Battles

Esei inclines their head politely to you.

Rhalkyr tilts his chin up at Esei, drumming a gentle beat over his heart.

Esei's wings fan open and closed, leaving behind tiny particles of silver and shadow.

In accordance with a silent beat you can't quite hear, Esei begins to softly hum a low, dark tune.

Esei pauses for a second, a slight frown upon their face.

Rhalkyr sways back and forth like a young tree before a gentle breeze. At the
pause, he cocks his head at Esei, casting them a quizzical glance.

Esei frowns down at themself with a critical eye, as if looking at an enemy rather than their own
body.

Beneath the obfuscating shell of his mask, the shadows steeping Rhalkyr's eyes grow
deeper as his brows draw down. Stepping lightly forward, he makes a small, circular motion towards
Esei, but does not touch. "Why, look, at self, so?"

Esei blinks.

Gesturing to their own body, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "It just...
does not look the way I wish it to."

Studying Esei's form for a long, silent moment, Rhalkyr eventually emits a quiet
grunt of comprehension. Wordlessly, he lifts his hand to gesture at his mask, and nods.

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "Ah, not quite,
as that."

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "I could
change," here they tap their gilded mirror, "but that is a full transformation, and the pronouns
would be incorrect."

Leaning his head in the opposite direction, Rhalkyr's throat shudders with a
faintly puzzled rumble. Sinking down to his haunches, he looks up at Esei intently, as if striving
to pierce through Esei's skull to grasp the thoughts that dwell within. "What, want, ideally?"

Esei stares at you with an equally intense gaze. A stray beam of light catches off one eye, showing
shades of deep purple and violet and a slit pupil. "I feel quite feminine, and wish my body to
reflect that, but, alas."

Esei rolls their shoulders. "Nothing I have not experienced before," they say. "Simply more intense
than usual."

Rhalkyr's fingers ripple slowly upon the ground, the brutal digits slowly gouging
trenches in the earth. "How, can fix?"

Esei purses their lips, deep in thought.

Esei pats you in a friendly manner.

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says to you, "Do not
worry, little one. This is my battle, not yours."

Rhalkyr's eyes flatten into hard, obstinate discs of unyielding determination as he
stares up at Esei. Stubbornly, he retorts, "Your battles, are, Rhalkyr's."

Esei stares at you, frowning.

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk asks, "Why?"

Rhalkyr returns the stare, his gaze growing faintly perplexed. "Why, what?"

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk asks, "Why do you
insist on taking on my battles, jatamo?"

Again, the incomprehension, as Rhalkyr looks at Esei as if them has suddenly begun
speaking in tongues. Slowly, as if speaking to someone that has become mired in confusion, he
explains, "All, of, the Glomdoring. All, are, family. Strong, together. Live, together. Die,
together. Fight, together." A pause, a rather long one, as he generously allows the information to
soak in, and then, "Yes?"

Esei approaches you with a handful of strides, wings fluttering behind them. "Some battles, jatamo,"
they murmur, pressing their palm against the sap on your mask and lingering there. "Must be fought
alone; not because the Glomdoring is not my family, but because it is my fight."

Though he offers no resistance to Esei, the mulishly obstinate look in Rhalkyr's
eyes does not diminish whatsoever. Even as he leans his face into Esei's touch, the violently green
glimmer of his gaze turns calculating, though he makes no response other than a non-committal grunt.

Esei tells you, "Follow me, little-warrior?"

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says to you, "I do
not mean to demean you or diminish your worry, simply to tell you that you do not need to, and I do
not expect it."

Rhalkyr passes his hand gently through the air in a horizontal sweep of loosely
curled fingers, giving his head a minute shake. "Is not, what thought. Do not like, seeing,
struggle, alone."

Amused, and fond, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "But ah, am I alone? I
don't think so."

In a perfect replica of your smoky, sotto tones, Rhalkyr says, with a touch of
defiance in his eyes, "Some battles, jatamo, must be fought alone." A pause, as he leans forward,
and he repeats, with emphasis, "Alone." Jabbing a blunt finger into the loam with a vicious jerk, he
says it again. "Alone." Leaning further still, his eyes grow intense, a dark and terrible fire
alight within them as he utters in a low, snarling hiss, "Never. Alone."

Esei places their hands firmly on either of your shoulders, looking at you in the eye. "I see I am
confusing you."

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says to you, "Let me
show you what I mean by 'not alone', then?"

Uncharacteristically, Rhalkyr returns the regard without his eyes so much as
twitching aside, a glimpse of his brows just visible in the shade of his mask. Begrudgingly, he
utters a grunt of assent, and continues watching.

