ROLEPLAY HQ - beneath-the-willow

TW: Mentions of Suicidal Ideation, War, Sexual themes, more TBD

12:59

Thunder boomed loudly off in the distance, window panes shook violently with the wind as it swirled in the air like a furious beast waiting to claim any which victim it’s tendrils could. Rain pelted down relentlessly to add to the chaos that was the midsummer storm, terrorizing children in their beds and worrying those unlucky few who had to work in such conditions despite the risks that came with them. Save for one lone individual who chose to embrace the force that Mother Nature had deemed to bless the mere mortals with. “She’s at it again…” The clucking of a tongue could be heard by only those present but it served its purpose as more women stepped towards the floor to ceiling window. Fans flapping to stave off the heat of the candles. “That girl, she’s a wildling I say.” More tongues clucked in agreement though each woman with their coiffed hair and fancy dresses couldn’t help but watch with avid curiosity. As much as they liked to wag their tongues about one Katherine Sweeney, the truth of the matter was that there was not a lot that took place in the off season of the city. Katherine Sweeney, known by Kitty to those who were close, continued the trek through the town’s street heading down the same path that she had taken so many times before in the past five years. She’d walked it so much that the locals had made a joke that she would wear the stone path down before the end of the decade. Kitty couldn’t care less, her eyes trained solely on the willow tree off in the distance. The sad looking tree’s branches swayed violently in the wind as a crack of thunder could be heard as lightning flared across the sky. blankspace

12:59

The women who had been watching her startled, shying away from the window out of fear though, the slight female with her soaked cloak didn’t so much as wince as she put one foot in front of the other. “She’s asking for Death!” An older woman wailed. “Now come come, do not tempt the gods!” She ushered her guests back towards the parlor, no longer concerned about the young woman they all had just mocked. Kitty could feel the eyes from each townhouse she passed but she didn’t stray, her bright eyes focused as she began the ascent up the long winding path of the hill. Her legs protested, her hair whipped around her face and stung her cold cheeks but still she persisted until eventually she came to the very top. “I’m here.” Her voice was so soft that it was swallowed up by the wails of the wind as she placed a hand on the trunk of the old tree. Eyes drifting shut, Kitty placed her forehead against the tree. “Three years to the day and still you have not returned to me.” Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes as she crouched low, her palm tracing the rough edges of the bark until she found the familiar carved initials. The jagged edges clenched at her heart and her thumb traced over them. “Are you well? Has Death claimed thee and left me abandoned in this cruel world? If so…I ask of Death; take me. Take me or bring him back to me, I care not which but I simply can not go on in this way any longer…” Her voice was louder now as she tilted her head up, her eyes staring through the branches of the tree towards the violent heavens above. “I beseech thee to hear my pleas!” Her pale hand balled into a fist as her tears mixed with the rain droplets that streaked her cheeks. “Take me! End this vile life that I have been cursed with.” blankspace

13:00

Thunder boomed across the heavens again as Kitty let her body collapse onto the muddy ground. Save for the violence of the storm Kitty’s prayer was left unanswered and she collapsed on the ground. Her dress now coated brown with the thick mud that scattered the ground. Her head fell to her arm, her nose pressing into the cold and wet grass but she didn’t care. If she were to get sick perhaps it would be her end and the misery that had become of her life would finally come to an end. “I…beg of thee…return him…end me…something!” Hours would pass as Katherine Sweeney remained unmoved from her position underneath the willow tree out of sheer conviction. Perhaps she thought if she showed her sincerity the gods would listen, or perhaps she hoped that she’d be swept up by the storm, though neither came to be and eventually the storm had died down to that of a soft drizzle. The full moon had begun to peak out from behind the clouds and stars gleamed up in the night sky and yet Kitty had not budged. Back resting against the tree she eventually succumbed to sleep, her body's exhaustion taking over. Her dreams were filled with memories of him… Of before her beloved had been sent off to war for the king and his country. blankspace

