Glass Spiders

[Rickter]

Glass Spiders

Searing 52, 122nd Year, A.o.S

It was the long night all over again. The endless cycle he relived over and over again in his mind, the bitter cold that night did not sting him anymore. Not til now. Not when he was forced to witness, yet again, the damnable act of love his dear prince always had to commit in the heat of the moment. Oh, Rickter took all the blame he could for it last time, he felt utterly and solely responsible for the situation it forced Talon within.

But when Talon acted just earlier... No. That didn't feel anything like love to Rickter. The wolf's gait met with him kicking at weeds and stalks as he found a grove he could hide away within. Right away he picked a tree to mind and then simply reached down to express his business, finding some small satisfaction in the relief nature's call brought as the sound of drizzle filled his ears. The air here smelt just as fresh as it ever did, with the cool moist kiss in the air, and that hint of fresh mountain humidity just above the ground.

"Yanno, it's pretty fucked up, Eikaen." He regarded with a minor sniffle of the air. "In fact it's kind of hypocritical of him. Oddly enough I see so much of you in that regard." He noted as he reflected on meeting the Dragon King, and the similar mannerisms that both He and His son shared. "He gives himself up so easy. He keeps us at his back because he loves us and wants to protect us." Finally the trickling had ceased and with a couple of firm shakes, the wolf's willy was back within his pants before long. "Well I recall a time when he'd advised me to trust in my allies. To believe in what they can do."

Looking up to the sky now he breathed heavily, the feelings inside boiled over to a point where he started to cry. "Fucking hypocrite!" He shouted above him before groaning to himself, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand, before turning to the tree his pissed on and slamming a fist into it. He felt a sharp pain crack straight into the middle, and yet, that pain felt far better than the insurmountable anger he currently possessed.

And so, with unrelenting fury, the wolf punched again, and again, and again, and again. No matter how many times he felt the skin of his knuckles break, no matter how many times he felt the joints throughout his hand pop, he would punch over and over again until finally... the punches were numb in his fingers.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

[Talon]

A O R E N

“What were you going to do?” The voice that carried out over the grass was a familiar one. A voice that was edge with fire and gravel. It had been used to speak to Rickter many times, in comfort, in whispers, in love and in anger. Looking in the direction of that voice, there stood an Avialae with raven black wings. He crested just over seven feet tall and had the strong build of a man accustomed to warfare, though his physique was somewhat diminished after months of imprisonment and poor nutrition. There was a gauntness to Aoren’s face. There beneath the shadow of a tree, the elemental fire that burned in his eyes as a result of his magic looked like hellfire ready to reduce everything around him to ash.

“Tell me, Rickter. Tell me, what exactly were you going to do?” He folded his arms over his chest and regarded the wolf coldly. Aoren was angry. No, he was beyond angry. There was a steel edge to his voice and a fury in his eyes that had seen entire swaths of Warren monstrosities reduced to mere cinders.

“Because I would really like to fucking know.” He narrowed his eyes. Aoren was…different. There were streaks down his cheeks, evidently he had been shedding tears as well. Around his neck there was a slightly reddened circle, the only remaining evidence of the collar that had been broken not but minutes ago. He continued to stare at Rickter from beneath the shadow of the tree, awaiting his answer.

[Rickter]

Glass Spiders

Searing 52, 122nd Year, A.o.S

He'd pumped his fists against the bark too many times for him to literally count, the only sure tell sign that was 'enough' was the bloodied fingers and knuckles that'd smeared the bark. Yet still, even at a much slower pace that still would elicit minor stings, Rickter's hands grew to finally just resting against the tree, before he simply hung his head up against the bark and allowed them to dangle. He could smell the Imperium on him still but underneath it, the fires that clung to Aoren were never a scent the wolf could ignore.

Yet he could not look.

He could not face Aoren, for he felt it undeserving of him. All he could do was quietly let the tears fall down, as he fathomed the extent of what Aoren asked twice now. What would you have done? "I..." Saving him was all he knew. Yet he never really ever figured out how. He just wanted to do it. Was that all that drove him forward? Had he really been that narrow-minded when he rushed to Gel'Grandal? He would've torn open the sky for them once, right? He would've gone over the edge if he knew it would've brought Talon and Aoren back. And yet still...

