Rogue Sloth

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Caspian felt terrible about abandoning Iris right after she had finally opened up to him about her trauma, but in that moment, getting back home was the most urgent matter. He couldn’t justify staying at the hotel with her any longer when he’d just found out that his father had passed away. There was too much to do. There was always a nation-wide funeral service whenever a member of the royal family died, so he would have to be there for that. He’d probably even have to make a speech. And then after that, there would be a coronation. His coronation. His throat felt tight at the thought. He didn’t want to go through with it yet.

For one thing, he didn’t feel like he was ready to be the king of Aspiria, and the pressure of knowing that the fate of an entire country was about to be handed over to him was nothing short of terrifying. For another, he was still reeling from the news that he’d lost his father. He felt like he didn’t even have time to properly grasp the gravity of what that meant. There wasn’t enough time to really sit down and think about the fact that his father was gone, and that he would never see him again. It felt unfair that such a bomb had been dropped on him so suddenly, without any warning, and now he was expected to go back and take over in his place.

There wasn’t even time to wallow about that either, and he stood up from the couch, reluctantly removing himself from Iris’s touch. “I’ll be back as soon as I can… and I’ll call the hotel to make sure they keep charging this room to my card while I’m gone, so you can keep staying here,” he said as he moved quickly to locate his shoes. Finding them by the door, he fumbled to put them on, his hands shaking with the rush of shock and adrenaline that still pumped through his veins. The task was more difficult than it should have been, but he managed to get it done and then stepped back over to Iris, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. He had some idea of what was going to happen from here, since he knew Aspiria’s protocol for the transition of one monarch to the next, but the timeline was still hazy enough that he couldn’t predict when he would see her again.

“I hate leaving you here like this…” he whispered, burying his head against her neck. “I love you so much, Iris. I swear, I’ll come back as soon as I can get away.” He wished he had some way to contact her in between though. He had to keep his cell phone with him to contact Jacob, and she didn’t have a phone of her own—Or did she?

Struck with an idea, Cas pulled back from her once more and jogged over to the suite’s phone, scouring the table until he found a pad of sticky notes and a pen. Luckily, the Sunset Veil was like many other hotels in that it provided everything a guest needed to take down notes and memos. He scribbled down his own phone number on the top of the pad and peeled it off, pressing it down on the table next to the phone, and turned back to Iris, “I won’t be able to call you, but if you need anything, you can call me… Nights are probably best, any time after ten. I shouldn’t have anything going on by then even if my days are busy.”

With a line of communication established, he approached her one last time to meet her lips in a parting kiss, wrapping his arms around her back. “Stay safe, okay?” he breathed, meeting her gaze sincerely when he pulled away again.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

Oh nice! LGBT stuff is interesting to explore in a medieval time period.

And I love that xD

Condensing this scene down is so hard xD I have a lot of stuff planned that happens at about the same time haha. I figured this is a good pausing point though, so I can continue it in my next post.

Let Me Steal Your Heart [BuzzingBee + Dagger]

“Collin, Preston, move!” Percival shouted urgently, swinging his blade to parry the blow of the nearest attacker. In a matter of seconds, they had been surrounded by six men on horseback. The ambushers had been hiding in the trees until they passed through, and if not for Percy’s quick reflexes, might have felled at least a few of their members before they’d had a chance to react.

Crow jerked on his reins, swearing under his breath as he craned his neck to look over his shoulder. He wasn’t used to fighting or fleeing from on top of a horse, and even though he was better at controlling Baine now than he had been a few weeks ago, his heart still pounded anxiously as he surveyed the situation. They were outnumbered in fighters. His attendant didn’t know how to use a blade, and he was still in training, so he wasn’t confident enough to take on an experienced swordsman without the usual tricks that helped him when he faced knights on the ground. That was why his father had sent along an entourage of bodyguards, but even as he watched, he could see that they weren’t faring well either.

Percival was struggling to hold his own against two of the men who took shots at himself or the viceroy, and already, he was clutching at his thigh with his free hand, having taken a wound to the leg. Naida was wide-eyed as she fended off another cloaked enemy, doing slightly better than the male knight but steadily being overpowered by her opponent. Rayner had yet to be the target of any members of the sextet but still couldn’t land any blows when he charged at them. And their Younisian escorts were being worn down as well in a three-on-two skirmish. They were losing quickly, and Crow felt his respiration quicken as he backed his stallion away from the battle.

