Change is the Law of Life

Change is the Law of Life

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

#45

12-15-2015, 07:29 PM

Somehow it did not surprise him that the Moon Goddess saw fit to show her duplicitous face just then and, without even the barest hint of a single fuck given, publicly humiliate him without even allowing the smallest chance for him to at least retain a semblance of his honor. And really, that was what chafed so unpalatably against his soul. Not the shame he felt twitching beneath his skin at the nature of his dethroning. Not the anger that he felt towards this cunt for her sociopathic self-serving nature. It was that in the end of this moment, of his short reign he had not been so ready to simply give up, since he cared for this place and these people, since he wanted better for them than to be a second-rate, half-forgotten herd, that he was not even allowed the attempt to retain his honor, something that even the lowest men in his culture had always been given up until their last moments.

It took a moment for the realization to crystallize in his frozen mind, to fully come to fruition, but when he understood what his heart and mind were screaming, it brought a certain sense of peace. The Bloodskald felt detached from this time, from what was happening around him, and his gaze flicked curiously from face to face. On Elsa's he saw anger and disgust begging violence. He made a mental note of this, promising to himself in a vindictive clot of arctic rage that he would bury the bitch's face into the ground one day for that. On Tembovu's face...in that face he saw a fucking coward. Well-meaning, perhaps honorable in his own way, but a fucking coward nonetheless. On Mauja's...pain, and mayhap pity. In that instance, Torleik thought he had more in common with that broken man than anyone else here. It was as strange feeling, one he had least expected.

And it bled into his understanding that he could no longer be a slave to any god of this land. They were not without their weaknesses, they were fallible, stupid, petty creatures just like mortals - the only difference was that they had powers and longevity the mortals did not. To his credit, Tembovu tried to collect his balls that had been so clearly taken from him by offering the Bloodskald a position as Captain in the herd, but he handed them right back over to the Moon Goddess by asking her permission. Torleik snorted. "You. You will one day displease her as well, and she will toss you aside like a piece of shit she stepped in. She can't help it. It's the only nature she knows," he said to the idiot now ruling this herd. "I fight against every invading god, spill my blood for you, contract diseases and suffer for you, and I take time to recover, to gather myself, and this is how you pit of vipers return my attempts at service to you. Not even a damn committee to breathe a word, just done with me and that's that. There is no honor in this, in you," he grunted. "and I want no part of an honorless brood. I will remember your attempt at kindness, Tembovu, and I wish you longevity in your reign, but there is no place for me here. I will not be a slave to a deity who retains her subjects based only on their current usefulness any longer, nor a part of a herd so easily willing to step on any of its members."

And perhaps that was the problem. Perhaps he wasn't meant to be a part of a herd. Or, perhaps he simply wasn't fit to rule because he hadn't in him to stoop to the depths power demanded. "Don't waste your breath on scathing, self-righteous retorts. You're so eager to forget me, so let me pass as if forgotten." He doubted it would shut all of them up to allow him to just go and be in peace. Let them spit insults at him as he left, let them be insulted, angry, let them rage impotently if they chose; or let them be smug in their belief they had thrown out the trash they way it should be. He didn't care anymore. Honor meant nothing to anyone now. There was no place for him in a world like this.

Strong steps carried him out of that so called meeting, away from the disillusionment that he could make a difference. No one wanted to change. Everyone just wanted as much as they could grab in this life before it was gone. Torleik knew he didn't have to speak to Ophelia for her to follow him; she would be there. If not now, eventually. It was her choice to go with him or stay, and he felt some guilt at walking out of a place she had followed him to, making her considering having to pick up and move again.

But had she not said she didn't care where they were? Now it seemed he did not either. If she was with him, what else mattered? They could look out for each other. No one else would.

"talk talk talk"

"This winter breath, taste of death
Where iron meets flesh. we'll take it all"

Coding by Tamme with credits to Sevin | Art by Yewrezz