the Rift


[OPEN] I Dunno, the Bell Rang!

Roskuld the Sparklight Posts: 424
World's Edge General atk: 7.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 6
Mare :: Tribrid :: 15.3 :: 6 HP: 82 | Buff: ENDURE
Zchiraxicon :: Royal Rougarou :: Electric Smithers
#1

I didn’t think there was anything ever in this entire green earth that was even shittier than sand. And holy crap I was wrong.

Have I ever been cold before? Well, maybe once before during Frostfall when the season turned and there was…well…frost and maybe some snow dumped all over the hills and fields and meadows and whatnot. And maybe I bitched about it then, too, but then it had only been a passing irritant, clinging to the outside fibers of my thick winter coat, barely rising to the challenge of touching my insulated heat. Cold sucked, sure; but I tolerated it. It was livable. It wasn’t actually hell

But now?

Pa told me his “home” was up north, or his “domain”, or something like that. Obviously it was going to be in the place where I had never investigated before, never having any other reason to go passed the mountains. And, of course, it was going to be the absolute worst place you could possibly plan a herdland. Because it was balls freezing.

Like.

My fetlocks were soaked and done because of all the snow, because snow was a thing up here apparently, even in the dawn of spring-time. And there was pretty much nothing green, nothing to eat or piss on or anything, and since there weren’t any trees the wind could cut right through you as it damn-well pleased. And the ice. It was everywhere; sleeked over the stems and branches of tasteless shrubs, sheeted over water in thin panes, making the dust and the dirt sparkle with tiny little ice crystals. Hanging from ledges like pointy cleavers ready to whack your ass in two; huge cavernous spaces made of nothing but ice, with icy walls, icy ceilings, icy floors in some cases. It was fortunate that I was by myself, so no one could see me very-nearly bust my ass all out once or twice—not that it made this place any less shitty.

Jeez.

“This is awful,” I gritted to myself—shocked when my voice echoed far louder than I had intended, bouncing off the blue walls, ringing against the ice. It provoked my impishness, the combativeness festering in my chest that had been growing ever since I stepped over the invisible border of “reason” into a frozen wasteland of suck. I drew in my breath, and indulged myself: THIS IS AWFUUUUUUUUUUUUL!” I screamed loud and raw-throated, oddly satisfied by the way it clamored and clanged all the way down the tunnel, almost tangible, certainly causing headaches somewhere in outer space.

Okay, playtime was over. I kept walking. Looking for I-didn’t-know-what.



@[Ulrik] and anyone else!




talk

Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes</style>




Please tag ROSKULD in every reply!

Torleik the Bloodskald Posts: 354
Outcast atk: 4.5 | def: 8.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 11 HP: 66.5 | Buff: SWIFT
Irelyn :: Plain Griffin :: Molten Dagger RedGod
#2
Torleik the Bloodskald

Immigrant Song



Wandering was a habit Torleik had very much turned into an ingrained part of his soul. Perhaps it was the nomad in his blood, but he could never quite...stay put for an exceptionally long period of time. Stay in one place as his home, yes. But cease to move about, to explore, to see? Never. It was the beginning of spring and the ice was going to melt soon - naturally, being fond of such arctic weather, the Bloodskald traveled north.

It had entirely nothing to do with this being the place he felt most peaceful because it was where he had met Ophelia.

Of course not.

The recent events like the Time God showing up and reminding him quite bluntly he'd fucked that woman, or the newcomers to the Basin, no, none of those things made him wish to retreat to his peaceful expanse of nothingness.

Of course not.

The quiet up here where the wind whipped through your soul like, cleansing you of every sin and entrenched filth you wished to hold within was consuming, and the dual-horned demon cherished it. Every crunch of his hooves against the still-frozen ground (aided by his passive magic) was musical to his ears, every inhale-exhale rhythm a pattern he fell all too easily in.

'THIS IS AWFUUUUUUUUUUUUL!'

The jolt that slammed through the Basin's general made his skin twitch as he jumped up and took a step or two to the side, snorting indignantly. The hell was that?! From what he could tell, it had come from the direction of the caves, so he set his course, cautiously, in that direction.