"I would've stood my fucking ground..." He growled bitterly as he focused on the throbbing aches in his hands, and barred down on the anger before he grew to heated once more. "I knew for certain we could've gotten you out when I found Telion and the contingency she rode to the Imperium with. It was only a question of finding you, and the means to set you free." He cursed himself for being so shortsighted in the long run, for not realizing the power Florian had up until the last moment. What had happened to the Lysanrin? He still wore the scent of the Aetherium as well...

Yet none of that mattered in the end. Because Rickter still froze, he still failed to deliver on what he swore to do. Even if he helped, or attempted, to try and set Aoren free... he still felt the bitterness of failure, rather than what should've been a fucking victory.

"I would've fought every last bastard that came after you two." The wolf finally leaned off from his prop, if only to rest his spine against the tree now. He had ideas. Ideas that probably turned him into a loose cannon. Ideas that would've only brought more concern for the ones that cared about him too. Ideally, Rickter realized he would've probably done the same exact thing if given the same chance. "I promised... Aoren... I promised..." He wanted to punch things more but even the clench of his fists hurt so much, as loosely as he could actually flex them now, and the wolf finally felt the cold rage within him seeping out to chill the air.

"I promised Eikean... I promised everyone..." Rickter hung his head as the streamlets of blood hardened into a red frost on his skin.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

[Talon]

A O R E N

“Stood your ground?” Aoren looked at Rickter incredulously, as though he could not believe what he was hearing. “Stood your ground?!”

“Is that what you would have done? By the gods, Rickter! This isn’t some ragtag group of bandits! We’re not dealing with some pompous over-inflated city-state in the North! This is the Imperium, Rickter! What the fuck did you think would happen when you went in there guns blazing, firing off powerful spells IN THE HEART OF THE FUCKING EMPIRE!?” Aoren was shouting by the end of his series of questions. The Kathar stomped forward and grabbed Rickter by the cuff of his shirt.

“So your plan was to throw yourself at the problem until it…until it what? Magically disappeared!? Are you fucking insane?” He gripped Rickter’s shirt tightly. “They have the backing of the entire Inquisition. That alone is enough to make Zaichaer and those idiot Reconciliators look like a fucking joke! The might of the Kathar Legion and the Imperial Legions immediately swarmed the area as soon as you pulled your stunt! What the hell were you going to do? Beat an entire army into submission!? Not even Talon was strong enough to break free of the empire! Even he couldn’t free us both through brute force and you, of all people, know what he is capable of!”

Aoren gripped Rickter’s shirt so tight he could have torn the cloth or choked Rickter. There was so much fury, hurt, fear, and longing in him he very well might have done it. The Kathar’s jaw tightened. The fire in his eyes became blurred as his eyes misted.

“I don’t give a shit what promises you made, Rickter. I did not spend six months in hell--” His voice cracked and he pounded a fist against the wolf’s chest. He crumpled barely managing to catch himself as he suddenly clung to Rickter as though his life depended on it.

“I did not spend six months in hell for you to throw yourself away trying to save us, you idiot!” He shook, both of his hands bunching in the cloth of Rickter’s shirt as he fought back sobs.

[Rickter]

Glass Spiders

Searing 52, 122nd Year, A.o.S

Rickter's jaw clenched as he stood there, listening, hating everything heard but somehow at the same time comprehending the levity behind it all. Mulling it over in his brain the wolf knew, just the gravity of how much he fucked up back there. Yet he didn't care in the moment because of his selfish ambitions, of his desire to do whatever he thought was necessary, but most importantly because of his selfish pride in defying whatever Vicis weaved before him.

Against the might of the Imperium he would've been nothing. Even with a full-scale unrelenting assault, he wouldn't have lasted, and for whatever reason that alone pissed Rickter off even more. What good was having power if he couldn't stop the world from taking his loved ones? What good was he when it seemed like he merely lashed out, at every turn, instead of living up to the ideals he so desperately clung to? There came the stop and Rickter felt the collar around his chest tighten, the suspender straps taught over his shoulders now as the wolf just accepted it. He could hear the anger in Aoren's tone, anger that he felt he deserved, anger that should indeed punish the wolf for the failures he created.

Yes. He thought magic would be the solution. He thought if he could become better at it, and better with it, then perhaps he could uphold the values he cherished most. The fact that even someone like Talon couldn't stand against their enemies, that alone dealt another blow to the crushed spirit the wolf possessed. Thus his sobs continued as he remained reluctant to share a stare with the Kathar, the strain on the fabric tightening around his neck even now, as the wolf didn't struggle or even budge against the man above him. But he could almost see it as well as he heard it, the pain and agony that his former Bondmate had. The torment that was his own after he'd endured months of gruesome hardship, just to one day be whisked away without a chance at saving the one you loved most.

