#lacronianking

[askrockknight-blog]

(( Me: huh what should I draw

Me: "yaranaika"

Me: I should draw the king as Abe

what have I done with my life ))

[askrockknight-blog]

NO ITS NOT LMFAO ILU ALL

[5/9/13 9:40:03 PM] Sayla: my last post seals it, rock and luther are gay for each other

[5/9/13 9:40:12 PM] Talec Arashi: I don't ever want to draw the bottom of the Komusai again.

[5/9/13 9:40:13 PM] Sayla: they're just deeeeeeeeeeeeeep in the closet

[5/9/13 9:40:28 PM] RMG91: lol

[5/9/13 9:40:35 PM] Talec Arashi: so deep they're coming out in Narnia

[5/9/13 9:40:41 PM] RMG91: fffff

[5/9/13 9:40:44 PM] Detective Aya: dsfdgfhjgjhkjh

[5/9/13 9:40:58 PM] D C: lhsdKFJNwell they do live in a world of magic...

[5/9/13 9:41:03 PM] D C SO DEAD AT YOU GUYS

[askrockknight-blog]

The Fool

"...When I was a squire and recently assigned to be the personal guard of Prince Luther, I once lost track of him when a little pretty femme named Ceolwyn started talking to me, and I literally searched every nook and cranny of the capitol trying to find him. I returned to the castle in a complete panic that he was gone, and my fellows thought I'd lost my marbles because he came back to the castle hours ago."

[askrockknight-blog]

Comm

(( Timeline-wise this is correct to be posted/ played right now, course I haven't finished writing some of Rock's adventures in Rafidain to this point yet...... so some spoilers may apply. This is the only warning. ))

Rock's things were handled once before, but it was kept in a small storage area until they made the final determination to throw it out. One of the worker mechs gathered it up neatly and was transporting it for disposal when he managed to handle it just in a way that the comm device from Neotopia came on, projecting a screen to Lacroa. The poor guy nearly leaped out of his armor in shock, dropping everything and staring at it in confusion.

[asknataku-blog]

Search and Seizure

Castle Lacroa had quite the rude awakening this morning as several servants and guards who had been doing their normal duties were running frightened or thrown over balconies with large bite wounds. No one seemed to know what was going on quite yet as a whole, there was mostly rumors of "invasion" and a "dragon".

Nataku had been meditating in the garden as a normal ritual, finding peace and wholeness in the memories (and "essence" he called it, he simply felt closer to her this way) of Meilan. The garden was tended to as usual, but it was sacred ground in a way and the only sanctuary the royals did not tread; to them it held foul memories of the deceased Llamrei. At least, to the knight, it was a perfect place to find peace within the castle's walls.

Except today wasn't so peaceful...

[askrockknight-blog]

18- Effective immediately

Mahir had fixed Rock's communicator by the time he returned to the Kakeh Palace, which was with good fortune too because he had made a decision finally on what to even say in his silent, tired flight back. Snatching it from the axian quickly, the knight took off, Luna following along worriedly.

"Is everything alright?" Rock paused a half step but continued to fly, looking a little distracted to say the least.

"I don't know. It will be though." Silver overheard him and rounded a corner, he began to say something but before he could fully initialize it, he had already sat down the communicator on a table in the foyer overhang, turning it on and giving Lacroa a call... He sighed and finished off a glass of energon, leaning in the doorway to watch silently. What was there to say after seeing such horrible things? It was not long before mech and spirit were once again greeted by the Lacroan symbol.  However, it appeared that their call was immediately forwarded to the king himself, be it through accident or otherwise. Luther nodded in greeting to them, then paused for a moment to glare behind himself at Pelonus until the aide stopped waving and left the room.  Shaking his head, the king sighed.  "How are things on your end, then?"

"'Bad' would be putting it mildly," Rock sighed and ran his hand against the back of his neck. "As you can see from my makeshift armor "upgrade", I got caught up in the blowout of the first mine and it's set me back quite a bit for hitting all of them in the next two and a half weeks. This has, honestly, been my first chance to call you, sire. I apologize for my tardiness."

Luther shook his head.  "It is quite fine, Rock, set-backs are to be expected with what you are in the process of doing."  He sat back, frowning slightly, "Although I assume that a makeshift upgrade and explosion are the least of your worries."