Rabicano chest rising and falling evenly once more, he hadn't the slightest clue if this was someone wounded and in need or someone setting a trap - or just playing a prank. Torleik thrust his head around the lip of the cave tunnel's entrance and encountered a visual of a sizable backside, colored with what looked like black plates of armor, much like giant scales a dragon would sport.

Clearly, however, these were pelt markings...and the dual-horned demon could not say he had ever seen such a pattern before to guess at this unicorn's parentage - for he could also see a strangely shaped horn and what looked like...antenna? Gods, he'd come here to have peace and now he felt as though he had consumed some mushrooms and was hallucinating.

The Bloodskald elected to stay at the mouth of the tunnel in case this being was hostile; it would give him more open ground to work with rather than confining a scuffle to a narrow cylinder. "You!" his deep voice boomed out, echoing. "Are you in need of aid?"



"talk talk talk"

@[Roskuld]

Art by araxel @ DA
[Image: 531c0b471919e]

No man is an island.
Pixel by: Tamme :D


Please tag me in all posts! Thank you!

Roskuld the Sparklight Posts: 424
World's Edge General atk: 7.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 6
Mare :: Tribrid :: 15.3 :: 6 HP: 82 | Buff: ENDURE
Zchiraxicon :: Royal Rougarou :: Electric Smithers
#3

Jeez, even the unicorns looked like hoarfrost.

I looked over my shoulder at the stallion that I had summoned with my oh-so-elegant bugle for guidance, if that’s what the hell it was supposed to be. My eyes grazed over him a bit, not at all interested in what he looked like but really assessing what sort of a threat he could be to me. He was large; he wasn’t monstrous. He had horns and a large ass; he didn’t seem all that aggressive to me. In fact, I think I scared the poor bastard, as he was looking at me with a wariness that was different than mine—wariness tinged with a stunned look instead of menacing, like he hadn’t really expected to see me.

*"You!"*

I flicked my tail at him and snorted. What? I said back—well, more like bit back. Yeah, whatever, bud. I’d’ve fought him but I was busy doing other shit so….well.

*"Are you in need of aid?"*

No,” I said stubbornly, which was wrong everywhere and by every way because I didn’t know where I was going and I was freezing to death every second I wasted in this place. But it wasn’t really a lie, either, because I was rejecting the thought of someone accompanying me. I liked the solitude a little too much right then; I guess I liked shouting into the wind and ice, into nothing and letting my own voice echo around me. I shook my head, vigorously, as though trying to knock away the insolent, stupid answer I had given before and getting a fresh start. “Yes,” I said, “I’m looking for someplace called the Aurora Basin. Heard of it?”

From so far away, I couldn’t tell the scratches on his horns were actual things, runes that would’ve meant nothing to me even if I could see them. As far as I could tell, he had just gotten out of a fight himself, or stuck his head somewhere and got the shit scratched out of him. I dunno man, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be so rude to strangers—that happened before and I’m pretty sure I almost got my soul burned out of me. Thing is, it wasn’t like I was going to change anytime soon, though. One, maybe two lessons at a time was enough, and I wasn’t in any sort of mood to be nice. The dude right here seemed like an older guy—he could get over it.




@[Torleik]



talk

Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes</style>




Please tag ROSKULD in every reply!

Ulrik the Engineer Posts: 235
Deceased atk: 5.5 | def: 9.0 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17.1 hh :: 11 HP: 69.5 | Buff: ENDURE
Kirchoff :: Common Hellhound :: Superspeed Tamme
#4
ULRIK
"I hate the cold."


Ulrik's keen, bronze eyes watched as the thick, hair general of the Aurora Basin sauntered out of their homeland - on business no doubt. The engineer had been curious about his cousin's arrival, interested in why exactly he had chosen here, of all places, to make a home. Brief conversations had passed between them, a spar, and the creation of flags for their great nation, but otherwise, the two had existed at two, different ends of the same plane. Deciding that he had nothing better to do, the muscular stallion followed after Torleik for some way, taking his time and waiting for Kirchoff to follow. The hellhound did so with great sighs and irritation, of course.