13:00

Two Years Late A new season had arrived and the talk of the town was the end of the war, of the men who would be returning home… Katherine, while she had been hopeful for such a long time, could not handle any more of the wagging tongues of the women. No longer did she care to join in social gatherings, choosing to spend her time at the willow tree where the name of her beloved had been carved into its trunk. Each day without fail did she still trek up the long winding path from town to the hill in which the tree sat. Each day her pleas and requests were left unanswered by the gods above or the one below. Twenty-seven years had she lived on the earth, seven more than she should have. Seven years of a life without the man that had shown her love, had shown her life and what it was truly capable of. No longer did she care for such a thing if the fates or god were so cruel. Her distaste for the throne had only grown, her heart becoming bitter and hollow more and more with each day that ended with neither his return or her death. It would be on a particularly sunny summer afternoon, Katherine sitting once again up upon the hill shaded by the branches of the tree that had become an extension of herself that news would arrive. They had returned, and among them a gentleman thought to be dead. A little broken, a little bruised but returned a hero. She would not hear of this news, instead her eyes remained on the horizon, her head resting on her knees that had been tucked in close. blankspace

13:00

She had made an elaborate plan, visiting a floral shop and acquiring a select few that were known for their beauty but less known for their deadly properties. Three attempts she had made to create the vial of purple liquid that was gripped tightly in her hand. Three failed attempts had turned success on the fourth which made today a very special day. She would join her lover now gone, Death be damned for making her take matters into her own hands. Uncorking the vial Kitty inhaled the strong floral scent and felt queasy for a moment, sitting straighter as she held the vial up in the small beam of sunlight that managed to sneak in through the swaying branches of leaves. Her lips parted as the tears flowed from her cheeks, her ceremonial words being carried away as the wind world around her in a meaningful caress. “On bated breath I have sat alone. In light and darkness. Under bright skies and stormy clouds beneath this weeping willow… And I have found that I understand its sorrow…” One deep inhaled breath later and Katherine Sweeney brought the small vial that would bring about her end to her pale lips, her eyes drifting shut as her head began to tilt back. She intended to die, and not even Death himself could stop her. @lucraz

But perhaps one man could. Just before the false promise Katherine had made for herself passed through her lips, a hand reached out to roughly grab her arm. The vial tumbled down from her shocked fingers, its sweet siren song hitting the ground, though not shattering as it tumbled down the dying grass of the hill. Katherine looked at who had so roughly accosted her, wishing to see the person that decided they knew better than her what she wanted. It would be a lie to say her eyes beheld a man holding her arm, as that word would be a mockery if used to describe him. Instead what stood there was a husk. A face that had turned gaunt with the ravages of time, a body that stood stooped as if the effort to hold itself aloft was a task it was on the verge of failing at any moment. The hand slowly moving to take hers no longer had the softness a human’s would, just the rough calluses of a worn-down tool. But to say nothing of a man remained in this walking husk would not be true either. His soft brown eyes still burned with a longing, a purpose that had driven this broken form here. However faded it was, his eyes still had love in them. A long faded love, a love made more of hope and illusions, but a love powerful enough to last a battering of horrors. But there was darkness in those eyes as well. Darkness that summoned the first words that Arven spoke to his beloved in seven years. “Is this how you greet me? After all, I had done to return to you, all you wish me to have now is your still warm corpse?”

16:22

The words cut Arven’s throat just as surely as they cut Katherine’s soul. The rasping voice that uttered them grew as silent as their surroundings, the regret that accompanied it palpable, yet still, Arven did not take them back. They may have been cruel words, but they still felt true to him. The bitterness that made up more and more of his core relished them even, wanting to spread the hurt that festered inside, a small evil satisfaction rising from witnessing the shocked expression on Katherine’s face. The boy he had once been protested though, the emotions of the past just loud enough of a whisper to rise up, and come out. “I-I.” Arven stuttered, choking on his conflicting emotions, the need to explain himself, and the desire to never have to do so again. “I had just been looking forward to seeing you so badly and seeing you here, seeing you like this I-” Letting go of Katherine’s hand, the loose grip he had expressing none of his emotions to his satisfaction, he simply turned away. Not wanting to meet her gaze, but so desperate to hear her words, even just her voice, he could not leave. Arven simply stood there atop that hill that had meant so much to the both of them, the silence his savior and jailer.

