Taiga Bigass Nik Breakup???

[22:53] Taiga lets him slip into the water, his hand reaching out just a little... but it drops as he does. A single step forward is taken, and he plops himself down on the rocky edge. His feet dangle just above the surface, swaying idly as he looks down at his submerged boyfriend.

"...If you just stay down there, you won't have to deal with much of anything at all."
(Taiga Voss)
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[22:58] His arms extend outwards, and there's an odd glimmer of the water as it's all... purified by his touch, transformed into holy water with the relative ease.

Floating among the surface of the water, his lips would curl into a smile as he listened to Taiga speak.

"...Wouldn't that be nice?"

To not deal with much at all. "Or maybe I'll drown. As a water magi. Wouldn't that be great?"
(Niklaus Rowan)
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[23:02]
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[23:03] Taiga Voss says, "Don't say that."
[23:03] Taiga Voss says, "You drowning would be very difficult to explain to your father."
[23:03] Taiga Voss says, "Especially considering I was right here to witness it."
[23:09] Niklaus Rowan asks, "Would it?"
[23:09] Taiga Voss says, "Yes, for me at least."
[23:09] Taiga Voss says, "I imagine if I come to Arthur Rowan and explain to him in simple terms,"
[23:10] Taiga Voss says, "'I told your son it might be a good idea to drown himself in jest and then he did' -- "
[23:10] Taiga Voss says, "I wouldn't last past that first sentence."
[23:11] Niklaus Rowan says, "...Then lie."
[23:14] Closing his eyes now, he'd definitely begin to submerge beneath the surface of the water, sinking and sinking...

Hmm...
(Niklaus Rowan)
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[23:24] Taiga, for whatever reason, doesn't... entirely understand if there's any real danger here. Seeing Niklaus go underneath the surface was a bit strange - and he shifts forward just a little. Peering down into the water, he looks at Niklaus's shimmering form just beneath the gentle waves.

He's silent, observing carefully. Some... small knot starting to form in his throat. He wasn't serious. Right?
(Taiga Voss)
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[23:29] Well, was there?

The water only continued to ripple from the likes of the waterfall crashing into it. Yet, the Drakanite didn't break the surface. He'd reside oddly peacefully down at the bottom of the pool of water, eyes settled shut.

The Rowan might've actually been crazily stupid enough to do this.
(Niklaus Rowan)
00:05]
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[00:06] Taiga swallows hard, his breath hitching for a moment. Niklaus seriously wasn't returning to the surface. Was he simply... so thoroughly lulled to peace that he simply just didn't care to resurface? Was it that he had finally decided to go and... just die? Why? Taiga's mind suddenly works itself into a frenzy. He's staring, wide-eyed and terrified as each passing second only furthers that sinking feeling of dread.

...Why?

God knows he had never felt love in his life. He had cared for Niklaus with all his heart. He wanted to protect him, to nurture him, to see them both grow into something a little more together, to give and take until their whole was greater than the sum of the parts they had mashed together. But he had never felt love. He was incapable of that much and it showed now in Niklaus.

There was no spark inside of his heart. No tinder that might kindle into a flame.Taiga was entirely sure that whatever 'Love' was, he was just pretending. Surely there would be some greater sign, if it were true. Some magical feeling that'd sweep him off his feet and erase all those worries. Were he truly in love, he'd never have a reason to be sad again, right? So he was a faker, unable to truly reach out to Niklaus when he needed it most. All he had done was take. This is what you get, Taiga. This death. Right here. Reaching out to someone was a mistake. It was a fucking mistake. This monster inside of him, this cursed blood that turned what loyalty he had, crushed it and molded it into some misshapen sense of self-righteous pathetic imitation of humanity.

That monster could never love. But he had tried to anyway.

This was his reward. And he hears it now. Feels that beasts tongue slithering across his neck and tightening like a noose. The ground gives out underneath him and he's choking. Unable to so much as breathe as the weight of Taiga's world comes crashing down around him. So much of himself had been just thrust onto Niklaus, so much of his happiness revolved around another's existence.

this is your reward.

you did this to him. you tricked him into ever believing there was hope with you. you had a chance. you could've said no. you could've killed him yourself instead of this. but you kissed him. you slept with him. you betrayed every bit of honor and dignity you had. father was right. you were much better just following orders. so take it. he gave you your last one. its your reward.

