Second Song ♫ Video (Daemon: Apollod)

[hasitsthorns]

[ An authoritative bark, steely eyes to match the armor worn- ] Feldspar will stay in the rear with the rest of the mages, Reyson on the frontlines with the wolves, and Misto with me to...

[ She falters suddenly. Wolf ears standing tall on her head flatten back in uncertainty. Where are the Morgans, the group she'd been informing as she stepped into a portal towards the oncoming battle? This wasn't- In a blink, memories come careening into her head and cause a startling emotional mish-mash. Names, faces, a year and some change spent in Eudio and Xistentia suddenly competing with the four years from back home. It's a different type of war inside her mind. ] Apollod, [ she suddenly says, looking to the canine that's already recording her return.

Despite herself, she suddenly smiles into the feed. ]

Hey, guys, [ comes a softer tone than before. She crouches down to pet the daemon that's recording, not physically looking a day older than when she left but certainly feeling like it. ] Hopefully I haven't been gone too long.

What'd I miss?

Comments

[cantseame]

[Farraige is examining the feed via Alvind. No sign or call of Rosie for a week. He was worried, scared, that she'd just go off and not say anything. Did seeing Beag truly disturb her more than she let on? Any number of possibilities were running through his head. Was she taken by the enemy? He tried not to let his mind wander in the middle of the night, but it was hard to find peace. He wanted to find her, find an answer.

And then there was the feed. He recognized the location. Willing the currents to carry him, Farraige ran onto the water and willed a wave to carry him along the beach, stopping short of her once he found his arrival point. There was so much he wanted to ask her, at least from the feed she seemed to be okay. That was a palpable relief. Now, there was only one question he had for her.]

Where the hell have you been?

[hasitsthorns]

[ She can hear him before he actually arrives; he arrives on the salty scent wafting from the sea, the currents carrying him to her. It's a small comfort, honestly, that he's just as she remembered. She hopes she hasn't been long, but then he asks that and-

It's a fair question. Honestly, even Rose is having a hard time sifting through her memories for a correct answer. ] Home, [ she finally settles on. Then elaborates. ]

I didn't... mean to? I think. Something almost killed me here, during the war. F.A.T.E.S sent me home to save me.

[ How long ago was the war? Xistentia's was just winding down as she left; back home, it was just beginning as she left. A bit ironic, she thinks. ]

[cantseame]

[There's a mixture of feelings when he hears this. Was he to blame? Did he, in what power he did have, let her down? He's not sure how to answer this now, and he doesn't want to. She's here now, she's safe. The moment her answer finishes, there's the scent of the ocean in her nose, and his arms wrapped around her. In his experiences, it's been hard for him to cry sometimes, given how much responsibility he has to carry.

This is one time he comes close, sniffling a little bit against her shirt. She's one of the most tangible factors of his life, and so much is tied to her, and that was all almost lost. He almost lost her.]

I... thought so many things. You were caught, killed, you were scared because of what I did.

[hasitsthorns]

[ There is no blame to lay on him; if anyone is at fault, it's Rose. Reckless as always and not even thinking about the ways that her falling in battle might have hurt Vanyel and Farraige. She does not, of course, with the scent of sea but none of its chill in his embrace. Selfish, she mentally chastises herself, even when only trying to help fend off D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. and her cohorts.

At least some of the lessons learned back home will help with that here. The Morgans taught her a lot... and she doesn't want to let them down anymore than she had the people she loved in Xistentia. ]

Please. You saw what I could do, [ she says, lightly. ] Nothing is gonna' scare me away. At least not that easily. [ She's returning his hold with interest now, drawing back just enough to press a kiss to the edge of his lips. ]

I'm sorry. As long as I can help it, it won't happen again.

[cantseame]

I guess... I realized how scared I really was to lose you.

[There's no joking in him, not right now. Usually it would be how he'd cope with a near death experience or near loss for someone he holds so dear.

So he just holds onto her, slightly pulling back when he moves to kiss him. There's definitely some tears welling up in his eyes, but he's not letting them go. It's hard for him to do so.]

I'm sorry... It's selfish for me but I feel at home with you, and I'm so scared to lose that.

[hasitsthorns]

[ It's still difficult some days to see herself as meaning anything. Back home, she's become the face of a revolution along with the Morgans. Here, she where Farraige felt at home. It's more than she thinks she deserves to be - on both fronts, honestly - but she wants it all the same. ]

It's not selfish, [ she corrects. ] You help me feel at home too here, y'know? And I want it stay that way.