"It's..." He drew a deep breath and held it in his chassis. Yes, there was good in saving Tiffa, it wasn't entirely a waste... but it was to Lacroa. He couldn't get around the fact that their liberation held no sway over the fate of Diudesk's alliance with Akkadia. None that he could foresee, anyway. He was trained to protect the weak and hold the highest standard of morals of anyone of the land, a challenge of the spirit to achieve greatness, but was he honestly supposed to turn his cheek to the mass murder and suffering of these people? Rock took a moment to gather himself up, steeling his will. "Of course. Though I am fine now, I had a close encounter with the heir to the throne of Akkadia, the Caliph- Suran Ali-Farsin." Silver behind the backdrop of the king had caught his sight as he crossed his arms and looked on expectantly, Rock hesitated only a second to give him a glance before returning his full attention to his majesty. "I ended up wounding him badly in order to escape- I didn't have much choice in the matter. His arm was severed, but what makes the outlook extraordinarily bad is he... knows my name..." 

"That... certainly makes things difficult."  Sighing, the king rubbed at his face and got up to pace across the study he had practically moved into.  "I'll see what we can do on our end to try and influence him and his ilk to forget they met you.  How likely is it that he's connected you to Lacroa itself?"

"He already flat out told me he found my cover story too odd to be an individualized task force. If we're on the precipice of a Diut-Akkadia pact, then it's highly likely that information about who I am exactly is going to come from them first." He trailed off, lowering his sight and burning it into the table the communicator rested on, staring intensely. "...We're talking about an international conspiracy and assault on a foreign leader charges at the very least, maybe even an act of war if they were to blow it out of proportion."

"Which Diudesk would leap upon like a starving animal and encourage to no end."  Luther suddenly looked like he needed a drink.  "This winter has turned out to just be utterly delightful, hasn't it?"

"In light of these short comings and effective immediately," Rock broke from the dry wit, keeping trained on the king unyieldingly. "I relaying to you my resignation as a knight of Lacroa."

Silver flinched and drew up closer to the backside of the projection, sputtering. "Hey- wh-what?!" It was all he could manage in his shock, however, as he clamped his mouth shut.

A pregnant and awkward silence reigned for a full minute on both ends. There was nothing else he could do, as he had already discussed with Silver. This was a dead end, and the only way to keep playing the game was to separate himself from something he loved and cherished so deeply, no different than cutting out his own spark. But that field of carnage- Tiffa up on that post- all of those poor mechs imprisoned wrongfully- Rock had to focus on these wronged mechs to get through this. He couldn't back down now, and if he had to make this incision to still protect Lacroa and not drag them into the dirty, ugly fight this undoubtedly was, then the choice was clear to him. Rock drew a shakey breath, embracing the silence if only to keep his own composure, until it was broken by Pelonus poking his head back into the study. "You're WHAT!?"

"I-- I said I am resigning my position and all association I have with the Kingdom of Lacroa, its esquires, and the ruling family as of right now, this conversation with you, Your Hi-- K-King Luther."

"No you're not," His brother suddenly interrupted, apparently not giving a damn that he was having this conversation with the king. "You just can't- you even think anyone will believe that?!"

"Silver," Rock growled as he lifted his gaze to him. "You chose to have no involvement, so you have no involvement. Get out."

"Make me."

"Please stop," Luna whined pitifully, shrinking down. This whole situation was just awful, and it was only getting worse by the second. Of course deaf to her plea, Silver rounded the corner to stand there with arms crossed, inviting Rock to do something about it but he did not take him up on it.

"You have better chance of success going back home and getting your princess and all of your forces together in the event this Diudesk makes a move than you do trying to fix a fragging broken situation that's out of your control!"

"That isn't an option," Rock shouted back. "We can't fight the Diuts! We're not even going to entertain that! It's just...!"

"It's just throwing away your opportunity by biting off more than you can chew- I already told you, this pact is going through and no one is going to stop it--"

"I'm going to stop it, or I'm going to kill myself trying, Silver!!" His brother drew back in bewilderment, falling quiet again awfully fast.

"But Sir Rock, you've got to be-"

"He has no title, Pelonus." The aide blinked, looking to the king.  

"S-Sire?" Rock pried his wary optics away from his brother one last time, standing at attention to the King moreso out of deeply embedded habit than of necessity. Luther sighed, glancing at the two gundams through the comm before turning back to his aide. "He has renounced all ties with Lacroa, from citizenship to his placing in the Royal Army. If this is truly his choice, made under his own power when he is of sound mind, then we have no option to dispute it." The man shook his head sadly before turning back.  "I do hope you know what you are doing, Rock, I truly do."

