Fairy Tail RP

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    A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 9th October 2021, 5:53 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         589 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    This was going to be the first time that Vandrad did this with anyone. But if anyone had earned it, it was Saffron.

    On the face of things, Fairy Tail was an independent guild more aligned with a business than a guild for wizards. The prince had heard tell of Fairy Tail’s former past; of their rambunctious, over-the-top antics and their liability by committing themselves to their members without consideration for what was right or wrong. The guild had become a dark guild for some time before finally managing to regain some form of respect back from the Magic Council. But that didn’t mean they didn’t still act in the dark and many of their members used this grey area for their own benefit. Vandrad saw no gain in it; senseless murder provided no challenge and other illicit activities were hardly suited for a warrior of his calibur. But that hadn’t meant that he wasn’t exposed to and entrusted to understand what the guild was.

    It was about time that Saffron got that lesson as well. He’d ‘rewarded’ her with a pass on morning training, instead demanding that she be ready to leave within the hour. Once she was at the front desk, he guided her out of the guild and to the train station, where they boarded a train to Hargeon. It was a relatively short trip; one that he would have preferred flying to but opted to take a more reasonable means of transport. Once they arrived there, he continued his task of leading the way, taking them down several alleyways and finally up a spiral staircase outside a set of buildings. Up they went to the roof, coming up what looked like a makeshift watch point. Someone had built a camp on the corner of a roof’s deck, using plants grown along the edge of the roof to disguise their hiding spot from roaming eyes.

    "Sit and look there,” he said, pointing to the spot where a pair of binoculars had been set up. When Saffron would take up the binoculars to look, she would see a kindly-looking old woman, tending to her garden. She was the kind of woman that was, no doubt, someone’s grandmother, retired from work and living her best life taking care of her own needs. She moved about her plants slowly but happily, watering them and trimming them back. "In five minutes, that woman is going to be assassinated by a member of Fairy Tail. You won’t recognize them because they will be wearing a disguise. She takes part in a garden competition every year and wins and now, one of her rivals has decided to omit her from the equation.”

    He crossed his arms over his chest. "Fairy Tail is a lot of things but at the end of the day, it is still a mercenary guild. Men and women alike join our ranks to take on jobs and earn jewel and a part of that life, a part you have not been privy to, partakes in more illicit jobs. Though I personally see no benefit in it, others do. This aspect is hidden from fledgling members like yourself for fear of exposure, resulting in your immediate expulsion. But you’ve been here long enough to learn the truth. You’ve seen the horrors of war; you know the world is not simply one of black and white. This is the gray and now, as a dedicated member of Fairy Tail, you will remain here and not interrupt a fellow guildmate’s job.”  
     
       
         for name    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 23rd January 2022, 1:56 pm



    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    The morning was certainly off to a rather unorthodox start. Saffron had mustered for training as usual, annoyed to be up so early when she was a civilian and no longer a soldier, but present nonetheless. Vandrad was there to greet her at the training room as usual to begin the day. In the months since she’d come to Fairy Tail, the blonde had found herself a mentor surprisingly quickly in the older, grumpier man. He knew what her magic was, or at least the type of energy, and had been the only one in her whole life so far that had been able to truly set her on a path of learning to control her abilities. Not just control, but grow. So while she almost always presented herself on the lazy and sarcastic side of things, her actions had proven themselves to far overshadow her words, betraying the woman as being much more hardworking and determined than her attitude would otherwise suggest.

    It had allowed for quite the working relationship between the two of them, with Vandrad being an exceptional teacher despite his more anti-social mannerisms, and Saffron being a surprisingly willing and attentive learner almost in spite of her blasé temperament. Vandrad was relentless with the workout schedule, which honestly drove Saffron up a wall some days, but day after day she continued to show up regardless. So it was a surprise, then, when she shuffled her feet into the room with a wide yawn only to find that Mercury and Mura were missing and only Vandrad waited within. The ace wasted no time in informing her that there was a change in lesson plans for the day, which was more than a little odd, but if it shook up the routine a little Saffron was happy to go with it.

    An hour later she was waiting for him at the front desk, and soon they were boarding a train with Vandrad giving her very little by way of explanation. And Saffron had tried to get more details out of him about this mysterious little field trip he was taking her on, but the shorter man had simply told her she would know what she needed to know once they got where they were going. Rolling her eyes only a little, she accepted that she wasn’t going to get any more information and instead just enjoyed the relaxing ride into Hargeon. Vandrad led her through some of the back alleys of the city once they arrived before bringing them up a staircase and onto a rooftop. Her purple eyes narrowed in thought toward the odd set up that awaited them there, her keen observation already picking up on what had clearly been set up as a vantage spot for people to look down from the space without being easily seen by anyone else around like some kind of sniper’s nest.

    Still, she remained silent even as Vandrad pointed toward the spot where he wanted her to sit, a set of binoculars waiting for her. Putting the lenses to her eyes, Saffron looked across the way to see an older lady working on a beautiful garden, the woman elderly enough to certainly be a grandmother. Why this woman was so important to spy on was beyond her, but her mentor would leave very little to mystery about it. He informed her plainly that the woman was about to be assassinated by a member of their own guild. Saffron frowned in confusion, pulling the binocular away to look at Vandrad as he explained that Saffron wouldn’t recognize the guild member due to their disguise, but they had been hired by a member of the competition that the woman regularly competed in – and won – to take her out of the game once and for all.

    It was then that he revealed to her that their guild was not entirely what it seemed to be on the surface, and was in fact a mercenary guild at its heart. While there was a side to their operations that was perfectly legal and innocent, there was an entire other sect within the guild that pulled decidedly darker missions that the rest of the guild wasn’t even aware of. Vandrad freely admitted that he wasn’t particularly keen on this aspect of the guild’s operations, seeing no purpose in it, but there were plenty of others within their ranks that did and he’d long since accepted it as part of their mission. They didn’t discuss such ventures with newer members like herself of course, out of concern for protecting the guild, but as Vandrad saw it she had earned enough trust and tenure to know the truth. As he saw it, she was no stranger to war and the atrocities that were present in everyday life, and knew that sometimes bad things just happened and that was just how the world operated. So her instructions were simple: to merely sit and watch as the woman was killed, doing nothing to interfere with the operation, and in so doing proving her loyalty to the guild as a trustworthy member.

    She sat there for a long moment just staring at him, her emotions at war within her as she processed what was happening and what he was tasking her to do. In the end her military training took over and her feelings practically shut down entirely as she slowly turned away from him with a slight frown and put the binoculars to her eyes once more. Saffron was remarkably numb and emotionless through the entire ordeal, dutifully watching as the act was played out before her eyes, the woman laying dead in her garden with a small river of her blood watering the foliage. Only once the Fairy Tail assassin was gone did she finally set the binoculars gently down, her careful and precise body language a stark contrast to the emotional turmoil that had stoked back to life within her once everything was said and done.

    His own abilities allowed him to sense what she was feeling, though in truth that wasn’t necessary. Though Saffron’s eyes didn’t change color with every fleeting emotion that passed through her, they did flicker with different colors whenever she was feeling a particularly strong emotion. Usually it was red when she was angry or frustrated, but at the moment something new had occurred. Or at least, new to the prince’s experience. There was a ring of red toward the center of her eyes betraying her anger, but the rest of her irises were a new color that he would not have seen yet: green. From his senses he would easily be able to surmise that this was the color of intense disgust. She refused to look at him, sitting in tense, wordless silence as she processed the event and did her best to keep from exploding.
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 1147 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 21st February 2022, 1:07 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         731 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    The actual act of the woman’s demise was quick and concise. The Fairy Tail member moved in swiftly and made sure that the older woman didn’t suffer in her last moments, taking her painlessly and effortlessly. They left much to be desired when it came to cleaning up after themselves but they, at least, moved the scene about to make it look like an accident. An accidental fall onto some garden equipment was the most believable angle and by the time the Fairy Tail assassin had departed, the scene fit the picture. It wasn’t perfect and it would do well enough to convince the investigating parties to conclude an accidental death.

    Saffron was quiet throughout the entirety of the matter. Vandrad could feel her anger bubbling deep inside but she didn’t let it out, nor did she let it show completely on her face. Her military training did its work in keeping her facade even and numb to the events as they unfolded before her. But as they both watched their comrade leave, it was hard to ignore the washing anger and disgust that welled up within. Her eyes were a clear indicator of this, her gaze taking on an emerald hue with a ring of vibrant red. She refused to look at him and frankly, he understood why. He waited for several long seconds, letting the weight of the act truly take root in her. And then he spoke once more. "Fairy Tail’s usual guidelines require more… of a personal touch,” he said slowly, his voice unusually soft and almost gentle. "Usually, to have someone achieve the next level in our guild, you go along with someone on a mission such as this. You can partake or not, neither is required more than the other. But a very clear understanding of what is happening is impressed upon members by the men and women that they see day in and day out. They see the wizard that they’ve come to know one way show a different side of them.”

    He turned his gaze towards the murder scene. "My first mission for Fairy Tail was also my first exposure to this duality. Our guild master, Mura, had a job that he decided to take me on. A former member of our guild was using a town as a hiding place. Though she didn’t seem to be hellbent on hurting any innocents, Mura was convinced she had it out for Fairy Tail and it’s members. When we discovered her, that proved just the case but it did require a bit of… hard pressing to get the information we needed. Once there, it came down to me to end her.”

    He snorted softly. "I did it without question. Killing is not something that bothers me or makes me queasy; I’ve done my fair share of devastation for the sake of Bellum and its battles. But I knew, then and there, that I would never put anyone else through that, if put in charge of delivering such a test. It isn’t a lack of confidence in you or not understanding that you’ve seen gruesome scenes. It’s the hypocrisy of the thing. It’s on par with demanding a child prove their loyalty by giving them a loaded gun and pointing it at someone. Even with an explanation, there is rarely a situation where one will understand it. I have no idea who that woman was or what she had done to Fairy Tail but Mura had asked me to kill her and I did. It was impersonal and that is a very unfair position to put anyone in.”

