Catch-All: Featuring Swords

[anagnorises]

Who: Fakir (anagnorises), Lucius (lludw), and OPEN
What: Catch-all for a nerdy knight boy and a sneaky viking boy, featuring general prompts where they poke around things and Winter Mourning memories where there's violence.
When: late November through all of December
Where: Generally around Trench, Gaze and the Arcane Archives (Fakir), the frozen boats and Pandora Hearts house (Lucius)

Content Warnings: Memories contain warnings for animal attack, child endangerment, parental death, and assumed drowning (Fakir) and child endangerment/abuse and mental health issues (Lucius).

Comments

( and the raven )

[danserai]

[ this. this was it. the memory of fakir's childhood. the loss of his parents. ahiru knew the vague details of it, but nothing could have prepared her for seeing it.

her hands reach out for him, but she's not sure what to do. what to say. what can be said? how could she fathom such a bottomless grief? ]

Fakir . . .

[anagnorises]

[He doesn't hear it at first - or rather, it doesn't register, not when the sounds of the crows are so close, not when his breath is this loud. But eventually, his brain catches up.]

...Ahiru?

[And he looks up sharply in panic.]

You shouldn't be here!

[It's that fear of his that can look like anger. This is dangerous, she should be somewhere safe.]

[danserai]

I — [ he's right but. ] — I can't leave you here by yourself!

[anagnorises]

Just go!

[But as he looks around frantically, he realizes (remembers?) that the question is go where? The window is blocked by the crows, and the door by his mother- no. It's not real. That's not his mother, and that's not himself that she's protecting. This is all some kind of figment. Everything here is past.

But being a figment doesn't have to mean it's not still dangerous. He reaches for the wall next to him to steady himself as he shakily stands up. He needs to get Ahiru out of here, before she does something to further endanger herself.]

[danserai]

[ yeah, she can't go anywhere. watching him stumble and struggle to stand was too much for her and she rushes over to his side, helping him up with her arms. ]

Fakir, please . . . Let me stay. Let me help. I want to be here for you!

[anagnorises]

[Well, that's shameful. Needing to be propped up like this, by someone he has, somehow, put in danger already. He should be protecting her. He's messed that up, again.

Fakir takes a deep breath, getting a feel for how reliable his legs are. Looking down at the floor while he does so helps.]

I'll get you out of here.

[The problem is, that's almost certainly going to require getting through the door.]

[danserai]

No!

[ the answer bursts out of her. she can't help it and she looks like she regrets those words already, but staunchly stops, holding onto him. ]

I'm not going anywhere without you. We'll face it together.

[anagnorises]

[We'll face it together. That's the thing about Ahiru. She won't leave people alone; instead she drags them into the light with her (or tries her best to). He wants to speak, but finds himself simply nodding instead. Still, that, combined with the fact that he doesn't try to shake her off, should be enough.

He starts easing along the wall, towards the door, trusting her to follow.]

[danserai]

[ ahiru slowly edges him along, glancing at the room. ]

Fakir . . . Is this really okay?

[anagnorises]

[No.

It can't be, still. Not with the blood he has, both back home and here. But-]

It's nothing that can be changed.

[So it's better to just leave it. To get out and close the door.]

[danserai]

[ she shakes her head. ]

Maybe it can't be, but . . . it is still a part of you.

[anagnorises]

[It is. He tried to shove it away, lock it up, behave as if it wasn't there. But if he's honest, that was always going to fail. And so it did. But he did learn something from that, didn't he? Maybe he can hold onto that here, too.]

It's not the only part of me.

[danserai]

[ she smiles faintly, out of relief. ]

No. You have so many parts, Fakir. They're all amazing.