[Video]

[vanyel_ashkevron]

[Vanyel's absence was brief and likely unnoticed, but he has returned...changed. His once black hair is now mostly white and his eyes are a much paler grey. He is sitting on the floor in his room with his back to the wall. Every inch of him says "don't touch me", yet something prompts him to open his Locket and use it.]

Why did you bring me back? What use am I...here? Without Yfandes? Without Stefen?

[His pillars have been ripped away and they expect him to stand; to fight?!]

I could kill whomever you wish. [There is something distant in his eyes. His heart can't handle the guilt of his actions.] I could drop them into the bowels of the Drabworld and leave them to suffocate.

Is that what you want of me? [He's beyond tears and out of answers.]

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Commentlog

[bondedgryphon]

[The brief glance of him over the pocket didn't show but a sliver of what she confronts when he rises to meet her. She can feel the magic coursing through him, tingling over and through her skin and she shivers, feathers fluffing up in reaction.

The hair color had translated and she'd seen several of the Mages in the army in similar states after working world-altering magic. Her ear tufts flick back, though, at the bruises that aren't hidden by his robe... at his thinness of form. She is no stranger to abuse, even if her own did not extend into sexual.]

Ke'el... [The shift from brother to something closer to blood bound, but it comes naturally and without any sense of artificialness. She pads forward, her entire soul hurting for him, and upon reaching him shifts to encompass him under a wing, drawing him in close and burying her beaked face into his chest.

It might be the wrong move, reaching out to him so freshly after his abuse, but she knows well how one might withdraw and wither away if they are not engaged by others.

She doesn't know who or what the details are, but there is a slight trembling to her body against his. When she speaks though, it is with an anger almost never known to the typically timid gryphon.]

Do they live, ke'el? If they live, I shall find a way to return with you... I shall rend their limbs and bleed them for you.

Commentlog

[vanyel_ashkevron]

[The name touches his numb heart, causing him to feel a spasm of pain. Logically, he knows the pain is good; he can't stay numb forever, but he hates the tears that spring into his eyes nonetheless.]

Zhaneel... [Her wing is soft - as are the feathers on her head. He gives into his exhaustion and heartache, wrapping his arms around her neck. She isn't the only one trembling and he isn't sure his knees can hold him much longer.]

I killed them. [His voice is tight with complicated emotions.] I m-made them hurt. I exacted justice, but.... It wasn't justice. It was just revenge. I hated them...

Commentlog

[bondedgryphon]

[She buries her face against him, letting him hold onto her as tightly as he needs. She thrums low in her throat, a soft keen of sympathetic sorrow slipping past her beak. She feels the trembling in his limbs, nipping gently at his robe with her beak.]

Be at ease, alsh'sh'el... they are gone and you are safe. [She croons softly, lifting her head from his chest and shifting to drape it over his shoulder, freeing her entire feathered chest for him to curl against. She nibbles at his hair briefly, her entire being comforting and protectively postured around him. Feathers are good for crying against... She did not lament the deaths, seeing even a fraction of the damage they did to Vanyel, though the Adept likely feels any number of emotions. She doesn't try to pretend she understands his exact pain, only offering what it is she can now.]

You tapped the nodes... few enough manage it without burning themselves out... [She says it for the simple fact that it is. It spoke miles of Van's abilities as a mage that it hadn't killed him and that his body still sang with the magic.]

I am glad you've come back to us. [To the Drabwurld, to the court, to her. Her voice is soft as she continues.] Allow me to help you carry the weight, alsh'sh'el.

Commentlog

[vanyel_ashkevron]

[His fingers find purchase in her feathers, though he doesn't tug. For all her strength and softness, the idea of causing her pain makes him physically ill. However he is unable to keep her dry. His tears are flowing faster thanks to her kindness and he gladly curls against her chest.

I don't deserve this... She has to know I don't...

Dragging in breath, he whispers:] I killed two innocents. I'm sorry...

[She should be beating him with her powerful wings and talons. He would let her too.]

I did it without thinking. A Node was there and I...drew strength from it. I did nothing to stem the flow.

[The damage had been impressive to say the least.]

This is my punishment. I didn't act like a Herald.