A part of the now-former knight relaxed immensely, exhaling from his vents. The King was being understanding, which was tremendously appreciated. “Thank you, I pray the High Spirits would continue to watch over and guide me…” He balled his hands tight into fists, grimacing still at the bitter taste. “King Luther, I would be most indebted that, upon my return to your beautiful kingdom, I may be granted your audience. If your benevolence would allow this opportunity, I would wish to make a plea on behalf of my poor judgments here today…” He peeked up at the man carefully, biting his glossa behind his faceplate. Rock could close the door, but he didn’t want to burn a bridge, and certainly wanted the chance to pry it back open if he could-- and he would, with all his might.

The aide snorted. “Like you actually need to ask, I doubt he’d ever actually kick you-“

“Pelonus?”

“Yes, Sire?”

“Get out.” Smirking, Pelonus did as he was told and once more removed himself from the study. “The castle is always open to you, Rock, you know that. On that note, tell your so-called brother to stop glaring at you. He chose to remove himself from your life, and so he no longer has any right to try and dictate it.”

“Tell me about it,” Rock muttered.

“He’s just worried, you know,” Luna suddenly intervened, wringing her hands. “Silver doesn’t want to see you lose everything.”

“Yeah, well he’s wrong.” Once he caught the King’s curious look, he stammered to bridge the gap. “M-My brother is, I mean. We’re going to be fine, all of us are.” Rock sighed and drifted back, struggling with words before looking back at his, now former, lord. “Is it- wrong to inquire about the status of Rele?”

Luther shook his head. “You are, again, always welcome to ask. She is… not where she belongs yet.” He sighed. “To be exact, she’s disappeared from the Diut palace, along with the king’s only daughter.” The king shrugged. “I do not know where they are now, but Diudesk is under the impression that Lacroa somehow kidnapped them while they were touring a park.” 

Rock groaned and sank his head into his hands, muttering a muffled plea to the spirits. “…By chance, is there some hereditary trait that I wasn’t aware of in the royal line that gives it’s heirs the extraordinary power of creating problems…?”

“From what little I know, Rele inherited the trait from both sides of her family.” Luther allowed himself a small smile. “From what little we know of Sigivald’s children, the cousin in question only differs from Rele in eye color and height.” 

The ex-knight slowly raised his helm as if it bared a tremendous weight trying to hold it down into his sunk hands. When his optics caught the king’s eyes though, he felt a wry smile pull from behind the faceplate and he chortled. They’d been through worse together, Rock just had to keep reminding himself of it. “Well, that sounds like twice the amount of trouble. I hope Deed and Battle can handle it.” He gave pause, optics searching inwardly. “I’ll keep you post about the status here where and when I can, King Luther…”

“I would greatly appreciate it," He leaned back, clasping his hands behind him. "And I’ll keep trying to distract them on my end as well. Hopefully the disappearance of the princesses pulls Diudesk’s attention away from your end of things for a while.”

"We can only pray. Please take care."

The night was just like the last spent at the Kakheh Palace-- alone in the dark of night with Luna's quiet, supportive company and feeling as miserable as ever. Rock had gone out to pick up a bottle of high grade- it didn't even matter that it was unrefined crude- and sat himself on the Emarat Badgirm, on the blue wind tower. Baydell at night was much more beautiful than during the daylight hours. Luna, on the other hand, showed no interest in their view and had no shame in her fixation of him. She spoke up as Rock pressed his lips against the dark energon-laced stick and drew a deep breath.

"Can you please-- please tell me what you're thinking about...?"  The ex-knight held the toxins in his cooling system for as long as he could- as intense as the burning in his filters was, there was some comfort in the pain of it. Finally, he exhaled slowly. "Rock? Are you listening?"

Yes and no; he had heard her, but he wasn't listening. He felt empty, optics shifting back down to his communicator laying between his legs. Was it cowardice to turn it off after he sent out his message of his resignation? It wasn't as if he had to answer to anyone else but the King, but all of the people he cared about-

-he couldn't indulge in the attachment of their well-being or even their judgements of his decision. Right now, they were gone-- thousands of miles away and not in his life. Just as much as he wasn't in theirs.

