the Rift


[PRIVATE] Patches

Knox Posts: 262
Outcast atk: 4 | def: 7.5 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17hh :: 7 Years [Tallsun] HP: 67.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Jen
#1

It's easier than the hunter expects to guide her to his home. As soon as he mentions a healer (though he'll admit to himself the only one he knows is Resplendence, and she doesn't know this form) Aquila seems ready to follow. It feels a bit cheap of him to dangle medical care, but if it's what she needs then he isn't about to leave it out of the conversation on the table.

So, decided, they walk. They move through the night so that dawn is approaching when the Hidden Falls appears, glorious and seeming exactly like home. Whether it really is or not, well... Knox can't be sure. He's too preoccupied with the mare's last words, all so haunting. Her brazen renaming of his son to a word he can't even say, her invocation of a name for herself, her own kind, that seems so outlandish that Knox can't even comprehend where it might originate from, but above all...

She has branded his disabled son as wise. And what is wise about a hindrance, about dumbness, about hobbling around looking sad and dejected all the time? His son is no hero. His son certainly can't be wiser than he is, so why... why does Aquila think he is wise?

The hunter could hide the haunting in the dark, could conceal the shivers of doubt prickling across his skin as he led the mare who'd bested him in more ways than one to his home, but now that the morning light peeks through the trees he knows it is only Cem's stoic figure that saves him from physically breaking down. That oldest ancestor of his isn't even capable of looking weak, though, not at that size, not with that firm posture and that dead-eyes gaze.

"Welcome to the Hidden Falls," he says softly, his voice not carrying the enthusiasm that perhaps Archibald would want it to. But the hunter can only do so much, especially now as he battles with the understanding that this mare sees his son as an entirely different child.

"I'm sure one of our healers will be along shortly," he adds, lying through his teeth and leaving silence where he might have once prayed to the gods for some sort of luck, "they're accustomed to healing herd members upon homecoming, and do much of their work at the borders."

Another lie, another figment. The truth is he doesn't know a damned thing about the healers operate; again, he only knows Resplendence. He can only hope he doesn't make a fool of himself in front of the monster that has follow him this far.


""

Make no mistake I don't do anything for free
I keep my enemies closer than my mirror ever gets to me
Full Image


Continued from How Can I Explain? Knox is in the form of Cem. @Aquila and @Agnodice, healing thread. Private just to keep it moving but if you wanna join just ask me on skype :)

Aquila Posts: 95
Outcast atk: 5 | def: 9 | dam: 5.5
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.2 :: 6 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Craonos :: Common Narwhal Leviathan :: Boil smitty
#2
of the sea
The walk to the Falls is long— especially for the aquatic woman worn and fatigued by battle and injuries. Her body ached for the ocean, to feel its salty embrace for her tired muscles and sore skin; to bathe her dry gills with its briny breath. But, alas, she knew that a healer’s touch would work far faster than saline salve. Her too-large eyes glaze over, the pale solders’s tall haunches becoming a blurred beacon to follow through the trees.

Scaled ears perk, hearing the sound of flowing water long before she could see it— and scenting it shortly after. It was fresh water, but it was still liquid and blessedly wet. Her long, lean limbs lengthen their strides, and she comes abreast with Cem even in her limping, faltering walk. An ear twitched sideways as he listlessly welcomed to the Falls, but her attention was focused wholly on the flowing water before them.

Though it was fresh water, and often left her gills and ridges swollen and sore if she stayed in it too long, she still stepped into the nearest pool, webbed hooves easily managing the mossy rocks. She submerges, a low hiss pushing out her sharp teeth as the fresh water bathed her wounds— it did not sooth like the sea, but her gills were relieved to be moist once again.

Her head carefully turned back to Cem, the stiffness from soreness and her injuries making her movements cautious, “Your herd members often need healing? Why? Are you warriors?” Her throaty growl is calmer than before— the water, though not the ocean, soothed both her body and her temper. She waded, nearly wither-deep, in the cold pool, blue blood spreading around her as wispy dye in the water.
Image Credits

Please tag Aquila in all posts.

Agnodice Posts: 70
Outcast
Mare :: Equine :: 14.2hh :: 8
Herophilos :: Plain Black Dragon :: Toxic Breath prissy
#3

a new world, material without being real,

where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about

Stay, she had commanded.

Hero huffed a cloud of green smoke from his nostrils, but grudgingly remained on his perch. He scratched his neck with a claw, took a two second nap, then began plucking a nearby flower apart. It lost its allure when it became devoid of petals. He flopped on the branch and huffed again. The little dragon was hopelessly bored.

