust, often Sae will default to either of those ( mostly anger ) when threatened with the “humanity” of other feelings. Sae does not know how to acknowledge her past without letting it consume her, so she simply leans in to the notion most people have about Death Knights being cold and unfeeling. As far as she’s concerned, the only thing she needs from her old life is her sense of humanity/right and wrong. The rest of it died when she did. 

If you’d like to know more about Sae’s emotions, I answered a similar question HERE that you might find interesting! :) 

Insofar as lust is concerned, I would have to say no. Her body is not functional; there is no way for her to feel it ( or perform sexually ) if she wanted to. Of course, she can admire someone’s beauty. She can even recognize something she may have found erotic during her time alive, but yeah. The only real pleasure she feels is in killing/causing pain and suffering. So, bloodlust? Yes. Regular lust? Unfortunately, no. If she ever figures out a way to reverse the whole undead thing, though, she’s definitely game. 

[saelyrasia]

SAELYRASIA - IN LIFE & IN DEATH. 

[saelyrasia]

☠   ☓  PRIMECHICAGOWIZARD.

He sat, long lanky legs folded beneath him, fingers worrying at his own lip. Cole was different, human now and not at the same time. How did a ghost wander about the physical realm? Separated from the Fade, pulled past the veil in a way that left it reaching for the sprite progressively moving too far, too far for it to forcibly tug back. If he wanted, he could erase his existence, graze the surface of the environment at ground level, witnessing but never interacting.

…. why would he wish to do that? He came to the world, curious, tugged forward by a call he couldn’t refuse.

It twisted him. Making him sick. A confusing swirl of madness the world was known to instigate in all manner of creatures who traveled the surface. Creatures that weren’t supposed to travel the surface.

Like him.

Like her? Of that world, but not at the same time. 

He followed a wisp of a feeling, tugged gradually on until he found what fascinated him. 

A powerful entity, that’s what he felt. 

Like her? But not. Something else, something that had eradicated the people on the caravan. Striking before he arrived.

Cole was tall, but he wasn’t very… substantial besides. He looked like a dwindling form, starving and cold, pale. As a ghost should. Presumably so.

But he wasn’t a ghost.

Was he?

He was a physically being kneeling in the midst of the stranger to capture his attention, tugging at his lip, sorting through his thoughts. 

“Agonized cries cut through the night like daggers, ricocheting off the crumbling stone walls in heart-wrenching sobs. The world flashed by him in a haze. A cold, numb sensation slowly spread throughout his limbs, and coiled about his heart like a serpent. You could have brought the end swifter.” Cole tensed, sitting rigid like he was taken by a truth that stole his own heart, stopping its beating quick in his chest.

“It hurts.” He shut his eyes tight. “It hurts to have you near me.” 

HIS WORDS COMMANDED AS EASILY AS THEY CONFUSED, INSPIRING A MEMORY THAT SHE HAD LONG SINCE BURIED AWAY. HER FINAL MOMENTS ALIVE: STREAKS OF SILVER AND RED, THE CLANGING OF METAL, FEELINGS OF RESOLVE, HOPE, DETERMINATION. SHE CUT DOWN ONE, TWO -- FIVE, TEN, BUT THERE WERE ALWAYS MORE. A SEA OF GRAY BODIES GROWING AND GROWING AND GROWING; SAE HAD NEVER KNOWN SUCH FEAR. SHE HEARD A SCREAM; SHE TURNED TO LOOK, THEN CAME A WHITE HOT PAIN. SHE FELL TO HER KNEES, TOOK HER FINAL BREATH WITH A BLADE THROUGH HER LUNGS, THINKING OF THE MAN SHE WOULD NEVER RETURN TO, THINKING OF THE PROMISE SHE MADE. A BLUR OF GRAY BEFORE HER EYES, THE FAINT PRESSURE OF BOOTS AS HER BODY WAS TRAMPLED INTO THE MUD, EACH SENSATION WEAKER THAN THE LAST -- UNTIL SHE FELT NOTHING BUT THE COLD. 

THAT SAME CORPSE REMAINED EERILY STILL, MASQUERADING THE CHAOTIC SCENE THAT REPLAYED IN HER MIND. TO COME THAT CLOSE TO FEELING AGAIN STARTLED HER. & THAT FEAR MANIFESTED ITSELF IN THE ONLY RELIABLE EMOTION SHE FELT -- ANGER.