A loud screech on the wind caught his attention, and the Engineer's ears pricked forward, starting a languid, sloping trot in the direction of the ice cave. There, he saw Torleik, peeking around a corner, and he came to stand behind his slightly shorter and thicker brother, raising a brow and wondering what was going on. The family resemblance was apparent in their thick bears. Torleik's neat and braided and Ulrik's, messy and tangled. Two horns, though just in different order, were stuck to their brows, but Ulrik had a curly, twisting lion tail (which was also in a state of filth).

The creature inside was a white and dark blue with some sort of horn and interesting hair. Oddly enough, the pattern of her markings reminded him of a butterfly. Was she part butterfly, he wondered? Still, the winged, meandering flower pollinators were rarely so... fit. Torleik asked what was wrong in his typical "save the day" fashion, deep voice rather charismatic. Ulrik watched with amusement twinkling in his bronze eyes, snorting once when the child said no and then changed her mind.

Why yes, yes they have heard of the Aurora Basin. Ulrik, once of the older members of the herd, and Torleik, its general, both stood before her, peering around the cave corner one after the other. The bronze stallion chuckled once, shaking his head. "Sure," he said, wanting to see what Torleik would do. Why did this little creature want in the Aurora Basin? What was she even looking for?



Credits: Image by Flowering Fatality @ DA

(Please tag me in every post)

Torleik the Bloodskald Posts: 354
Outcast atk: 4.5 | def: 8.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 11 HP: 66.5 | Buff: SWIFT
Irelyn :: Plain Griffin :: Molten Dagger RedGod
#5
Torleik the Bloodskald

Play nice




The tiny one with the sizable ass responded quite rudely with a snappish, "What?" and Torleik frowned, cutting her (he assumed it was her based on scent and voice; body type was a little stocky to tell, to be honest) an acerbic look in return. Still, he asked if she needed aid and the rejection came swift and sure.

"No."

Fine then. "Then I will leave you to your screeching alone," he grunted, preparing to turn - but she changed her tune and the question about the Basin tumbled out, hitting him quickly. Yet it was not he who responded, but another, one whose voice he recognized. Glancing behind him, Torleik furrowed his brows and wondered how he'd missed Ulrik's arrival so completely. And why was his cousin hiding behind him? What was the Engineer doing? Always so strange.

The bronze-and-black stallion's reply was noncommittal, and the Bloodskald opted to follow Ulrik's lead. "Yes, I have. What is your name, and why do you seek the Basin?" he asked, shifting so that Ulrik was no longer hidden by his larger bulk - though he was amused his cousin had chosen to sneakily peak out around him. "Ulrik," murmured the thicker stallion, quietly, glancing at the hellhound at the Engineer's feet. Torleik offered a friendly snort to Kirchoff, having missed the pup. He'd grown quite a bit since the rabicano had seen him last and he wondered how the small, furry quadruped was getting along in life, bonded mentally as he was to a crazy engineer like Ulrik.

Sight-line lifted to this compact, chunky little mare in the tunnel once more, studying her more closely. Now that she'd turned, the Basin General felt as though something in her face was familiar, some line of jaw or particular expression...around the eyes, perhaps - he wasn't certain. When she identified herself it would clear the murky waters, he hoped.


@[Roskuld]
@[Ulrik]




"talk talk talk"

Art by araxel @ DA
[Image: 531c0b471919e]

No man is an island.
Pixel by: Tamme :D


Please tag me in all posts! Thank you!

Roskuld the Sparklight Posts: 424
World's Edge General atk: 7.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 6
Mare :: Tribrid :: 15.3 :: 6 HP: 82 | Buff: ENDURE
Zchiraxicon :: Royal Rougarou :: Electric Smithers
#6

This other guy showed up, in the shadow of the bro I was thinking about fighting talking to, and he was a different kind of situation all together. The first bro with all the shapes on his horns was cold everywhere around him—around his hooves and whatnot-- and this one was….well, at the time I couldn’t identify it, but there was a peculiar scent that clung to him and his dirty, tangled locks, one that would end up being metal and oil of some kind. Which, even then, I found to be incredibly awesome but I wasn’t about to let that sort of info get out. I’m not even sure why, but I didn’t want no one looking into my heart-face or something like that. If I even said it, right. As far as I’m concerned, I was still being forced to so-cial-ize with complete strangers and I was just getting over the urge to hit one of them a few minutes ago.

