#undeadcursed

[swordluck]

lucatiel reaches over & holds her hand :)

Lucatiel’s hand found hers as though it had always known the way.

A soldier’s hand. A survivor’s hand. Warm, despite all that conspired to leach such warmth from them both.

Anri turned her own fingers slightly, marvelling that they still remembered how to answer so gentle a gesture. Her gauntlet creaked – a faint, betraying sound. Through worn-smooth leather she felt the shape of Lucatiel’s grip and imagined the calluses earned from years of blade-work, each a testament to a life spent enduring.

Her thumb shifted, brushing against Lucatiel in shy, searching strokes.

Only a hand, extended and accepted, yet it bore the weight of every vow she had failed to keep, every companion she had not been able to save. It stirred that old, familiar grief, the one she had long since learned to cradle quietly.

It stirred gratitude, too. That small, flickering thing.

How long had it been since her hand had been held?

Anri’s forget-me-not gaze drifted nearer, keenly aware of Lucatiel’s presence and proximity – the guarded stillness, the sense of a self still fought for, moment by moment, breath by breath.

She knew that struggle.

There was a warmth second to that in her hand. One that threatened to take root in the eroded spaces within her, to bloom, sweet as summer-ripe peaches, where nothing ought to grow.

“Thank you,” Anri said at last, quietly.

For the hand.

For everything besides.

[mysteryoftwilight]

Shelby has one missed message from @undeadcursed:

❛ this place we're going to, what is it, exactly? ❜ From this prompt list of quotes from the Silent Hill 2 Remake, still accepting.

"Radiant Garden?" Shelby asked from her seat. The weird knight she had taken pity on had finally decided to speak again, which was always a treat. It would be more of a treat if the knight took off her mask, or walked closer, or spoke louder. Beggars can't be choosers, but you'd figure the hand feeding the stray would be.

She'd been trying to slowly expose her to the absolute fucking weirdness that was the Oceans Between, though she didn't know how successful that had been. Lucatiel would ask a question, she would answer it, and then she'd be quiet and stoic for like fifteen minutes before asking another. It was quite bizarre. Some might have said it was her 'responsibility' to carry the conversation, but fuck that noise she was a grown introvert she could sit in an awkward silence and thrive, thank you very much.

Now, how to describe Radiant Garden in a way that would make sense...?

"It's like... a hub, I guess?" She heard the Guardians call it that a few times. She didn't know how much she agreed with the take, if only because Twilight Town, Destiny Islands, and the Land of Departure were just as much of a hub for their foot traffic too. There was also Traverse Town, but she never knew if it'd be there or not. It got to be too much, if you asked her. No one did, of course, but she could still have her opinion.

'Maybe I should've checked if Traverse Town was an option, actually... she'd probably like it there more, with it being more moody and even more laid back... and especially designed for strays... Ah, fuck it. We're already more than halfway to the Gardens.'

"Plenty o' folks who can travel the Oceans Between end up there at one point or another. My ol' man runs a Gummi Shipyard there with my godfather," she provided the personal detail to hopefully assuage her fears about being brought to a strange new place, "it's... bright, but you have your big fuck off hat and scary mask, so you'll probably be fine. Maybe just like... close your eyes when we land."

She was going to. Whatever assbackwards world she had visited and picked up this stray from had clearly never heard of decent lighting. Place gave her the creeps and she had only poked around for a day or two before deciding it wasn't worth. More than that, she usually had to anyway. She was always curious why Radiant Garden was... well, so radiant compared to everywhere else.

'Wonder if it's something in the water...'

"It's pretty if you're into stone architecture and flower gardens," she added with a shrug, "heard a few of my... acquaintances? Yeah, let's call them that," she rolled her eyes at giving them that positive of an association with her, "that they think it's exceptionally pretty. It never feels crowded unlike some other places I can think of, and the outlying badlands are neat if you're into rocks and crystals."

"If there's a 'best world' for gathering info, it's there. It's possible y'all's brother hitched a ride and ended up there. If not, he's dressed like y'all, yeah? Can't exactly say you'd fit in. Beyond that... I remember hearing that they were setting up a ferry for fighters looking to try their mettle and earn some munny in the Coliseum but, ah... Not really a fighter, so I don't know if that ever happened. Could be a good lead, regardless."

A pause.

A frustrated sigh. She had assumed the knight knew anything beyond what she had told her. Again.

"Th...the Olympus Coliseum. It's... it's on another world, and... people like fightin' there. Don't ah...Don't ask me why. Olympus is too hot fer a gal like me."

[rh4egar]

the gentle sound of distant ocean waves did little to soothe troubled mind; as did the familiar scent of salt in the air, almost enough to coax memories from the murky waters of ages past. as so often —– the only thing that did offer solace was the emerald mountain, laying comfortably in the outskirts of town, somewhere between the forest of giants and heide's tower of flame. the familiar grumble of air moving through gargantuan body, the distant scent of sulfur and ash coating silver throat so sweetly. ( he knows nagini more than himself at this point ) a soft hum leaves the dragon's heir. ❝ where do you wager this leads? ❞

a hole in the middle of majula, inhuman sounds escape the pit from time to time, and a subtle stench of filth; as if something was rotting at the very bottom. ❝ everything in me is reluctant to delve deeper and yet —– i feel as if called. ❞

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