Esei inhales, closing their eyes, moving one hand to cup your cheek. They exhale.

Esei tells you, "** A smooth, rolling wave parts, showing depths you have never seen. Flickers of
thoughts-memories, almost too fast to understand - blackthorn petals drifting across an abyss, crows
cawing high up in wooden rafters, wind whistling through branches. Shadows flitting from corner to
corner in the dark of night, spirits rising from the earth and singing from the trees and stones and
every little creature of the wyrden wood. Darkness, soft and welcoming, spilling out from every
corner of a place that sings home-home-home, ways that are not quite comprehensible; bones,
clattering against stone. The stars above and the earth beneath your feet... **.

Esei tells you, "** A deep thrumming beat not just in the air but reflected in Esei's heart of
hearts - the Drums of the Dead, singing with the Shadowbeat and something deeper, more subtle. The
beads at their waist become suddenly more apparent, bright against the dark of their ensemble. A
cloak of shadows, seeping from their shroud and enveloping them like an embrace. Their mantle of
feathers rustle, as though briefly alive with the spirits of crows, before settling against their
shoulders once more. **."

Esei tells you, "** A shape that is and is not a shape, undulating above them, chirping and humming
soundlessly; a dark, shadowed warrior at their side, its footsteps made of blood and stars. **."

In accordance with a silent beat you can't quite hear, Esei begins to softly hum a low, dark tune.

Esei tells you, "** The waves roll back over, as you glimpse the tall blackthorn tree of Lord
Nocht's fulcrux, and settle. **."

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk whispers, "I am not
alone, because there is more than simply -people-, jatamo."

You tell Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk, "**A stillness of the mind, born of
an intense desire not to disturb, a deep need to bear silent witness to that most precious of gifts.
Throughout, the entity that is his presence - that monstrous tiger that ever lurks within - strives
to capture every fleeting glimpse, to /see/ every facet, every precious, inviolable glimmer of one
they adore endlessly. Its face flows, shifting to split into an amalgam of many feline visages, half-
blended together to form one nightmarish head - one with dozens and dozens of lambent eyes, of a
uniform, feverishly bright green. In response to the beat of your innermost heart, an echo of sorts
sounds forth - distant, barely discernible, the brutal, slow thunder of something immense. Once the
waves roll back, the mind-form lifts its many-faced head, baring its throat amidst a chaotic,
surging cacophony of fond emotion, then slinks back, leaving quiet in its wake once more.**."

Softly, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "That is but a fraction of what
I perceive, biye jatamo."

Eyes closed, the better to focus upon the communion between himself and Esei,
Rhalkyr's breathing is so slow as to be near imperceptible - the rise and fall of his mighty chest a
subtle thing, even as he sways in time to an inaudible rhythm. Eventually, after many cycles of
inhalation and exhalation, he nods - a tiny gesture, the merest dip of his chin.

Eyes flicking open as he cants his head to his left in a steep, near-horizontal
angle, Rhalkyr asks, "What, is?" Again, the eerie mimicry of Esei's voice. "Biye jatamo."

Esei's thumb brushes across the sap near your cheekbone, smile faint on their face. "I See much
around you too, that which you cannot perceive - not yet, mayhaps not ever." Their voice is shallow,
but a breath bearing words. "I wonder how it will affect you?"

A wry smile spreads across Esei's face.

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "Dear little
warrior, is what it means. Or dear little fighter."

A mild blink, before Rhalkyr's eyes move, unbidden, to glance about what he can see
of the air about his form, as if he seeks to find that of which Esei speaks. Grunting quietly, he
lifts his attention back to Esei, head cocking in the opposite direction, more curious than ever.
"Will, remember. What, can see? Have, special sight?" A vague, outlining motion of his hand,
sketching the area about Esei's person. "Auras?"

Esei shakes their head.

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "The Othersight
is... ah... different, to me, than that."

Voice slipping to a lower octave, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says to you,
"You are followed by perhaps a dozen of little shadows. Most of them are pushing you forward,
encouraging you to move forward."

Faintly amused, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "There are a few other
things, as well, but they do not seem terribly impactful at the moment."

Rhalkyr places the tips of his splayed fingers upon the ground, allowing them to
bear his weight so he can lean towards Esei, his gaze ravenous as he listens. At the slight
amusement in Esei's voice, he twitches his head to one side in an avian gesture. "Other, things?"

Esei says nothing, dipping their head and smirking.