Had that been Rickter's problem this whole time? Letting the emotions he felt drive him beyond reason? Beyond logic even? He literally jumped into a fucking hole in the sky, all because he believed that at the end of the road, he would still one day get to see his beloved pack together once more. Yet now... Now things were far worse than he'd intended. And yet, despite his mistakes, despite the tremendous failure Rickter felt; the shirt crinkled and caught within Aoren's clasp. The wolf's eyes finally lifted then, to gaze deep into Aoren's smoldering orbs, realizing yet again the value that these two brilliant souls still placed on him.

"And so Talon has to suffer again? For us?? Why, Aoren, tell me why? Why do our lives have to matter first, when it's the same situation in return?!" The wolf's fingers twitched before he finally brought his hands up, the frosted blood on them soon caked the Kathar's forearms. "I'd give anything to take all that suffering," He admitted with a firm crease in his brow, "I'd give everything if it meant seeing all of you together peacefully." His family. His friends. The entirety of his pack. All of it. If put on the spot he would've gladly walked down that road, and never given it a second thought because of how much he cared. By now the gashes on his hands trickled more, before freezing to over his numbed skin.

"I would do this and more." There was a cold fire burning in his eyes now, as the wolf's canines were slightly bare from how badly he clenched his jaw. "I would die a thousand times over if I had to." For all he knew he probably already had given the Legacy he bore. "Because no matter how much stock or value you put into it, you can't decide what the worth of my life is! Not when..." Not when everyone else was far more important. He had started to realize how pathetic he had started to sound, and outright insane he had been driven after all these months. He'd felt them both slip away between his fingers, twice now with Talon, and no matter how hard he held onto them; Rickter always felt them slip further and further away.

Was he truly going to be a victim of his own ideals? He didn't wish it but clearly, he had already started to pretend it was so. He thought himself done playing the victim here, done with tossing himself into danger without thinking of the repercussions. Even now as the pain in his heart continued to chill his bones once more, he venerated for something, anything, to put an end to the misery that was bred between him and Aoren.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

[Lyra]

"How touching." The words came softly in a lull in the conversation, followed by dark smoke that curled at their feet. Lyrielle had waited a time before trailing after the two, suspecting that what would unfold between them would be quite entertaining. She had been right.

The smoke flowed upward and formed into the slightly wispy form of Lyrielle herself, naked as the day she was born with black lines moving in twisting patterns on her skin. She examined the two with an ever-widening smile, leaning forward to fix one and then the other with her scarlet gold stare.

"If we are talking about the value of life, then perhaps I should weigh in." Her eyes locked on Rickter, "Is it true? You would give anything to take on his suffering?"

[Rickter]

Glass Spiders

Searing 52, 122nd Year, A.o.S

Who else but She would decide to slip in on perhaps the worst of his moments, for She was but the wind that carried all his fears now. Irony. He pondered Galetira's words before but now he believed he finally understood them. Who else but Lyra, in whatever form she approached, to be the one to see him at the lowest of his lows. She could undoubtedly tell the shaken core within his soul, his pride demolished as he struggled to stay afloat within his emotions.

At the surface he looked frustrated beyond exhaustion, when in truth, the wolf felt so at war with himself now. Because Lyra, of all people, wasn't one Rickter ever dared being vulnerable to. Even at the sight of her entrance his glazed eyes narrowed into a glare, his body in a shiver as he listened carefully to the words she spoke. Her? No offense but what did she know when it came to the value of a soul, last Rickter checked, he had seen two actual Gods bickering over his own. And then it hit him. He had actually died. That's how far this had driven him. That's how insane this hope had made him. Was he so truly desperate to the point where he needed Talon that much?

He questioned whether or not Lyra's terms implied something greater than what she offered, for nothing was so easy of a transaction as what the damnable Sorceress wanted. He wanted to grip Aoren's forearms tighter for security, yet his fingers failed to even budge as he shook there. He felt ready to drown now, ready to give into storm brewing inside his heart. He wouldn't though. Not in front of them. In a way he couldn't help but chuff before quietly breaking into a brief laugh, his averted eyes fixed directly on Lyrielle's golden eyes. "I recall telling you I'd tear a hole in the sky once. If that doesn't tell you how far I'd have gone for my family, then you don't know me very well at all."

