Redtail Rise ms. found in a bottle
899 Posts
Ooc — mercury
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#1
All Welcome 
backdated and referencing this

the howl is not a welcome one to her ears.

she comes down from the rendezvous, down through the hills like a summer storm cloud, hackles raised and fur cresting along her spine. 

it had been Typhon, the newcomer, signaling his departure. and without even a word to her!

she herself calls for @Prophet, the addressee of that farewell. he'd been the one to recruit the man, she knew, but Avicus isn't sure if he's anything to do with his withdrawal as well. her eyes snap along the horizon, looking for the erstwhile Blod.

but he'd been gray as a rock; he might have been any one of the boulders dotting the plains.
but see, amid the mimic rout,
a crawling shape intrude —
a blood-red thing that writhes from out
the scenic solitude
298 Posts
Ooc — siv
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#2
If the call had not been welcomed to Avicus' ears, them it sharply pierced the very soul of Prophet.

He was an undesirable disaster upon the call. Dismissing anything in his path with a hard stare and bullheaded snort. He moved on a mission, prickled into a disastrous sight.

Except Avicus called.

And his blood boiled further. Not enraged with her or her summoning — she had every right for it — but simply enraged with the entire circumstance. To be given the title of brother in the admission of betrayal!

He stormed in a flurry to her side. The frustration of it all rolled off of him in heavy waves.

He calls me brother but — He bit his tongue, head jutted to turn out in a sidelong look over the rise. If he had proper hands he might have waved one to wipe away every notion of the possibility of brotherhood between the men now.

Do you know why?

His gaze softens, ever so slightly, as he looks at her. The curves of her hips. It would do nobody any good to be so stressed in her presence, would it?
899 Posts
Ooc — mercury
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#3
nothing will ever be the same between them since their joining, and his comfort over Merrick's death. he is indelibly bonded to her, and his frustration flows through her veins via some kind of fiery osmosis.

no, she says, voice clipped. buh' @Ratio call ouh' af'her he leff'.

she gives a howl to the man in question, preparing for an interrogation. Typhon had just arrived; what had happened to make him leave, so?

others had vanished with no word. Tulimaq's hunting buddy. . . and of course, there was the woman, murdered in the bog. this, though, this—this is an explicit betrayal.

she paces in circles while waiting for her warrior to arrive, jaws clenched tight.
but see, amid the mimic rout,
a crawling shape intrude —
a blood-red thing that writhes from out
the scenic solitude
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#4
ooc; Hoping in front of Prophet, hope that's okay!

When the call comes, Ratio is still on the border. His eyes are dark, his body tensed and hackles slightly raised -  he feels both justified and prepared for the punishment of his actions. He comes to his Wealda and sees as he arrives that his Berserkr is there, as well. He greets them both with a nod but to neither is he particularly warm, stoic and braced against whatever may come next.

There is no other reason for him to have been called and Prophet's presence washes away any possible doubt. He stands in careful neutrality and before they can ask, he offers - "I made him leave." That wasn't entirely the truth but he pauses before continuing, eyes flicking between his two leaders. He feels no anxiety, at least not yet. "I spoke to him about something and he grew irritaional, erratic. Unstable."
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Ooc — siv
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#5
Try as he might to temper a raging storm, he could feel the bloom of a headache from it all.

Had he been too soft? Too welcoming? Too desperate for bodies to provide for future ones?

While Avicus paced, he set his sights on the horizon with a hard glare. Ratio cutting into view and even now he found himself unable to soften any. Especially with the man's direct words.

What did you speak of? What do you mean unstable?

He remained unwavering, stiff and drenched in a chained anger.

Typhon. Unstable.

He struggled to connect the two.
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Ooc — mercury
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#6
Prophet has words. she does not. she hates to speak, stumbling and spitting as she does. she is grateful for her Berserkr in this moment, and stands quietly by his side, dressing down Ratio with eyes the approximate temperature of January ice.

unstable. irrational. erratic.

the description reminds her of Merrick, and Aventus, and it gives her pause. she does not want a fanatic in her midst. there is no room for religion or superstition; they are grounded to the earth and to their own, and loyalty to her should supersede loyalty to any god.
but see, amid the mimic rout,
a crawling shape intrude —
a blood-red thing that writhes from out
the scenic solitude
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#7
He stands firmly but his eyes fall to the ground as they look at him. He still believes he was right. He is not keen on the repercussions of his actions but he thinks, even as his ears fold and he drops his head in submission, that he was right. He had to be right. 

"He asked me to explain our ranks. When I did, he grew suddenly angry. He seemed...unstable." he repeated, "It was like I had said something to trigger him. It was only the way the Rise works, the purpose of you both and Tulimaq - the leader, hunter and fighter. He seemed hostile and...upset...by this information." Ratio did not misremember, even as he still felt his own anger toward the man for his strange behavior. He had been upset - there was more than simple rage.

"He dismissed himself and tried to leave but the change was so fast, so volatile. It didn't make sense - I did not want him loose in the territory. I thought he could pose a threat if...if he were violent." Ratio did look up, then, at Prophet. "He said he wanted to find you. I demanded to accompany him. He refused and said if I insisted, he would leave the Rise."

His eyes dropped again.

"So I accompanied him to the border, instead."
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#8
His lids grew heavy with a narrow look of frustration, eyes casting away from the Bitan back out to the rise.

None of it made sense...like he was missing some crucial detail. Questions that couldn't be solved without those details.

Why would Ratio lie? Surely he wouldn't.

Why would Typhon suddenly leave? Surely he had reason.

I should find him. Whether it is to truly brand him an exile or...sort this matter. He sighed, shoulders tense with the weight of it. But he looked to Avicus with a waiting gaze.

If she did not wish him to go, he would not go.
899 Posts
Ooc — mercury
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#9
okay, perhaps not Merrick's brand of insanity, but something more abstract. the whole scenario is strange. she watches Ratio with a puzzled, perturbed stare before turning to Prophet upon his glance.

go, Avicus says shortly. he has the relationship with the man; he is probably the only one to fix this mess (if, indeed, it can be fixed). 

whether or not the Berserkr leaves straight away, she brings her midnight gaze to Ratio again. you didh no wrong, she continues, with as much conviction as she can muster—which isn't much, but it cannot be turned back now. we canna' have madnehh' here.

it's an echo of the words she had given Prophet, but they ring true all the same. 

we will find more, she sighs heavily, and turns away, heading back toward the rendezvous. she is tired down to her bones, and her paws drag.
but see, amid the mimic rout,
a crawling shape intrude —
a blood-red thing that writhes from out
the scenic solitude
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#10
Avicus tells him that he is free of wrongdoing. It is a relief to find no punishment coming for him but he isn't fully comforted. He looks at Prophet, remorseful not because of his actions but for whatever problems it may cause his Berserkr.

He nods his head to his Wealda, more of a submissive bow than anything else. He turns to leave then. If they don't call him back, he will return to the border and continue his patrol with his head low and his eyes dark.
298 Posts
Ooc — siv
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#11
last from me <3

He would not hesitate, once the green light had been given to him. He would take off at a quick pace to make up for the lack of time on his side.

How he wished for this all to be smoothed over.