And that terror overcomes him and burns him apart.

"KLAUS!"

Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.

This wasn't the end. He wouldn't let it be. All that terror, all that anger, all that sadness breaks Taiga in half, shattering his heart like a twig. The pieces surge through his system, his body tensing as every single fiber of his being revolts at once. No.

A black-eyed Taiga dives into the pool of water, desperately clawing and kicking, frantically pumping his muscles as he drags himself further down into the depths. It was a ferocious rush of movement, his body flailing wildly and making every attempt possible to get to Niklaus as fast as he could.

kill me. tear me apart. scream at me. never see me again -- I don't care. but this isn't how you die.

He reaches the bottom before he knows it -- and as he reaches his hand out to try and grab at what remained of this imitation of a relationship, this false love of his -- he can't help but notice those claws. That constant reminder that even if he did reach him, even if he did take that hand, even if Taiga dredged up Niklaus's corpse.

He'd still be the monster who put him there.
(Taiga Voss)
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[00:52] It was wrong.

The way that the water had embraced him like this, entirely too close for any kind of comfort to function. This was his element, and it was killing him slowly, painfully. So, why didn't he kick up to the surface? The magic that he harbored could've taken all of the pain away, but in some strange corner of his mind as he teetered along these lines that no sane person should've played with, he could see all those memories past.

Better, better-- he knew far better than to make anyone feel for him, knowing that he was destructive, that he couldn't make up his mind, that when he tried to feel, the feeling within him was either too little or too much.

Dyle. I'm sorry that I didn't defend our group like I promised I would. Cameron. I'm sorry I didn't stop her from killing you. Zen. I'm sorry I wasn't faithful. Theodore. You didn't have to kill yourself. Erikki. I didn't need to hurt you in the middle of the street. Jhin. You didn't have to feel cornered in Huangzhou. Thera. I should've been able to save you from Sors. Dad. I should've done better. Mom. I know you love me and you only want the best for me. Lyra. You should smile more. Vaan. The weight of the world isn't on your shoulders. Loretta. I should've been the one suffering. Mariah. How are you so brave?

Taiga. I'd save you. Over and over again. I'd do it all. Knowing the consequences. Knowing any of the hurt. Knowing everything.

I'd do it all again.

Each name attached to a disarmed face, one that never expected to be changed in ways that the Rowan had reached out and just meddled where he shouldn't have. He didn't know if the world would be better or worse without him. It didn't make it to his mind as the dark crept along him. Pain staking memories cross along, and like a sweet song, apologies are spoken to people that wouldn't hear them.

He hated Dawn. The fact that he'd die for Dawn. For people that looked at him like he was nothing, but pretended he was something when his parents were around.

A hand lifts upwards, and the clawed hand is met with the Drakanite's fingers.

So many regrets.
Right?

Yet when his hand is grasped a hold of by the Ghoul's, there's a way that his eyes open slowly to watch the panicked being in the water. If his own grip had been strong enough...--

He would've held on tight and never let go. He would've embraced the Voss beneath the water's surface.

...But, they'd promised. Forever, right?

For Niklaus, the fire burned brighter than anything else he'd felt in his life. For him, there was nothing imitation about it. Thoroughly caught up, enamored, enraptured byTaiga Voss.

You're the only one I ever wanted to prove anything to. You're the only one that mattered. So, why am I just hurting you again?

...And again, and again, and again.

I love you, but I can't stop hurting you.

An amalgamation of negative emotion twisted into expectation and pride, coupled with so many needs and desires, it wasn't just hard to love the Rowan. It broke people. Time and time again. If anything wasn't fair, it was the fact that someone got caught up in his life, his web-- a foul, rotting place when looked at closely enough. Fingers held, and he could be pulled away at least intact, with his life. Only owed to the other, whether he believed he put him there or not.
(Niklaus Rowan)
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[01:20]
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[01:20] Get the hell up.

The hand that grips Niklaus is unbelievably tight. Once that boy is in his grasp once more, there was no way in hell was he going to let go. Not again. Not to let him slip. Not to see him succumb to that same sense of dread, to be consumed by the same beast he was fighting against. It won't claim him too.

