#ryuzel oc

[abalonetea]

chapter eight is all about Ryuzel, and i’m loving it. she’s not an overly utilized character, but I love her all the same. she was a brave queen, and a good mother. she ruled her kingdom as best she could, and when she decided that it was no longer something she could do, she gave it to someone else.

[abalonetea]

they call her the Witch of the Woods and they claim that she steals the HEART of all who enter her domain. it’s a lie in every sense of the word, but she’s never bothered to try and crush it out.

it’s what she deserves, after all. and this way, at least, they leave her be.

“I can’t,” says Ryuzel, one large paw curling against her chest. already, the ache is growing worse. just the thought of going back, it fills her with dread in a way that’s palpable.

Locke looks at her, though, and he is so, so young. older than her children had been but not old enough to face these woes. “please,” he asks. “if you can’t help...i don’t think anyone can.”

“do you think anyone can become a good person?” it’s never drawn out this long before, the time between one loop and the next, and a part of Blue is terrified that this is it. that it will just be him and her, here for an eternity.

that their blood will always stain the earth, and their screams will always haunt his dreams. 

Ryuzel doesn’t answer right away. she thinks, long, hard, but then she says, “i do. if someone wants to be better, than i think they can.”

he thinks of Bolte.

but then he thinks of Kee.

and he thinks sorry, lady, but you’re wrong.

the many horned deer eat from her paws and Ryuzel wonders why they give her this trust, when her sins are so clearly painted on her fur, etched into the nubs of her horns. 

a velvet nose bumps against her and, for a moment, she smiles.

tags list! let me know if you want on it, or off of it!

@writings-of-a-narwhal @elaynab-writing @writer-grandma    @cometworks @deadlyessencewhispers @nora-wrote-a-book @georgiacambrielwritblr@rmorada  @drabbleitout @inked-foundry @srazar @groovytheoristbat @salvasti @a-place-of-babble @lady-redshield-writes@ohlooksheswriting@bookish-actor @indecentpause @kobalt-ink @marniebalboa @carmenwrites @quilloftheclouds @shadeshadow234  @ethilite @livvywrites

[abalonetea]

the witch of the woods

i had several people ask me questions about Ryuzel via tags on her moodboard, so i thought that i would write up this little short to help explain her story!

“farthington forest, huh?” Red leans against the brick wall, one hand curling against smooth pastel stones. “funny.”

“oh? what’s funny about it?” Locke’s only got his hair pulled into a low pony tail. dirty blond strains wrap around his cheek, all tangled up on his nose, his wind-flushed skin. “do you not have one?”

“i mean, it’s there. jus’ can’t get in it. the Wilds took it over’a while ago.” a pause, while Red tugs up the hood of his jacket. the thick fur lining smothers his hair, tucking him away and turning him into something else.

Locke wonders, for a moment, if Red is trying to hide from the unknown of this world, or the horrors of the Wilds back home. either way, he shuffles a little closer, so their arms are just barely touching. “i take it they’re very dangerous?”

“heh, yeah. plenty’a things in there willin’ta chomp ya. i mean, if ya get past the thorns.” he leans a little further over the edge. it’s a sheer, straight drop down into the valley below. “looks empty out there.”

“it is.” something wistful creeps into those words, and Locke is quick to bite it back. he smiles instead, twists his Intent around until it’s more fond than anything else. “a lot of people are afraid of it.”

Red snorts. “yeah? they got allergies or somethin’?”

Locke laughs, too, and just like that, the fondness isn’t forced at all. “something like that? they’re scared of the witch.”

“the witch,” echoes Red, sounding thoroughly unimpressed.

it’s clearly not a shared story, then. Locke jumps at the chance to tell it. he knows it by heart, after all. 

it’s one of his favorites.

he misses Blue reading in the evenings and it’s a sharp pang to the HEART

“the witch of the woods,” says Locke, firmly. “they say she lives in the heart of farthington, and that anyone who ventures into her forest becomes prey. she takes their HEARTs and uses them in her spells. it’s quite scary!”

“you don’t sound scared.”

“oh. well...i don’t think it’s real, is all. i think...the woman who lives there is much kinder than that.”

“huh. so someone does live out there, but she ain’t a witch.” Red tilts his head to the side. he catches onto things so, so quick. “so what is she?”

“suffering,” answers Locke. the wind brings the sound of snorting horse-dogs and creaking carriage wheels. he closes his eyes, relishing in the fresh spring air. “and very lonely.”

Red is silent for a very long time.

but that’s okay, because Locke is silent too. there’s a small part of him that feels a little like a traitor, sharing this truth with Red when he’s never shared it with Blue but - Blue is so busy all the time, and a silly ghost story isn’t that important - even if it’s not actually about ghosts.

right?

right?

you’re just as bad as he is. liar.

eventually Red asks, “she got a name?”

