Gentle Light was, for perhaps the first time in his life, without his usual air of know-it-all arrogance. His steps through the swamp were hesitant, unsure - as though the news that he was going to be a father had made the entire world new and alien to him. In a way, he figured, it had. He could rattle off to you the names of all the constellations in the sky, every plant in the swamp, the greatest legends throughout history that he had heard - but fatherhood... Was different. Decidedly so. This was something he couldn't study or outwit or somehow conquer; in fact, it felt rather like he could do nothing whatsoever.

So here he was, wandering aimlessly through the swamp, running on a creeping feeling of anxiety and hope that he could find what he had only heard of in stories and rumors. The one thing he knew about parenting was that if you were lucky, a kin of legend may grant their blessing upon your family. And that was something he felt he could accomplish.

...Well, he had, anyhow. The stories never really mentioned someone going and finding the legendary kin - rather the other way around. And the longer he wandered, the more his fears nagged at him - was his partner alright? Would the children be alright? What if this hubris left him cursed rather than blessed?

@Ruriska

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... ncert4.png[/imgleft] So it was in the Swamp that if you sought, you were often found.

Now was no different.

Though the buck’s task wasn’t made any easier when the Eaglehound stepped out onto his path, there was blood tarnishing the pure white of its chest and stray feathers caught around its mouth. Glowing eyes, far too knowing for any normal creature, looked straight at Gentle Light.

It waited.

For some acknowledgement, perhaps.

It was hard to say what the beast wanted.


@Naberius

Gentle Light stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him, all of his nagging thoughts silenced in an instant. There was little hesitation before he bowed low - as low as he possibly could - and tried his best to appear put-together.

"Hello - I'm, um. Looking for a ki- a figure - of legend," He chanced a glance upward, as if to be sure the Eaglehound before him was truly there, "To help my partner. I mean, she isn't hurt or anything - I don't think - she's just... Expecting. We both are. Children."

He paused for a second.

"We're not both children - that's not what I meant - I'm going to be a father, and..." He looked up again and gave the Eaglehound as firm of a look as he could muster, "I'll do anything to earn the blessing. For her."

@Ruriska
(pssst I read your Big Bad/Peep solo and I loved it? ;__; I don't know much about those two but GOSH)

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... ncert3.png[/imgleft]

The Eaglehound’s head tilted.

At least this one wasn’t a complete fool.

His delivery was somewhat lacking in eloquence but the bow was respectable enough and he clearly meant well for his future offspring and their mother.

“Anything?” A low voice asked, and where the beast had been a stag now stood, that figure of legend Gentle Light sought. A bloody feather clung to his flowing red hair and his curling smile promised a test.


@Naberius oh gosh XD i didn't expect anyone to read that. thank you!! they have quite the history haha. they've got a couple of other rps together... they're just a really fun pair to play with. <333

Gentle Light remained in his low bow, though the grace of it had likely faltered now that he was also staring, eyes wide and mouth agape, at the towering kimeti before him.

It took a few moments for him to regain his composure, as very inch of him wanted to leap up and begin asking all sorts of questions - who are you? Were you in any of the legends that I know? What powers do you have? Have you spoken to Motherfather? Were you just an eaglehound!?

A bit of awe-struck fear tinged that wild excitement, too.

He ducked his head low once again, shifting his weight to re-affirm his low bow.

"Anything! As long as I can earn your blessing."

@Ruriska
oh man, I'll have to go digging around then! :'D that rp definitely had the feel of having a loooot of history together. they're super fun to read, too!

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... ncert5.png[/imgleft]

The stag hummed thoughtfully, head high, looking down at the bowing kin like a king regarding his subject.

“Anything is a dangerous thing to promise,” he warned.

“Would you give me your life? For them, for her?” Now The Killing Moon lowered his head towards the buck, his hair shifting in waves along his neck, dislodging that bloodied feather so that it floated to the ground between them. His voice was silken and dangerous. “Would you run and die?”

The hounds appeared at his side, spectral beings, teeth bared, bodies tensed. Tethered to this world only by the stag.