Metal guy was named Ulrik. Okay, sure, I got that. And it turned out that both of them hailed from the Basin, which was lucky and unlucky all at once, because obviously they’d want to scope me out and find out why I was trying to break into their houses. “Ros,” I answered, when Shapes asked for my name. It was all he needed and all he was gonna get. He wasn’t my Pa. He didn’t need to call me by my first name…

speaking of.

*”Why do you seek the Basin?"*

Hmmmmmshit.

I don’t even know myself, I could’ve said, if I were being completely open about it, I’m just going up there because my Pa told me it was where his domain is and I don’t have a single clue what I’m doing so I’m just gonna poke around y’all’s asses until something plops out. Yeah, that sounded like something completely reasonable and understandable. “My, uh…my Pa told me to come here,” I actually said, sounding really awkward about it even though it was as true as it gets. I shrugged a little, knowing how much bullshit my explanation sounded like. But it was like my name; for some reason I couldn’t explain even though it felt so powerful inside me—I wanted to keep my blood secret.

No, shut-up, I told you I couldn’t explain it. And it’s was also kinda stupid of me. But still.





@[Ulrik]
@[Torleik]



talk

Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes</style>




Please tag ROSKULD in every reply!

Ulrik the Engineer Posts: 235
Deceased atk: 5.5 | def: 9.0 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 17.1 hh :: 11 HP: 69.5 | Buff: ENDURE
Kirchoff :: Common Hellhound :: Superspeed Tamme
#7
ULRIK
"I hate the cold."


Ulrik watched, even more amused as Ulrik remanded why she wanted to go to the Basin, and he looked to his cousin, smirking slightly. He was greeted officially as ever in that gruff, no-nonsense tone, and the Engineer nodded once in response. "Torleik," he replied in greeting, his own tones deep and think, accent rather guttural and crude. He was an observer at the moment, unwilling to interfere in the magical drama that was unfolding around him, and Kirchoff sighed audibly, looking up at Torleik and blinking.

The hellhound was odd, and though he liked Torleik well enough, he really was fond of any of these hooved, four-legged beasts. Their politics were senseless and his bondmate was a social moron. If these equids would just suck it up and snap at each other once and a while, demand submission from their inferiors, life would be much less complicated. Alas, they were too involved in themselves were such simple solutions. Ulrik tried to explain that it was because of the nature of equids to form packs, but every pack had an alpha. Ulrik tried to explain that Deimos was the alpha, but even that did not satisfy his distaste.

Ulrik found that the name "Ros" was fitting for this plump morsel of a mare. It was short, like her, and to the point, like her. Rarely did names fit so flawlessly with an appearance and personality, but this one did. Her answer was not so easily explained. Why did her father want her to go to the Basin? Was he cruel? Trying to send his daughter to her inevitable demise? Or did someone in the Basin know her father? She looked like no one he could recall, but then he honestly didn't pay one fuck of attention to anyone but those he needed.

"Why?" he asked simply, blinking in curiosity. What reason did her father have to send her all the way up here. He had no problems bringing her into the mountains, but if there was a reason, maybe they could help or deter. Certainly that would not be such a hard question to answer.

@[Torleik]
@[Roskuld]

Credits: Image by Flowering Fatality @ DA

(Please tag me in every post)

Torleik the Bloodskald Posts: 354
Outcast atk: 4.5 | def: 8.0 | dam: 7.5
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 11 HP: 66.5 | Buff: SWIFT
Irelyn :: Plain Griffin :: Molten Dagger RedGod
#8
Torleik the Bloodskald

Color-coded blasphemy; this really strange anatomy


Torleik waited to hear the name of this compact little hellion, quite unsuspecting as to what he'd receive. And when she said it, she shortened it, so the impact didn't strike him like Mjolnir to the chest immediately.

Ros.

