Posts by RAELIANA

Raeliana was pretty sure she didn't have a pollen allergy of any kind, so it might've been the humidity irritating her nose somehow, the woman trying to wrinkle it as though to shake away the oncoming sneeze she felt creeping up on her, causing more frustration to rise when the knight realized that she was currently stuck between the need to sneeze and the possibility of it going away. Yeah, that was probably the downside of this new environment. That felt awful, a few petals from whatever flowers she had scrounged up shaking as Raeliana fought this difficult internal battle with seemingly no end in sight.

After what seemed like an eternity to the Solarian, her head dipped low to the ground as she sneezed, scattering whatever flowers she had gathered, unfortunately, but failing to realize the ball that had slowly been crystallizing behind her, as it finally shot forward, clipping Rae's ear before it made a loop around one of the jungle trees and heading in the complete opposite direction it had been launched, seeking a new target, and hitting Freya square in the face.

//permission to powerplay given by FREYA RHOSYN

Realization shifted to horror as soon as the kitsune put two and two together, a familiar purple crystallization hovering near Freya, who seemed to have wrestled control of the object from Raeliana, not that the woman had any objections to it. She was faintly aware that if she tried to take it back, that there were more potential victims dotting the clearing now.

Her childhood dream had been to have some amazingly powerful elementals, and recently, that dream had come to, something Raeliana had found to be more of a curse than a blessing. She couldn't even hit a target right in front of her properly with them, no, her previous theory was that they targeted whoever could make her life most miserable if they wanted. Sangria, and now Freya.

Her new theory was that her own elementals hated her so much they were looking to get her head removed from her body. Still, the idea of groveling for forgiveness caused a certain memory to surface from long ago, one that immediately turned her away from such an idea. She'd always been quick with her words, had to be. "Not dodgeball, I swear. Just don't have too much control over them. Didn't even realized I did anything." Her tone was a bit sheepish as she spoke. "Sorry."

Raeliana wasn’t too sure whether she truly believed in the god that the rest of the kingdom worshipped. If anything, if gods were real, they tended to mind their own business from the looks of it, so sometimes she wondered if their reverence was really just unconscious fear on people’s part. Either way, the day Helios threatens to smite them all is the day that Raeliana was a true and devout believer, because she was more than happy to swallow her pride if it meant not being reduced to dust. In the end, everybody had their own relationship with gods, and there was no real reason to try and police it.

The joiner caught the woman’s attention, ears pricking a s she caught sight of the younger boy. “What’re you doing here? A visitor or joiner or what?” Her tone was airy, that level of carefreeness clear in her posture as she approached.

“I can just... sleep through it, right?” The student, the only real one left, notably, called from where she’d been sprawled in the hut. She’d been tired, lately, with the emissary work and traveling in between the two groups every few days taking a toll on her. She was growing into her roles quite wonderfully, really, if one excused the procrastination she displayed.

“Hm?” It had taken a good moment or two to recognize the face, the name solidifying his identity in her mind, two names sticking out in particular. Asimov and Arcanium. Both for different reasons. The Asimov family in general she hadn’t gotten a real feel of outside of her interactions with them in the cartel, amethyst gaze studying the child quietly. What was she supposed to say? ‘Hey, it’s your cousin from your dad’s trial’ didn’t sound quite right for a greeting. More of the perfect way to pick a fight.

“Stress?” If she’d been aware that the clan that had housed her from the very people she’d been tortured by were now in a ceasefire, needless to say, that cheerfulness would definitely become strained, perhaps even fall away. The Ruins has scarred her and caused irreparable damage in so many ways, so to hear that the clan where most of the family she now felt a growing responsibility for was in a ceasefire? She understood she wasn’t that important in the scheme of things, Raeliana wasn’t idiotic enough to think or say otherwise, but it would still sting, rubbing salt in wounds that were not quite closed. Stuff like that still cut deep even if there was nothing she could do about it.