Being attacked on the road to the Younisian castle had been a possibility, but they had thought that the Younisian knights were the ones who would have targeted them. With two escorts from the other kingdom, they had let their guards down and only kept a lookout for Otto. Crow’s eyes danced over the clashing blades and bodies as he realized too late how ill-equipped they were. The men who had sprung out at them were big, reminding him distinctively of the mercenaries he and Penelope had stumbled upon before. But, if they were men who had been hired by the same person, he didn’t understand why they were here now. They’d already gotten away with the Younisian staff two years ago. What more could they want?

“Collin, this way,” Preston suddenly hissed at his side, giving Baine’s rein a sharp tug and then turning his own horse toward an opening at their right. Without waiting, the attendant spurred his steed and took off away from the road at a canter, but the former thief hesitated. Even though he wasn’t the most useful fighter and the battle was looking frighteningly one-sided, it felt wrong to just abandon the others. Had he been traveling with knights he didn’t know well, he would have fled the scene without a second thought, but Naida was his half-sister and Percival was the closest thing he had to a friend in the inner kingdom. He couldn’t bring himself to run when they were in danger.

So, he turned back to the rest and swallowed hard, reaching for the dagger he’d brought along with him. He didn’t have a suitable weapon for this kind of brawl either, but maybe if he spotted an opening, he could—

“Collin!” Percival’s voice jarred Crow from his scheming, and he startled, looking up to find that the knight was staring back at him with a wild urgency in his eyes. “What are you doing? Get out of here!” the knight snapped and then followed up hurriedly when the viceroy parted his lips to protest. “Go! Head for the town and get help!”

“But…” Crow grimaced. He didn’t want to leave the others, but the knight was right. They needed reinforcement quickly. He didn’t know if he could find more knights fast enough, but he had to try. It was the only option, so he turned his horse once more and braced himself to ride for the town. However, before he could drive his heels into Baine’s sides, he froze as he caught sight of something that stole his breath away. There was a seventh man on a black stallion in the trees: the same mercenary he’d seen in Bellmare when he’d made his trip with Penelope… and he was holding a notched bow.

In a flash, his survival instinct kicked in, and the viceroy dove from his horse’s back just as the mercenary released his arrow. The projectile flew past his shoulder, and he inhaled sharply as he hit the ground hard on his side. The air fled from his lungs, but he didn’t have time to lay down and recover from the blow. He scrambled to his feet and staggered away from Baine, who had reared up on his hind legs in fright when his rider had launched himself off his back. Distantly, Crow could hear someone shouting his name, but he barely registered it as he watched the mercenary reach over his shoulder and ready a second arrow from his quiver.

With no time to think, he sprinted for the nearest tree and dove at the last second, narrowly dodging the next projectile as he hit the ground and rolled behind the trunk. In the same moment, he heard Naida let out a bellow as she shifted her attention from the swordsman she’d been fighting to the mercenary archer. “Naida, wait—!” Crow tried to call after her, but the warning died on his tongue when he saw the man draw a sword from beneath his cloak. Before he could say or do anything to stop it, he stared in horror as the mercenary lashed out and caught the princess in the side between two plates of armor. She let out a pained cry and doubled over in her saddle, grasping at the injury as her horse galloped deeper into the trees in confusion.

No. Crow went white. Time seemed to slow down, and he froze, unable to bring himself to move his feet as his sister disappeared from sight. Standing where he was, he watched dazedly as the fight raged on. Percival managed to cut down one of the mercenaries he’d been facing and then challenged the man on the black horse next with more success. While they exchanged blows, the Younisians weren’t quite so fortunate. Another mercenary dealt a gruesome blow to Osbert, who slumped over in his saddle before an injured Edwin killed his assailant and then promptly fell on the sword of another mercenary. With three knights down, it was looking like the mercenaries were going to win, and the viceroy felt a chill shoot up his spine, abruptly aware of the sound of hoofbeats approaching him from behind.

He whirled around and pressed his back against the trunk of the tree. In his distraction, he hadn’t even noticed that one of the mercenaries had slipped away from the others to come after him. He didn’t have enough time to react, and he turned his head away, squeezing his eyes shut as he braced himself for the sword’s bite. Instead though, the man who’d been charging at him let out a screech and fell from his saddle with two arrows protruding from his chest and skull, and Crow stared at his body in surprise. None of his bodyguards wielded a bow.

