TEST DRIVE MEME #5

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you with mirthful revelry and hearty food. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket!

Comments

[undividing]

[ she can almost, almost pretend that they're youths again, innocent, before war and death and sorrow. but she knows better, and knows that she cannot simply stand aside this time and allow him to walk the same path. she'd always before allowed him to be her strength-- but in the time they'd been parted, she'd learned her own.

her fingers tighten against his own, all but trembling against him, and she doesn't care a whit about the image they present, paused on the dance floor as they are. ]

.. There is so much more that I must share with you, so much I must tell you. [ even as her heart reaches for his, even as she wishes to open herself entirely to him, to be as they'd once been, she doesn't dare. not yet. ]

[folklorish]

[ If time truly could be rewound, there would be no secrets between them. If Nuala were any other soul, keeping her thoughts and experiences from his knowledge, he would force them from her as his rightful due. But she is not. She is, in fact, the one person on Earth (or in any realm) that he prizes above all others. Some may whisper that his reverence for his twin is unhealthy, but the strength of it cannot be denied.

Fingers shift, lacing around hers in a surer grip, his breathing slow and even as they stand there. Her heart beat is his anthem again, as it should be. ]

If it concerns father, I am loathe to hear it, sister. He will not listen to me. [ A pause, puff of breathe ruffling the hair above her ear. ] He is well, I hope? Word reached me when the throne crossed to America.

[undividing]

[ he doesn't remember. he doesn't remember what he'd done, or he hasn't done it yet, and she swallows down the sob that wants to work its way free, forcing herself still, strong. she must be, for both their sakes.

eventually, she takes a step back, fingers still laced with his, gaze lifting to meet its twin. ]

.. Come. Come with me. [ she nods once toward the doors at the far end of the hall. ] We need--I need--quiet, I need air. Then I will tell you the things you must know. [ she doesn't insult him by asking if he trusts her. even at their worst, when things were bitterest between them, she knows better. ]

[folklorish]

Of course. [ Concern is instantly evident on his face. While he has learned to live beneath the streets of human cities, she most likely has not. Is she still traveling with their father's court? Nuada longs to ask, longs to know what is going on past the bits and pieces of gossip that are brought to him by sympathetic ears and lips, but he dares not. Balor's will is law and the prince will not break it except in perhaps the most desperate of circumstances.

He allows himself to be led to whatever place his twin deems suitable, encouraging strangers out of her way with one or two or five narrowed glares, until Nuala is comfortable out in the open. ]

There must be a great many things, sister, else your heart would not beat so swiftly, like a caged bird.

[undividing]

[ she curls her hand in the crook of his arm, keeping close to his side both to dissuade others from stopping her, and to reassure him that he has her undivided attention. he's always been possessive, but is it any surprise, given their bond?

outside, in a secluded area of the grounds, she spreads her skirts and settles on a low wall, tilting her face into the faint breeze. it smells-- clean here. there are cities, yes, and these rulers don't live the way she and her kind once lived, but it isn't the same as human cities.

when he speaks, her eyes slide open once more, meeting his. ] .. I have oft felt like a caged bird, my brother. [ her lips press thin for a moment, brow furrowing faintly. ] I think.. I think that these rulers have done something that should have been impossible. [ taking his hand, she lifts it and presses it to her heart, slowly allowing their bond on her end to unfurl and open once more. ] .. Read what has been written on my soul of late. You deserve to know.

[folklorish]

[ The twins mirror each other. Dark and light, yin and yang, warrior and healer. Together they comprise a whole, though Nuada would be the first to admit that they are not one soul, despite the uncanny closeness of their unique bond. Some part of him wonders, sometimes, how much things would be different if they were not the last of their kind, shouldering the heaviest of burdens.

There is a momentarily flash of relief when Nuala opens her soul to him (finally, as they were meant to be), but that spark is abruptly overwhelmed with emotions and images that he does not recognize. Nor can he fathom watching himself lift a third of the crown he has only recently decided to look for, watch his own hand slide a sword into the gut of his own father. The emotional blow is wrenching, he steps back half a pace as if someone has physically struck him.

Everything is from his sister's point of view, leaving him uncomfortably mystified as to his own reasoning. Patricide is not unknown to their kind, but it has never happened in his generation. In their generation. When the onslaught finally stops, watching his sister look up into the face of a stranger, he is shaken and horrified in near equal portions. He settles next to her on the wall and does not say anything for a long time.