The knight had been lazily trailing behind Sangria, curiosity rather than worry having led her to follow, and it seemed her instincts were right. This was an entertaining request. Raeliana could be heard cracking up behind the queen, ducking her head a bit as laughter bubbled out of her. "Sorry... sorry... but this is probably going to be the best thing I've heard all day. Asking for water from a desert kingdom." The woman finally managed, still laughing a bit as she tried to compose herself, struggling to keep her lips from quirking up too much. It probably was a dire situation, but the question itself with said to somebody who had absolutely no context on the situation would probably think it was ridiculous. "It was getting a bit too boring around here. Like she said, we do."

She'd forgotten how spooky the Veil could be, as the sun was blocked out by the trees that towered over her, the sunlight soon replaced by the eerie glow of mushrooms, as Raeliana stumbled towards the border, almost dumping the contents of the basket right onto the ground. That would be a real shame if that had happened, if Raeliana hadn't been raised with the knowledge of the five second rule when it came to food. But then again, showing up with crumbs on her face and a half-assed excuse of why there were no gifts might not go over well.

The Arcanium came to a stop at the border, head tilting in curiosity as she finally had the time to inspect the real reason that she had chosen the Veil in the first place: the glowing flora. Was it to ward predators off? That didn't make too much sense, considering how they were the only real things that one could really see too clearly in some areas. Maybe some sort of symbiotic relationship between the fungi and something else... but more importantly, were they poisonous? That was the real question Raeliana held as she drew closer to one of the larger mushrooms.

She'd put it off for the longest time, really, the hesitance in her paws uncharacteristic of the usually overconfident woman as she reached for the knot behind her head. It had been tied so that it came apart with one pull, really, a pull she'd been putting off for awhile now, as she sat in the medicine hut, alone for the time being, staring into the mirror with gritted teeth.

Raeliana had never really found decisions hard to make. Sure, she made them too fast and things went awry, but eventually her decisions were usually right, or things turned out relatively okay in the end, so the fact that every time she'd steeled herself to make this decision and never went through with it was frustrating yet terrifying.

She took a deep breath, and pulled at the end of the bandage.

Two distinct scars, far more obvious than the ones covered up by her scarf, lined her face, dangerously close to her left eye, a paw reaching up to feel at the one underneath her eye, trying not to flinch when she felt cold skin instead of fur. Had her skin always been that cold?

I hate them. I hate them all. The voice of a child, oh so familiar to Raeliana, rang through her head, a memory of a smaller beige kitsune with a nose stuffed with cotton, in a very different looking hut from this one, but still one with the smell of herbs and the faintest tinge of blood in it. A far gloomier and little shit of a child, too. The expression she held now as she looked in the mirror was more serious than usual, remarkably close to the one she'd had as a kid. Yes, these scars were reminders of everything she'd absolutely loathed as a kid, of the ideals and misconceptions people seemed to cling onto all around her. It seemed that was still the case, she thought with a sigh, the anger bubbling up with her having been dampened by sadness. What she would give so that Eva understood that same-

Uh-huh. And what can you do about it, Raeliana? You're just some dumbass kid who gives everybody the stink eye. The most you can do is look back on it as a reminder of why you hate it so much, and remember it before you do the same thing as everybody else you bash. Don't make more work for me by going out and stirring up shit again, you hear?

She had given that person the stink-eye then, too, when they'd said that, Raeliana recalled as her paw moved from the scar to the spot where her nose was still slightly crooked, indiscernible for the most part, but still there. But she hadn't caused more work for them that time, besides the complaints from those three about the stench of rotting meat that they just couldn't get rid of. Raeliana had been called aside then by that irritated medic, asking if that had been her doing, Raeliana's own attempts to claim innocence only confirming the grumpy woman's suspicions. But she hadn't been ratted out.