    "Not that I put any guilt or blame on Mura. That is how this guild has operated since it’s change into a neutral guild. But the time had come for you to be tested for achieving a new level in Fairy Tail and I knew Mura would prefer something similar to what I went through, what others have gone through. I’ve chosen a different path; not just for you but for anyone else that is tested for this same situation. I refuse to let members be put in a position of having to pull the trigger themselves. But the fact remains that you still need to understand. You may hate me or feel disgusted by my actions -- that’s more than acceptable -- But I hope you understand my intent.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 6th March 2022, 11:00 am



    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    If Saffron took note of the uncharacteristically soft tone of the prince’s voice, she didn’t show it, whether by her own expression or her inner feelings. She remained as stoic as ever as Vandrad explained that the guidelines for their guild required that this rite of passage be done through a more involved manner than merely telling someone that the guild housed assassins. It was one thing to be told and another entirely to experience, and to a point Saffron truly did understand that. It wasn’t just about the newer recruit knowing; it was also about testing them to see if they could be trusted with the knowledge. Saffron may go through life with the cavalier and carefree attitude of a rebel without a cause, but she wasn’t an idiot. She knew that how she reacted here would likely define not just her future with the guild but whether or not she walked away from this encounter alive. After all, what option would Vandrad have if she refused to accept these new rules except to kill her to prevent her from becoming a risk of exposure?

    But despite her anger, she remained silent and listened as Vandrad continued on to speak of his own trial, when Mura had revealed this darker side of the guild to him. Supposedly there had been a former member that had gone rogue and had her sights set on bringing the guild down, and by the end of it their guild master had tasked Vandrad with ending the woman’s life himself. Vandrad had done so without question, admitting outright that killing wasn’t something he was overly bothered with thanks to his time in the army with Bellum. However, he had decided in that moment that the way Mura had set his trial was not the way that Vandrad himself planned on bringing others into the fold, should such a task ever befall him. He assured her it had nothing to do with a lack of confidence in her, her abilities, or her experiences. Simply put, he just saw it as unfair to put someone in that kind of position without giving them the chance to understand the choice before them. It maybe wasn’t how Mura would have wanted something like this to be done, but Vandrad had made an executive decision and was sticking to it, regardless. He only hoped she would understand, even if she despised him for it.

    “I’m not upset with you,” she told him, finally speaking up with an irritated snap, though true to her words her ire would not seem to be directed at him. He was just doing his job. “I’m not a child. I may not have known much about the world beyond Bosco before I left, but it’s not hard to do a little research. I know that Fairy Tail used to be a dark guild and that their reputation with the Council is iffy at best these days. Only a moron would think that all the things that earned them that black mark are gone just because they aren’t viewed as an active threat anymore. That’s not what’s bothering me.”

    Finally turning in her chair to look him in the eyes, she gestured aggressively to what remained of the crime scene before them. “What was the fucking point of that?” Saffron demanded to know. “I don’t claim to be an assassin, but I was in the military. I know how the world works. Sometimes people are paid to kill other people, whether rightly or wrongly, and I can live with that. There’s all kinds of dumb shit like war and politics and economic strife and all other manner of quality of life bullshit that people fight and die for all the time. But that?”

    “Some wrinkly old self-entitled hag was annoyed that someone was better than her at gardening, and for that this woman had to die? That’s stupid. In fact, it’s more than just stupid; it’s insane. I can get behind being part of a group of contract killers, but couldn’t we at least have some fucking standards?  At least in your trial, the woman you had to kill had it out for the guild. You were defending your comrades. But this? I mean, what was this even worth? What was the point?” With a barely contained growl – despite everything, she was making a conscious effort to keep her voice down so they wouldn’t be noticed – Saffron turned forward in her seat again and crossed her arms tight over her chest in aggravation.

    Finally, after a moment she sighed, still angry but also a bit dejected. “When I joined the Defense Force, I knew I’d wind up having to kill someone eventually. And I knew that if and when I killed someone, they weren’t necessarily going to be outright evil, malicious villains whose deaths were justified. They were going to be people like me, people with homes and families that they were trying to protect and return to, people that just thought that what they were doing was right in situations where half the time there is no right or wrong; just victory and defeat, and the power to control the narrative once all is said and done. But all that was still in the name of something meaningful and impactful. This was just… stupid.”
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 892 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:38 pm; edited 2 times in total


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 6th March 2022, 6:44 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         699/1430 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    She didn’t see the point.

    When Saffron finally deigned to speak, allowing Vandrad the foreground for conversation most of the time they’d been together thus far, she admitted that she wasn’t upset with him. As she put it, she wasn’t blind to what Fairy Tail had been and what they most likely still partook in. She did her research ahead of time and understood what she was getting into, at least when it came to the establishment. That wasn’t what was bothering her -- what had gotten under her skin was the exact nature of the dark job she had spectated. She didn’t proclaim to be an expert as assassination but she understood that the world was not black and white. People were contracted or ordered to do horrible things each and every day and she knew that war, politics and all of that caused trials and tribulations for the peons sent off to fight for precious resources.

    But she didn’t see any of that in the crime scene they had witnessed. It had been a spat between two gardening pros and one of them was willing to go the farthest mile to guarantee her victory. It was stupid, as far as she saw it, stupid and insane and she didn’t see why people in Fairy Tail would sink to such a level. His trial had meaning and purpose but offing an old lady over a botany rivalry was so asinine in her mind that it questioned all logic. It didn’t prove anything, it didn’t even really solve anything, as she believed. Her tone was sharp and menacing but her volume was still relatively quiet, even as she jabbed an angry finger towards the scene of the crime and voiced her complaints. With a huff, she turned once more in her chain and ensnared herself with her arms, locked in an angry motif before she finally sighed.

    She spoke about her brief time in the Defense Force and how she had come to grips with the fact that she would eventually have to kill someone. She knew that they weren’t dastardly, wicked villains that wanted to cause chaos and devastation just for the fun of it. Most likely, it would be someone just like her, caught up in the insanity of war by higher ups that wanted to fill the body count with every other corpse other than their own for the sake of having more supplies or carrying the bigger stick. She’d understood that and saw it as something that came ‘in the name of something meaningful and impactful’. What she had witnessed was just stupid in her mind.

    Vandrad considered this for a moment silently, staring at the side of her head. When he spoke once more, his tone was just the same as it had been. "At the end of the day, war is not meaningful and impactful. Violence is the chaotic element within every one of us, our instinct to survive and thrive above others as its forebear. And while we may see this act as stupid, it may not have been for the guildmate who doesn’t possess the magical ability to attack politicians or figureheads. Maybe they are only capable of taking out elderly gardeners and that’s their only means of acquiring jewel to help pay for food and board. Or perhaps winning the gardening competition is the only way this woman’s rival is capable of keeping herself alive.”

    He sighed gently through his nostrils. "I understand your viewpoint and agree with it. But the fact of the matter is that we don’t know all the details and we never will. Fairy Tail provides a home for all sorts and as long as they don’t endanger the guild itself, they are welcomed. And unfortunately stupid actions such as this occur more often than we think.”

    Vandrad glanced over at the crime scene once more. "People don’t have the same standards as you or I, Saffron. And Fairy Tail does its best to accommodate its members of all standards. I may not agree with them but it’s an understanding I need to accept and any member that ingrains themselves further in Fairy Tail’s hierarchy must accept.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 7th March 2022, 7:21 pm



    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    He let her speak her mind unimpeded, allowing the blonde haired woman to get her frustrated thoughts and emotions off her chest. When she finally finished speaking, there was a long moment of silence as he considered her words before he gave her his reply, his voice still as soft and patient as it had been before. He told her that there was nothing meaningful or impactful about war, no matter how one spun it. People were simply creations of chaos and violence was their default nature. According to him, there was no telling the truth behind any action taken. All they would ever see were the surface details, and while that may appear shallow to those on the outside, the unseen details could be far more complex than they appeared – not just for those who hired Fairy Tail mercenaries to kill people, but also for the mercenaries themselves.

    Saffron didn’t even bother trying to hide her rolling eyes as he suggested that the person who had hired them to kill this gardener may have done so for reasons that ran far deeper than either of them understood, but to her credit she did continue to listen to what he was telling her and did not appear to be brushing him off. And she was truthfully surprised when he openly admitted that he… agreed with her. It was then and only then that her gaze flicked back to him, some of the color draining from her eyes as her temper began to fade, the natural violet hue of her irises returning to their normal form. The simple fact was, Fairy Tail never knew all the facts of any contract they took on, and they never would. That was just part of the business, and as much as Saffron hated it she did understand that. Frankly, it wasn’t much different from being in the military. She had to take orders all the time that she didn’t necessarily understand or agree with, and aside from a few bumps here and there she had done her duty as asked, regardless of the lack of information.

    The point remained that not everyone held the same standards that the two of them shared, and at its core Fairy Tail’s main goal was to be a welcoming home and safe haven to all individuals, no matter their backgrounds. She didn’t need to be happy with it, but she did need to accept it as he had. Saffron regarded him silently for a long moment before her eyes trailed slowly away once more. She considered his words carefully for some time, knowing that he was going to need an answer from her before the trial was over as to where she would stand, and she refused to give him an answer without thinking it over thoroughly and being honest about her decision, both to him and to herself.

    Eventually, her posture relaxed somewhat with resignation, her body loosening as she shook her head. “Fine,” the young woman told him, her tone more amenable than the single word would otherwise suggest in nearly every other circumstance. “I don’t like it, but… I’m not going to argue it either. It is what it is, and as long as it doesn’t affect me I can live with it. Just don’t expect me to participate any time soon. At least, not for something like this.” She nodded to the crime scene where the old woman’s corpse was still resting in her once prized garden, yet to be discovered by authorities for presumably several hours. Saffron wasn’t going to close the door entirely on being paid to kill someone, but even if she couldn’t expect the entirety of the guild to hold herself to her own standards, she could and would hold herself to them.

