#shedawn

[snowsurvive-aa]

VEX’AHLIA     :     starter  call .

cassandra  is  certain  that  the  rumors  are  starting  to  spread  --  lady  cassandra  has  asked  for  those  pastries  again ,  the  last  time  she  asked  for  those  she  was  pregnant  with  young  lady  johanna ,  could  that  mean . . .  --  but  she’s  retreated  from  them  entirely ,  completed  the  council  meetings  for  the  day  and  disappeared  to  the  soft  privacy  of  julian’s  nursery .     she  cradles  the  little  changeling  boy  close  to  her  chest ,  talking  quietly  to  him  as  she  paces  the  room .          “ you’re  a  very  lucky  boy ,  julian  --  your  whole  time  in  the  nursery  has  been  with  another  of  your  siblings ,  do  you  know  that ?     just  two  of  you  right  now ,  but  you’ll  have  another  companion  soon .     but  don’t  tell  anyone ,  alright ?     i’m  waiting  to  tell  your  father  until  he  gets  back . ”

it’s  then  that  cassandra  hears  the  door  open ,  turning  to  see  @shedawn​  enter .          “ vex , ”          she  welcomes  warmly  as  the  little  boy  in  her  arms  notices  his  aunt  as  well ,  saying  hello  with  a  delighted  little  sound .          “ come  to  visit  your  favorite  sister - in - law  and  your  favorite  nephew ? ”

[tempestgone]

5'9 💖

how tall is your muse compared to orym?

teemy pseudo-nephew…

[tempestgone]

—–    @shedawn​​​​​ said :      "there you are, darling." the weather in zephrah is less suited for the heavy layers and furs of whitestone, and so she'd donned an approximation of what she'd worn what feels like lifetimes ago. it also makes tracking that much easier, climbing up the tree she's spotted orym in with ease. once secure on a branch, hand unfurls to reveal candies or various colours, the smile on her lips conspiratorial. "everyone's looking for you, you know. but if you don't want to go back just yet, we can just sit here and talk for a while. it'll be our little secret.”

                                    he misses his daddy .

          it is not often that little orym finds himself dwelling on it too much .   his father has been dead for years now ,   after falling in the heat of a battle against a barghest .   orym was too young to remember most of it ,   but he remembers his ma’s grief ,   recalls finding her in tears at the kitchen table one evening after he had been supposed to be asleep .   he remembers his father in smiles ,   in gentle yet calloused hands lifting him up and flying him across the yard ,   in soft guidance of clumsy toddler hands with a toy wooden sword .   he wishes daddy could come back and make ma happy again .   orym wants his daddy back more than anything and he can’t come back .

          lady de rolo is really cool .   she’s a hero ,   just like the tempest .   she’s nice and lets him and will play with her daughter ,   and she teaches him how to hide and track things in the woods .   so when she climbs into the tree with him and offers the candies to him ,   his smiles at her ,   thought it is wobbly and laced with tears brimming his eyes .     “   i wanna stay up here a lil’ longer ,   please .   ”

[snowsurvive-aa]

@shedawn​ ( vex’ahlia )     :     i’m here, nothing will harm you.

cassandra’s  nearly  certain  that  her  nightmares  will  never  leave  her  --  that  she’ll  never  sleep  a  night  fully  through  in  her  life  again ,  that  such  a  thing  is  lost  to  her .     and  maybe  that’s  not  good ,  but  there’s  nothing  to  be  done  --  and  there’s  especially  nothing  to  be  done  when  the  terrors  hit ,  when  she  sees  figures  ( one  figure ,  really )  in  her  room ,  and  she’s  frozen  in  place ,  and  the  only  thing  that  she  can  be  certain  of  are  the  glint  in  the  eyes  of  delilah  briarwood ,  and  her  helplessness  in  the  face  of  the  woman  she’d  once  called  mother .

she  hadn’t  meant  to  wake  anyone  with  her  fear ,  but  cassandra  is  in  no  position  to  stealth  tonight ,  and  vex’ahlia  is  far  too  perceptive  for  her  own  good .     in  the  morning ,  cass  will  be  ashamed  of  her  composure  tonight  --  only  in  her  nightgown ,  hair  unbound ,  damp  with  sweat  and  tears  and  terror .     but  in  the  face  of  vex’ahlia ,  in  the  face  of  comfort ,  cassandra  can’t  help  but  to  burst  into  tears .