Apparently the Younisians did though.

“The men in cloaks! Get them!” an unfamiliar, accented voice roared. The ground shook as a stream of four knights on horseback charged through the trees with blades and bows levied high. They raced toward the mercenaries, who recoiled and shouted to each other in their language before turning to face the new arrivals. As they crossed swords, Crow quickly put more distance between himself and the brawling, taking shelter behind another tree. Everything was happening so fast that he could barely keep up. He was still dazed after watching his half-sister take a gash to the side—he still didn’t know what had happened to her after that—and every time he started to get his feet under him in the fight, he was thrown off again by another change. He had no idea where the Younisians had come from, but they were fresh-faced and skilled enough to force back the mercenaries, so he decided to leave them to it. There was no sense in getting involved when they had things under control.

Instead, he leaned back against the tree trunk to catch his breath, keeping watch over his surroundings to make sure none of their enemies snuck up on him again. He wasn’t going to let them corner him twice. Sorely, he rubbed his side with one hand, his green eyes roving over the trees. For the most part, the forest seemed clear, but as he turned his head to his left, he faltered, catching sight of something else that he hadn’t expected: A figure was standing in the distance, watching the skirmish with a clenched jaw and a calculating expression. Otto.

“Hey!” Crow snapped, blurting out the exclamation before he could stop himself. The baron jumped and glanced at him, then immediately spun around and took off at sprint, trying to get away. The viceroy wasn’t going to let him off that easily though.

“Oh no you don’t…” he growled. Without hesitation, he took chase, running away from the battle to catch their missing nobleman. After his suspicious behavior and unexpected appearance when they had been attacked by mercenaries, he was determined to get some answers.

New World Contention [AnnaWinters & Summer]

Posted at long last cx

I figured Drei and Artemis could have a moment to chat before they get called in to talk to the others. Since Drei is better at English now, haha

New World Contention [AnnaWinters & Summer]

At the word ‘meat,’ Azdrei’in turned toward Artemis with newfound interest, his crystalline eyes flicking down to the box that she pushed in his direction. He hadn’t eaten anything since the night before, when he’d gone hunting outside the building in which she’d been living. He didn’t usually need to eat more than one meal a day, since, like most predatory species, the heavy food provided him enough energy to get by for many hours at a time. He hunted during his period of wakefulness overnight, went back to sleep, and then spent the daylight hours doing something more productive than merely filling his stomach. However, he’d already gotten hooked on the taste of real meat after the first time he’d eaten it, so the box was tempting even though he wasn’t very hungry yet.

“Thank you,” he said appreciatively, climbing down from his bed to retrieve it and settling back down with the container placed carefully on the end of the mat. He planned to enjoy the contents after his first period of sleep, when he had more of an appetite.

For the rest of the night, he alternated as usual between scrolling on the human’s tablet and dozing on his bed. He slept for a few hours and then woke in the middle of the night, when he ate some of the meat Artemis had given to him. The meal was savory and excellent, and it gave him just enough energy to keep working on his mastery of English until he grew too tired to keep his eyes open and fell asleep again. The second time, he stayed asleep until around mid-morning too, only stirring when he heard the faint sounds of other Lunvalgans strolling through the corridor beyond their room.

He stretched his limbs and yawned broadly, rolling over on his mat at the sound of Artemis’s voice. “Good morning,” he murmured back to her, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm. Between his studying, he’d gotten plenty of rest and was feeling good. He sat upright and got up from the bed, ambling over to where she was sitting on the floor and taking a seat across from her. Overnight, he’d made leaps and bounds of improvement in his understanding of her language, so he decided to take a moment to test out what he’d learned.

“How did you sleep?” he asked, crossing his legs and leaning back lazily on one hand. His words were still accented, but he’d gotten better at pronouncing her native tongue, so the accent was less prominent than before. “I ate some of the food you gave me last night. Thanks again for the meat, by the way. It’s much better than the food my people created here… Our meals serve their purpose, but they’re tasteless compared to the real thing.” He smiled amusedly. “I’m sure I must be the most spoiled Lunvalgan here to be sharing a room with a human who smuggled meat in with her when she boarded the ship.”