He won't let it.

But the water is so, so crushing -- and it's tempting to sink down there with him. To let it swallow the both of them whole, at the very least staying together until the very end. It's a sickening surrender, but all these thoughts running through his mind right now weren't much better of an idea. Taiga had been hurt. Torn apart by this simple motion, the thought that everything that they had worked towards would just be tossed aside. To die here might be better than face what living might entail. To preserve what memory he had of this fake love. To take whatever good had come of it and just die.

But that love turns to anger. The pitch black eye of a ghoul shows no emotion in its void, but as Niklaus stares into it -- Taiga's fury becomes so profound it practically bursts out from his form. The water around them ripples, an underwater shockwave rippling out from all across Taiga as the rocks resting on the seafloor all begin to quiver and shake in unison. Niklaus's hand is being crushed. Taiga is shaking, teeth grit as he can't help but feel all of those memories turn to ash.

There's blood in the water.

"GET THE HELL UP!"

Taiga speaks and the lake responds by exploding. The water is pushed back all at once, Taiga's magic thriving off of this torrent of emotions spilling out from him. It forms as a wave of magic, a simple pulse of uncontrolled energy that radiates out from him. A crack tears open in the earth. That pulse rips through the bottom of the lake, and a geyser of expelled water shoots upwards. In a single, powerful command, Taiga Voss had put the two of them back on their feet and made it rain. Just to tell Niklaus to get the hell up. The water swells up against the edges, and the ankle deep water at the epicenter begins to quickly fill back up. But that was fine, for what he wanted.

Niklaus has all of two seconds to process this before he feels that vice grip move to his throat. Taiga runs with it. Hurling Niklaus's waterlogged body upwards with every bit of strength he had. It was entirely different from anything Niklaus had seen of him before. This wasn't simply some 'inbetween' state that flirted with life and death, nor was it simply the result of Salvas's blood, nor a curse of Cain --- but it is wholly unique to Taiga Voss. A state that might only be reached by a faker such as him, an animal in human clothing, completely consumed in anger and grief. Things that were, undoubtedly, 'human', but to attribute such grace to this beasts savage form would be insane.

He's flying up to meet him, appearing as a blur of complete shadow. A streak of nonexistence that cuts its way through the sky on wings of shade. Individual blips of blackness shed from his wings like molting feathers, drifting lazily to the ground before they're eventually consumed by the light. But the essence of it, that which fans itself from the Voss's back holds a tenebrosity which betrays the very nature of shadow itself. No light passes through, like a flat object of pure black transposed on top of Niklaus's eyes.

He's terrifying, in short.

"KRRRAAAH!" Hissing, screaming at the top of his lungs as that same hand which drug him out and into the light would now aim to bring him back down. By force. Snatching that beautiful boy out of the air and ripping him apart with a lack of inhibition never displayed before. They swipe downward, crushing into Niklaus's ribs and nearly ripping one out for himself. The crushing force is enough to send Niklaus back on a downward spiral, careening to the ground completely dazed and confused.
(Taiga Voss)
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[01:55] Amalka says, "Aw. The nice spot has been occupied."
[01:58] When you play with someone's fire, you're bound to get burned.

Ah, but you knew that, didn't you? You know it well. Each and every time, the destructive path that blossoms to life before one's very feet is laid out for all to see. The crush of his hand only begs a sucking of that water into his lungs. Yet, he doesn't particularly have much more time to respond before everything comes like a sharp, surreal rush.

The screaming, the water blasting upwards into the air, and the fingers that had managed to snatch at his very throat to grip tight. He's not properly able to gauge it, it seems. Not able to react in time to stop his form being thrown upwards into the air, there's the barely-there graze of his fingers attempt to grasp a hold of the beast-like form of Taiga now.

--- So this was how it ended, right?

Dazed, choked coughs managed their way out of his lips, water roughly emitting from them as he tries to curtail the horror that he felt in this one singular instance. But he can't. It doesn't quell. There's no stopping that sensation that had managed to be forcibly drug out from himself, and finally--

He's forced to face his own waning mortality.

