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Between a rock and a hot place.
This is something of a continuation of @trager and @aryanne's story - Rashar woke to find out what had happened - not only that he had a nephew, but that he had been taken! Much fury was had by all. Missed is the shouting by Rashar, basically calling @auresae's name.
***********************************************************************************
Quietly, Auresae says, "Are you quite done screaming?"
You have emoted: Rashar is moving already as he appears, and where his pacing is normally restless, energy-laden and harmless he now moves furiously, whipping back and forth as he stares at Auresae with a thunderous visage and trembling hands. "I will be finished when you return what you -stole-, Lady!" The last two words, spit almost venomously in his anger. "This is not what we do. This is not WHO WE ARE!"
"I stole nothing," Auresae says calmly, "The child was handed over to Me." She reaches up, idly
pushing Her hair over Her shoulder. "You are nothing to tell Me what I am and am not. I have been longer than you have been alive and I will continue long after you are dead." She pauses a moment, adding, "It is only because you are Hiale that you are granted this audience, Rashar."
You have emoted: "Lies!" Rashar hisses, turning to jab one finger violently in Auresae's direction.
"I could rip an innocent from their homes and have them -begging- me to take everything they own within half the span of an hour. Should that then be considered a gift?" Thud, thud, the man moves to approach Auresae without a care for his usual silence, his usual soft movements. "Who are You to take a child from a man? From a woman? You, who preach passion! FIRE! FOR WHAT? Because she left to be with him? Because she followed her -heart-?" The hand that lowers back down to his side shakes visibly, whether in fury or fear, some combination of the two, or simple nerves.
"You will calm down and speak with Me respectfully, Rashar Del'baeth, or you will lose," Auresae
says, slowly and carefully. "Now. Aryanne put the child in My arms. It was payment for her betrayal of Me. Did you know she was still sitting pretty in My Hiale as she asked permission to return to the Syssin?" She cocks her head to the side at you.
You have emoted: "I don't give a damn," Rashar rumbles, and though his voice is contained, it seems more of a natural winding down than anything intentional. "We do not take -babies- as payment for betrayal, Lady. Should I then begin a campaign to storm Spinesreach, stealing the child of every man or woman who has ever left? How malicious. How -petty-. I would expect that of Your sister, not You." And somewhere, somewhere buried under layer upon layer of anger and confusion, the truth - pain. His own, both for his brother and for the betrayal he feels from Auresae, to be so completely wrong in his expectations. "This is -wrong-," he hisses. "This is not fire. This is not passion. This is - sadistic-. Trager has fallen to shadow because his heart led him to betray the city - for Roux. For Yours. You but push him further. You push -HER- further, with this..." He doesn't even finish, but one emotion settles over his consciousness, for a moment drowning everything else beneath it. Disgust.
"I am a -Goddess-, Rashar," Auresae says more sharply, "And I will take what I please. I have the child and it will have a better life with Me than in darkness. Besides.." She stretches slightly,
looking terribly uncomfortably upon the bench which She sits. "I gave him a way to have the child returned and a little essence is not good enough for him."
A rippling sensation travels down your spine as the presence of another makes itself slowly apparent to you within the back of your mind. "Calm yourself," comes the voice, and for a moment the languid sounds of the roiling sea flood your conscience. "I will instruct you with one duty here: do not allow your emotions to take control." [For some reason this makes the Terminator music play in my head.]
You have emoted: "BRIBES?" Rashar roars out, helpless beneath the onslaught of a new wave of rage."You steal a man's child and command him to -work- for it?! Like a fucking dog, barking for tricks?" For a moment he is speechless, absolutely overwhelmed somewhere in the depths of whatever burns inside of him. His fist clenches, as if he might very well strike the Goddess before him, but something stays his hand - and the inevitable ruin such an act must bring. His eyes close, and for a long time there is only breathing, only a visible struggle for calm. "That child," he states in a still-menacing voice gone quiet, "May be the only thing capable of bringing -either- of them from the darkness, Lady. And not like this. -Not- like this. You are -wrong-, and more - You are going to create a war that Yours will not win. You will cause pain and slaughter because You think You have the right to decide what life a child lives."
Essence? What NONSENSE. The man would have -OFFERED- You essence, had You but asked. Had -I- but asked. Essence. What rubbish.
"I am the Fire and Spark of life, Rashar," Auresae replies, "I -do- have the right to decide what
life a child lives. Your behavior is completely inappropriate; you lose track of Who and What I am. I have worried about your allegiances since your brother became a traitor, but opted to trust you. I begin to wonder now, when you fight to have a child returned to shadow instead of reared in the light."