16:22

@enchantednymph

The hand that had grabbed her wrist had taken her by shock, but the shock would not register into her mind until she spun to see who in their right mind would stop her from joining her lover in an early grave. Yet as her eyes fell on the shadow of the boy she had remembered. The pain and heartache that spread through her almost had her falling to her knees. Her eyes growing wide as they filled with tears, her light pink plump lips quivered as they parted as if she could give him some sort of an excuse. His words however, stopped Katherine from doing any such thing. They cut her deep into her soul and as the tears streamed down her cheeks, the cursed vial was long forgotten as she turned to face the apparition before her. Was he truly before her or was this perhaps some fevered dream, cast up by some cruel god? Her whole body shook with each sob, her eyes searching the husk of a man as a range of emotions crossed his face. His admission made Katherine feel guilt, self-loathing and yet somehow in the tiniest corner of her mind she could still feel the whisper of the vial against her lips, the whispers of death and the comfort that had been whispered to her in the moments leading up to it. He released her wrist, turning as if he would disappear into the shadows again and Katherine's body reacted on instinct. She rushed forward, the sounds of her dress ruffling in the breeze would be the only indicator, the snapping of a twig underneath her foot as her arms slipped through his arms, wrapping around him to trap him. "I- I thought you dead..." The words held all the pain in her heart, it too was raspy though for very different reasons of his own. Her emotions as evident in the silence that followed as her tears soaked into the dark material of his coat. Her heart thudded so hard in her chest that Katherine had a feeling he could feel it, as if it too needed the contact to prove that it's other half was now in their arms. blankspace

05:37

"S-seven year I have awaited you. Seven years and no word, Arven. W-what was I supposed to think?" She sobbed against his back, her thin arms squeezing him as she shook her head. "E-everyone, every whisper.... They said you'd died, left me..." In a way, he had left her. Having chose to fight for his country, to do something so drastic to prove to her parents that he was worthy... Katherine hadn't needed it, she knew who Arven was, or who he had been and it had been enough for her. She'd have run away with him if he had asked her yet instead he had left her, thought to return in just a few years time but not. She had been heartbroken then and she was even more heartbroken now, a shadow of the girl he once similarly to him. Their demons each different yet as valid as the other. Katherine was still shaking when she finally released her grip around him, her hands not quite leaving the contact they had formed as she walked around him so that she could face him. The height difference was more than she remembered, the age and weathered appearance of his face made her soul ache but it did not deter her. With shaky hands she lifted them, each one cupping the side of his face as she looked at him in disbelief. Her tears slowly streamed down her face, the soft make-up on her face becoming even more smeared. The wind swirled around them and Katherine's dress whipped wildly behind her, the willow's branches creaked and whispered around them. "Is this truth, are you here and not an apparition?"

05:37

@lucraz

“Yes Ki-. Katherine. I’m ba-… here. I am here. In front of you.” The words barely made it out of Arven’s mouth, it was a struggle to even attempt to meet her eyes, the sorrow and pain there stabbing like a silent accusation, hammering home how alone she had been. How alone he had made her. Her touch that had filled him with such love and comfort now burned like cold iron stabbing into his skin. Even where she had touched him over his clothes left a trail of aching pain, the very thing he had been looking forward to the most feeling like a tear upon his skin. Yet he hung on to the sensation, the fact that she had, that she still wanted to touch him the most poisoned miracle in this cursed world.

07:12

“I tried to write to you. I wanted to, I was going to I promise,” Arven lied, the false words tripping out of his mouth as he attempted to defend himself against the simple truth of Katherine’s words. “I just, when going to write the letters, it was just so difficult to put down what was happening here, how I was feeling.” That was true. “I didn’t want you to worry, I was afraid that if you knew what was going on that, you would… worry about me.” The weak excuse rang hollow in his ears, yet he had nothing better to offer because his reasons for not writing hadn’t been about her. They had been about himself. How every time he was alone with his thoughts for more than a minute he had run from them, chasing anything that could keep him distracted or embraced in oblivion.