"Remember," Luna had suddenly poked her face near his. "How we made a plan before?" He still didn't reply. Plans weren't going to make this better. His conversation with Luther began again in his processors and he grimaced, grabbing up his half-drank glass without warning and hurling it out in the open before him. The sound of the shattering glass, though distant, gave him a small sense of relief- before a pang of something different. Rock's expression hardened thoughtfully and his optics now met Luna's, looking on the verge of tears... wait, could a ghost cry?

"A-Are you... able to see me still?" Oh. Right. To her, he was the only person left who could listen, and here he was blatantly ignoring her. His guilt mounted and he shifted the cigarette to the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah. I'm sorry." Clearly, that wasn't quite enough. Her hurt eyes stayed trained on him, gradually gravitating to him and laying her hands on his.

"Then let's talk about it. You'll feel better if you do!"

"I don't want to talk about it." Her face scrunched up further at his insistence.

"You're hurting me, Rock. It--"

"You can't feel pain, Luna, you're dead."

"I can feel plenty of things," She suddenly snapped back. "I just want to help you!"

"And I'm saying you can help me by leaving me alone right now- please just go away until morning." She drew her hands to her chest and backed away, somewhat smaller as she cast her look aside. Man, he really wasn't trying to hurt her, but it seemed like that was all he was doing! "Look, I've just thrown away my entire life and everyone who was in it on a gamble. It's done, over. I effed up when I attacked the Caliph, and this is the price of it. We've already got to head out in the morning to Dilucrezia so I just- I just want to try to relax. I don't want answers right now, I just want peace." He opened his hands up to her, palms up, in a begging gesture. "Right?"

"I'm tired of it too," Luna agreed softly and phased through his lap to wrap her arms around his chassis, futile as it was. They sat in silence together for some time, every so often he would take a drag and flick off the burning hot ashes into the frigid night air. She smiled a little jokingly to herself after a moment and his tired eyes quirked questioningly. "I'm sorry if I bother you."

"You don't, Luna."

"I just realized that I have such small needs. I don't know how you deal with it."

"What do you mean?"

"We saw all of those dead soldiers and here I am wishing I was the one left alive just so I could hug you. Talk about shallow priorities."

"You're just as much dead as they are. I see nothing wrong with it, they probably wish they were alive right now, too."

"But I do have you," She leaned her helm back and peered up at him. "So I already have it better than just 'being dead' like them." It was an interesting concept, and a small relief from brooding over his voluntary withdrawal from his duties. Rock pondered about why this was, and why him, for a long moment.

"Have you seen any other spirits?"

"Yes, most won't talk to me though."

"Were there any out in the field today?"

"No... the newly deceased go somewhere else. I don't really know. I guess it has to do with burial rites... I guess."

"Can any of them talk to people? Like... people in their lives?"

"I haven't asked yet," Luna beamed, just tickled that he was having a conversation with her. She must have missed him a lot back in Akkadia.

"Would you do that for me?"

"Would you do what," The voice came out of nowhere and he flinched horribly, inhaling the entirety of his cigarette and choking. Silver paused. "Are you alright?" Rock shook his head before finally hacking up the burning obstruction painfully, wheezing and coughing all the more. His brother plucked up the mangled remains and flicked it off the edge. "Don't make a habit of that."

"D-Don't sneak up on me," He snapped back hoarsely, but Luna only laughed. "I don--t see what is so fffunny about this!"

"Oh, you're talking to Luna?" Silver skimmed the area in a vague hope to spot her, but he hadn't even the faintest clue that she was sitting right there with Rock. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't believe you were here before, Loon. I just thought Sandy lost his marbles."

"So, you finally changed your mind, huh," Rock gave him a sour look at the nickname as he rubbed his throat sorely.

"Oh, not about you, I still think you've gone clear off the grand canyon. But I believe she had to have gotten us that information on lemur. It's pretty amazing, Lu, you saved some lives with that." She smiled and tipped her helm down, a little flustered with the praise. He knew she wanted him to believe in her too, just like when they were little, how she'd always want his approval; Rock didn't exactly share that sentiment over Silver's praise like she did. The two were really good siblings, and he was just a third wheel who made it entirely more complicated than it needed be. 

"She hears you, thanks," He said flatly and laid back down against the rooftop to look up at the moon. His brother stared at him and Luna sighed, curling up alongside as she got the message. He still wanted nothing more than his solitude, but Silver hadn't exactly gotten that memo yet.

"Still mad at me, huh?"

"What the frell do you think?" Rock snorted and he could feel his systems tensing up again. This was the last person in the world he wanted to deal with right now.