@Naberius >3> this is their first and this is another blessing. but also i usually bless faster than this, i'm sorry, killing moon's just uh... enjoying himself. xD

That awe-struck fear that ran beneath the surface was now white-hot adrenaline that screamed for every muscle in him to move, to run and never even think about interacting with legends or stories or those that feature in them again. It berated him - what kind of fool wanders up to a fabled being covered in blood and asks for their blessing? Who asks for life from something that has just visibly brought death?

But Gentle Light remained still.

"I meant it - I meant anything," His voice wavered despite the air of adamant calm he desperately attempted to project, "Should you promise that she does not suffer because of my absence. I don't..."

He rose from his prostrated position and looked to each of the hounds, taking in their forms - his mind still scrambling to absorb that everything happening was real - before forcing himself to hold eye contact with the stag.

"I will suffer if it means she won't."


@Ruriska  Oooo thank you!! AND DUDE NO WORRIES I'm honored to have my first matope rp be this metal

As the buck rose, The Killing Moon lifted his own head to keep his height and meet that defiant gaze straight on. He took in a deep breath, nostrils flared, time hanging in place. The hounds ready to be unleashed at the slightest gesture.

“I can’t promise that,” the stag told him. “She will suffer as much as any other creature of this Swamp may suffer. If shes chooses to raise them, she will bear the burden of feeding and protecting them alone. I cannot change that.”

A wolf howled nearby, startlingly close, a mournful wail.

The Killing Moon stepped forward, pressing into Gentle Light’s space, challenging.

“So are you still ready to die?”

The hounds growled, deep and low.

“Or is your life and those you watch over worth fighting for?”


@Naberius actually blessing will happen next post xD and i'm very much enjoying this btw and i'm hyped this is your first matope rp! gentle light is great. <3

Gentle Light grimaced at the stag's words, shifting his weight from hoof to hoof nervously.

He'd rather liked the narrative he was starting to construct - that he, a tragic hero, would choose the only option given and sacrifice himself to this being and his hounds while his children grew strong and powerful. Perhaps they'd be granted gifts for the sacrifice he would have made; perhaps they'd tell stories of him. He would become a legend in his death; his children would tell tales of him and kin would whisper that he was perhaps still out there, still running from those hounds.

The grim howl of the wolf and the approach of The Killing Moon forcefully snapped him back to reality.

His death would not be heroic. He would tire far sooner than the hounds ever would and he would die a meek and passive death at their jaws. There would be no stories, no songs. No boon to his children or their mother - not really.

Not that there necessarily would be if he chose to fight. His antlers were as thin and twiglike as he was. His death could very well be just as swift.

But it wouldn't be cowardly. Humiliating, maybe, but still less so than being hunted like prey.

He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and looked up at the stag.

"I'm ready," his voice still wavered - instinct told him he was going to die any second now - but his intent was firm, "I'm not running."

@Ruriska aaa thank you!! ; v; i'm a total fan of the killing moon now btw, he's great? and I haven't rp'd in a non-d&d context in ages, but if you ever want to do any kin rp i'm so totally down! this has been way fun

“Very well,” said the stag, and his voice was a low rumble, the call to the hunt, the hot breath at the back of your neck as snapping jaws descend. It promised a terrible death, jagged teeth and flesh torn asunder.

And then -

The Killing Moon smiled.

It was a charming quick of his mouth, mirth dancing in those glowing blue eyes.

The tension eased instantly and the hounds settled, from hunting beasts to quiet sentinels.

“Let this be a lesson for you, always fight for your family. You are as important to them as they are to you. Watch over them, teach them, be there. Give everything but not just anything.” The stag tossed his head, pleased by the buck’s ultimate decision and finally ready to give his blessing to the father-to-be.

“May your offspring grow healthy and strong, fleet of hoof but ready to face any challenge head on.”

The stag tipped his head in respect and without waiting for gratitude or farewells he changed again, to an Eaglehound padding swiftly away. Around them the undergrowth rustled with movement, a pack on the move, the passing of hidden beasts.

And Gentle Light was left with his life and a blessing for his family.

@Naberius there you go! <3 and yess thank you! he's my baby. i love him haha. he's a great character. a princely asshole. and for sure! i have a whole host of fun kin to play with! i'm always down for rps! <3