His gaze went somber once more when he glanced at Aoren then averted his eyes. "If that 'anything' pertained to me, and me alone, then perhaps there might be something to consider. But, that does bring me to a point, you promised me something regardless for the help in setting up those wards at the Gobbler." He aptly reminded her with another firm look, his eyes narrowed on the Sorceress as he stilled his shoulders with a steady breath. "And to answer your question, I would, so long as it brought my pack back together." For he was the wolf that shoulder his packmate's burdens, the guardian desperate to be reunited with the whole family.

"I've already died once in hopes that I would see you both again," Rickter then looked to Aoren as he tried to hold back more tears, "what's a bit more pain before I can finally have you both back home." He did practically beat his knuckles to shit just now, but his feelings were honest and there for the both of them to see. He was a desperate man driven by a need, an unrelenting need, to restore what he had failed to keep together. Because he wasn't there to keep the pack from breaking, he felt as though he failed everything he believed in and stood for.

"So what is it you're so glibly interested in offering, Lyra?" The wolf's gaze flicked back to her, a suspective gaze fixed on the Lady as he waited to hear what she had to say.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."

[Lyra]

Lyrielle's smile grew, "Is it time to collect your blood money? I wondered when it would come, but you have such auspicious timing."

The smoke spread around them as the elf sat in the air, crossing her legs and leaning forward. Her eyes never left Rickter, studying his reactions and staring deeper still. His soul shivered like a man dying of frost, not quite broken but cracked. Though she could not hear the symphonies, the man's expressions were enough. She would have felt delighted were that part of her still present.

"For one who claims the desire to bring his pack together, you seem so intent on tearing it apart. Will you go running into danger again? Will the girl you say you love become a widow and your children grow up fatherless?" Her smile showed teeth, "But the pack only matters when someone else comes between you and them. That is not a pack, those are possessions to be picked up and thrown away at your convenience."

She let the words settle in the air, floating higher and stretching out to lounge on her side. Idling moving a hand Lyrielle formed figures in the smoke. One was vaguely aviale shaped, with chains around its body. The other was a series of 2 human figures and two more miniature figures.

"I left a fragment behind." Lyrielle said, "It will seek out Be'melar soon. Tell me Rickter, if you are forced to choose, would you choose your pack, or would you abandon them and do whatever it takes to save your precious bond mate?"

As she said the words her eyes flicked to Aoren, judging both of their reactions with eyes glowing with interest.

[Talon]

A O R E N

Aoren looked at Lyra. He took in her form and bearing. He did not possess Semblance like his husband but he had learned how to read people. He had learned how to read predators. Lyra was a predator. There was no getting around it. She was always there when someone needed a convenient service. She was always a whisper in the back of the mind. She had a solution for nearly everything. She wielded power as easily as breathing. He knew that both Talon and Rickter gave her counsel great weight. It was unwise to ignore the advice of someone so ancient and powerful.

But Aoren had never been comfortable around her. Not since that day atop the Circle of Wandering. Not since he had seen her through Talon’s eyes. Lyra was powerful but she was a person who, above all, served her own interests. That she would present herself during a moment of such extreme vulnerability was not a mistake.

Lyra didn’t make mistakes.

“Rickter…” Aoren almost stumbled over the wolf’s name. He could see this road. He had seen it before. He had seen it nearly consume Talon. No, it had consumed Talon. He looked at Rickter, bringing his hands up to the wolf’s face. He pressed their brows together but then he drew back. He dropped his hands and stepped back.

“You have a choice to make.” The raven winged Kathar stared at Rickter, expression unreadable. “I hope it leads you to happiness.”

Aoren looked to Lyra. He said nothing more but he offered her a stiff nod of his head. He did not trust her. He never trusted her. But he did respect her. He turned then and began walking out of the clearing. He had to get to the palace. He had to start planning. He had a lot of work to do.

[Rickter]

Glass Spiders

Searing 52, 122nd Year, A.o.S

Her reference to blood money nearly made him scoff, though he couldn't help but ponder the mention of timing. Was it because he was so desperate now? So driven to an extreme that he almost couldn't think yet again? He already wanted to lash out just by seeing Lyra, but a good whiff through the nose reminded him of who he was dealing with. The scent of ripened fruit was far stronger than before, nevertheless, the wolf cared little to differentiate between the variations of her he had met. Even now he felt her gaze staring at him, maybe even through him like Others had done. He hated it.