She suddenly felt like that dumbass kid in the medics den once again as she toyed with thoughts of vengeance, realizing the futility of the situation when she'd considered it. It was just like before. It would satisfy her and her need for pettiness for a short time, but it would be too much work to deal with the aftermath. She'd been a victim once again of the very thing she'd hated, and there was nothing more she could do about it.

"Hey, bullying your poor overworked knight isn't nice." Raeliana grumbled from the front, a half-hearted glare directed the serval's way, but said nothing more.

"You know, there's a bunch of theories on why it's so hard to tell normal fungi from poisonous ones. One of them is that instead of their poison being used as a defense, it's used to feed it's host." She'd shrug, turning her attention to the two who had shown up and offering a quick wave to the little bear, spotting another figure close behind them. The group's hopes that she had simply been planning on looking were probably going to be dashed one of these visits when she showed up already chewing on one, but she said nothing on it for now. Though Cade had little to worry about when it came to explaining to Sangria what had happened if she was returned poisoned. The queen was well aware of the healinghand student's tendencies and that whether accidental or not, the eccentric Arcanium was likely enjoying every moment of it and taking notes for how best to use it on others. She'd give a shrug at the warnings. "I'm one of the healinghand students. Trying out poisons is my specialty. The medicine guild knows not to touch any bottles of my stuff there, let alone if it was glowing." Her tone was airy enough, dispelling the heaviness that should come with such a statement as she grinned at the Veilers who had arrived. "Raeliana, your new ambassador then. Pleased to meet you all." She'd pause as Cade spoke up, listening to his words with her head slightly tilted, before she'd continue, nodding. "In good enough spirits to bully her hardworking knight over here. You gotta tell her for me that she needs to ease up, then, in that case. She might listen to an outside opinion instead of little old me." In all seriousness, Sangria had noticeably perked up now that Junebug was back, but there was still a strange air hanging over the queen. She'd avoided pulling the pin on whatever that grenade was, because Raeliana could sense that it was indeed going to be a big explosion when it went off. In the meantime, the most she could probably get from this visit is some raised eyebrows from Sangria if Cade did go to her with Rae's complaints.

"If you coated them in a strong hallucinogenic or a paralytic, I'd argue that you could probably use those in a fight." A voice piped up, ever helpful with her suggestions of poison as the kitsune popped up. "Or cone snail poison. Doubt you could acquire that here. Ricin would also work wonderfully with how little you need..." Raeliana kept mumbling to herself, trailing off as she considered the options while looking at the needles. Despite being a healinghand student, she was far more interested in the study of poisons. She was far less interested in the healing aspect, and only really pursued it because medicine could also be a poison, and vice versa. That, and she had a natural aptitude for the subject. Raeliana wanted to be lazy in all things, including her studies, so it only made sense she focused on what she excelled at, and only recently had tried learning to master her earth elementals.

Her head tilts as she listens to the stranger, noticing somebody offering him a poncho and water. "We do have a medicine guild. Pretty great one since I'm in it." Lies, lies were all that came from her lips, but reassuring ones to certain individuals who didn't know any better nonetheless.

She spotted June out of the corner of her eye, her mood turning sour when she realized who was going to be the one trying to drag him back to the guild. "Hey, dumbass. What part of bedrest did you not understand? I'll tell Sangria." She was more than willing to rat him out to his girlfriend if this kept up. Raeliana was well-aware of the younger male's tendencies to ignore the whole 'stay in bed' thing, especially since she'd been sent out after him a couple times. It would almost be worth being promoted to full healinghand to not have to do the grunt work of chasing after wayward patients anymore.

“A bit like praying to Helios or Nalaren or whatever stabby murder god the Ruins worship, something like that?” Raeliana asked, looking over at the child that had recently joined them, shrugging. “There are some people that believe words hold power. Dunno if it’s true or not, but it still is interesting to see.” seemed like whatever he was chanting was a mouthful, but Raeliana had always stayed far away from insulting those who were devout, except for maybe the Ruins. Sometimes it was the believers of Nalaren or some other local gods that sheltered her and her siblings, and she wasn’t rude enough to step on toes of the people who were feeding and sheltering them by arguing on beliefs. It hadn’t killed her to either step out or join them in prayers if requested then. Either way, there was always something melodic and entrancing about the ways people worshipped those invisible entities, kinda like how Romani’s words now. “Stuff like this always gives off an aura, at least to me.”