"Well, I already said I think you're nuts."

"Besides that!!"

"I also think you're going to make a lot of people very sad, Rock," Silver replied in a hushed tone. The ex-knight kept up his stubborn front by closing his eyes.

"You don't have any faith in me, which is fine by me. I have no faith in you, either!"

"Silver," Luna whimpered and it caught him off guard, blinking his optics at her.

"What- oh come on, Luna, don't start taking his side now-!"

"But it's just that," She struggled to grasp at words. "I'm sad you had to do this, because you're sad... I know you're brave, and it's your duty as a knight and all, but if it hurts me, I know it's got to hurt other people too... how can you abide by your knight's code if you're not even a knight anymore?" Urgh, what he wouldn't give to get away from the both of them. 

"I have a moral code that my knighthood is committed to upholding, it's a standard of accepting the difficult path of a life devoted to the good, the just, and the righteous with grace. If being a knight conflicts with my morals, then my knighthood can bear no value in the face of the strength of my character. A title means nothing compared to the sanctity of your soul." Luna listened wide-eyed, nodding slowly as she digested his words carefully.

"But if it's the right thing to do, then why does it hurt you so much?" Her inexperience living in the real world any longer than that of a sparkling looking for the promised land was showing again. His engine gave a little hiccup as his emotional stability matrix dipped to a new low.

"A--Ahh, Luna... it's just... if doing the right thing was easy, do you think there would be war?" 

"..." That seemed to convey the point well enough. Silver watched his brother in silence a moment before sitting down next to him and stretching his ebony wings out in full. Rock squirmed away with an untrusting sneer.

"I'm not here to talk you out of this, if you're wondering." The look remained steady and the deep blue gundam shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself."

"Go away," Rock answered coldly. 

"Why?"

"Why? WHY," He snapped back, sitting upright a little too fast. "You are unbelievable! I came here because of you, I even lost one of my men, and I did it despite the fact that you were the one to shove me out eons ago- and still, all I ever get from you is grief! You don't participate in helping me hardly at all, you have the nerve to question me before my King, and you can't even just leave me alone or allow me the decency of my own privacy!" Rock threw up his arms in frustration. "And if that's not enough reasons why, you have the nerve to want me to save you yet ask that I abandon others who need the same show of compassion! You're just an infuriating, lazy, quitter who expects everyone and everything else in the world to take care of problems on it's own!" The cold, quiet night filled the air between them as the ex-knight huffed, glaring at his brother. Silver stared back as if completely unburdened by the heartfelt, angry confession.

"Feel better?"

"Do I look better!?!" His voice cracked and he buried his optic pannels into his palms, curling up. Rock didn't think he could take much more of this torment. His entire world was falling apart, and he felt as if he was falling apart with it as he desperately tried to catch the pieces. There was oddly some relief gently tugging him away from his turmultuous fit, and he lifted himself out of the position with a heavy sigh, fishing out another cigarette. What the frell did he care right now, he'd sooner die out on the field like those thousands of Amorites than he ever did overdosing on dark energon-

No sooner had he procured the stick, Silver snatched it up out of his hands, holding it away out of his natural reach and Rock went right back on the launch pad.

"You know, this stuff is supposed to make you quite mean, and I can see it."

"Silver you have five seconds to give that back to me or I will break those gunddamn wings like brittle twigs..."

"Mmmh. How about instead I tell you where you're going to find the person to stop the lemur?" 

[askbattle-blog]

Carnage

Hours passed, the sun had set, and still no Princess or her escorts. Back at the castle, and out in the countryside, the people close to them were wondering where they got off to- but no one more than Deed. He was left waiting in a field with the snow beginning to come down heavier and lit up bright by the moon. The feeling was dawning upon him that perhaps the King's attempt to separate them at all costs stripped him of his chance to embrace her on the most romantic evening in the kingdom.

Perhaps.

[askrockknight-blog]

Rock is Leaving Lacroa

((obviously my timing is all messed up now but this is set a few days after Rock returns from his recovery (and STILL work) time in Neotopia

alternatively this is regarding this previous rp here ))

It had been too long. That was a reality Rock was facing now- as much as he tried to put it off, every single day that passed- especially without further communication- was one more day the unavoidable reality seemed to solidify. The knight exhaled deeply and came to see the King, kneeling before him in his normal and comfortable formality to the royal. "Your Highness?"