You have emoted: "Bullshit," Rashar says, voice quiet now, pained. "If that is Your take, then speak the words. Command Your Hiale to begin a crusade to take every youth from every home in the north. Where does it end? Who is the judge of where capability begins and ends? Fitness? -Right-? The child should never have left his parents. You would not be -giving- a child to the shadow, but returning an infant to his mother. To his father." His bangs have fallen, dark strands of hair obscuring his vision in their never-ending quest for dominance. He reaches up, brushing them aside to reveal narrowed eyes full of misery, though still brimming with rage. "I have pledged You my service, Lady, and You have had it. You have had all of me that I can give - I have helped Yours. I have brought You new blood. I have fought Your enemies, and I have been met with accusation and Your disapproval, and yet still I endured - because I am a man of my word, and I have owed You a great debt. And because I -want- to serve. So do not, I beg of You, question -my- loyalty. There is more to every tale than the cover. My brother is a traitor and paid for it - but his intentions were founded in love for one of Yours, and I will not see him repaid in such a way by You."
"You will see what I choose for you to see," Auresae says, pushing Herself wearily up from the bench, "This is the punishment I bestow upon Aryanne for betraying My trust. Your crying and screaming will not have Me change My mind." She raises a finger to Her lips, thinking for a moment. "Well, you have in one thing," She says, "I had thought to give the child to you and Roux to raise. I suppose not."
Give me the child. Give him to me, I will see him home where he belongs. You are wrong. This is wrong. WRONG. Do you want war? What drives you, Lady? Foolish.. even a Goddess can be foolish, it seems.
You have emoted: Rashar takes a step back, shaking his head. "I will not stop him," he says coldly. "And no one else, within Your Hiale is capable. Certainly none that wake. Certainly not your Champion." His chin dips, eyes lowering to the floor as he loses himself within his thoughts. "I will not support this, Lady. If my service means so little to you, then so be it." Fingers clenching, the Yeleni casts another glance around before finishing, "Return my nephew to his parents, Lady, or you will find that the enemies You have garnered are more than Yours can handle." He ceases speaking, simply staring at Auresae.
I will destroy this Hiale. I will rip it apart from the foundations and dismantle it, until You crawl back into Your pillar of flames, with only the fire for a companion. You will not get away with such a violation. You are a Goddess, but You are selfish. If I wanted to serve a sadistic despot, I would serve Your sister.
"Mine. Threatening Me," Auresae says. She takes a step closer to you and it takes a moment before heat begins to pour from Her abnormally cold body. "-Mine-. Threatening -Me-," She near screeches, Her eyes widening, "I have allowed too much freedom for you and you have done nothing but disappoint Me, spend your time telling Me of your accomplishments which are none at all." Reaching up, She backhands you, the force enough to snap your neck to the side.
"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH," Slyphe roars, His hand snapping upwards to catch Auresae's mid-strike, only moments before it makes impact, His form bursting into sight through a violent gout of steam that spouts forth from above.
You have emoted: Rashar jerks, shifting to the side in a fruitless effort to dodge the blow. He
looks up at Auresae, and his face begins to twist into something very close to a sneer. "We shall
see," he rumbles, voice dripping now with bitterness. Spirals of shame and misery twist within him, churning up from the depths of his soul to cloak him beneath their heavy weight. "Accomplishments is it? You want accomplishments, my -Lady-?" He leans forward, rocking up onto his toes to hiss, "If I accomplish -nothing- else in this world, Lady Fire, it will be to ruin you. You will find that my statements are grounded in fact, not boast, and that the ridiculous whispers of Your favored are spoken from a well of jealousy and perceived threat."
You -will- return my brother's child, my Lady. Or You will spend the rest of Your followers' lives regretting it. They will know no peace. They will know no solace. They will know nothing but misery and frustration, until it is -You- they turn to, asking, "Why?"
"Stealing children?" Slyphe remarks, His unsubtle fury adding a bite to His words as they escape His lips. With a sneer of disgust, He drops Auresae's hand. "Sister, this is a low for You that I
wouldn't have ever imagined." With every exhalation of breath He makes, steam pushes upwards, rising from His skin to collect itself in wispy clouds upon the ceiling. "What of light nurturing? What of it illuminating the way for others to live better lives?"
"Fire -burns-," Auresae hisses to Her Brother, "It is hardly stealing when Aryanne handed the childover to Me. It was payment for her betrayal."
"Give Me the child," Slyphe almost bluntly demands from seemingly nowhere, His hands balling into fists at His sides. "You have no right to steal the right of free choice from -anybody-," He hisses. "Mortal or not."
"Take Your dog back, Brother. His loyalty to traitors is stronger than that to Us," Auresae says,
holding Her arm to Her chest.