The Drakanite doesn't fly. His wings don't sustain it, too damaged and torn from battles past and sickness' prior ravage. So he's forced to meet Taiga's assault with little way to defend himself. The clawed fingers would slam into his form, through his armor, and deep into his skin causing whatever water that was remaining in his lungs to be forced out along with his audible, pained cries.

Pain...

And it wasn't done. Far from done. Of course it wasn't done. The downward force was harsh, and there was no avoiding it. His brain is wired with burning heat from the pain that wasn't healing itself over.

The sound that comes next is anything but pleasant as his form slams into the ground, shoulders managing to dig into the earth deep as he slides for a good few feet before coming to a halt. A few wet, painful snaps echo in the place of any cries of agony. A shoulder twists out of the socket leaving his arm uncomfortably beneath of him, a few of the vertebrae in his spine crack out of alignment, and molars clench down so hard they crack inside of his head. That's only the gist of it as a choking sound leaves him, blood and water leaving his mouth now.

He's crying. There's fear. He doesn't know how to address any of it.

But he can't beg for forgiveness he doesn't deserve. He can't tell someone that's lost their mind to stop when they were justified. This was absolutely justified.

There's a barely there feeling as his mind begins to swim from that pain, eyes half-lidding and dulling with slow tuning lack of light.

If he died to anyone, let it be his love. Let it be his heart.

It was better than anything or anyone else.

Let it be what he was told to follow.

...It was worth it. Every step of the way.
(Niklaus Rowan)
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[01:59]
{LOAD GAME}

[02:30] He's a meteor, crashing down from the heavens above like some putrid black moon eclipsing all of Niklaus's life. The shadows that hang high in the sky drape over him, as Taiga still hangs high in the sky when Niklaus hits the dirt. It covers him in an umbral embrace, the full of Taiga's powers blooming before Niklaus, the final barrier of acceptance required to reach the pinnacle of his ghoul form. Some mental wall that had been there for as long as he could remember now, some resistance to his fate that'd be tossed aside.

Those wings spread -- and that monster becomes disgustingly elegant. A murderous raven whos wings were as fake as his heart.

What if this is love? Would you even know? He was going to die. Now you're killing him.

Taiga's eyes open once more, but distinctly... detached. Like looking through a window of his own eyes, Taiga's instinct alone guides him, forcing his consciousness to take a backseat. Floating. Adrift in the sea of his soul, so dead and numb that he doesn't even realize how frigid the water around him is. He can see it, though, through that window. He can see himself crashing back into Niklaus with such an incredible force it sunders the earth beneath them. It looks like enough force to shatter his legs like toothpicks, but Taiga doesn't feel a thing. He sees himself trudge over to Niklaus's writhing body, and he sees those claws of his reel back -- and all he can think about is that question he had just asked himself.

What would I know about love? You've never made anything better in your life.

Taiga's feral form is crawling in shade, tendrils lashing out and sizzling in the sunlight. He has Niklaus completely pinned to the dirt, not like there seemed to be any amount of fight left in the poor boys body anyway. Scream, cry, shake -- it really didn't seem that Taigawas stopping. Those claws bear down on Niklaus's exposed form, tearing him apart with strike after strike of bloody nails. He's shredded, that armor pulled and pried apart as animalistic instinct guided him to vein after vein to crack open and draw out more blood.

...It could've been right in front of my face and I'd still be saying this shit. Niklaus. He says the exact same thing about himself.

The attack lasts for an entire agonizing minute. If Niklaus didn't give any resistance, the frenzied ghoul would lay into him every bit of pain it could dish out. And Taiga is helpless but to watch, unsure how he could possibly fight against something like this. Did he even need to struggle? Why would he want to wake up into a world where his nightmares had come true? What point was there in struggling on if the end was made so painfully clear to him right here and now? If Niklaus couldn't stop him, no one could. He'd be a whirlwind for the rest of his life. Purposeless. Take. Take. Take. Leave. Useless for anything that wasn't violence. Was this not proof enough?

Idiot. If he's enough, why aren't you?