Then, once his emotions are his own to command: ]

Why? Why take your own life, my sister?

[undividing]

[ she's shaking as he settles next to her, and at the question, she has to press both hands over her mouth to suppress the sob. tears blur her vision, and she squeezes her eyes shut to hide them. she can feel his pain through their bond, and she hates, has always hated when he hurts like this. ]

I could not-- [ her voice is small and muffled and heartbroken. ] I could not let you, brother. [ she finally glances up at him once more, lashes still faintly damp, breath hitching quietly. ] You would not stop. I begged you, but you were beyond listening even to me.

[ she glances away once more, shoulders curling in, small and vulnerable and frightened. ]

.. So much darkness had grown within your heart.

[folklorish]

[ He wants to hate her, wants to rage at the sky and the sea and howl his anguish so loudly that their ancestors will hear and come back from wherever they've gone. But he can't, not when his twin has endured so much, both from his hands and the neglect of their father. The father he slew.

There's something oddly soothing about that, even as he recoils from it, knowing his people had a champion no matter how dark and twisted his soul becomes in the future. It is what he was trained for - the defense of the clan. Of those who took allegiance in exchange for protection. ]

To ask forgiveness for an act yet to be committed is folly, Nuala. But I will beg your pardon for all the years I have been away. [ He had his reasons. Still does. But abandoning her to an aging, static court was not well done of him. ] I am sorry for that.

[ It is all he can give now, and his love, whilst future deeds get sorted out. ]

[undividing]

[ hesitating only briefly, she reaches out once more, twining their hands together, fingers curling with his as if she fears letting go. ] .. I have missed you so. But you are here, now. We are both here together, and knowing what comes of that path-- perhaps we can forge another. A better path.

[ she lifts his hands to her mouth, pressing a brief, loving kiss to the knuckles. ]

I swear to you, my brother, though mankind has forgotten us, there is still much goodness in them. Surely, you will see that here.

[folklorish]

[ His jaw sets against displaying emotion that he considers unseemly. Warriors may weep for pains done to the Earth, and for sorrow, but not because they have missed the touch of a sibling. But he can't quite conceal the hitch in his breath when her lips caress his hand.

Oh, Nuala. Why must you be so ... you. ]

They are hollow creatures, my sister. It is also folly to look for substance when it is not there.

[undividing]

They are simply.. very different, Nuada. [ she smiles, small and warm and encouraging, sending love and support across their bond. ] I have met others which I found to be.. beautiful, wonderful people. They are people, just as we are people, seeking largely only to love and care for their families and friends. There is wickedness among them, but.. not so much that it should condemn their entire race.

[ she frees a hand, reaching up to lay her palm gently against his cheek. ]

.. And here, you are-- you are king. [ her lashes flutter, expression stunned for a moment, as if it had just occurred to her. ]

[folklorish]

No, they are lesser. Fragile and forgetful and selfish. [ She is unlikely to change his mind in so short a window of time, but he does admire his twin's persistence like everything else about her. Nuada remains still under her touch, unwilling to break this spell and send her from his presence as in the past.

And then that. His eyes narrow, denial flaring in the golden irises. ] Father is king, I cannot take his crown. Not without his blood on my hands. And here ...

here we are nothing. Beggars and guests, both at once. The fae here would have to accept me as their ruler.

[undividing]

.. Nevertheless, I do love them. And I will do my utmost to show you all the reasons why while we are here.

[ she strokes her thumb over one of the scars that mark his heritage-- a mirror of her own. ] Father is not here. Father is-- Father is gone. Unless he is pulled from death as I have been, then you are our people's king, my brother. Regent, at the very least. [ she brushes a few strands of hair from his face, then lowers her fingers again, glancing down as she curls them over their entwined hands. ]

.. If more of our people arrive, they will look to you for guidance. The manner of our arrival and our place in this court will not matter to them.

[folklorish]

Very well, my sister. Show me your pets.

[ Like little children, except they do know better, how their behavior is destroying the natural world. And they care not. He's lived among them long enough to know that the pursuit of money and status is more precious to them than the sight of a dandelion field. ]

Regent. King. Prince. They all mean ruler, whether it is my own interests or on behalf of another. [ He sighs, bowing his head for a moment, before reaching down to capture a hand and lift it to his lips. ] For your sake, and our people, then. But if Father arrives, the leadership must be transferred back to him.