"No," Auresae snarls, "I will return the child to Aryanne when she makes proper recompense to -Me-."
***********************************************************************************
Quietly, Auresae says, "Are you quite done screaming?"
You have emoted: Rashar is moving already as he appears, and where his pacing is normally restless, energy-laden and harmless he now moves furiously, whipping back and forth as he stares at Auresae with a thunderous visage and trembling hands. "I will be finished when you return what you -stole-, Lady!" The last two words, spit almost venomously in his anger. "This is not what we do. This is not WHO WE ARE!"
"I stole nothing," Auresae says calmly, "The child was handed over to Me." She reaches up, idly
pushing Her hair over Her shoulder. "You are nothing to tell Me what I am and am not. I have been longer than you have been alive and I will continue long after you are dead." She pauses a moment, adding, "It is only because you are Hiale that you are granted this audience, Rashar."
You have emoted: "Lies!" Rashar hisses, turning to jab one finger violently in Auresae's direction.
"I could rip an innocent from their homes and have them -begging- me to take everything they own within half the span of an hour. Should that then be considered a gift?" Thud, thud, the man moves to approach Auresae without a care for his usual silence, his usual soft movements. "Who are You to take a child from a man? From a woman? You, who preach passion! FIRE! FOR WHAT? Because she left to be with him? Because she followed her -heart-?" The hand that lowers back down to his side shakes visibly, whether in fury or fear, some combination of the two, or simple nerves.
"You will calm down and speak with Me respectfully, Rashar Del'baeth, or you will lose," Auresae
says, slowly and carefully. "Now. Aryanne put the child in My arms. It was payment for her betrayal of Me. Did you know she was still sitting pretty in My Hiale as she asked permission to return to the Syssin?" She cocks her head to the side at you.
You have emoted: "I don't give a damn," Rashar rumbles, and though his voice is contained, it seems more of a natural winding down than anything intentional. "We do not take -babies- as payment for betrayal, Lady. Should I then begin a campaign to storm Spinesreach, stealing the child of every man or woman who has ever left? How malicious. How -petty-. I would expect that of Your sister, not You." And somewhere, somewhere buried under layer upon layer of anger and confusion, the truth - pain. His own, both for his brother and for the betrayal he feels from Auresae, to be so completely wrong in his expectations. "This is -wrong-," he hisses. "This is not fire. This is not passion. This is - sadistic-. Trager has fallen to shadow because his heart led him to betray the city - for Roux. For Yours. You but push him further. You push -HER- further, with this..." He doesn't even finish, but one emotion settles over his consciousness, for a moment drowning everything else beneath it. Disgust.
"I am a -Goddess-, Rashar," Auresae says more sharply, "And I will take what I please. I have the child and it will have a better life with Me than in darkness. Besides.." She stretches slightly,
looking terribly uncomfortably upon the bench which She sits. "I gave him a way to have the child returned and a little essence is not good enough for him."
A rippling sensation travels down your spine as the presence of another makes itself slowly apparent to you within the back of your mind. "Calm yourself," comes the voice, and for a moment the languid sounds of the roiling sea flood your conscience. "I will instruct you with one duty here: do not allow your emotions to take control." [For some reason this makes the Terminator music play in my head.]
You have emoted: "BRIBES?" Rashar roars out, helpless beneath the onslaught of a new wave of rage."You steal a man's child and command him to -work- for it?! Like a fucking dog, barking for tricks?" For a moment he is speechless, absolutely overwhelmed somewhere in the depths of whatever burns inside of him. His fist clenches, as if he might very well strike the Goddess before him, but something stays his hand - and the inevitable ruin such an act must bring. His eyes close, and for a long time there is only breathing, only a visible struggle for calm. "That child," he states in a still-menacing voice gone quiet, "May be the only thing capable of bringing -either- of them from the darkness, Lady. And not like this. -Not- like this. You are -wrong-, and more - You are going to create a war that Yours will not win. You will cause pain and slaughter because You think You have the right to decide what life a child lives."
"I am the Fire and Spark of life, Rashar," Auresae replies, "I -do- have the right to decide what
life a child lives. Your behavior is completely inappropriate; you lose track of Who and What I am. I have worried about your allegiances since your brother became a traitor, but opted to trust you. I begin to wonder now, when you fight to have a child returned to shadow instead of reared in the light."