Raeliana had approached quietly, the healer seeing she wasn’t needed here, but she couldn’t help taking a look at the kits for a bit longer than a curious onlooker should, an unreadable emotion flirting across her face. Pity. Sadness. Hatred. A feeling of kinship towards these children who had been born in less than ideal circumstances, with things out of their control following them for the rest of their lives. Just like Rae and her siblings had. Hopefully they’d be able to be able to break free of that hardship, like she had, and ideally with less mental scarring than her. Her gaze turned to Carmenere, the image of a black kitsune she’d never met replacing the serval for a moment in her mind, before she turned away, seeming to for once have no harsh words for the fallen king who, just for a second, resembled her own mother. I wonder if these kids realize the world of pain they’ve been brought in. Or if their parents even care about the weight now on their shoulders.

“Solaris will arrange for a wet nurse for them.” Somebody who would give more than sustenance, if Raeliana had her way. The loving touch that every child needed. Her eyes narrowed a bit, but said nothing more in terms of that. “You know where the medics are if there’s an emergency.” With that, she’d duck out of the room, searching for a distraction.

She'd gotten distracted by the glowing mushrooms, by the strange flora that the Veil had offered and beyond. That had been her mistake, the sight of sand having not fully registered as that place, that cursed place, until the scent was clear.

One thought ran through her head at the moment as she gazed upon the boy brandishing the blade, pointed at her, that look of contempt morphing into the one she saw on Eva's face-

Smile and lie if you don't want to die.

Despite the terror she felt, she managed a strained smile, steadying shaking paws. "Calm down, calm down. I'm just a messenger. There's a note that Sangria wanted me to pass on concerning the Ruins and a potential ceasefire-" Was the lie good enough? It had to be, if she didn't want a blade buried in her throat. She would move her paw towards her satchel slowly and with intent, playing the role of cautious messenger oh so well, because right now, she could almost feel flesh being pierced as scars throbbed and she didn't want that. The gods knew that Raeliana was an impulsive woman, a stupid one, but one that was willing to take another life if it meant living another day if push came to shove all the same.

She felt the prick of something sharp, black blood dripping onto the already poisoned needles she'd brought from Volary as she did her best not to make a face from the pain, and the quick flick of her paw was a stark contrast to her slow and deliberate movements just moments before, throwing the poisoned acupuncture needles towards Felix with enough force to pierce his skin. Thank god she'd actually considered her own ideas and meshed them with Ulla's acupuncture techniques. It solved the issue that the knives posed: even the most fast acting poison wasn't enough to keep her from being unharmed if she was in close quarters. With these, right now, it gave her a few yards of distance, more than enough to play keep-away until it kicked in, and would it kick in fast with the stimulant mixed in. Amethyst gaze watched the man carefully with clear anxiety as she shifted back and forth, paw resting on the other blade strapped to her side.

"Shit."

The curse slipped from her lips as she peered into the doorway, having found it open. She'd been hoping it was something as innocent as forgetting to lock it, but the scent of blood was quick to remove such thoughts from her mind. Really, it was the picture of a domestic spat; blood on the floor, knives being thrown just as easily as words. The scarred kitsune was quick to skirt around the edges of the room, unsheathing a blade, but, unexpectedly enough, not moving forward to take Carmenere on herself. If the rumors were right, then Carmenere was enough of a foe to be reckoned with even with her smaller size. Raeliana probably wouldn't die, but the idea of a broken rib or three or a stab wound of her own wasn't too appealing.

