#afuckedtale

[dreadtales]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡. @afuckedtale.

[dreadtales]

she's sitting near a stream, fingers dancing through the waters, droplets of water falling from the tips as she raises her hand to brush against a sweaty brow. they've been riding for what seems like hours to get out of the main lands and into the surrounding forests, where they will be safe, where their dragons will be safe.

she watches a curled up me'sovahl on the opposite riverbank, lounging in the sun, looking positively pleased with herself after a few beasts worth of a meal and now a bit of time to rest her wings. atash and valen are circling the area above, taking their post as the guards whilst the other two get a bit of rest.

it's soon enough that night will be falling soon and they're going to have to find some place to bed down with their dragon kind, and because of such, they can't simply plop down in the middle of the forests. cressida thought she spotted a cave from above a few miles off, and the look of atash's bright red scales shining in the sunlight as the duo descend means they've found something.

"𝙞 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?"

she says, a tilt of the head atash's direction, speaking to the guardian more or less than her rider. the fresh blow of steam from the dragon's nostrils prove her point, and she comes over to press her fingers against the creature's snout, smoothing a hand down her scales. much like her own dragon, she knows that atash is living on the edge, almost impossibly afraid of what war would bring to their race.

as riders, they were set to protect the vale, and the people in it, but as members of an uprising, the two of them simply decided not to be used for weapons of mass destruction, and not allow themselves nor their dragons to be manipulated.

"𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚, 𝙞 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬." she says, whispering to atash, before pressing a kiss to the dragon's scales and turning to see valen. "𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙖 𝙧𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩." from the look in atash's eyes, she can almost read the dragon's mind, not needing the telepathic connection between herself and her brother's dragon to speak words now. and there her brother is, about ready to submerge himself in the streams cool waters.

"𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧?"

she asks, a tilt of the head in @afuckedtale's direction - her fingers still absentmindedly drawing patterns across the bright crimson of atash's scales, feeling the soft yet impossibly strong creations under her touch. she's always amazed at how similar the dragon's scales are to her own, yet in a way, they're more prominent in color, a stark difference. she feels the dragon settle a bit under her touch, like her proximity to cressida has taken the weight of protecting valen alone off her heavy shoulders.

[dreadtales]

her fingers brush across the petals of a flower, white now stained red, as she slumps her way against a tree. just a few more hundred yards, she tells herself, but the bleeding from her wound is becoming more pronounced, her breath is getting heavy and her heart is thundering in her ears. she knows if she doesn't make it to kashal's abode, she will likely collapse and wither away in the forest, so she persists.

biting down on a branch of a tree, pieces of bark between her teeth, she winces as she ties the now stained crimson fabric tighter against her arm, watching droplets of blood fall from her fingers like rain.

𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗂𝗍. 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗆𝗎𝗌𝗍.

she says to herself, a mantra worth repeating, at this rate. and so she pushes herself from off the tree and begins trudging through the wood, careful not to jostle her most likely broken arm too much in her steps, and whilst on the lookout for any more men who dare bring harm, those that threaten the area.

part of her repayment to kashal for protecting her when she needed a friend, someone at her back when she first ran from the palace and stumbled into what forever will be known as reality, a situation of life and death she was not used to seeing, is keeping the woods safe from those poachers who want to use the animals for personal gain, rather than sustenance or something similar.

she spots his cottage from a half of a mile away, and it's like he can sense her coming, because she notices the door opening and out comes her friend, broad shouldered and willing to take up her burden.

"𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨."

she says, once he throws an uninjured arm over his shoulder and takes the brunt of her weight onto him, and there's a meek smile that follows her remark. she feels lighter, now, like she can walk for miles, but it's likely due to blood loss. they make it to his home and she passes out almost as soon as they make it across the threshold, into his arms just as dramatic as ever.

it's like she can feel @afuckedtale shaking his head in annoyance at her behavior, even from the realm of the unconscious.

[miidnighters-a]

quit your grinning. ( to Isaac from farkas!)

"Hey, now, don't be like that." Isaac is, in fact, grinning from ear to ear with very little sign of stopping.

"It was an honest mistake that anyone could make. just because you made it, and everyone saw it, doesn't make it any less likely to happen to anyone else."

[miidnighters-a]

why the stubbornness?( to Flynn from Ashara )

She has just watched him attempt the same thing twice, with a third attempt clearly on the horizon.

Flynn turns his head towards the voice. He has no idea if she can see the water in his eyes, the cloudiness. He certainly can't see her. "I don't really have much of a choice. Nothing's going to happen if I just sit around and wait."

[miidnighters-a]

maybe we should head back to camp. ( to Hartley from grimrik)

Hartley levels him a look. She doesn't want to head back just because he thinks she should - but she also doesn't want to be the stubborn fool who didn't leave when they should have.

"Fine. But anyone makes a comment I'm making sure they know it was you who turned back."

[miidnighters-a]

you're gonna have to be more specific. ( to Barty from Vilkas!)

"How much more specific do you want a man to get?"

Barty is exasperated, to say the least. "He was this tall, built like a barn, dark hair, cleft chin. What else do I need to tell you?"

[miidnighters-a]

as treacherous as i thought it might be, this journey has been rather... well. interesting, to say the least. ( villiam to belle! )

Bella huffs.

Of course he'd think it was interesting. It wasn't every day a necromancer got to travel with a living undead, after all.

"Easy enough for you to say. I'm like a spectacle in your eyes. What about me? The only thing to eat around here is you."