BUT HE HAD NOT BEEN SPEAKING OF HER -- NO, HE SPOKE OF THE CREATURE SHE’D TAKEN SUCH PLEASURE IN STRIKING DOWN. “YOU COULD HAVE BROUGHT THE END QUICKER.”

THE NOTION STOKED THE FIRE IN HER CHEST, FORCING HER TO CONTEND WITH THE WICKEDNESS INSIDE OF HER. IF ONLY SHE COULD HAVE, BUT THERE WAS NO CURE FOR HER ADDICTION TO SUFFERING, NO DEATH VIOLENT ENOUGH TO SATE THE ENDLESS HUNGER. SAE HAD SEEN THE KILLING AS A KINDNESS; WHOEVER THE SOUL BELONGED TO WAS NOW RELIEVED OF CORRUPTED FLESH. SAE WOULD EMPLOY THEIR LIFE FORCE AS A WEAPON AGAINST THOSE WHO MUTILATED IT, AND THEIR PAINFUL END WOULD SATE HER HUNGER LONG ENOUGH TO KEEP HER FROM KILLING INNOCENTS. WHAT DID IT MATTER IF THE ABOMINATION HAD SUFFERED? THE LESSON HAD BEEN MADE CLEAR TO HER LONG AGO; THERE WOULD BE NO END TO THIS EVIL WITHOUT COST. 

                                        AT LEAST IT WAS AN END. 

                                       ALMOST AN END, ANYWAY. 

FOR, THE SOULS SHE’D TAKEN REMAINED BOUND TO THIS REALM, EMPOWERING SAE AND THE MAGIC TO WHICH SHE WAS INEXTRICABLY TIED. IT MADE HER FEEL UNSTOPPABLE, QUELLING THE SHARP PANGS OF GUILT THAT HIS WORDS HAD INSPIRED, THOUGH IT NEVER DISAPPEARED COMPLETELY. WHO WAS HE? WHO DARED TO QUESTION HER METHODS? WHO ELSE HAD EVEN ATTEMPTED TO STOP THE SLAUGHTER? 

                 MAKE HIM PAY. LEAVE HIS CORPSE AMONG THE REST.

IT WAS AN INSTINCT SAE CAME DESPERATELY CLOSE TO ACTING ON, LASHING OUT AGAINST THE PICTURE HE’D PAINTED IN HER MIND. BUT SOMETHING STOPPED HER, FOR AS HER AWARENESS OF HIS PRESENCE GREW, SAE WAS NOT CERTAIN HE HAD A SOUL TO TAKE. HE WAS NOT HUMAN: NOT ENTIRELY, ANYWAY, AND SAE HAD NEVER SENSED A BEING LIKE HIM BEFORE. THE MAGIC, THE FEELING, WAS FOREIGN, AND SAE NOW REGARDED HIM AS A POTENTIAL THREAT. 

IN AN INSTANT SHE HAD HIM BY THE COLLAR, PULLING HIM CLOSE ENOUGH TO WHERE SHE COULD SEE THE BLUE GLOW OF HER EYES REFLECTED BACK OFF OF HIS OWN. HER VOICE WAS AS LOW AS IT WAS COLD, THE INTENSITY OF HER ANGER COMING OFF IN WAVES. 

                  ‘      YOU DO NOT KNOW PAIN, BUT YOU WILL -- 

A SNARL BROKE THROUGH PALE PINK LIPS, EXPOSING THE FANGS THAT NO LONGER SERVED ANY PRACTICAL PURPOSE BEYOND INTIMIDATION. 

                  ‘      WHAT ARE YOU? 

[saelyrasia]

☠   ☓ LUSTRC.

          the  old  fool  gulps  down  a  burp;  this  surely  was  NOT  the  time.  he  shrugs  and  laughs  at  her  opinion  … .  statement  ??  and  follows  her  glowing  gaze  to  the  townsfolk.  ‘  what  ??  you’ve  never  seen  a  sodding  elf  before  ??  ’  he  thinks  to  himself,  wiping  a  the  tip  of  moustache - tickled  nose  with  a  crooked  index  finger  again.  a  nervous  tick.             he  perks  with  the  mention  of  an  opportunity  to  make  some  money.  more  money  meant  more  booze.  more  booze  meant  not  having  to  do  any  sort  of  self - reflection  whatsoever.  heels  digs  into  the  mud,  steadfast  in  affirming  her  initial  assumptions  about  him.