He understood that she needed alone time, she had to like bathe or something—he couldn't remember exactly—but any reason to leave him alone was not a good enough reason for him. It would be different if it were lunchtime and he were hungry enough to hunt, but it wasn't and—OHOMYGOSH HORSES????? WAIT NO??? NOT HORSE???? ??????? FISH????? BUT LIKE HORSE???????

The little dragons mind faltered as he tried to comprehend the sight before him. It was a stallion he had never seen before and a mare—fish? Fish-horse? He didn't know—it looked kind of pointy and scary, but didn't act threatening. He sent visions of his sight urgently through the bond, causing an annoyed rebuttal from Agnodice. She quickly changed her mind, however, when she saw the fish-horse.

She wasted no time.

It only took seconds for the doctor to arrive, flustered and eager to see the unfamiliar specimen. Hero joined her happily, flying from his branch to her withers and pointing her in the direction of the fish-horse and stallion. The duchess and her dragon approached with all the grace they could muster, which wasn't much when their curiosity was piqued. They moved hastily, just in time to hear the foreign, throaty growl of the fish-mare.

"Not all of us are warriors. However, we have no shortage of the type," Agnodice noted, arriving in a flurry of flowers and petals that had fallen from her hair. She offered a dip of her head to the dark stallion, an unfamiliar man, though he smelled of the Falls.

"I'm Agnodice, a Caretaker of the Falls," She offered, her gaze trailing to the fish-mare, watching the water around her turn blue. She looked away only when her companion tugged forcefully at a chunk of her mane and appeared on her poll, pushing her curvaceous ears out of the way to trill at the strangers. "This is Hero, my companion," Agnodice stated reluctantly before turning her attention back to the mare and the blue stained waters around her. Her scaled body looked wounded through the water, and the blue liquid seemed to seep from her body. Blood? Agnodice bit her lip, weaving her leonine tail anxiously around her hocks. If it was blood, could she even be any help? Could her flowers heal other species? Well, she was interested in finding out, at least.

"Is that—is that your blood?" She asked softly, her features turning from their normal, stoic apathy to genuine concern as more of the wispy blood liquid mingled with the water. "Can I help you?" She asked after a moment, stepping closer to the mare and praying she was a friendly creature.

agnodice & herophilos

Image Credits | Background Credit


oooo i'm rusty ;~;
[Image: 5694548be0939]
You’d stick the world into your bedside lane
It’s boredom makes you callous to all pain

Knox Posts: 262
Outcast atk: 4 | def: 7.5 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17hh :: 7 Years [Tallsun] HP: 67.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Jen
#4

Given that Knox is almost always paying careful attention, he's surprised when Aquila surpasses him and he notices something new. Her blood. Perhaps their walk had exacerbated her wounds and made them to bleed more, or perhaps he'd really been so unobservant that he hadn't noticed her shoulder before. Whatever the case, he is surprised when the mare bleeds blue. After all, that isn't a very normal thing for injuries to do.

When her back is still to him he frowns, his nose wrinkled up tight at the sight. It isn't Cem who is squeamish, and it isn't Knox either. Zsoka's childlike immaturity takes over and inside screams, trying to take over the hunter's speech.

{Zsoka:} LOOK at it! It's so gross!

And though Knox can't deny that the sight of blue spreading so brazenly through the waters of his home is strange to see, he won't give in to his ancestor's temptations. If anything he's offended that she doesn't wait a moment before plunging into his home as if it is hers. But then again... isn't that what's this all about? Making his home hers? Being inviting, welcoming, convincing?

Curse his brother and the very cause of diplomacy that binds him to politeness in the face of one who has bested him. She asks him a question that he doesn't have any real or honest or good answer too, and so he is thankful when another arrives and answers it for him.

Agnodice, she says. A caretaker, she says. Not all of the herd but a fair enough amount. And he? What is he, besides outside of that number? Maybe a narcissist for thinking only of himself in this moment. The hunter flinches inwardly and the sight and introduction of her companion, not wishing to greet another dark shadow that isn't his own. Just when he thinks he's getting better...

He shakes his head in a nod, distracting himself and contributing as passively as possible to the scene. The motion looks odd in Cem's stiff white form, but it's graceful enough to pass as a greeting.

"Agnodice," he says, repeating her name with an easy, cold roll of his tongue. "I don't believe we've met; I'm Cem." His introduction is curt. He looks to Aquila, wondering if she'll offer her own name, but figures it's better if he doesn't do it for her. "It's a good thing you've come when you have, I was bringing our guest here to see the Falls and was hoping one of our herd's caretakers could mend her wounds."

His long tail moves slightly and his eyes narrow as he watches the two drastically different mares. One bleeding blue in his waters, the other with flowers in her hair and a shadowy hero on her back. Agnodice looks like a perfect image of a representative of this herd, at one with the Earth God and her rank.