    There was another significant span of silence where her mind was turning over his words. A new emotional turmoil was simmering quietly within her, this one different than before. Some anger, yes, but primarily it was more along the lines of sorrow. Without really realizing what she was doing, Saffron had disentangled one of her arms from her chest, holding the robotic limb before her gaze and looking at it with a somber countenance. “Do you really think that it was all meaningless…?” she asked him quietly, her purple eyes taking on a noticeably more blue tint. The Bosconian had sacrificed her arm, nearly her life, to take a stand in a dispute that didn’t even involve her own country, knowing that the outcome of the skirmish between Bellum and Pergrande would affect far more than just the two primary nations. She had killed people, robbed them of their lives and the chance to return to their loved ones, all under the conviction that they were at least fighting for something important. And yet here he was, a noble to the very nation that she had almost died to support, implying that all of it had been for nothing.
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 833/1725 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:39 pm; edited 1 time in total


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 3rd April 2022, 10:09 am

     
       
       
       
       
       
         693/2123 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    The silence was palpable as she took his words into her mind and mulled them over. Saffron hadn’t been overly accepting of his explanation to why a wizard would attack a lowly woman such as the gardener, mostly as it seemed more reaching than firm evidence. That was fair, even if he didn’t fully agree with her belief in it. Nonetheless, she had to take a few moments to ponder what she felt about his words and what she had witnessed. It was not an easy task to be sure and he had no expectation of time for when she would come to a conclusion. He continued to stand there, arms crossed, idly looking away from her so that she could truly consider her feelings without the overwhelming sensation of someone staring at her. It didn’t take as long as he expected until her body sagged slightly. She stated a single word understanding, though it was far from the most pleasant of words to exist, and expanded upon it, stating that she didn’t like the idea or execution but she saw it for what it was. As long as it didn’t actively take part in her life, she didn’t care and she had no desire to take part in any of it, so long as it hung within the realm of what they had witnessed.

    "I nor anyone else would expect you to. You can live your life and partake in whatever jobs you want without hindrance,” he replied coolly, giving her a gentle nod as he looked back at her. She had her standards and there was nothing wrong with that. Fairy Tail accepted all kinds and if she saw no desire to participate in the dark of the guild, then there were no expectations. With that, it seemed they had found a place of understanding and he allowed the moment to remain settled, a silence settling over them once more. Even if she had come to a conclusion, that didn’t mean she was done thinking on the matter, nor did he expect her to run out of questions any time soon.

    But strangely, her question turned more to another point he had made, an earmark that had been more an example than anything else. She wondered if he truly felt that war was meaningless and it hit him hard as he realized how dismissively he had spoken of the conflict between Bellum and Pergrande. He had spoken of a person that was jaded, his experience with battles and skirmishes tacked on by decades rather than simple years. Adding in his own issues with Bellum and it’s governing body and he had flippantly disregarded the sacrifices made by the everyman; a factor that he had always prided himself on understanding. He wasn’t one to let foot soldiers sacrifice their lives while the brass sat comfortably back and watched without a hint of danger. Vandrad threw himself into the front lines, putting himself on the line alongside the brave men and women like Saffron herself.

    He sighed softly, a bit of his tension leaving his body. "No,” he said gently. "And I apologize for stating as such. That was cruel and disrespectful of me. The efforts of everyone that took part in that skirmish should not be so easily looked over or disregarded. We all fought for a purpose -- to stop a conflict from escalating and igniting a cataclysmic war that would endanger the whole world. My issues lie with the politicians and nobles on either side that use soldiers like pawns, simply sacrificing them without regard for their lives, their connections, their mortality. And it seems to a point, I have also become benumbed to the violence, as I’ve seen more of it in my life than entire groups of people can witness. I spoke out of undeserved arrogance and I’m sorry.” He looked back at her. "We strove to fight for something impactful, for something that would help maintain the balance. I’m just afraid that the sacrifices made are going to amount to nothing because men and women with pretty, worthless crowns and titles don’t wish to see eye to eye.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 16th April 2022, 6:52 pm



    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    It was strange. When Saffron had first returned home from the skirmish between Bellum and Pergrande, and had been told by the medics that no amount of healing, magical or otherwise, would be enough to restore the limb she had lost, the young woman had sunk into an extremely deep depression. Fighting was the one thing she was good at, and her strongest skills fell in line with things like boxing, cage fighting… the general use of her arms. She was a proud and confident woman that loved to be in shape and even intimidate some men with her brawn and muscles, but all of that had come crashing down after she’d lost her limb and survived only by sheer, dumb luck.

    The blonde had been honorably discharged from the military and sent back home to her parents where she had shut herself up in her room for months. The few times she did show her face, she really only came out to eat or silently do chores, maybe watch a show or two on the lacrivision. But everything she did felt numb. She’d just been going through the motions, consumed by self pity and dejection as her life felt like it had lost all purpose and meaning and fulfillment. It had been hard on her, and even when she had received the prosthetic limb that she now wore the only thing she could do as she stared at the robot limb was wonder: What was the point? Sure it would give her some mobility and independence back, but it was never going to be the same as what she once had, at what she had taken for granted her entire life thus far.

    A while she had taken great strides in moving past her injury, eventually forcing herself to move forward and stop being such a baby, that didn’t mean it wasn’t something she still struggled with. Oh, she loved her synthetic arm. Once she had finally worked up the courage to put it on and start getting used to it she started to realize that in a way she was more capable with the robotic limb than she ever would have been with her original one. It was a beautifully crafted piece of technology, and by now it felt so natural to her that at times she forgot that she was technically an amputee. But the kind of trauma that she endured would never simply go away, and while most days were easier to cope with what had happened now that a significant amount of time had passed, even now she realized she still had moments of weakness and insecurity about it, triggered by his implication – whether intentional or not – that what she had gone through held no meaning.

    With a soft sigh she heard him reply with a gentle but resolute “no” in answer to her question. More than that, he apologized for what he had said, claiming that it had been unnecessarily disrespectful over a serious matter that should not be brushed off as lightly as he had done. Saffron listened as he explained that the fight they had both participated in did have meaning: to try and stop things from getting out of hand to the point where far more than just the people of Bellum and Pergrande would be affected. Instead, where his comment had come from and what it had been aimed at were those politicians and oligarchs that operated behind the scenes, putting the lives of everyone but themselves on the line to solve their petty squabbles. By this point in his life, Vandrad had been exposed to so much violence and warfare that he was fairly desensitized to it, but as he put it that did not give him an excuse to speak as arrogantly as he had.

    Saffron sensed him looking at her and she instinctively drew her own gaze up to meet his eyes, her expression unreadable. The prince affirmed that they had fought to maintain balance, and that was important, he was merely concerned that the efforts that people like her put in would amount to nothing simply because the wars between people with money and power would never truly stop. Saffron didn’t even realize that she was absentmindedly rubbing the spot on her arm where the synthetic limb attached to what was left of her bicep as she thought his words over. But eventually, she gave him a soft nod. “I know what you mean.” Then, after another significant pause, she looked back up at him again, her eyes their natural violet hue. “Thank you.”

    Several months later, Saffron was back in the training room at Fairy Tail getting a private workout in while she listened to some gym appropriate tunes. A great deal had happened since Vandrad had exposed her to the darker, more secretive parts of the guild. While Saffron had yet to participate in any mercenary activities since then, her new status within the guild allowed her certain privileges, including accessing certain areas of the guild hall that she had always known were restricted but she had simply assumed it was for the guild leaders; Mura, Vandrad and Akeya. And to be fair, that wasn’t entirely wrong, but she earnestly hadn’t a clue before then of the kind of operations that were taking place behind closed doors.

    But frankly, that entire experience was nothing in comparison to the things that had happened more recently. Vandrad had been attacked and nearly killed. In the process his magical core had been completely destroyed, stripping him of his magic and leaving him barely more than a cripple. When Saffron had heard the news she honestly wasn’t sure how to process it. Since the day she had met Vandrad it was obvious that he was a man that took as much – if not more – pride in himself when it came to his fighting and strength. He was a bonafide slave driver when it came to training, waking up early every day to run her and Mura and even Mercury through the ropes. He had latched on to Saffron like a hawk the moment he saw someone that seemed as dedicated to staying in peak condition as he was. And Saffron moan and groaned and dragged her feet, but the truth was that her actions were more dedicated than her words, and it did not take her long to settle into the routine that had already been in place before she had joined up with the guild, and even if he was a bit prickly at times she did appreciate his efforts to train her and help her understand the magic that she had all but given up hope on ever learning to really control.

    So it had shaken her to her core the first time she’d seen him after his attack, the blonde at a true loss for what to do or say. It was obvious how much it hurt and frustrated him, even if he didn’t say so out loud when Saffron was around. However, unlike how she had reacted when she’d been injured so long ago, Vandrad did not take long to start trying to get back on his feet, stubbornly determined to gain back what he had lost. Saffron wasn’t sure that he would ever really accomplish that. When Mercury had pulled her aside to explain the diagnosis, Vandrad’s fate seemed pretty set in stone, but all at once it dawned on her that whether or not he did get his abilities back wasn’t important. What mattered was that he was refusing to let this overwhelm and overcome him like she had done for so long after she’d lost her arm, and after all this time he had spent helping her she had realized it was her turn to return the favor.

    That was why she had taken it upon herself to almost swap roles with Vandrad, making sure to be at the training room every morning to help him move at a steady and reasonable pace, monitoring to make sure he didn’t go too far while also making sure she was there to help challenge him to keep pressing forward. Given her own intimate experience with a crippling physical recovery, she could empathize with where he was coming from and did her best to give him the kind of support that he needed, the kind that matched his determination to grow and move past his obstacles without being pitied or treated like he was incapable of taking care of himself. It was going to be a long, long road to recovery. Longer even than hers had been by a long shot, but Saffron planned on stepping up to the plate to be there as much as he and his surprisingly newly engaged fiance needed.