          “  now  … .  now  … .  don’t  be  gettin’  ahead  of  yourself,  woman,  ”  brows  lift  and  lips  purse,  readying  himself  to  ask  a  couple  of  important  questions.  “  what’s  the  job  and  how  much  are  you  offering  ??  i  don’t  do  anything  dealing  with  pussyfootin’  and  skulkin’.  i  want  them  to  know  i’m  comin’,   ”  honestly,  it’s  not  like  he  had  one  stealthy  bone  in  his  body  either.  “  i  don’t  deal  with  affairs  of  the  heart  and  i  don’t  beat  children  and  defenseless  women,  ”  he  NEEDED  to  be  specific  with  that  one.

SO, SHE’D SUCCEEDED IN GETTING HIS ATTENTION -- NO INTIMIDATION REQUIRED AND WITH MINIMAL IRRITATION ON HER PART. A MOST NOVEL CONCEPT -- ONE SHE ATTRIBUTED TO THE PERSUASIVE POWER OF THE COIN IN HER POCKET. TALK OF TERMS DISTRACTED HER FROM THE PRETENSE OF APPEARING ALIVE; AS HE SPOKE, SHE DISCONTINUED THE ERRATIC BLINKING & BREATHING, RETURNING TO HER  “ NATURAL ” STATE, STILL AS THE DEAD.

           ‘     I HAVE BEEN HUNTING A GROUP OF CULTISTS; THEIR CURRENT LOCATION WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO REACH IN APPROXIMATELY THREE DAYS. WHILE I AM CAPABLE OF SLAUGHTERING THEM MYSELF, THEIR MAGIC WILL SENSE ME BEFORE I AM ABLE TO GET CLOSE ENOUGH. THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN. ’

AS BAIT. SAE NEEDED HIM AS BAIT: CAPABLE BAIT, COMPETENT BAIT, BUT BAIT NONETHELESS. SHE WOULD NOT USE THAT TERM, OF COURSE, FOR HUMANS WERE PRIDEFUL CREATURES, AND SHE DID NOT PEG HIM AN EXCEPTION TO THIS. PALE HANDS LIFTED TO UNTIE THE CORD AROUND HER NECK, WHICH HAD BEEN FASTENED BACKWARDS TO OBSCURE THE GOLD SHE CARRIED BENEATH HER LONG, PINK HAIR. ONCE DETACHED, SAE FLUNG THE SACK AT HIM, UNINTENTIONALLY DOING SO WITH CONSIDERABLY MORE FORCE THAN WAS NECESSARY. 

              ‘      YOUR TERMS ARE REASONABLE. FIFTY GOLD NOW, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MORE WHEN THE JOB IS DONE. YOU WILL ALSO BE FREE TO LOOT WHAT YOU WILL FROM THEIR CORPSES. ’ 

WHAT SHE WOULD RECEIVE FROM THIS EXCHANGE WAS WHOLLY PERSONAL. TOO LONG HAD THEY EVADED HER, SAE WOULD SEE THE JOB DONE, NO MATTER THE PERSONAL COST. 

              ‘     DO WE HAVE A DEAL? ’

[tevruden]

McDonald’s Alignment Chart: Death Knight Edition

[saelyrasia]

☠   ☓ hawkeyde·.

  ❝  i really wish people would stop framing me for murder.  just because i killed 1,643 people doesn’t mean i killed that specific one. ❞

@saelyrasia· gets a chaotic short ass starter.

‘   -- THIS HAPPENS TO YOU, TOO?  ’ A TIGHT-LIPPED SMILE; THE FEELING IS UNNATURAL. SELDOM COULD SAE IDENTIFY WITH THE EXPERIENCES OF THE LIVING -- & THAT OF A HUMAN, NO LESS! 

                  ‘   I HAVE ALSO KILLED THOUSANDS, PERHAPS TENS. ’