Knox would be lying if he said he isn't thankful that someone's come to reprieve him.


""

Make no mistake I don't do anything for free
I keep my enemies closer than my mirror ever gets to me
Full Image


@Aquila and @Agnodice! Sorry this sucks but it's up. I've had trouble focusing.

Also Prissy, heads up, Knox is in the form of his ancestor Cem right now, you can see appearance on his profile, but he's a very old white nonius. :)

Aquila Posts: 95
Outcast atk: 5 | def: 9 | dam: 5.5
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.2 :: 6 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Craonos :: Common Narwhal Leviathan :: Boil smitty
#5
of the sea

There is a rustle in the trees and any sense of calm or security flees the woman in an instant. He’s lured her here to attack her. She should have known. Of course he had predators in skies, winged beasts that lived in the trees. He had magic that could take her sight! Why wouldn’t he have an attack planned for the moment her guard dropped?

Ridges raise, her single un-torn fin flares and vibrates, eyes growing bright and angry from her nearly submerged position in the water. Though she may be torn and bleeding, let him try to take her in the water. Regardless of her injuries, she would have the upper hand in the pond (or so she believed). 

Only once does her resentful glare leave Cem, darting to the disappearing black wings of the dragon, before hisses left her peeled-back lips, “You dare lure me here to—” But her violent snarl is cut short by the sudden appearance of a pale, earth-bound woman. Answers to Aquila’s earlier questions spill from her lips just as petals sprinkle from her hair. And they are growing

There was more magic here than the sea-birthed woman had realized. 

Slowly, her ridges lay flat and her good fin tucks into the crease of her jaw and neck. Unblinking eyes dart between the tall, white man and the smaller, pale healer. Though she is not as relaxed as he had been when she first entered the pool, her obvious outrage fades into the blue-tinted water. 

A quick glance takes in Cem as he introduces himself, but not her. Was her name that foreign? Shark stare bounces back to the woman as she asks after the blue life that seeps into the liquid around her. The fresh water still stung her open wounds with every moment, and so it is with wary glances towards the dragon that she chooses to answer the woman rather than try to return to the ocean. “I am Aquila. Yes, this is my blood,” her growl is defensive, terse, “Your companion is a dragon? You can trust it?” Her moving, too-large eyes finally come to rest suspiciously on the small, winged creature. “They eat my kind— Akvians— in the Rift,” her explanation was more of a reason for her to stay away from the mare who offered her help.

But the entire reason she followed the untrustworthy Cem was to be healed. So, with slow and cautious movement and rigid (if sore) muscles, she approaches where the woman stood on the bank, “If you are a caretaker, then why are you asking if you can help?” her question is pointed, blunt but not necessarily rude. The woman is still uneasy, even remaining in the water, “My injuries are from sparring in the Flats, and they need healing. A caretaker can do that?” Though her words were a question, they boarded between query and demand. 
Image Credits

@Agnodice Sorry she's an untrusting, feral, crazy person XD

Please tag Aquila in all posts.

Agnodice Posts: 70
Outcast
Mare :: Equine :: 14.2hh :: 8
Herophilos :: Plain Black Dragon :: Toxic Breath prissy
#6

a new world, material without being real,

where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about

She quietly watched the fish-mare's fins and ridges rise and fall, ripple with language she didn't know how to read. The aquatic nature of the mare puzzled Agnodice, simply due to the unfamiliarity of her. The doctor found her behavior outlandish, but not completely indecipherable.

Her growls and cold stare weren't helpful, however.

Agnodice turned her attention to the white stallion, dipping her head to him as he repeated her name. She offered her Cem a bright smile, her tulip shaped ears pricked forward as he spoke of the mare needing a caretaker. She felt a twinge of eagerness swell up within her, excitement brewing in her breast as she realized she was just the mare this duo needed. The prospect of healing the fish-mare was too enticing for her to turn away.

The doctor turned to the aquatic creature, her concerned features struggling to hold their composure as the mare spoke. Her words were sharp and demanding, a combination she was unused to facing. Agnodice's ears swiveled back as she spoke of her companion with hostility. The dragon's head tilted, the little reptile perplexed by the hesitation his bonded felt.

'Fetch,' she reluctantly, inaudibly told her dragon. He understood the command immediately, and jumped from his perch, a flower clutched between his claws. He trilled as he left, flying away from the trio and towards his dwellings.

"He's trustworthy," Agnodice stated quietly, firmly, as she watched the dragon fly. The doctor turned her head back to the fish-mare, her gaze looked over the broken scales and blue wounds. Her features turned concerned once more, but oh, could she really heal a horse that's part fish? Was she good enough?