    Yet even that had come to a screeching halt far sooner than anyone had expected. Saffron was just starting to settle into the new routine when she’d wandered into the training room to find Vandrad wasn’t there. It had not taken her long to figure out something was up, and after contacting Mercury the Silver Wolf ace agreed that something was very, very wrong. And thus had begun the fruitless search for Vandrad that had turned into a full blown investigation. Saffron could have stayed out of it, really. She wasn’t all that involved in Vandrad’s personal life, truth be told, and while they had spent a great deal of time together over the last several months she had still viewed him as more of an authority figure rather than something like a friend. But it wasn’t her nature to just sit by and let others do the work. She had skills and training that would be useful, so once she learned from Mercury that they were running a multi-pronged search, Saffron didn’t hesitate to offer her assistance.

    It was an offer that put her in a position to meet a lot of very powerful and important people very quickly. Before she knew it, she was face to face with Vandrad’s parents, including the infamous Ashen Dread – a woman that Saffron practically idolized just from the stories alone. Not only that, but she also met Serilda and Mythal, the leaders of the Rune Knights and two of the four Gods of Ishgar, who she had no idea was Vandrad’s adoptive brother and soon to be sister-in-law. She’d spent practically an entire week living at the du Wolff’s estate in Bellum with the prince’s family, keeping herself available to run missions with anyone that asked for her help and taking on whatever tasks were requested of her in the search. It had been a bit awkward at times to watch as time went on and the cracks began to show through the otherwise brave faces of his family as despair and hopelessness began to settle in. She felt more than a little out of place, given that she really wasn’t a part of the prince’s familiar inner circle. There were times that she kept to herself or stepped out of the room if she sensed that someone needed a moment to collect themselves, but otherwise she just coasted through as best she could. And to the credit of his family, they all made it very clear through the entire process how grateful they were for her efforts.

    But then Mercury had been kidnapped as well, and that had only complicated matters further. Saffron had been stunned to silence when Gren and Themesycia had revealed the news to everyone, and it was at that point that the blonde was well and truly at a loss for what to do next. From there things only got more and more convoluted as it came out that Mercury wasn’t as human as she looked. Not only that, but apparently she wasn’t even native to Earthland at all but, much like Hosrius and Grubar, was from another planet entirely and supposedly under the thumb of some tyrannous group that had enslaved her people decades prior. Add to that other details she had gleaned from spending time with the du Wolffs and the rest of his family, things about gods and demons and secret societies and organizations…

    Frankly, by the time Vandrad returned as mysteriously as he’d vanished, Saffron had simply stopped trying to understand everything that was going on around her and simply focused on just being there to do things when people asked. Whatever business all of them were mixed up it, it was clearly complicated and way over her head, and she didn’t want to get in anyone’s way to try and ask about it, so she just hung out until they needed her. Eventually, they had worked out a plan to get Mercury back and against all odds the kidnapped woman and the rest of her people were liberated from their servitude. Saffron had allowed herself a day to recover in Bellum with everyone else after the trip and battle across space, but she had still felt like the odd one out of the close knit circles. As such, she had taken her leave fairly quickly to head back to Fairy Tail and giving Vandrad’s family privacy in which to recover.

    And that was where life currently found her: minding her own business in the training room, getting in her reps and passing the time with a decent workout as she tried for the millionth time not to think too much about all the weird shit she’d been exposed to within the last week and a half. Things were more or less settled back the way they should be, and that was all she needed to know.
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 2290/4015 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:40 pm; edited 1 time in total


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 17th April 2022, 5:33 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         805/2928 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    The two of them observing the unfortunate murder of the older woman was the last normal moment they would have together -- which was saying a lot. They’d each said their piece and had come to a relative understanding, a sort of neutral ground that they shared. But it was not long after that -- perhaps even days, maybe weeks, he couldn’t recall -- when Vandrad was attacked and grievously injured. The possibility that he couldn’t continue to train himself, let alone Saffron, didn’t even enter his mind until he was back at Fairy Tail. Then was he understanding of the truly steep hill he intended to scale.

    But he wasn’t alone, nor would he have demanded he be so. He understood one of the most important parts of recovery was being aided by other people. Physical therapists were not created just for the sake of watching the injured fail and fail again; they wanted to help them improve. And though Saffron was not a therapist of that kind, she was someone that understood his methods and had seen firsthand the lengths he pushed himself. In an ironic twist, they evidently had flipped their prospective roles, though Vandrad was far less vocal about his laziness. She helped push him just enough that he was feeling challenged but was also a constant voice in his ear when he was treading into dangerous territory. It was frustrating and annoying but needed and he did his part to keep his mouth shut about his grievances. She was helping him and he was thankful for that, even if he didn’t quite know how to say it.

    Unfortunately, he found himself alone for just a moment too long one morning and decided to push his luck. And in doing so, he activated something that sent him tumbling across the cosmos to a different planet, the home from whence his family had come. His concerns for his physical health were washed away as his time went along there, his body healed by his aunt and his magic apparently recovering from her efforts as well. Soon enough the planet came to the brink of destruction and Vandrad was forced to tap into the mysterious power within, transporting himself and the remainder of his people back to Earthland. And still he wasn’t given time to relax or slow down, as he discovered that Mercury had been kidnapped.

    He’d recognized that Saffron was at the planning committee to get Mercury back, making a mental note to address the matter with her later. There was far too much going on and Mercury was his prime focus at the time. But once she had been rescued and her people freed, once time had passed just long enough for the tensions to wind down and some shred of normalcy to set back in, Vandrad was roped into a plot by the Dread Masters. But it was only after that, when his family was safe upon their island and Mercury’s people beginning to settle in, that things got back on track.

    Saffron had stayed apart, for the most part. She had separated herself from everyone, if only because she felt as if she was the odd one out. And to her credit, she was -- if only because Vandrad was awful at making people feel included. His family asked about Saffron several times, wishing to reconnect with her and get to know her in the scope that wasn’t dripping with kidnappings and life-threatening events. Her commitment to helping had left an impact on them and on Vandrad as well. Though her kept her at a certain length, there was little denying that she’d gone above and beyond for him -- and with that came the realization that, were their places reversed, he’d have done the same. He cared for Saffron, as frustrating as that was, and didn’t just view her as his student.

    Unfortunately he was also awful at expressing such sentiments. He toiled for days trying to find the right way to speak it outloud. Finally, a day after he had returned to Fairy Tail officially, he entered the training room in the morning and found her already working out. Realizing that he was now confronted with the prospect of having to level with her, the former prince very much considered turning right around and pushing off the task for another day. But not one to shy away from a challenge -- and this would be a challenge -- he inhaled deeply and walked over to her. He tossed his bag over by the edge of the room as he came up to her, planting his fists on his hips. He could feel a myriad of emotions in her; most of them muted by her own choice, no doubt. "So,” he spoke aloud. "I imagine you have a lot of questions and mixed emotions.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 21st April 2022, 7:31 pm



    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    The music was loud enough in her earbuds that she didn’t hear the door open and close to the training room. Saffron was completely oblivious to Vandrad stalled in the doorway even as she sat at one of the benches doing curls, the dumbbell in her hand rising and falling carefully with each rep as she bobbed her head to the tunes playing in her ears. It wasn’t until the man sent his bag across the room that she was finally alerted to the fact that someone had joined her, the blonde woman nearly jumping off the bench, somehow managing not to drop the weight in the process. Her neck snapped to look at him wide eyed and the moment she registered who it was she let go of the breath she’d been holding.

    “Fucking hell, dude. You scared the shit out of me,” Saffron told him as she tugged the buds out of her ears. She was busy setting the dumbbell down when he posed his query. It was more of a comment, really. Blinking in confusion, she looked back up at him. “Uhh.. Well I’m a chick, so I feel like that comes with the territory.” It was right after that in which the intent of his words dawned on her, the realization obvious on her face as she glanced back down at the dumbbell for a moment in thought. “I mean, probably. I guess. I haven’t really thought about it all that much.”

    Well, that sounded uncaring. With a sigh, she lugged the dumbbell back to the rack and shelved it. If he was in here talking to her and bringing this shit up, then it seemed likely that her workout was over, at least for the moment. “I mean, I’ve thought about it. Hard not to with all the shit that happened. But honestly it was all a bit… over my head?” Saffron wandered over to where her water bottle was and took a big swig to quench her thirst and buy herself a moment of thought.

    “A lot of shit happened at once. I had a lot of information coming at me from all sides, and most of it I didn’t really have enough context to understand. After a while, a lot of it started to feel like things I shouldn’t know. I mean, in less than twenty four hours I found myself grouped up with a bunch of really important people that are a lot more powerful and influential than I am. Nobles and military leaders, Gods of Ishgar, members of super secret celestial hunting groups… Wasn’t exactly how I envisioned myself meeting and spending a week with one of my biggest idols.”

    A dry smirk tugged on her lips and she shrugged lightly. “At some point I realized that everyone else was coming from a place I didn’t know anything about, and it was easier to just… sit back and stay out of the way until someone asked for my help and pointed me in a direction.” In truth, Saffron felt like she had helped very little during that hectic week. She was certainly a capable young woman, and she had plenty of confidence in herself, but there was no denying that in comparison to those whom she had been spending all that time with she was little more than an extra pair of hands. “I’ve got a lot of questions, sure. Enough that I wouldn’t really know where to start. But, it’s not really my business.”

    Saffron would certainly ask questions if he felt like indulging her, but it was obvious that she didn’t feel like she was owed answers. As such, she wasn’t going to press her luck or pry without a true invitation. For all she knew, this was just him trying to be polite about personal things he didn’t really want to talk about but felt obligated to acknowledge. She moved back over to the bench and sat down, electing to treat this as a break. After a moment, she looked up at him quietly, choosing to meet his eyes in an effort to convey her sincerity as she spoke up again. “I am glad you seem to be back in shape, though. I don’t know what the hell happened to you or where you were, but you’ve got your magic back and you’re walking around without any trouble. I understand what a relief that must be, and I’m happy for you.”