He despised being so vulnerable to these beings, because he knew that they too would know. What a sad and broken man he truly was, because nature yet again overpowered logic. No matter how critical his impulses came, he knew after he returned from Dragon King's domain, that his biggest fault was the heart on his sleeve. It always guided him, it always dictated him, and here he was now ready to fall apart. "That's a lie!!" He quickly detested with a bitter scowl, his face reddening as he glared at Lyrielle's harsh words. He would never have done anything to tear his family apart! They mattered to him! They were all he had in this world, the only good thing he had gained over the years!

Every last one of them was special to Rickter, and every last one had their special place within his pack. Everything he had ever done, everything he ever does, has only been for those he deemed worthy as his pack. Yet he failed to protect them all. Then he started to lose them all. One by one. Talon and Aoren were the first taken, then his beloved and their children left in a safe place alone, not to mention Hannah who used to think the world of everyone. All this acting against one another, all this putting others to the side in hopes that they could protect their loved ones...

The pack was failing because Rickter kept failing. He hated to admit it but it's all he could see now, and Lyra's words only continued to seep deeper and deeper inside. Would he run into danger again? But he always did. Even in his earlier days with Telion and Talon, any sign of danger led him to immediately place himself between them. When had that become such a terrible thing? Probably when the questions Lyrielle asked struck a little too close to home. They technically were. Had he not come back but moved on instead... They wouldn't have ever learned what he did. His children wouldn't hear the stories he had to tell, nor would his beloved be just that any longer.

He had a real family and yet, for whatever reason, his heart felt as though it weren't enough. Why? Why did it have to ache so much? Just from the sheer pain of the emotion, the ice on his skin accumulated even more, as the wolf's loose grasp slipped around from Aoren's forearms once more. His hands were hurting again, but that pain soon went numb as he felt the rest of his heartache roil through him. He never once thought of his feelings as obsessions, nor did it register even once that his emotions made it seem so. He loved them all. Was it so wrong to want all of them together? Was he in the wrong for making promises he should've known better to keep?

Seeing the figures of smoke Lyrielle made caused the wolf's focus to shift, the color in his face receding as he looked hopelessly torn at the question posed to him. He couldn't choose. Yet he had done nothing but chose. To him, it was just driven nature until now, and it was all hitting him at once. "I..." His eyes faltered onto Aoren as he heard Lyra speak of the impossible choice, as though Rickter even felt it were a choice to begin with. There was such weighted horror in his eyes as tears streamed from his eyes, the Kathar taking his face by the hands as he stumbled the wolf's very name. Aoren, please!... I can't make this decision. I can't! The wolf's eyes closed when he felt their brows press for a moment, the warmth between them only present in the physical sense before their connection separated. It wasn't enough...

"Aoren..." He murmured as the man pulled back to begin his leave, and bade Rickter the only thing left he had to say. Rickter's breaths went deep and brisk, almost a near whine were he actually in canine form at the moment. The air steadily grew colder around the wolf as he averted his gaze, his eyes practically squeezed shut as he resisted the urge to let out another maddened scream. This was all very wrong. "You can't make me choose..." He finally murmured without looking to Lyrielle. "Talon is part of this fuckin family too... You can't make me choose...."

Not when he fought so damn hard to keep it together, not when he believed everything he was doing was meant to be for them. But in the end, was it really? He thought that by leaving his pack behind, within the borders of Kalzasi, they would all remain safe and await for his return or something. Instead he only tore them further apart, forced Hannah's hand in tailing him to a city that hated him for what he was entirely, and even so much as sent her off expecting her to return to the pack when he attempted his suicidal quest. He'd literally divided every member of his pack just by leaving them, and what was worse, there were now those he still cared for left behind as well.

All because his god damn instincts overwhelmed him. All because fear drove him to such extremes. "Why does it have to be between them, Lyra? How am I suppose to choose when they all fucking matter?!" Frost particles formed on the foliage around him now, he felt himself slipping further and further off that edge as he struggled to answer. He couldn't justify his beliefs because of his actions, and he couldn't guarantee his honor because his pride was broken. He had made promises most dear to him. Promises that he only intended to keep.

Yet somehow, one by one it seemed as they were all slowly breaking.

"Common" "Synskrit" "Norvaegan"
"Rickter" "Telion" "Hannah"

"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."