Those claws stop. He has Niklaus's throat between his hands, the last pulse of his pathetic life runs underneath Taiga's palm as he prepares himself to crush it. But he stops. Taiga finally sees again. And he sees all that he has become, this bloodstained devil with hands crimson red and dripping. The distinct taste of Niklaus fills his mouth, all of his senses flooding back to him as Taiga reigns back in some semblance of control. Those claws turn to shaking, trembling digits that slowly uncurl as he feels the pressure in his body begin to fade.

The shadows sink back in, the wind dies out.

He's left kneeling over the bleeding body of the only person who gives a shit.
(Taiga Voss)
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[02:48] His resistance was pathetic. A former shadow, a shade of what he was capable of as his arm remained twisted and broken behind his back beneath of him. He's eclipsed in the dark that his magic is supposed to combat, and he can't think. With the blood that flows and causes the thick, awful scent to reach his senses, he can barely process it. He hazes, spinning somewhere without much reach.

Torn, ripped apart, the deepest parts of himself revealed for anyone's eyes to grace upon. Bones manage to stick through certain portions of his skin, his veins torn open by the assault. The one arm he can use weakly tries to push and fend away, but it's so hard. He can barely move.

It's cold.

A slow, active process of his body attempting to knit itself together shows, but it's almost not enough. His throat is grasped at, and there's not even a last uttering that he can manage out. The pulse is so weak, so lacking that it's utterly questionable if it even counted as life at this point.

If he closed his eyes now, would he ever wake again...?

Hand lifts, cut up and bleeding from trying to hold the Voss off... and it swipes against his face in a far off manner before heavily dropping back down.

And then a heavy, shaking sigh before his eyes shut and his head lolls off to the side, form growing limp beneath of the other.

There's still a dim light, but that dim light struggled to construct back together what he was meant to be.
(Niklaus Rowan)
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[02:56] ** Taiga Voss has inflicted an injury upon Niklaus Rowan. ("Heartbroken", "Innumerable individual injures ravage Niklaus's body until fully healed. Nearly every inch of his body that was exposed during the attack by Taiga was torn into by claw and teeth. His skin is left shredded and bloodied, parts of him turned into nothing but a meaty pulp after the attack.", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[02:58] Taiga is barely thinking right now.

Where to even begin? Niklaus was nearly dead on the ground. That was a good point to focus himself on. Think about that first, Taiga. Everything else can come later -- EVERYTHING ELSE CAN COME LATER. He realizes the situation he's in and thankfully knows just how little time Niklaus has left if he just stands there gawking.

Even if they killed him for it, he has to save him still. Somehow.

Whatever pain you felt won't matter if you can't talk about it. If you can't explain it. Was there even a chance to explain himself for what he just did? --No. Focus. Focus.

Niklaus is lifted up into Taiga's arms and... well. Who knows what he was going to next?
(Taiga Voss)
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[02:59] Vedran Ivanovich asks, "... What today?"
[02:59] Freya Vishkar says, "Pfft. "
[02:59] Hathor says, "I don't know."
[02:59] Vedran Ivanovich asks, "And-... Buy? With what money?"
[02:59] Vedran Ivanovich asks, "Do I look like the Dawn fuckin' drug dealer..?"
[02:59] Hathor says, "The money I stole from the old---"
[02:59] Hathor says, "Yes."
[02:59] Freya Vishkar says, "I mean, you're a therapist. "
[02:59] Freya Vishkar says, "You should be able to perscribe medication."
[02:59] Vedran Ivanovich whispers something.
[03:00] Vedran Ivanovich asks, "Therapist..?"
[03:00] Hathor whispers something.
[03:00] Vedran Ivanovich says, "I haven't had to... therapize? Fer' a bit."
[03:01] Hathor asks, "Is that even a word?"
[03:01] Vedran Ivanovich says, "... Now it is."
[03:01] Freya Vishkar says, "Jennifering is a word."
[03:01] Taiga holds his beaten, bloodied and nearly dead boyfriend in his arms.

His hands -- or more accurately those beastlike claws which still seemed primed to tear Niklaus's flesh to shred -- are completely covered in blood as well. So is... well. The rest of him, really. From head to toe. He's also crying profusely from the one eye that still works, and genuinely seems to have made a right proper mess of himself.

He looks absolutely terrified. Unsure of what he could possibly say. For now he just... stands there in the square.
(Taiga Voss)