    Then, after a moment, “I’m also definitely taking full credit for it, since I’m clearly a massage therapy prodigy.” Saffron grinned up at him, breaking the tension with a bit of humor and taking another sip of her water. A bit of sobriety returned to her after that as she gently asked, “How’s Mercury holding up? And all of her people?”
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 804/4819 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:40 pm; edited 2 times in total


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 22nd April 2022, 5:47 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         808/3736 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    Vandrad had been in his own little world, not realizing that she was listening to music. He should have known better; the spitfire blonde always seemed to have a penchant for listening to tunes when she got a workout in. Either way, his depositing of his bag was enough to shake her reverie, nearly scaring her out of her shoes. She spun her head to look at him and only then she relaxed, stating that he had scared her. "So I’ve been out of commission for a short while and you’ve already forgotten my teachings? You should always be on guard,” he chastised her, though after a moment he snorted. "Says the guy who managed to get stabbed without being aware of the danger around him.” It was a bitter kind of humor but a break in his normal attitude, nonetheless.

    He put forth his question and she confirmed that, being female, she was always dealing with questions and mixed emotions. He… wasn’t really sure what to do with that answer; were all women truly in that disarray inside? While the former prince pondered that philosophical question, Saffron was realizing what he had meant and continued her thought, admitting that she most likely had some queries but hadn’t put much thought to it. That was fair; there had been a lot of surprises, information and revelations in a short amount of time. Saffron corrected herself a second later, admitting that she had done some thinking but it felt over her head. She walked over and took a drink of water before she continued her thinking. She’d been hit by a lot from every angle and she hadn’t really gotten a lot of deeper exposure of education on what it all meant. In fact, she started to feel it was information she didn’t need to know; especially since she had very quickly been grouped up with several important people, up to and including her idol. Vandrad and Saffron had talked a little about the blonde’s idolization of his mother, Themesycia, and he had been trying to figure out a good time to introduce her -- but god forbid his mother tried to seduce his pupil into bed.

    With that said, she continued, stating that she realized that everyone was far more involved than she was and it was far easier to just act as a pawn for them to direct and ask for help from. It made things easier for her and while it didn’t prevent questions, she didn’t feel it was her place to ask anything. She held no bill for helping, having done so out of the kindness of her own heart. He nodded softly, pondering that as he walked over and picked up a dumbbell; one weighing just under two hundred pounds. Only weeks ago, at least in this world, the idea of picking that particular weight up seemed impossible. But now, his magic was restored and it was as if he was picking up a glass of water. Perhaps Scourge was right; maybe the healing of his injury had somehow made his magic even stronger than before.

    Saffron spoke up once more, stating that she was happy to see he was back in shape. She didn’t know the details of how he’d managed such a miraculous recovery but she was happy. And then decided to take the credit for it, stating that it had been her massage therapy sessions that had clearly done the trick. He snorted a laugh as he rolled the dumbbell up. Then she asked about Mercury and her people, wondering how they were doing. "Adapting,” he stated. "It’s a change for all of them and it’s going to take some time for them to adjust accordingly.” He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. "There’s… a darkness in Mercury. A wound that she is hiding. She hasn’t spoken about it and I refuse to push the matter. She’ll have to be the one to come to me. But I can sense it. All I can do is try to stay by her side and help her feel comfortable enough to talk about it.”

    He turned to face Saffron. "I’m a private man, Saffron. And I’ve kept much of my life from you, for the sake of safekeeping my privacy. It is not a matter of trust -- merely a defense mechanism bred into me by my own concerns. But you’ve done more for me than you should have; more than most people in this guild would. You went above and beyond a mere call of duty; you… proved you were more than just my mentee. You’re a friend.” This sounded ridiculous. "If you have questions, I’m prepared to answer them. Whatever they may be. You may not think it was your business but you’ve earned the trust of myself and my family.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 23rd April 2022, 5:38 pm


    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    “Hey, you said it. Not me.” Saffron tossed him a slight smirk as he chastised her only to turn things around on himself and teasingly point out his own hypocrisy about not being on one’s guard.

    From there, the conversation took a somewhat more serious turn as Saffron voiced her thoughts regarding the last few weeks of events, with the blonde more or less admitting that she had simply done her best to be as available as possible without trespassing on ground where she didn’t belong. It had been an awkward and sometimes uncomfortable position to be in, but she was glad that she had done it. And frankly, she knew that everyone else was grateful too, as Vandrad’s family had been more than forthcoming with their appreciation toward her efforts during the time she’d been around. But once everything had more or less settled, Saffron had elected to leave rather than overstay her welcome in a time when the rest of them probably just needed to recover with one another.

    At the end of her small speech she offered a slight subject change, asking about the wellbeing of Mercury had her people. The Silver Wolf ace was basically the only one that Saffron knew on a decent level going into things, and while Mercury had kept up a brave face for most of the time that Vandrad was missing and had never really seemed to lose her cool, all it took was a cursory glance for Saffron to recognize a woman that was throwing herself into the mission in order to stay focused and not drown in despair. And to everyone’s credit, no one called Mercury on it. Hell, nearly all of them were in the same boat. Out of everyone present, Saffron had the least emotional attachment to the situation, but that certainly didn’t mean that she didn’t care or wasn’t worried the whole time. She simply wasn’t a part of the inner circle, and thus her relationship with Vandrad was more superficial than what he had with the others.

    Vandrad confirmed that the Xocili people were adapting, something that was sure to be a process for anyone that moved to a new location so far from home. That was wasn’t even including the decades of abuse and slavery they had endured at the hands of the Nazru. Surely, they would be recovering for a long time to come. Saffron nodded her head in understanding only for Vandrad to take his answer a step further. She frowned as he opened up to admit that there was something plaguing Mercury, something that she had not spoken to him about yet. Whatever it was, it was hurting her more than she was willing to express. It troubled Vandrad greatly, but he’d taken a stance to wait for her to come to him, not wishing to force the subject until she was ready to talk about it.

    Saffron was quiet as she contemplated what he told her, her own thoughts twisting this way and that as she turned the information over in her mind. Truthfully, Saffron had always sensed something kind of dark about Mercury. The woman was friendly enough, and there was no denying that the two women got along remarkably well – even if Saffron wasn’t as blatantly flirtatious as Mercury was. But they both were very similar in personalities and mannerisms, and Saffron had enjoyed getting to know the woman through their regular workout sessions with Vandrad and Mura. That being said, it had never surpassed Saffron’s awareness that Mercury almost never talked about herself, at least nothing more than shallow surface details. In fact, Mercury was almost always disarmingly charming, keeping the focus on everyone else and often brushing off questions about herself and underplaying her abilities as a warrior. While Saffron hadn’t been in the military long enough to outright recognize the tactics of a well trained spy and assassin, she was smart enough to pick up context clues that had always made Mercury seem somewhat off to her, like there was something dark and dangerous bubbling beneath the surface of camaraderie that was otherwise there at all times. Now that she knew the truth of Mercury’s origins, the behaviors of course made much more sense and the knowledge of the alien’s history clicked a lot of things into place for Saffron.

    However, that didn’t seem to be what Vandrad was talking about. Whatever was ailing Mercury, it seemed to be something other than the life long traumas and abuse that the lavender haired mage had endured all of her life; something fresh that had wounded her so deeply that even decades of desensitization and defense mechanisms weren’t enough to cover it completely. Before Saffron could finish forming enough thoughts on the matter to engage the subject fully, Vandrad turned to face her. He informed her that he was a private man, something of which Saffron was already acutely aware. The ace admitted that he had hidden much of his own life from her, not so much out of mistrust as simply conceding to the demands of his own defense mechanisms that he’d learned over the years of his life.

    Yet it seemed that he wished to invite her in further, stating his feeling that she had done more for him than he’d ever expected anyone in the guild to do. More than she should have, or so he felt. And as far as he was concerned, there was little about her actions that could be read as mere duty to him as her mentor. Her actions had been that of a friend, and he was ready to treat her as such, offering her a chance to ask her questions and become more involved in the things that were going on in his life. Saffron may have felt like it wasn’t her place, but he had decided to make it her business rather than leave her feeling like an awkward fifth wheel.

    She stared at him for a long time with an unreadable expression, the blonde’s brain scrambling to process this abrupt and unexpected change in the prince’s behavior. “Oh,” was her only dumbfounded reply. It wasn’t that she was ungrateful or didn’t appreciate the weight of what he was doing, nor was there any shred of her that didn’t feel similarly that they had transcended the former boundaries of their relationship with one another. Far from it, in fact. The simple fact of the matter was that this was new territory for the two of them, and a far cry from the normal and comfortable method of interactions they’d had with one another in the months since she’d joined Fairy Tail. The blonde was silent for a long time as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly and glanced aside in thought before finally leveling her gaze back at him.

    “Alright, but if we’re doing this – and we’re doing this – let’s do it our way, yeah? I’m with you on an emotional level, but let’s face it: this is all becoming very sentimental and uncomfortable very quickly, and I don’t really know what to do with that. So can we at least like.. I don’t know, punch each other or something while we do this? Cause if we don’t get some sense of normalcy back in here, then I’m gonna wind up getting sentimental when all I came here for this morning were gains, and I don’t think we’re there quite yet. You get what I’m saying? Assuming, of course, that that old, crippled body of yours can keep up with a young whippersnapper such as myself.”

    Neither of them were the most affectionate of people, at least not in the traditional sense. Yes, their friendship had grown stronger than either of them expected, and Saffron was all for letting that foster into something even stronger, but that didn’t mean that they had to stumble and tiptoe awkwardly around one another like middle schoolers experiencing their first foray into the baffling burdens and realities of adulthood. Presuming he was in favor of her proposed approach, Saffron would take one more swig from her water before setting the bottle aside and clearing the bench and other items out of the way so they could have some room to start a light spar.

    Taking a stance with her fists raised in front of her face, Saffron started things off with a few moderate punches, not really looking for a test of strength with the man so much as a steady endurance workout that kept them both moving. “So I guess I’ll start with: What the hell happened? I only got vague information from what that other guy told your parents; Scorch or... Splurge... whatever the fuck his name was. All I took away from it was that you tried one time to work out without me there to yell at you about pushing yourself too far, and the universe punished you for it, and now I get to never let you live that down.” She smirked.
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 1512/6331 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:41 pm; edited 1 time in total


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 23rd April 2022, 7:45 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         705/4441 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    It wasn’t that sentimentality was beneath him; it was just a strange, often awkward area for Vandrad. He’d only managed to break through his absolute refusal to touch upon the subject with Mercury in the last couple of years. He wasn’t good at it and he often made it to be more or less than it needed to be. But he still made an attempt and that was what he was doing at the moment with Saffron. He was reaching out to the best of his ability and of course it wasn’t perfect or really all that practiced. And it was clear that he was doing so to a person that had grown accustomed to a certain kind of communication with him. He’d bypassed the middle ground for their usual banter and gone completely heartfelt.