07:13

Her touch was too much now. The guilt around his own inability, no his own refusal to consider Katherine’s feelings alongside his own, had robbed her touch of even the slight comfort it had still carried for him. He reached up to her own hands and removed them from his face, letting them drop as he loosely held them away from him. For the first time since arriving in the village, he looked at her, truly looked at Katherine. Taking in her smeared makeup, the quiver in her lips, her darkened widow’s dress, the tears still silently falling down her face, but most of all the concerned kindness in her expression. He had left this place in an attempt to prove himself worthy of her, to come back showered in glory and proudly pronounce to her parents, to anyone that would question their love, that he was the man who would make her truly happy. Now all that was evident was that he was the perfect man to break her heart. The memories of the time they had spent together welled up like bile in his throat, the potential promise of making more, the desperate need to that was apparent in Katherine’s determination to face him all cut him deeper than any of the wounds he had received in the war.

07:13

“Kitty, I’m so sorry,” Arven whispered, gently clasping her hand again, the soft tremble of his own showing how close he was to being undone. “I just don’t know what to do now. It’s been so long and I’ve hurt you so much. Can we even continue like we are now?” Arven asked as his tears now broke upon his face, making his whisper almost inaudible with how broken his words had become.

07:15

@enchantednymph

Her breath had caught in her throat as he began to speak the pet name he had given her so long ago. The one that had seemed to stick with others though it had only been he who she had wanted to use it. Each time it was uttered from someone's lips it pulled her back into the memories they had shared. Of laughter and carefree walks along the beach, the warmth he had granted her, had given her a fleeting taste of. The way he spoke, the sense of something underneath as he refused to say certain things pulled at her and Katherine waited, waited for him to open up to her, to tell her the how, the why of his absence. Katherine wasn't sure why, but as spoke she couldn't help but feel like it wasn't the truth. As if his excuse was something that would be a salve to the heartache she had been left with while he had been away. Was he aware that she had been in mourning? That the blackness of her dress was for him? She closed her eyes when he pulled her hands from his face, the rejection almost like a slap to her own as he held them away from him. 'Kitty, I'm so sorry' The words left his lips so easy as he whispered them, and a part of her wanted, needed to believe them as he grasped for her hand. The way it trembled as he held it. "If you expect me to have the answers to what can be done..." She opened her eyes, staring into his own and watched as the tears broke the dam that were his eyes and traveled down his weathered cheek. Her fingers twitched, as if she wanted to reach up and soothe them but she did not. Not after the rejection she had felt just moments ago. "I do not know." She shook her head, pulling her hand free from his own as she wrapped her arms around herself, as if she could protect herself from the very thing she had wished for for so long. blankspace

13:07

She turned away from Arven then, to face the hill that overlooked the town. Even from where they stood she could hear the rejoicing that was taking place below. Could hear the cheers and shouts and Katherine found herself lacking. Lacking that joy that she should have felt at finally being reunited. "You chose to leave, and I waited Arven, I waited for seven years coming to this very tree..." Without looking at him she made her way to it, her hands skimming it's trunk as she bent to her knees, her until her hand felt their initials. "You had said you left for me and I had believed it. So I will ask you now... Have you returned to me? Truly? For me?" She looked up at him then, her eyes still holding back more tears that begged to fall. "Or is it out of duty?" Katherine would hold his gaze for as long as she could bear it, her palm covering the heart that surrounded their initials. As if the heart itself were her own, it anchored her. "Speak the truth, for I wish to hear it."

13:07

@lucraz

Arven made no move to wipe the tears from his face. What would be the point when it seemed like so many more were destined to replace them? His heart had fallen out of his chest when Kitty had moved away from him, but how could he feel bitter? She had only responded to his own feelings, had simply returned to him what he brought to her. True he had just tried to reach out to her, but had that even been for Kitty’s sake, or had Arven simply been looking for a simple answer he could hide behind? Because he had none for himself and now it seemed that neither did she. However, she still forged ahead trying to uncover whatever path may be there, her pointed question still ringing in his ears. blankspace

(edited)