[widaugast]

200 RANDOM DIALOGUE PROMPTS  ---  ACCEPTING! @shedawn​ cast message:  ❛ you’ve lost a lot of blood. ❜

        ❝ I  ---  schiesse. ❞  Caleb's words come in a low hiss, a sharp, pained exhale gritting out from between his teeth as his hands pull back for just a moment, coming away red and pulsing.  If he concentrates, he can nearly feel his pulse in his ribs as well as his heart, but both are pounding  ---  thrumming, working so hard that it is an active effort to keep his concentration on the banishing spell that keeps their attacker out of this plane, and out of the way.  It had initially been a careful thing, this tour of the grounds around and below Whitestone on a sort of diplomat's mission, but whatever old magics sat in the stone itself went all too sideways, caution included.

        Wordlessly, Caleb looks over to Lady Vex'ahlia, and then out again  ---  keeping an eye on that the massive chamber is dark and lightless, and remains so, breathing hard.  ❝ I  ---  ah, think we may need to get out of your basement. ❞

[sentinaels]

❛ what is the meaning of this? ❜ the mob - for it is a mob, men and women alike carrying crude blades and coils of rope - turn at the sound of hooves. dutiful watches as their eyes widen in recognition when they spot his doublet, a rich buckkeep blue, and the silver crest of the farseers embroidered into its breast.

❛ your highness, ❜ the oldest among them starts, ❛ it’s nothing worth your time. you see, the girl is witted. we asked her to leave town and take her beast with her, nothing more. ❜ 

looking at their target, dutiful can understand where their suspicion came from. in the middle of their circle, there is indeed a girl and a bear, neither of them very cowed by the surrounding threat. at the back of dutiful’s saddle, his mistcat squirms, as if picking up on their tension. he clears his throat, schooling his face to remain calm when dread begins to build at the pit of his stomach.

❛ the bear is no wit-beast, that much is plain to the eye. i wasn’t aware keeping a pet, unusual as they may be, was forbidden under the queen’s law. ❜ he tries to emulate the tone his mother’s voice takes when she addresses her council, mellow yet imbued with undeniable authority. his gaze lands on the bow and quiver hanging onto the girl’s back, and he is struck with sudden inspiration. ❛ besides, the lady is my hunting companion today. it shames me to have allowed such badgering of an esteemed guest. ❜ he tries to catch her eyes as he speaks, silently begging her to follow along his story.

@shedawn​ hit the ♡ for a dutiful starter.

[questsy-a]

MAMA  ASKS     :     you’re  allowed  to  feel  a  little  angry .

gwen’s  hands  smooth  over  her  skirt ,  feeling  the  soft  material  beneath  her  fingers .     it’s  a  new  feeling ,  anger ,  and  even  when  she’s  felt  it  before  she’s  not  used  to  it  lingering  this  way .          “ i  don’t  think  i  like  how  it  feels , ”          she  admits ,  hardly  louder  than  a  breath .          “ i  don’t  like  that  it  won’t  go  away . ”          she  looks  up  at  @shedawn​ ,  eyes  wide  and  lower  lip  trembling  slightly .          “ how  do  i  make  it  go  away ,  mama ? ”          

[ruidusborne]

sparring training // accepting

@shedawn​ says, “Steady your breathing.”

Easier said than done.  There isn’t a relaxed muscle in Imogen’s body.  As usual, she’s a ball of tension, right down to the way she holds her jaw. She really is trying to focus, but she isn’t sure if calling attention to her breathing is going to help in that department.  Nonetheless, as she isn’t the type to be difficult to well-meaning people on purpose, she does take a deep breath and then slowly releases it through her nose.  

Surprisingly, it does help. She can feel some of the tension leave her as she expels the air from her lungs. There’s no hope in unclenching her jaw, though, so she instead tries to focus on the bow that Vex has put in her hands.  It’s intimidating enough, being in the presence of someone as confident and effortless as Vex.  Add that on top of learning a skillset of which Vex is nothing short of a master is wholly anxiety-inducing.  It doesn’t take much by way of perception to see the way that Imogen’s hands shake.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” she starts to say, the tips of her fingers beginning to prickle with what feels like a thousand, tiny pinheads. “I really am okay with what I’ve got—magic, and all that. There’s really no one better at this than you, anyway. I’d just hate to tarnish your, um… craft?”