    Saffron responded with a simple ‘oh’, the weight of his words hitting her hard and causing her to lose any sense of what a proper reply could be. In her shoes, he probably would have been the same way. He was quiet as well, letting her mull over his words and come to a conclusion on what she wanted to say, the former prince putting down the dumbbell in its place as she scratched the back of her head. After what felt like eons, she finally spoke back up, insisting that if they were going to have some kind of heart to heart, that they do it their way. She understood where he was coming from but it was all too sentimental and she didn’t know how to handle that and frankly neither did he, given where they were. If things got too sappy, then she would surely get sappy and any semblance of a morning workout would be gone. She wrapped up her offer with a tease, which earned a snort out of Vandrad. "Look who is calling who a cripple,” he remarked back.

    Apparently agreeing to the terms with that comment, Vandrad snapped each of his arms out, one after the other, as if he was limbering up. A release of pressurized magic was exerted from the limbs, causing the air to waver just slightly. It was a common method for stretching for the former prince, one that Saffron would know rather well. With that set, he walked over to her and set himself up in a boxing stance, left hand in front of the other. She threw a few punches his way, batting at him with a moderate amount of force and speed; easy enough to block but enough to keep them both moving. With the workout started, she asked what had happened to him. She’d only gotten somewhat of an idea from the former Dread Master and all she really understood was that he’d attempted to work out on his own and had pushed himself past his limit. "Yes, Scourge,” he said, correcting his name for her. "There’s a lot about it I don’t understand myself. What I can tell you was that I was attempting to reactivate my magic manually. Don’t give me that look,” he cut off her disapproval, throwing a few jabs at her.

    "When I did, I found something else. Touching it, I sent myself careening to… another world. A world connected to me and my family. You see, we’re like Mercury; aliens to this world. Apparently when I pushed myself too far, I activated… I don’t know, a failsafe of some kind. It sent me back there. It was… complicated there. People ruled under an iron fist. I was captured and sent to fight in some kind of arena. But before that, they brought me before a woman that turned out to be my aunt, my mother’s sister. She healed my injury and apparently my magical core. It took a few months -- time moves faster there than here -- but I started to regain some semblance of my power.”

    "Then it all went sideways. Planet-ending levels of sideways. In the moments before everything ended, I attempted the same thing that took me there. Apparently it worked, whisking me back here to Earthland along with the rest of my people. I barely had time to recover before I learned Mercury had been taken.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 24th April 2022, 7:27 pm


    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    Oh yeah, this was much more comfortable territory. Vandrad stretched himself out with a few quick shakes of his limbs and a quip about the hypocrisy of Saffron calling anyone a cripple. A big grin crossed her face, not unlike the kind he saw from Mercury on a daily basis, and soon they were squared off and throwing jabs at each other at a comfortable pace. He corrected her misremembering of Scourge’s edgelord supreme name before admitting that he really wasn’t sure what exactly had happened. All he knew was that some mysterious force had taken over when he’d been trying to activate his magic and all hell had broken loose.

    “I’m giving you the look, and you’re just gonna have to live with it,” she replied when he pre-emptively chastised her for the stink eye she gave him, the blonde deftly blocking the small handful of strikes he sent her way. From there the movements of her body drifted into autopilot as she listened to his story. Apparently whatever ability he’d activated, it had thrown him into another world. Specifically, the world his family had come from as the du Wolffs, much like Mercury and her people, were not originally from Earthland. Saffron was far too busy moving around the mat to put much effort into her facial expressions, but that was certainly something to ponder. It seemed that more and more of her friends were turning out to be extraterrestrial. How odd.

    Unfortunately, life on his home planet was far from simple. The ruling body was strict and brutal, the prince having been arrested and thrown into an arena for whatever crime he had committed. But before then, they had at least done the respect of having him healed by a woman who turned out to be his aunt, and whatever magic she had it allowed her to completely heal all of his injuries, including the damage that had been done to his magical core. It still took some time for him to fully recover – several months in fact. She must have finally made a face then as he quickly explained to her that time on that planet didn’t move at the same rate as it did on Earthland, meaning that what had been merely a week for the rest of them had been months for him.

    And things only got worse from there. He didn’t go too deep into details, but apparently the entire world had been in peril and it was only right when the entire place was about to go up in flames that he’d somehow managed to purposefully activate the same ability that had taken him away from Earthland in the first place. Through it, he’d returned both himself and what remained of his people to this world, saving them all just in time to learn that Mercury had been taken. “Yikes. No wonder you look so worn out. Or maybe that’s just the beard. Makes you look older. Not bad, mind you. Just older.”

    Saffron could admit that Vandrad was a handsome man, and frankly she was a fan of facial hair on most men, but he was not her type. Way too old for her. And honestly, it weirded her out that Mercury was so into him when Mercury was the same age as Saffron – roughly half Vandrad’s age. “Yeah, it was pretty bad after Mercury got taken. That was honestly the last thing any of us expected. I mean, none of us knew what she was, of course. Save for your dad, apparently, but he didn’t know that she was a slave or that there was any possibility of someone coming after her. Though I guess that does explain why she went A.W.OL. for so long with training. I take it she was trying to keep her distance because the guy that kidnapped her had already shown up at some point?”

    Presuming he confirmed that, she’d give a nod of understanding before throwing a series of jabs and a quick kick at him. “Honestly, I felt really bad for your family. It was hard enough for them when it was just you they were looking for. Once Mercury was taken, it was like the life had been taken out of them. Both of you were gone without any way for any of us to reach you. We all felt pretty useless and hopeless, and considering how strong most of them are it was obvious that they didn’t really know how to cope with that feeling. There’s nothing worse than just having to sit back and wait cause there’s nothing you can do.” Frankly, that had been one of the hardest things for her to witness, was watching all these people that greatly overshadowed be overwhelmed with helplessness. It wasn’t a pleasant sight to behold, and it had made her feel all the more useless at the time herself.

    “So, you said that you brought the rest of your people back with you? I don’t remember seeing any of them when you came back. Your aunt must have some pretty powerful magic to have completely healed your magical core. But how did you wind up getting arrested? Did you try to pick a fight or something?”
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 876/7207 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:41 pm; edited 1 time in total


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 27th April 2022, 6:51 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         760/5201 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    Saffron listened to his story quietly, even as they passed a few hits between one another. After he had finished, she admitted that his exhausted form made much more sense. Though she wasn’t sure if that was his features or the singular new one in his beard. Apparently it made him look older, though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He raised a brow and reached up to touch the facial patch. "Yes well shaving was hardly a concern in the middle of the situation I was in. I don’t plan on keeping it in the long term; just long enough for Mercury to get her fill of it. I’ll leave the facial hair to my father.” Vandrad preferred a clean shaven face, even if everyone around him seemed partial to it.

    Saffron had been privy to just how bad things had gotten around his family. When Mercury had been taken, it had come as a shock; no one but Gren had known about Mercury’s true heritage and even he only had pieces of it. Learning about it had helped piece some of the mystery of the Xocili’s alienation right before Vandrad’s attack. Vandrad nodded. "The Nazru had sent him along to observe her and make a report on her mission here. She pushed us away in an attempt to help solidify the deception that we didn’t mean anything to her. In the end, my attack is what drove her to forgo what was demanded of her and to listen to her own desires.”

    Unfortunate that it had come at such a high cost but it was one that Vandrad would pay a thousand times to ensure her safety and freedom. Saffron continued, remarking on how his family had deflated after Mercury had disappeared. They possessed a great deal of magical power and influence in the world but it meant nothing in the face of locating where they had gone. He nodded, understanding it well enough, even if he hadn’t been there to witness it himself. He’s not sure he could have done it without breaking. Whatever the case, they had come out the other side, fighting through the pain, agony and heartbreak quite literally. Turning her attention back to the information about his people, Saffron stated that she hadn’t seen any of them and was curious to what had led to his arrest in the first place.

    "My aunt doesn’t have magic at all. My people, the Rhaegarians, have special abilities called Blood Markers. They are similar to magic but are unique to each individual. Cyrene can repair bodily damage and apparently even revive someone, so long as they have perished within five minutes of her getting to them. She reversed the damage to my magical core, better than any healing magic could.” As if to prove his point, he took a moment to quickly ascend to his Golden Grade Empowerment before letting it disappear. "As for my imprisonment… that is a much longer story.”

    He moved in and delivered several punches and kicks at her as he spoke. "There was a ruling family on my homeworld that had become corrupt. The people rose up, led by a single man. That man found an ally in my grandfather, who swore to aid him and offer resources and support. But there was a battle, a large one, and my father disappeared. I can only assume that was when my family came over to Earthland for whatever reason. That man’s son, Xavier, rallied the people and helped overthrow the ruling family. But in his anguish and anger, he became just as corrupt as they had. When I arrived, they noticed my tattoo of my family’s brand. I was brought before him and told I would be punished for my family’s crimes. That’s how I wound up in the battledome.”

    "But my magic returned and I escaped, along with the prisoners there, my family included. Over the next several months, I began a campaign to keep him back as he attempted to kill me and my kin. Over time, the people began to rally to my cause. But the former ruling family had enacted some kind of doomsday plan in case they were ever threatened or overthrown. They put in motion a plan to destroy the planet. I attempted to reason with Xavier so we could find some means to stop the planet’s destruction but he refused. In the end, I was forced to slay him.” He frowned. "He was blinded by hatred. I pitied him but I had no other choice.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 1st May 2022, 2:55 pm


    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    A small snort released itself from Saffron’s nose. “If you wait for Mercury to have her fill of it, you’re going to be sporting the beard for the rest of your life.”