[ Not that she truly has any say, as they've now experienced. But dammit if she isn't going to try. She kisses him proper now, a light peck of her lips. She wants him to cry if he needs to but understands, of all people, that kind of vulnerability isn't something so easily shared. ]

daemon: moonshined;

[pillz]

hey u got ur fursuit on again. wlel ur fur ears
welcome back babe
tried 2 get u to go runnin wit me one night but i guess u stood me up for cosmic reasons

[hasitsthorns]

i have a tail too, just hard to see under all this armor
guess i don't need to keep wearing it right now though

what!!
do I get a raincheck
i wanna go running still

[pillz]

mayb
did u go running witout me in ur homeworld
there is ar ight answer

[hasitsthorns]

[ She thinks of all the times that she ran with Reyson through the woods next to Morgana manor as wolves and after a not unsually lengthy pause for text answers, ]

absolutely not
i couldn't bear the thought of running without you, dude

[ Nailed it. ]

1/2

[pillz]

fuck u

2/2

[pillz]

i ogts feelins 2 run off this time. its kind of gay
glad ure back 4 it
got any new war wounds 2?

[hasitsthorns]

isn't 'kind of gay' your default setting
but yeah, sure, I definitely got feels to run off too

nope, no new doggos
I had a pretty sick werewolf friend whipped pretty well but he didn't make the trip

[ Reyson would also kill her if he knew she spoke of him that way. ]

daemon: kyd

[mordacita]

[ It's strange seeing Rosie like that, as though she's ready to command. That gives Rafa more pause than her wolf ears, even though he hasn't seen those before. His eyebrow lifts. ]

I saw you at the Temple shelter a week ago. It cannot have been so very long.

How long was it for you?

[hasitsthorns]

[ A familiar face. The relief is plain in her features. If there are still people she knows, it can't have been long- He says a week. That's... better than she hoped, actually.

Still. She's going to have quite a bit of apologizing to do to Vanyel and Farraige, at least. ]

Four years, [ she says, smile waning under the heaviness of that admission. ] Not quite as long as your timeskip back in Eudio, but- I didn't remember this place when I was there. Like, at all.

[mordacita]

[ Rafa nods. He's not surprised; Eudio had allowed him to remember, but he'd requested it. Here, they don't get quite that same option. ]

That is how it was with Vex, when he left Eudio for a time. It must be confusing.

You sounded as though you were going to war.

[hasitsthorns]

[ Oh. Huh. Rose hadn't known that about Vex's trip home, she figured...

Well, it doesn't matter now. For as good as it is to know she's not alone, there's. Other things to worry about right now. ]

It's... something. Four years of stuff happened back home but it's like nothing changed here. [ That's not bad or good, really, just disorienting. ]

I was. We were. When I say stuff happened, I mean. A lot of stuff. Everything in my world got kerfuckled.

[mordacita]

[ Rafa's brow knits. He's not exactly surprised, because war never really surprises him. But it's worrying, for reasons far bigger than Rosie's world. ]

Do you think it was because of D.E.S.T.I.N.Y.? We know they are capable of it.

[hasitsthorns]

[ She hadn't, but only because she didn't remember. Now that she does- ]

It makes sense? Ryuo seemed to switch to 'kill all humans' really abruptly whereas before he'd been pretty neutral... Might've been D.E.S.T.I.N.Y.

[ Actually, he's just a huge asshole who does it anyway but! Interference seems more probable, so. ]

text; daemon: shebad

[shadowblends]

rosie, you're back!
i can't believe it.

good news first: we won the war.
bad news: there's going to be a lot of rebuilding to do.
right now, though, that doesn't matter!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? (ᗒᗣᗕ)

[hasitsthorns]

kurt!!
I am back, I'm sorry
I wasn't planning to disappear, it just kind of
happened
ｍ（．＿．）ｍ

it's a long story, but
I went back home for a little bit

i'm glad the war's over here though!
at least that's one less world without one going on

[shadowblends]

[SIGH]

i know you didn't.
i was just
really worried about you
but i'm glad to see that you're okay.

you did?
normally, i'd assume and congratulate you, but instead: how are things?

that sort of response makes it seem like there might be a war some place you've been. [you know, like, her home?]

[hasitsthorns]

as alright as i've ever been!
which is saying a lot, considering I just came from combat
well, almost

my world's all kerfuckled
i'm actually just kind of grateful in a way i'm alive to see it because
well, I didn't tell you before because it never came up but
was pretty sure I was dead?
surprise, i'm not!
but now i've got a bigger problem to face
like, you guessed it, a war

[shadowblends]

almost?
please, i'm all ears.

[Meaning: explain yourself, Rosie.]

what a word.
you know, i'd normally pride myself on guessing something correctly, but this is not one of those moments.
my condolences for the war.
i'm glad that you aren't dead, though.

[hasitsthorns]

we were heading into battle
got wind of one of the dragons leading a charge somewhere
it was probably gonna' be a doozy

you and me both!
sort of
as messed up as it is to say, I think things were a lot easier when I did think I was dead