You have emoted: "Bullshit," Rashar says, voice quiet now, pained. "If that is Your take, then speak the words. Command Your Hiale to begin a crusade to take every youth from every home in the north. Where does it end? Who is the judge of where capability begins and ends? Fitness? -Right-? The child should never have left his parents. You would not be -giving- a child to the shadow, but returning an infant to his mother. To his father." His bangs have fallen, dark strands of hair obscuring his vision in their never-ending quest for dominance. He reaches up, brushing them aside to reveal narrowed eyes full of misery, though still brimming with rage. "I have pledged You my service, Lady, and You have had it. You have had all of me that I can give - I have helped Yours. I have brought You new blood. I have fought Your enemies, and I have been met with accusation and Your disapproval, and yet still I endured - because I am a man of my word, and I have owed You a great debt. And because I -want- to serve. So do not, I beg of You, question -my- loyalty. There is more to every tale than the cover. My brother is a traitor and paid for it - but his intentions were founded in love for one of Yours, and I will not see him repaid in such a way by You."
"You will see what I choose for you to see," Auresae says, pushing Herself wearily up from the bench, "This is the punishment I bestow upon Aryanne for betraying My trust. Your crying and screaming will not have Me change My mind." She raises a finger to Her lips, thinking for a moment. "Well, you have in one thing," She says, "I had thought to give the child to you and Roux to raise. I suppose not."
You have emoted: Rashar takes a step back, shaking his head. "I will not stop him," he says coldly. "And no one else, within Your Hiale is capable. Certainly none that wake. Certainly not your Champion." His chin dips, eyes lowering to the floor as he loses himself within his thoughts. "I will not support this, Lady. If my service means so little to you, then so be it." Fingers clenching, the Yeleni casts another glance around before finishing, "Return my nephew to his parents, Lady, or you will find that the enemies You have garnered are more than Yours can handle." He ceases speaking, simply staring at Auresae.
"Mine. Threatening Me," Auresae says. She takes a step closer to you and it takes a moment before heat begins to pour from Her abnormally cold body. "-Mine-. Threatening -Me-," She near screeches, Her eyes widening, "I have allowed too much freedom for you and you have done nothing but disappoint Me, spend your time telling Me of your accomplishments which are none at all." Reaching up, She backhands you, the force enough to snap your neck to the side.
"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH," Slyphe roars, His hand snapping upwards to catch Auresae's mid-strike, only moments before it makes impact, His form bursting into sight through a violent gout of steam that spouts forth from above.
You have emoted: Rashar jerks, shifting to the side in a fruitless effort to dodge the blow. He
looks up at Auresae, and his face begins to twist into something very close to a sneer. "We shall
see," he rumbles, voice dripping now with bitterness. Spirals of shame and misery twist within him, churning up from the depths of his soul to cloak him beneath their heavy weight. "Accomplishments is it? You want accomplishments, my -Lady-?" He leans forward, rocking up onto his toes to hiss, "If I accomplish -nothing- else in this world, Lady Fire, it will be to ruin you. You will find that my statements are grounded in fact, not boast, and that the ridiculous whispers of Your favored are spoken from a well of jealousy and perceived threat."
"Stealing children?" Slyphe remarks, His unsubtle fury adding a bite to His words as they escape His lips. With a sneer of disgust, He drops Auresae's hand. "Sister, this is a low for You that I
wouldn't have ever imagined." With every exhalation of breath He makes, steam pushes upwards, rising from His skin to collect itself in wispy clouds upon the ceiling. "What of light nurturing? What of it illuminating the way for others to live better lives?"
"Fire -burns-," Auresae hisses to Her Brother, "It is hardly stealing when Aryanne handed the childover to Me. It was payment for her betrayal."
"Give Me the child," Slyphe almost bluntly demands from seemingly nowhere, His hands balling into fists at His sides. "You have no right to steal the right of free choice from -anybody-," He hisses. "Mortal or not."
"Take Your dog back, Brother. His loyalty to traitors is stronger than that to Us," Auresae says,
holding Her arm to Her chest.
"No," Auresae snarls, "I will return the child to Aryanne when she makes proper recompense to -Me-."
6
Comments
For my part, I loved it all from start to finish. Sort of upset with the way things turned out, but that's only because I didn't really want my fun times in fire land to be over.
I especially love this new (to me, and Rashar) side of Auresae, and if it had been shown in any other way I think he would have definitely gotten down with it. Alas.
Rashar's thoughts are the ones with the ----, because I don't know how to do color on here anymore. Where is it?!
<font color="color">words</font>Apparently frowned upon, in some circles.
Never figured I'd have seen @Auresae do something like that.
I remember, involve me and I
learn.
-Benjamin Franklin
Thought you all did great, and it's definitely fun to watch Auresae's story get all fired-up (I typed that not meaning to be punny, but now I'm keeping it) and involved when I'm not around
Well done to you three!
(Also, I'd suggest editing to just have the thoughts italicized if you don't want to deal with the coloring stuff, much easier to read than strike-though. I feel you've edited them out or something)
Thats why Aarbrok took three