    Vandrad confirmed that Khelben had been sent by the Nazru to spy on Mercury and make sure she was doing her job. As soon as Mercury had realized who the guy was, the alien had pushed Vandrad and most everyone else out of her life in an effort to try and protect them by making it seem like they meant less to her than they really did. Unfortunately, when Vandrad was attacked and nearly killed by Sabine she could no longer deny herself and chose to betray her masters and abandon her mission to return to his side. It was a story of love if there ever was one, and despite her outward mockery of all things lovey and cliche, Saffron was a romantic at heart. Her idea of romance just didn’t involve stupid archaic traditions and meaningless gestures meant to invoke more emotion than actual caring.

    They didn’t linger on the topic. Instead they moved on to talk a bit more about where he had disappeared to and what had happened to him while Vandrad was gone. He explained that the Rhaegarians – his people – didn’t have magic. However, they had innate abilities that were synonymous with magic, each person having their own unique power that they referred to as Blood Markers. His aunt Cyrene’s Blood Marker was the ability to repair any and all bodily damages, even bringing someone back from the dead as long as she got to them within five minutes of their passing. And that, apparently, was how his magical core had been restored. Saffron raised her eyebrows, visibly impressed, but otherwise said nothing as he continued to answer her questions.

    He wove her the tale of how the ruling family of Rhaegar had been tainted by greed and pride, as many in positions of power and authority were wont to do. It drew rebellion from the people let by a man that had allied himself with Vandrad’s grandfather. Unfortunately, when the time came to support his ally, Vandrad’s grandfather instead disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As far as Vandrad could put together, that was when his family had made the jump to Earthland, though there was no concrete evidence to confirm how or why. The rebel leader had perished because of it, leaving his son Xavier to carry on the mission in his absence. Xavier had been successful, but his rule began with grief and bitterness in his heart for the loss of his father, and it had corrupted him just as much as the greed of his fallen enemies. He blamed Vandrad’s family for the loss of his father, and so when people saw the tattoo of the du Wolff crest on Vandrad’s back it had been enough of a crime to arrest him for treason, where he was thrown into the battledome to answer the supposed crimes of his family.

    However, thanks to the healing done to his magical core, Vandrad’s magic had returned to him and he managed to break both himself and other prisoners out of their incarceration. From there, it was a long and arduous battle to protect themselves against Xavier and his attempts at killing them all. Vandrad’s own rebellion was gaining traction quickly, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to properly see it through. The Rhaegarian leaders that had ruled the planet before Xavier had selfishly set the planet’s destruction in motion as a final “if we can’t rule, no one can” hail mary. The scowl on Saffron’s face and the slight hue of crimson that tainted her eyes told Vandrad exactly what she thought of such a childish action. Vandrad had attempted to broker a temporary truce with Xavier to save the planet, but in his own stubborn pride the man had refused, and Vandrad was forced to kill him.

    Saffron shook her head. “How stupid,” she muttered, unable to find the sense or honor in putting the lives of an entire world at risk just because someone didn’t get their way. In the end, she elected not to linger on it. There was nothing that could be done about it at this point anyway. “Well,” she said, blocking his incoming kicks and punches, “I’m glad you made it out in one piece and that you were able to save as many of your people as possible.”

    It was hard to know what to say against a story like that. “Sorry about your planet, bro” seemed a bit of a weak sentiment in the face of things. A few punches later she chuckled. “Man, one of these days I’ll make some friends that are actually human.” It really was remarkable to realize that half the people she knew or met within the last few months of her life weren’t natives to Earthland, or at least carried some bizarre blood in their veins. “I imagine your mom set everyone up on the island with Mercury’s people? Bet that place is filling up faster than she expected. Do they seem to be settling in okay?”
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 869/8076 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:42 pm; edited 1 time in total


    _____________________________________________________________________________________

    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 1st May 2022, 5:53 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         671/5872 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    It was true that if Vandrad simply waited for when Mercury had gotten her fill of his beard, then there was a good chance that she would never let him shave it. He was amenable to a point and willing to let it stay long beyond the point of when he’d be comfortable but it would not be staying forever, that much was certain. But the Silver Wolf ace had already commented several times in favor of the beard, though she didn’t help her case by making comparisons to himself and his father as much as she did.

    He filled out all the missing details that he hadn’t provided to her, simply because there hadn’t been time or appropriate setting. From finalizing the conspiracy that had led to Mercury’s kidnapping all the way to his sudden escape from Rhaegar, he wove her the tale of what had happened to both him and his loved ones. She was quiet while she listened to his story, simply moving her arms and legs to block his attacks. They’d grown so accustomed to the slow pace of their sparring over the months that they barely had to focus on where to move their limbs. As he wrapped up his tale, she commented on how it had been senseless for Xavier to put up such a fight. In the end, she was just happy that he’d managed to save the people that he was able to, all things considered.

    As she continued up her defense, she chuckled and remarked about making human friends at some point, rather than the aliens and supernatural beings she kept encountering. "You and me both. I never thought I’d say it but I almost miss being in the Bellum army. At least I knew I was fighting beside full blooded humans.” Or so he believed. There was no telling who or what was hiding among them all over the world at this point. Saffron remarked about where the Rhaegarians had been set up, figuring correctly that Themesycia had seen to it that they be taken to the island. "Well the problem is that I had no control of where they appeared. From what I can tell, they were randomly dropped all across the world. But the Dread Masters must have figured something was amiss and rounded them up. We discovered them when we attacked them.”

    Oh right, he hadn’t enlightened her on that. "A week or so after everything was settled, the Dread Masters launched a tri-fold attack. One on me, one on Mercury and the other on my family. Luckily it seemed Scourge was already intent on turning against them and used his battle with me to push my magic beyond its prior limitations. After I regained my magic, I had lost immeasurable progress in its strength and I’ve been forced to build it up again. He manipulated the situation to fight me and send a lack of followers to Mercury. In the end, we were able to reconnect and infiltrate their hideout, slaughtering their numbers. It was there that we found most of the Rhaegarians, trapped once more.”

    "Unfortunately they also attacked the other order, the Order of Souls and took them out. They almost killed Gren and Chishan, only managing to be saved by Wanda and some new ally named Kessicia. And the attack on Bellum was partially successful, in that they were able to plant a bomb that my family was incapable of disarming. They all fled but the manor was destroyed. For now, they, the Rhaegarians and the Xocili all call the island their home. It’s an… adjustment but they all seem to be connecting well enough.”

    He sent one more flurry of punches at her before sighing. "And that catches us up to the present. The Dread Masters are all but gone, their numbers at the bare minimum. And the Nazru are gone as well. I won’t pretend that the danger has passed but for the moment, there is some kind of semblance of peace.”  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


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    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 21st May 2022, 6:49 pm


    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    It seemed Vandrad shared her sentiments about the seeming lack of actual full blooded humans in their lives. As she asked a bit more about his people, he explained that while he had been successful in transporting them to Earthland, he’d had zero control over where they landed, meaning that all of them had been scattered about the planet. And unfortunately, many if not most of them had been found by the Dread Masters before anyone friendly could locate them, the sinister organization rounding them up and holding them hostage. The only reason They were discovered at all, it seemed, was because there had been an attack on the stronghold where they were being kept.

    He must have seen the slight frown on her face that indicated she wasn’t sure what he was referencing. As she twisted her body and shifted her feet with the patterns of the spar, Vandrad explained that it had only taken a week since the liberation of the Xocili for the Masters to strike against Vandrad and his family and friends. In a three pronged attack, they had come at Vandrad, Mercury, and his family at the same time. Thankfully, it sounded like things hadn’t quite gone according to plan. Scourge had been working his way toward betraying the order and used his attack against Vandrad to make that final leap, pushing the prince’s magic beyond the brink and helping Vandrad regain much of his lost strength. At the same time, he had organized a way to make the attack on Mercury less effective than it was originally intended to be by finding a way to limit the number of individuals that had moved to attack her.

    Once both battles had been concluded, the three of them teamed up and essentially wiped out their main headquarters, which was where they had ultimately found the rest of Vandrad’s people. And while most of that had been relatively good news – attacks and kidnapping certainly weren’t swell, but they had survived and also saved a lot of people – the story wasn’t all rainbows. The Masters had also attacked the “other order”, the one that Vandrad’s father was a member of. This was the part of the story where Saffron really had to pay attention, particularly when he started throwing out names she didn’t know like Chishan and Wanda, people who had apparently almost died alongside his father. Not only that, but the attack on his Bellum home had more or less been successful. None of Vandrad’s family had been killed, but the entire estate had been completely and utterly destroyed.

    It took a moment for that knowledge to really sink in, Saffron’s attention half on trying to decipher all the information coming her way and half on their sparring. It was only a few second later when he was wrapping up the story that it hit her and she planted her feet, raising her hands and jabbing the tips of the fingers of one hand into the palm of the other hand for the universal sign to call a time out, bringing their spar to a stop. “Whoa whoa, hold on. The entire estate was destroyed?” she asked, her eyes wide in shock. “Dude, that’s…” Her voice trailed off, the woman unable to conjure appropriate words for the situation.

    “That really sucks, man. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how devastating that was for you and your family. I know I’m not the strongest or most skilled person around in comparison to the rest of you, but seriously: If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

    After the matter had settled for a couple long seconds she shook her head softly. “All these weird shadow organizations and shit… that’s the part that really gets over my head, I think. It’s all so convoluted and crazy. I only picked up some bits and pieces of information about all that when I was with your family. Shit about gods and demons, and people that shouldn’t exist. When I left Bellum, my biggest worries were just trying to identify my magic and finding a way to live on my own in a completely foreign country. I’m not even sure I ever really believed in things like gods. At the very least, I never pictured them as individuals that took the time and energy to interject themselves into our lives. It all just kind of made me realize… I dunno, how small I am in the grand scheme of things I guess.”

