Posts by ASTRALPLANE

When it came to the hellhound Astral became synonymous with Wanderlust. She'd travelled after leaving her mother and siblings, and that had continued until she was called by her father and reached the BHR. As soon as she'd arrived she'd made it her priority to explore the territory until she knew every nook and cranny, but that had been months ago. Since then, the girl had focused on moving around their neighbouring territories - she'd already trespassed around most of their enemies, and after that came their scarce number of allies. All that remained were some of the neutrals, though she was happy to leave that to fate for the time being.

Still, even with all that she'd seen, the girl wouldn't pass up on an opportunity to find more. Anything might have changed in the territory, and it was her personal mission to find that tiny little detail that others would overlook. It was rare, but not unusual that Astral would pass by the community garden; it was beautiful and besides, she loved the attention Osric had given the place. What made her visit better this time was the sight of the familiar figure, her maw taking on a wide grin as she made a beeline for the cloud-femme.

"hey, d'you need help?" she hummed, peering at what the feline seemed to be doing. Her own forte was the fire element, but she could help out manually if needed.

-- ooc: -- i'm so sorry about the wait!

As was obvious from her appearance, the same couldn't be said for Astral. Either it was just bad luck that had landed her with a sadistic opponent or they'd been trying to send a message, or both. Whatever their intentions had been, when physical attacks hadn't worked as intended the girl had been shut in here and left, sustained only with the bare minimum of food and occasional visits to 'check up' on how she was doing. Since it had only been a few days so far she didn't feel too bad yet, but it was stifling. She hoped she'd be able to get out one way or another before too much time passed.

She huffed in answer to Fourth's comments, rolling her eyes dramatically as she gestured at her ear. "'course I'm not- could be worse though. have you seen this? at least they could do more than a half-assed job if they're going to waste my time in here." She wouldn't mention that wasting her time was exactly what had worked for them. It gave time for the boredom, fear and insecurities to fester, something that Astral spent the majority of her days hoping to prevent. From a better perspective though, it gave her an opportunity to really think about what her aims were: what hadn't she seen yet? what did she want to experience? A bucket list of sorts.

When looking at her dad though, she was surprised at how great he looked. He didn't look like someone who had been captured, instead it looked like a hostage of honour kind of situation. He couldn't leave, but he wasn't treated as a target either. "un, why are y'here? who got you?" did they overpower him?

'Getting myself purposely lost' was an interesting way to put it, but the meaning behind it called to her like nothing else. Her tail began its usual dance as she slapped her paw down and grinned, "yes? I dunno if I can get lost around here, but I'll do my best." Now all that was left was a direction, which she'd leave up to the other femme. Maybe there was a certain place she hadn't seen yet, or somewhere she'd heard rumours about. "uh, where do we start?"

-- no, it helped that it was in her plotting thread

Upon receiving note, her initial reaction was confusion. What is it a trick? A joke? Some kind of event she'd missed? She'd participated in a letter exchange before though it hadn't gone far, so was it that kind of thing? After all, the wolf could simply knock on her door to meet her anytime. She supposed this was the easiest way to catch her if she'd been out travelling, but it still struck her to be different from any of their other interactions. Of course she didn't have anything against it- this was Kayn. She'd simply chalk it down to a quirk and be done with stressing over it.

That decision made the girl had disappeared back into her room, grabbing her favourite orange scarf and wrapping it loosely around herself. She then turned to a package that had been lying in a corner of her room since receiving it. It was the one she'd been given from the Cartel - an umbrella with a rapier on the inside, though the umbrella had been her main concern when she'd ordered the product. After receiving the package she hadn't touched it, however now seemed as good a time as any for its debut and maybe Kayn had some knowledge or experience with using swords. Even though the umbrella itself was more important.

After ensuring that the prized necklace was firmly secured beneath her scarf, she made her way through the castle with the umbrella towards the set place. "hey~ what did y' need? everything alright?" she called out in an upbeat voice when she spotted the form of the wolf hunched over the water. Seeing his state and the deal with the letter it couldn't be helped when she felt the faint prick of worry strike her, the conversation from the last time they'd been alone echoing in her mind but she pushed it down for the time being. There was no need to pull up useless feelings when she still hadn't even heard his answer; maybe the male wanted to go explore or go infiltrate a group. Or maybe it was Fourth's birthday with a surprise party in mind. Which, now that she thought of it, was something she should know as his daughter. well.

Astral's gaze refocused on the male, leaning the umbrella against herself as she reached him and sat down on the lakeside. Kayn. Her friend, comrade, subordinate, ally, partner. Out of all of those it was ally that struck her as significant: he was someone she believed would always stand by her side, physically or otherwise. He would never betray her, or so she would believe. Her feelings transcended the Rogues and transcended family; at the very least, they were different from either of those. She didn't want to restrict herself by putting a name to the feeling and so she remained silent, but the pull towards the lupine was undeniable whether it would turn out to be temporary or immortal. With those emotions swirling the hellhound tilted her head towards Kayn with a light smile, her eyes clear as she wondered what he needed.

-- oof, I needed to think about what her reaction will be XD

She was back, wasn't she. Astral looked around the familiar castle, feeling an uncomfortable lump form in her throat. ah she felt sick. She didn't want to be here, yet at the same time, she would do anything to stay. It was a whole surge of emotions that clouded her mind; she was desperate, hurt, dejected, helpless. Then there was the fear, guilt and resentment that attacked her mind, fighting against the optimism that rose up naturally from the depths of her soul. Fear over having her pain continue, guilt towards her home and anger towards both sides. Anger that they hadn't saved her, frustration at her family and resentment at herself for feeling any of it - this wasn't supposed to be her. In the end it was a battle between genuine terror and forced optimism, all it would take was chance to have one win over the other.

The girl shuddered and leaned against the form of the wolf supporting her, fixing her gaze on him and then purposely averting it. That there was another issue. She pushed away from the physical contact which sent pain down to her marrow, moving away to find a safe space in the empty courtyard. It was a conflicting movement, her heart reaching out to the male while her trauma pushed him away. She would have thought that he'd be the one being she could hold close to, but perhaps that was the whole issue in itself, it was already a miracle that she'd been able to handle his presence until this point. Now that they were back home she'd let her heart settle before talking things through with her life's ally.

"thanks," she hummed to avoid any awkwardness from literally shoving the lupine away and pulled up the default smile to soften the blow. Maybe he'd get her silent apology, she'd hold onto her scraps of optimism and hope so. "uh, so anyone still around? or could y' guys not handle things without me," she joked with a half-flat tone, turning her attention to the surroundings. Or, on the other hand, was Kayn the only one left? Had these few weeks been enough to find a whole new repertoire of members? Had she returned to a home of strangers?

-- ooc: -- she's back! apologies for any inconsistencies, my muse won over sleep ^^

Kayn