She would move towards Sangria, pressing the scarf, the new scarf, onto the woman's wounds. She couldn't look to Sangria or Merlot for guidance right now, she had to do this herself. Raeliana had always had to do that, once upon a time, but the fact that she was suddenly on her own once again left her unsure for the briefest of moments before she moved, one paw moving to kick the poisoned blade underneath Merlot's body. A paralytic, she wanted to say. She could only hope the blade would be noticed.

Raeliana turned her attention towards the dying queen, eyes narrowed in concentration as she adjusted the cloth over the wound. "Don't freaking die, 'cause if you die I'll probably be promoted." Words were spoken through grit teeth as she tried to stop the bleeding. The clear distaste towards the thought was there, the nervous mutterings helping her concentrate on her work rather than the scene that was playing out before her. If you ignore the problem, eventually it’ll go away. Somebody else can deal with the murder siblings. My job is this.

"Going to what? Couldn't hear you. Gonna have to speak up. Oh, wait." The woman said flatly, fully aware that the boy was unconscious by now, but the snarky words escaped her lips nonetheless, devoid of the cheer they usually would've carried. "Looks like it was stronger dose than I thought. Was it the blood?" The mutterings could be heard as Raeliana cautiously approached, checking for a pulse, ever wary that a paw might reach up and drag her down once more, as she quietly considered her options. She had a knife, she could just finish him off now, it certainly would make it easier, and it wasn't like she hadn't done it before. Maybe this person would be important to Eva-

How would Sorin and the others feel, knowing there's more blood on your hands simply because it was convenient? How would they feel, knowing that was your form of justice? It wasn't like she hadn't taken a life before, but it had always been self-defense, justified because she'd been backed into a corner. It was how she coped with the fact she had done it. She sheathed the knife quietly. "Goddamn softies in Solaris are beginning to rub off on me. I don't want to get lectured any more than I have to for this." She'd mutter, but despite the words, would attempt to grab the boy by the scruff for now and begin to drag him in the direction of a much different desert. God knew that he'd be miserable enough if the poison didn't leave his system, and who knew what her blood mixing in would do. Back to Solaris with something that would definitely get her yelled at it was then.

//out!! you want me to make a thread of solaris?

FREYA RHOSYN

"So like this?" Raeliana furrowed her nonexistent brows in clear concentration at the small ball that had been formed in her paw. Not too big, but threatening beginning to shake without Raeliana directing it to. It began to steady a bit, and Raeliana allowed a smile to crack her previously serious composure. "Ha! I freaking did-" The vibrating began once more in earnest, and before she could dispel the gemstones, it sharpened into the shape of a blade, embedding itself into a tree behind somebody who had been smart enough to duck.

Raeliana fell silent once more as amethyst eyes gazed at the gemstone blade the same color, disappointment flashing onto her face for a good moment or two before she collected herself, pursing her lips in frustration instead.

ZACHARIAS

He's been easier to carry then she'd thought, dropping the boy unceremoniously outside of the medicine guild's hut as soon as she realized she could not open the door with him in tow. She'd been hoping to get him in quickly and quietly, but if the murmurs from NPCs about the local nutjob carrying a Ruiner had anything to say, it's that a lecture was coming, and soon.

She probably could've resolved it in a better way. But fear of what-ifs had plagued her then, memories too fresh for her to look at without terror having bubbled up, her throat tightening, lies spilling from her lips with the intent to harm in the end. It wasn't the idea of taking a life that had bothered her, it was the fact she'd almost finished off the Ruiner out of vengeance that nagged at her. She'd considered it, seriously considered it, and really, who could have blamed her for it if she had? But then she thought back to the reason why she'd been chosen. Because of her close proximity to Clove. So who would be chosen from Raeliana's loved ones if she had decided to leave the boy here scattered across the border? It bothered her greatly.

She fiddled with the door for now, not concerned whether the boy was coming to or not. God knew that the aftereffects were going to be a bitch. She was more concerned about the headache that was going to come when somebody who cared enough came along.