    She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m not trying to make this about me or throw some kind of pity party. All I’m saying is just that I think it’s going to take me a while to understand all that shit. It’s intimidating as all hell, but.. If it’s all real then hiding from it isn’t going to do me any good. So, whatever you need, count me in. I’ll do my best to catch up.”
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 830/8906 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


    Last edited by Saffron Remington on 8th June 2022, 4:42 pm; edited 1 time in total


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    Vandrad Ragnos
    Vandrad Ragnos

    Quality Badge Level 1- Quality Badge Level 2- Quality Badge Level 3- Player 
    Lineage : Traveller of the Multiverse
    Position : None
    Posts : 792
    Guild : Fairy Tail
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 8,080,767

    Character Sheet
    First Skill: Energy Monarch
    Second Skill: Ark of the Dread Masters
    Third Skill:

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Vandrad Ragnos 22nd May 2022, 3:49 pm

     
       
       
       
       
       
         876/6748 words    
       
         even the gods can't stop me    
       
         nor can you    
     
     
    It really hadn’t hit Vandrad just how emotionally tumultuous losing his childhood home had been. True, there had been a time of shock for both him and the rest of his family, awe-struck at the palace that Bacchus had constructed and left in their family name for years. But the former prince was so detached from material attachments that it hadn’t really resonated with him as deeply as it had for Themesycia, Simon, Ever or even his cousins. It had been a reliable, caring home for the time it had existed and all he saw of its destruction was the insult against his family by the Dread Masters. And they had been paid for their actions tenfold. But Saffron was much more empathic to that kind of loss and halted their spar in an instant, holding up her hand in the universal sign of time out, even as Vandrad’s body was torquing to throw another punch. The news struck her hard and for a moment she sought out the appropriate words before she shared her condolences. He nodded in consideration. "Yes, my family was quite moved by the loss. I don’t believe it has quite struck me as hard as it did them but I’m far more guarded than the rest of them. Perhaps I was prepared for something like this to happen, subconsciously -- I don’t honestly know. But thank you for your offer; any help offered is appreciated and I’m sure Themesycia would happily take up your offer, depending on what is needed in the future.”

    Saffron had brought their spar to a complete standstill and it seemed she was intent on leaving that way, if only to express what was on her mind. She admitted that all the organizations that had popped out of the shadows were confusing and convoluted, both very good points, and there was so much information being slung at her that she’d only managed to truly embed pieces of it over the time she had been around it. She’d come from Bosco with the only goal of learning more about her magical abilities and she had been thrown into a shadow war that she and many others weren’t even aware of or really wanted to know about. She hadn’t even really put any serious consideration into the believable existence of gods before, let alone living, breathing creatures that could actively participate in people’s day to day lives. The knowledge had made her criminally aware of how small her role in the universe was, which was fair, all things considered. "Gods that actively want to destroy reality and demons that just want to enjoy life. Beings from beyond our planet, from other stars and worlds. It has a funny way of expanding the scope in a way that is wholly uncomfortable.” It was a feeling he understood very well and could speak about with her on equal footing. "Remind me later to make sure I don’t let Ruzatz anywhere near you. That lecherous demon seems to have an eye for… well, everyone, it seems.”

    She shook away her thoughts and apologized, not wanting to make the matters all about her. Her point, it seemed, was that it was going to take some time and effort for her to understand it all but despite how terrifying and weighty it was, she wasn’t going to run from it. She doubled down on her offer to help him in whatever capacity he needed and she’d just play catch up as best she can. "No need to apologize,” he said, waving off her concerns. "I’m not surprised such issues have hit as hard as they have. They aren’t easy by any stretch, even for us that have been around it for months, even years now. It takes time and even then, something new will pop up that will find a way to undo all the work we’ve done in catching up. But I appreciate it, I do. Your actions and your dedication were not lost on me, Mercury or any of my family members, expanded and otherwise. My mother has taken a liking to you -- I imagine you’ll be invited to every major holiday soiree she throws from here on out. And I will do my best, personally, not to put too much onto you.”

    They’d reached a crossroads of sorts, a precipice where their relationship would evolve into something stronger, something unbreakable. Vandrad had only reached the plateau with a limited number of people and he wasn’t exactly sure how to appropriately express his… care for her. After a moment, and a lot of consideration, he uneasily stepped towards her and gave her an awkward hug. It would be horrendously obvious that the former prince was far more accustomed to receiving hugs rather than initiating them and he held her almost like he wasn’t sure where to put his arms. After a moment, he gave her a pat on the back with both hands and stepped back. There was a slight blush on his cheeks out of sheer embarrassment. "That’s the only time I will give you one of those. I felt it was appropriate, considering.”

    It might have been but he certainly had found a way to make it awkward as all hell.  
     
       
         for @Saffron Remington    
       some ooc notes can go here!  


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    Saffron Remington
    Saffron Remington

    Player 
    Lineage : Aspect of Pluto
    Position : None
    Posts : 269
    Cosmic Coins : 0
    Dungeon Tokens : 0
    Experience : 7,996

    A Foot in Darkness and Light Empty Re: A Foot in Darkness and Light

    Post by Saffron Remington 22nd May 2022, 5:50 pm


    COME AT ME AND YOU'LL SEE
    I'M MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

    --- YOU THINK THAT YOU'LL BREAK ME, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IN TIME ---
    Vandrad did acknowledge how big of a deal it was that his childhood home was gone, but Saffron didn’t miss the way that he almost completely brushed the weight of the issue off onto his family. As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t affecting him as much because he was a much more guarded person, and perhaps to a point that was true, but to Saffron it just sounded like he was so used to keeping everyone and everything around him at arm’s length that he just didn’t know how to cope with it, and thus went into denial. She would know; she’d been there plenty of times before, and while she didn’t claim to be the most empathic person in the world she liked to think that she was relatively well adjusted and at least in the realm of “normal” when it came to understanding her own feelings. Vandrad, by his own admission, was not.

    And it was for that reason that Saffron didn’t call him out on it. Not because she didn’t have the inclination or the courage, but more because: what would be the point? He’d figure it out in his own time, and nothing she did or said was likely to make a difference. Not a positive one, at least. So she elected to leave it alone, nodding at his acceptance of her offer to assist him and his family with anything that they felt she could be useful toward.

    By now the spar was more or less over. Saffron used the lull in movement to open up a bit more about her thoughts concerning everything with the Dread Masters and the Order of Souls. It was all immensely confusing and Vandrad did little to protest that notion, agreeing with her outright that it was all more than a little bullshit. At the end of the day, it was entirely understandable that she was as overwhelmed by it all as she admitted being, and he almost seemed a bit relieved to speak the sentiment out loud to someone who was on his wavelength. He then follow up by stating he would have to go out of his way to make sure she never met Ruzatz, a figure he claimed was a demon of the more seductive persuasions whose tastes were rather indiscriminate. “Yeah, can’t say I see myself sleeping with a demon any time soon. That’s gonna be a big ol’ pass from me.”

    On the conversation continued, with Vandrad assuring her that she had nothing to be sorry for, and once more pressing upon the difficulty of the topic at hand. Not only was it something that would take time, but it was also a reality so complex that by the time they felt like they were breaking ground something else was sure to come up that shook up all previous understandings and brought them back to nearly square one. But that being said, he was grateful for her willingness to be there, and told her in plain terms that her actions and efforts during one of the most difficult times in their lives had not gone unnoticed by him or his family. It seemed his mother, in particular, had taken a special liking to her and more than likely Saffron could expect to receive invitations to all the family gatherings in the future. In an instant her cheeks turned the slightest hint of pink  and she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder to gently, almost sheepishly play with her hair. “She talks about me? That’s, uh.. That’s sweet.”

    And it was most likely the thought of her biggest idol praising her when Saffron wasn’t around that distracted the Fairy Tail wizard enough to not sense what was about to happen. As he took a step toward her, the blonde’s brain all but completely errored out, eyes going wide as she pulled back only the slightest bit out of confusion and instinct before she found his arms wrapping around her in what had to be the most painfully awkward hug she’d ever received in her life. “Uhhh…” She stood there in uncertainty her emotions a roaring mixture of embarrassment but also a deeply buried sense of pleasure or affection of some kind. Just as inelegantly, she raised her arms and very lightly patted him on the back in a fumbling attempt to return the gesture before he did the same and finally put both of them out of their misery by releasing her.

    When he pulled back, he would see that not only had her blush increased tenfold, but so too had her eyes turned a deep pink hue. Luckily for Saffron, she wasn’t the only one; his own face was quite red with discomposure. Before the moment could really find a way to settle, he assured her that he was never going to do that ever again, and that this was a one time thing that only felt appropriate based on the circumstances. “Okay, good. Not that I’m against hugs or people touching me or anything, but if we could just… you know… never, ever talk about that again, that’d be swell.”

    She cleared her throat a bit, regaining her composure as her eyes returned to their purple state. “Anyway… thank you. For taking the time to talk to me and giving me the chance to answer questions. It does mean a lot to me. And if you do ever need or want to talk about anything, I’m always gonna be here, yeah?” After meeting his eyes briefly to make sure he understood that she was being sincere, her gaze panned to the clock on the wall. A sigh escaped her. “Alright, I gotta go get cleaned up. I’ve got a job I need to go take care of before it gets too late in the day. Catch you for training tomorrow?”

    Gathering up her things, she headed toward the door only to stop before she could fully exit. There was a pause, a slight hesitation before she turned back to look at him. “Hey Vandrad? I know you didn’t ask for my advice, and I’m not saying you have to take it but… About Mercury? I think… I think you should consider talking to her. Asking her about what’s bothering her. You know her better than I do, so you would have a better idea of what’s best, but… I just know from personal experience that when I’m struggling with something really difficult, it’s hard for me to ask for help. And given what I now know about her past, it wouldn’t surprise me if she doesn’t know how to ask. Sometimes we all just… need a little push in the right direction, you know? Just give it some thought.”

    She would wait only long enough for him to acknowledge her thoughts before giving him a solemn nod and leaving the room.
    deltra of gangnam style

    WORDS: 1150/10,056 | TAGS: @Vandrad Ragnos


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      Current date/time is 21st November 2024, 2:59 pm