“yes,” says Locke. “but i’m not allowed to tell it.”

“huh. whaddya call’er then? when yer talkin’bout her?” Red pulls away from the wall, folds his arms behind his head and cracks his shoulders, his neck.

Locke straightens up too, brushing his messy hair away from his face. “i don’t. talk about her, i mean? she doesn’t want people to know she’s there. that’s why she lets people tell those stories.”

Red leads the way down the path, away from the oncoming carriage. it’s a slow, ambling walk, and Locke is happy enough to join him. “she do somethin’ wrong, reason she’s got’erself all cooped up out there?”

that answer takes a moment.

in the end, Locke settles for a truth without telling all the truths. just because they aren’t his truths to tell, is all. he tells the paladin, “her husband died. her children died, too. she’s been mourning them for a very, very long time.”

sometimes, Locke thinks that she’ll never stop.

selfishly, he wishes that she would.

tags list! let me know if you want on it, or off of it!

@writings-of-a-narwhal @elaynab-writing @writer-grandma    @cometworks @deadlyessencewhispers @nora-wrote-a-book @georgiacambrielwritblr@rmorada  @drabbleitout @inked-foundry @srazar @groovytheoristbat @salvasti @a-place-of-babble @lady-redshield-writes@ohlooksheswriting@bookish-actor @indecentpause @kobalt-ink @marniebalboa @carmenwrites @quilloftheclouds @shadeshadow234  @ethilite​  @livvywrites

[abalonetea]

Artless Characters - Ryuzel

the lost queen, the witch of the woods, the mother who gave up her kingdom on the heels of a broken HEART...she is a woman of many names and many grievances. a candy chimera, she is more goat than lion or snake, and more caramel than licorice or sugar glass. her long ears frame her face, her fur is thick and a rich golden brown. she wears simple garments fitting of her cottage life.

[abalonetea]

For the sake of my favorite and beloved leafy boi I must ask - does Aba have a mama? Where is she? ;-;

for the sake of my beloved leafy boi, i must tell you that Aba does have a mother, and she’s very much alive!

her name is Ryuzel, and she’s become something of an urban legend in Fara.

as you know, she was the last Queen of Fara. she was a fair Queen, much beloved by her country and her people. within a very short expanse of time, she lost her husband and both children; seemingly, all three of them having met a very firm Game Over.

she was so grief stricken at the loss of her family, that the thought of leading Fara, still recovering from the Delta War, was too much for her. HEART cracking, Ryuzel fled from Fara - leaving them without a ruler.

for this, she is known as the Lost Queen.

but, Ryuzel’s story doesn’t end there. after leaving behind the Capitol and her kingdom, Ryuzel took up residence in Farthington Forest, home to Heart Falls and the spirit known as Hope. 

very few know that it’s the Lost Queen living in these woods, and instead refer to her as the Witch of the Woods. she’s an eccentric but homely woman, who believes both her children dead, and will offer a helping hand and a dose of healing magic to whoever finds themselves lost in her forest.

Ryuzel has never healed the crack in her HEART, considering it punishment for her “failure” as wife, mother, and Queen. in several of the early loops, Aba went to her seeking comfort, but he seldom visits these days.

she has no knowledge of the time loops, or of Midnight’s plans for the future.

[abalonetea]

🖊 🖊 🖊 (gush about 3 ocs of your choosing!!)

ahhhh thank you friend!!!!

1. Ryuzel is old and she’s tired. she’s been grieving for so long that she’s almost forgotten what it’s like to not be grieving, and she doesn’t think that she’ll ever stop. losing her family was so, so very hard on her!

by fluke, she stumbled upon the same patch of the Farthingest Forest where the spirit of Hope lives, and it’s been enough to keep her going. she’s not happy, per say, but she’s content in her life, picking berries and making soup with herbs she spends her days collecting.

_-_-_

2. Locke is just! so good! this is a really mundane fact, but I want you all to know that in the dead of summer, when things are at their hottest, Locke absolutely wears his hair in a braid and then he forgets to take it out and sleep in it, and his hair is all wavy the next morning and just! it’s such a lovely image! I love it!

-_-_-

3. Bolte used to smoke! during his academy days? but then when he started working more closely with Captain, she very quickly broke him of that habit.

by breaking his fingers.

and then she broke him of the “smoke when Captain isn’t around” habit.

by breaking his fingers.

and Bolte is particularly stubborn so you’d better believe this lesson happened more than once, and the fact that Red still smokes drives Captain mad. she’s not allowed to break his fingers, though. Bolte says so.