She wove her leonine tail between her legs anxiously, more flowers falling from her hair due to the motion, but the verdant in her locks was in no short supply. Agnodice's self-doubts were only expanded upon by the Aquila's uncertainties. The doctor shielded her emotions the best she could, and kept her gaze concerned, perhaps a bit inquisitive. "I wanted to make sure it's all right with you that I help," She replied softly, noting that although she had Cem's encouragement, she didn't have Aquila's vocalized consent. "I'm not sure of the other caretakers capabilities, but I can heal you," Agnodice continued, stating her words solidly, though she didn't totally believe in herself.

Worth a shot though, isn't it?

She stepped closer, and closed her eyes, beckoning the healing magic that normally laid dormant within her. It flourished at her call, and seeped into the flowers in her hair. The flowers glowed softly, the magic within straining to be used, for it's existence, like all beautiful, well-intentioned things, was ephemeral. She stroked the magic towards the wounds on Aquila's body with only the best intents of mending her broken body.

agnodice & herophilos

Image Credits | Background Credit


IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER DDDD:
[Image: 5694548be0939]
You’d stick the world into your bedside lane
It’s boredom makes you callous to all pain

Knox Posts: 262
Outcast atk: 4 | def: 7.5 | dam: 6.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17hh :: 7 Years [Tallsun] HP: 67.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Jen
#7

The interaction that follows is tense and uncomfortable. Luckily for the two mares before him, Knox is used to situations that aren't particularly pleasant. He's had his fair share of blood, gore, and mayhem. A grumpy exchange between a healer and her patient is tame and straightforward. Like a true man, he knows that if he sits back and watches for long enough that someone else will do his work for him.

And he's right, of course he is. He's been in this herd and its previous incarnation most of his life and watched enough interactions like this to know that even the most bitter of wounded eventually concede. And luckily Agnodice is patient and swift, though as he watches her heal, he feels jealousy rise in him like bile.

It's the same sensation he has felt before, when Brisa had crafted the dagger. His eyes narrow again now and he passes it off as vague interest. One eye is focused always on the dragon—he too does not trust the creature, not since he was burned so badly by one of its kind—but the other part of him watches Agnodice with incredible care. Once again he is shown the severe shallowness of his own skill. Once again, he lusts after the power that others have.

But he tries not to focus on it, tries to form enough of a sentence to move on with whatever this is and keep things going.

"Thank you, Agnodice," his voice rumbles. It sounds simultaneously smooth and as if it's been run through a gravel-filled mill. Regardless, it doesn't sound particularly thankful. "Do you feel better, Aquila?"

It almost pains him to pretend as if he cares this much, but it's what Archibald has tasked him with.

""

Make no mistake I don't do anything for free
I keep my enemies closer than my mirror ever gets to me
Full Image


@Aquila

Aquila Posts: 95
Outcast atk: 5 | def: 9 | dam: 5.5
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.2 :: 6 HP: 62 | Buff: NOVICE
Craonos :: Common Narwhal Leviathan :: Boil smitty
#8
of the sea

Eyes of aqua and yellow watch the bright smile the healer, Agnodice her mind sounded around the foreign name, gave Cem. It was guileless, true— it did not hint at devious plans and subterfuge. And so it marginally relaxed the woman of the sea, even as her eyes darted to the sudden flare and flight of the dragon’s black wings.

“He’s trustworthy,” but Aquila merely grunts in reply to the quiet, firm reassurance. The fish-mare stills and stands rigid beneath the concerned stare of the healer, eyes darting between her icy eyes and weaving, black tail.

She leans back on her haunches as the woman approaches, sending ripples out around her in the blue-dyed pond. But, other than that slight movement, she stays still and watched the pale mare approach. Her ears, which had been splayed in uncertainty, perk forward as the flowers in her mane and tail begin to glow.

And suddenly a warmth filled the open wounds on her plated skin. Reluctantly, but curiously, her angular head swiveled around to look at her battle-ravaged shoulder. And slowly, under her gaze, muscle and skin knit together.

Brows raise as she swings her head back around. Cautiously, she extends the fin that had nearly been ripped from her face— and is relieved to find it no longer hurting or dangling. It, too, had been healed by the woman.

“You have my thanks, Agnodice,” her throaty growl was quietly sincere as her unblinking gaze swept up to the woman who had healed her. She then swings her stare to Cem as he speaks, questioning her well-being. Eyes sharpen at the question, for it seems quite unlikely that a man who would blind her truly cares about her, but she still answers his question, “I do.”

She fell silent for a moment, plated face turning to survey all of the Falls that she could see. And then, simply and without pretense or grandeur, she asked, “You have need of warriors?”

It seemed that the Akvian had found a new home.

Image Credits

@Agnodice @Knox We can end it here and I can change her rank!

Please tag Aquila in all posts.


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