~Bonsoir~

“Unfortunately, I didn’t stay long enough in my family’s manor to look for it,” Vail shook his head at Victoria’s question. Thoughts of the tome had crossed his mind since then, and a part of him regretted not taking the time to pick it up before he left England. However, in the moment, it just hadn’t been a priority. He’d stumbled upon the wreckage of Mikael’s attack and had been concerned about his family’s wellbeing above everything else. Since then, he hadn’t had any opportunities to return for the book either. He’d been busy trying to mold his family clan into some kind of order and waiting for Victoria to wake up from her transformative slumber.

If possible, he still would have liked to go back to find it, but the trip didn’t seem feasible. Now that Lady Crest had awoken, someone would need to teach her how to adapt to her life as a vampire, and he felt like that role belonged to him as both the one who had turned her and the one who would—hopefully soon—marry her. Additionally, his clan was nowhere near ready to get by without him. For their sakes too, he needed to remain in Scotland for at least a while longer.

The dinner they enjoyed was delicious, and Vail savored the taste of the food and the blood that had been provided for the nonhuman guests. Once he’d cleared his plate, he sat back in his seat and glanced at Victoria, who still hadn’t touched her own glass. It seemed like she still hadn’t warmed to the thought of drinking the blood of the people she’d once belonged to. He was just about to offer her a word of encouragement, hoping that she would try it at least one more time now that her appetite for a mortal meal had been whetted. However, before he could even say a word, he blinked in surprise as she picked up the glass on her own and drank the whole thing.

“Not so bad, is it?” he mused lightly, leaning over to brush a kiss against her cheek. He was incredibly pleased to see her take such an important step in overcoming her aversion to blood. If she’d fought against her new instinct to feed on it, she could have become a danger to herself and to the humans around her, so it was better that she voluntarily drank from the glass that her mother had offered her that night. He also hoped that now that she’d tasted it, she would be less opposed to learning to hunt and feed like the rest of their kind did after dark.

At the end of dinner, Vail rose from his seat to join the rest in the lounge for conversation and drinks, pleasantly full on the rich food Diana had so generously provided them. After spending the last week in a constant state of worry for Victoria, it was nice to return to something a little more normal. He waited for her to get up from the table as well, only to quirk a brow when she chose to invite Sylvia onto the terrace instead.

“Oh? Of course,” Sylvia grinned, flashing her pearly fangs. Walking around the table, she slipped her arm through Lady Crest’s and shot her ex-fiancé a wink. “Sorry, Vail. Looks like she’s mine tonight.”

He rolled his eyes. “Just for the evening… I’d like her back after that.”

“We’ll see,” Sylvie teased, giving her new friend’s arm a tug to lead her away.

“Good luck with her, Victoria,” Vail said flatly, though a smile still pulled at his lip. “I’ll find you later.” He’d been hoping to have her to himself soon, since he’d spent the last week wondering if she would even survive her transformation, but he supposed he could stand to share her a little longer. For now, he headed off to the lounge with the other men, idly curious about what Lady Crest had called Sylvia aside to discuss.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

It's the dramatic scene cx

Sounds good! And good luck with your work! I know you've been saying how busy you are with that, haha.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Finally got a post done! I have a long list of other posts to get through, so no rush on replying if you need any time to get back into this RP too ^^

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

As Iris clutched at his clothes, Caspian just held onto her more tightly, offering what little comfort he could to ease her pain. It felt unfair that she had gone through so much when she’d done nothing to deserve it. She had lost her memories because her father had coerced her into coming to the capital to carry out a job that she wasn’t cruel enough to do; she had been manipulated again by her ex-boyfriend and suffered alongside him when they had been on the run from the rebellion; and even after all that, she had been tormented by the soldiers at the penitentiary when all she had tried to do was save his life. She was one of the kindest, most selfless people he’d ever met, and it wrenched his heart to know that all she got in return was more anguish.

When she told him that there hadn’t been a good moment to talk about everything she had gone through, he nodded solemnly, brushing a loose lock of her blonde hair behind her ear. “I know,” he sighed. “I hate how little time we’ve had together since we got back… but you did try to tell Jacob to hide this from me, and that’s what I don’t want you to do anymore. I want to be here for you, Iris, but I can only do that if you let me.” He loved her so much, it hurt, and even though it was almost physically painful to hear about everything she’d endured, he felt certain that it was better than never finding out. They had to be a cohesive team. If they weren’t, they would just unravel under their individual trials.