Rhalkyr's eyes thin to slits of burning green as he holds his pose for a long
moment, then grunts, relenting. Settling back onto his haunches, he digs his does into the dirt,
allowing his gaze to drift aside. Quietly, with undisguised affection in his torn voice, he says,
"Always, fond, of secrets."

Mildly, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "Yes."

Lifting his right hand, Rhalkyr traces a slow, deliberate circle over the imprint
upon his heart, before he brushes his fingertips against the dried sap in a whisperingly light
rhythm. "Gratitude, beloved, Warden."

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk asks, "For what?"

Without glancing Esei's way, Rhalkyr brings his other hand up to join its mate,
weaving the two together into an interlocked lattice of thick, brutal fingers and jutting knuckles.
In a graceful, fluid motion, he twists his wrists, so that the fingers part, baring the handprint
beneath them. This done, he reforms the thicket of flesh and bone, then drops it, wordlessly.

Esei raises a slender brow.

Esei tilts their head curiously at you.

Rhalkyr maintains his silence, his head tilting up and aside as he idly follows the
path of something in the distance.

Esei hums thoughtfully.

Esei pats you in a friendly manner.

In accordance with a silent beat you can't quite hear, Esei begins to softly hum a low, dark tune.

Rhalkyr sways back and forth in an obviously contented manner.

With smoky, sotto tones, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk asks, "Why do you
always sway when I hum?"

Esei tilts their head curiously at you.

You think to yourself: The vivid, painfully intense sensation of home, of family, of being loved.
Arms wrapped about him, a tender embrace from one so close you can feel their chest vibrate gently
as they hum and sing, rocking him back and forth as they sway.

Rhalkyr glances at Esei mildly, then away again. He is silent for so long that it
seems as if he may not respond at all, but when he does, it is in a voice much softer than his norm,
his tone distant. "Familiar. Like...Home. Of, forgotten things. Before..."

Esei tilts their head and listens intently to you.

Esei places a hand lightly on your shoulder. "Tell me?"

You think to yourself: A flash of violently intense colour, orange and red and white and black and
the EYES, the hungering, ravenous eyes that stare even as the claws slash and tear and the
jawsthejawsthejaws, red as blood, red /with/ blood.

Rhalkyr shudders faintly, a vibration so slight as to be nearly undetectable, even
with Esei's hand upon him. Eyes squeezing shut, as if in pain, he lifts his hand to grind the heel
of his palm against his temple, then lowers it. Shaking his head in short, jerking motions, as if to
clear it, his tone grows confused, uncertain. "Colours. Don't, remember. Alone, after. Many, years,
of alone."

Softly, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "It's alright."

Esei gently cups your face with their free hand. "What colors? Do you know?"

Rhalkyr leans into Esei's hand with a subtle desperation, eyes pressed tight.
"Autumn."

Esei hums an unfamiliar melody, soft and low, under their breath.

Though his eyes remain closed, the wrinkling of their lids grows less as the
compression diminishes, Rhalkyr's furrowed brows easing their way back to normalcy. Every note that
drifts from Esei's lips smooths the tension from him, piece by piece, until he is quiescent, calmed
once more, his breathing steady as he rests his masked cheek upon Esei's supporting hand.

Softly, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "It's alright, biye lun, to be
afraid of what you do not remember, do not know."

Softly, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "Just do not let it control
you."

You think to yourself: How can he not, when he does not know its shape? (Oh, but he does.) How can
he escape it, when he does not know what it is? (Ah, but he does.)

The smooth, carved wood of Rhalkyr's mask shifts against Esei's palm as he nods
slightly, lifting his own hand to press the vast appendage upon Esei's, his touch light, yet rough,
and warm. Releasing them, he withdraws gradually, until he regards Esei with open fondness - the
light that dwells within his eyes a softer, less feral thing. Gently, the torn, guttural timbre of
his voice pitched queitly, he says, "Love you, very much."

Esei blinks slowly.

Esei hums thoughtfully.

Esei's fingers linger lightly on your shoulder.

Esei considers you out of the corner of their eye, humming softly.

Rhalkyr mimics Esei, likewise regarding Esei from the corner of his carved eye
socket. He does not, however, hum. Instead, he sways, very slightly.

Esei murmurs softly to themself.

Rhalkyr cocks his head at Esei inquisitively.

Offhandedly, Wyrden Auspice Esei Shee-Slaugh of the Ascending Dusk says, "I need to talk with
Xenthos and Ethna."

Rhalkyr blinks at Esei very mildly, then nods, attention drifting away, snagged on
a swirling leaf that drifts in lazy, concentric patterns to the ground.