He didn't know a Ros, clearly. But that just didn't seem...right. Ros. Ros.

Ros.

Rosk...

But then it did hit, and he sort of half didn't breathe, half did, and it came out like the sound one might make if they started to clear their throat and then stopped.

"Roskuld," breathed the rune-horned under his breath, the word so quiet he barely even heard it himself. His eyes flicking from place to place on her body, drinking everything in, Torleik understood now. That's why she looked familiar. There were moments, flashes of Ophelia in her, and the Bloodskald was not prepared for the roiling sea of emotions that clawed up to drown him so suddenly. On the outside, the surface was placid; inside, he felt like he couldn't take a breath.

Best not to let her see that; she seemed the type to be spooked away if showed too much on the outside. So Torleik kept this information to himself for the time being, swallowing everything, shoving it down, and he asked why she wanted to go to the Basin. Bad idea.

“My, uh…my Pa told me to come here.”

Well...fuck.

The God of Time wanted her in the Basin? Suppressed, pathetically impotent rage made Torleik look away, glaring hard at the bronzed marking on his cousin's limb. Fuck the God of Time. He was good at fucking others, no? Calming, taking a breath, the Basin General returned his crystalline blues to Roskuld after Ulrik asked why her father wanted her to take a trip up north.

Up north, to where her mother was. Torleik had promised he would look for Roskuld, try to keep an eye out for her in his travels, and now he'd found her. He hadn't any idea that Ophelia had already reunited with her offspring once, so the duty he felt to fulfill his promise still swelled strongly inside his chest. "We can talk as we travel, yes? She won't be getting in without our escort, after all," he pointed out. "And I think we can handle a single young one." God of Time's offspring or not, she was still practically a child. Ulrik and he could manage to escort one half-god child, couldn't they?


@[Roskuld]
@[Ulrik]

"talk talk talk"

Art by araxel @ DA
[Image: 531c0b471919e]

No man is an island.
Pixel by: Tamme :D


Please tag me in all posts! Thank you!

Roskuld the Sparklight Posts: 424
World's Edge General atk: 7.5 | def: 9.5 | dam: 6
Mare :: Tribrid :: 15.3 :: 6 HP: 82 | Buff: ENDURE
Zchiraxicon :: Royal Rougarou :: Electric Smithers
#9

So Shapes’ name was Torleik. Huh. Liked “Shapes” better.

Awesome-Ulrik asked me why my Pa wanted me to go to the Basin. And I could answer that honestly, without even having to cobble up something that sounded good. “’Dunno,” I said flatly, cocking a hoof underneath me as I surveyed the two. If I wanted to be completely honest, I could say that he never really said that I needed to go there; he only said that it was his domain, and that he’d help me with these shitty things that were going down. I put two and two together and I figured, at the very least, I could get inspiration from whatever land he had decided to build for whatever people had decided to worship him. At the very least, I could know my Pa a little bit better; his legacy, his shit. Maybe I would learn a little more about—

“The fuck you say?” I asked abruptly, my voice a spark in the ice.

Because Shapes Torleik had murmured something under his breath—in fact, I wouldn’t have known he had said anything if I hadn’t seen the words misted from his lips. And—now that I thought about it—he was eyeing me a little too close for comfort, his eyes a little too roamy to be set in a face so mild. Something rose up in me, something sneaky and creeping that I couldn’t swallow back down: I got suspicious of this fucker. The hairs on my withers stood on end a little, my blood sparking somewhat as my senses got on red-alert.

Red-alert for what?. Maybe I was getting paranoid over nothing. Caution wasn’t a crime, though—like Torleik was saying himself, it was two huge bastards against me at the drop of a pin if they decided that they didn’t want me in their homeland after all. And as much shit I could talk, I wasn’t keen on another fight—especially one I could do nothing but lose. The ass-kicking was guaranteed.

“….thanks,” I muttered, my voice a little subdued, some sort of apology worked into my tongue that tried to tell them I was sorry for snapping. Er, or maybe trying to kiss their ass a little. That might be the case, too (shut up).




[Suppose we make a thread in the Basin? :D]




talk

Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes</style>




Please tag ROSKULD in every reply!


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