And he only felt more sure of his conclusion when she went on to tell him that she’d wished she was dead when she’d been subjected to the most horrific method of torture the Aspirian military had developed to date. He bit his lip, fighting back the sadness and anger that welled up inside of him. “I know…” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “That drug is only supposed to be used on high-level prisoners of war. They shouldn’t have used it on you, and I’m so sorry no one stopped them from making you experience it.” Now that he was aware of what had happened, he planned to have his say about the gross misuse of power. If he had his way, Matthew would be fired within the week.

He was relieved that Iris was willing to try to open up to him more though. He hoped she never had to go anything as difficult as she had within the last month or so, but even if she only had minor troubles, he wanted to be there for her every step of the way. He was also glad that she was willing to try to eat something. “Go ahead,” he said in response to both her announcement that she was going to have her breakfast and her request to lean on him while she ate.

Rearranging on the sofa so they could both be more comfortable, Cas wrapped one arm around Iris’s shoulders and let his eyes wander around the hotel room while she tried to eat. After about a minute, his gaze rested on his cell phone, which he’d left on airplane mode on a table the night before. He shifted his weight slightly. Until now, he’d been uncertain about how he should move forward after he’d left home, but after everything Iris had told him, he felt like he should go back. Although he didn’t want to admit it, he was the only one in the kingdom who had the authority to rectify some of the corruption and cruelty that had infected the monarchy. His father would never do it, and he didn’t know of anyone else who would even try. He didn’t like the weight of the responsibility, but it was the role he’d been born into. He had to step up and own it.

“Excuse me for a second…” he said, patting Iris on the shoulder and getting up from the couch to get the device he’d left abandoned. Once he had it in his hand, he sat back down next to her again and took a slow breath. As soon as he unlocked the signal, it would be traceable. He’d have to act fast to get ahold of Jacob to explain himself before the royal security team tracked him down at the Sunset Veil. So, bracing himself to make a quick call, he turned off the airplane mode and opened the contact for the head of the security team. However, before he could touch the icon to call him, the phone practically had a seizure as it was assaulted with a barrage of missed messages.

Cas blinked, taken aback. He’d known that he was going to have some texts and calls because people would be searching for him after he disappeared, but he hadn’t expected to find so many. Curious, he tapped on the thread from Jacob, which had the most missed messages out of all of them… and immediately paled as he read the content he uncovered:

12:17AM
Caspian, it’s late and your father wants you to come home. Please return to the palace or I’ll have to send some of my men to get you.

12:42AM
Where are you? Call me back.

1:05AM
Your safety is a matter of national security. I don’t know what you’re doing, but I can’t do my job until you return my calls. Call me ASAP.

1:58AM
Caspian, come back to the palace *now*. Your father just had a stroke and is currently being transported to the hospital for emergency treatment. He doesn’t look good.

3:33AM
I hate to say this over text, but since you’re still not picking up your phone, I’m afraid I have no choice. The doctors were unable to save your father and he passed away at 3:24 tonight. I’m so sorry.

4:48AM
Your Highness, please come back to the palace. Aspiria needs a leader, and you’re the only man who can fill the vacancy. You’re our king now.

For a moment, the world felt like it had stopped spinning. Cas stared at the text thread blankly. His father was dead. He was the next king. It was almost too much to handle, and he pressed a hand to his head, suddenly dizzy. So many emotions swirled inside of him that he couldn’t even begin to sort them out. Shock, pain, sadness, fear, regret. Above all, though, he couldn’t believe that all of this had happened on the night he’d run away from home. He’d tried to make a statement to his father, but instead, he’d abandoned him in his final hour of need. The realization stung like a knife that had been buried and twisted inside his heart. This was possibly the worst thing he’d ever done, and he didn’t even have time to process it.

“Iris…” he rasped, and then cleared his throat to try to get his voice under control. “I-I’m sorry… I have to leave. Right now.” He tore his eyes away from the screen of his phone to meet her gaze dazedly. “My… my dad died. I have to go back to the palace… I’m so sorry.”

New World Contention [AnnaWinters & Summer]

If it takes any stress off, I'm about to get really busy for the next 10-14 days, so feel free to queue our RP last among whatever others you need to reply to :) I probably won't be writing a whole lot over the next 2 weeks.