07:12

Arven looked back at her, taking in the burgeoning tears that threatened to resume their fall, how she held on to their previous promise of love like a lifeline. He had forgotten that those initials were even there. Arven had remembered the time spent under this tree for the last seven years, but the dreams he had so eagerly looked forward to at the start had been replaced more and more frequently as the years had dragged on. It seemed like everything had been stripped from him in those years. Optimism for the day ahead had soured to a knowing pessimism, and enjoyment of the day's food had turned to resentment towards the endless monotony that it reinforced. Most of all though the solace of companionship had been stripped from him too. Every comrade, every friend, every brother had gone away in the end. During the last two years of the war, Arven had simply given up on trying anymore, his voice simply used for relaying commands on the battlefield and to give reports at camp. It was a wonder he was able to talk to Katherine as easily as he did now. However, the bitter memories did come with the answer to one of her questions at least. blankspace

(edited)

07:13

“No Katherine I did not come here for some duty. I have had my taste of duty for a lifetime and If I never had someone speak to me of it again, it would be too soon.” Arven said, almost spitting with the force of his hatred, his face and eyes growing harder as the painful memories returned to him. “I came here because I had nowhere left to go.” blankspace

(edited)

07:13

The venomous words hung in the air between them, Arven’s eyes almost daring Katherine to challenge him, needing her to rebuke him. A sudden sigh shook his body, the venom, the self-thought righteous anger, and the bitter drive that had kept him standing these last years all left him as he suddenly sagged, his body looking like it would blow over from even a whisper of a breeze. With a tired grimace, he walked up the hill towards the tree and simply sat down with a sigh, resting his back against it as he had done so many times in his youth. blankspace

(edited)

07:13

“I came back because I needed a home, Kitty. I’ve had one life for the past seven years and now I’m suddenly free, but I can’t even tell what that means. As for whether I have returned to you…I don’t know if I’m the one to truly answer that question. We loved each other when we were younger Kitty but look at me now. Do you even see anything left of the person whom you once loved? I can still see you, your determination that always drove you to sneak out and see me at night. The kindness you give to me even as I don’t deserve it. Back then it was for the foolish antics of a child with a world so small he thought he owned it.” Arven shifted to meet Kitty’s eyes again, his own countenance earnest, but reticent as he tried to convey his feelings to her. “If I was here for you, would you even want me?”

07:14

@enchantednymph

It would be impossible to hide the flinch that followed his harsh words. The duty she had spoke of... It didn't matter, clearly and as he continue on, nearly spitting with a venom she hadn't seen from anyone since her nanny when she'd been young. Her petite hands clenched at her sides as she turned her head away, the tears now falling at a much faster pace now. She had begged for years for her lover to return and as they both stood atop the hill Kitty couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she'd been a naïve fool. It stung, hearing him say he had nowhere to go when in truth he had always had a place to go, a home. It'd been there ever since he had first proclaimed his love for her when they'd been but fifteen. He'd taken her heart with him when he'd left for the war and it appeared that he was missing more than just his own. The wind picked up as he made his way to sit underneath the tree, his words carried and swirled around her, keeping her cemented to the spot in which she should. Like a vice his words gripped at her heart and painfully squeezed until she felt like she couldn't breathe and Katherine turned to face him. Her dress whipped around her like a black cloud, a dark void that threatened to swallow her whole as her throat restricted, willing her to still her tongue before speaking. But while Kitty had grown over these seven years keeping her mouth shut had never been something she could help. The sharp bite that many judged her for was something that she refused to hold back now. "Nowhere left to go?" The wind stirred again, several branches of the willow tree above them creaked underneath the breeze and Katherine shook her head, her eyes narrowing as the wind stole her tears. blankspace

16:46

"Needed a home?" A few steps forward and she peered down at the shadow of the man she had loved. The ghost of who he had been and the whisper of promise of who he could have been. "How can you ask me such a thing? Seven years I have waited for you Arven. Seven years I pleaded, begged and prayed for your return and for what? For the harsh words you have spewed? The nonsense of it!" She grit her teeth, the tears in her eyes stinging even more as her heart twisted inside her ribcage. "I loved you then and I love you still. Call me foolish, call me a child for many a tongue have but for you to say you have no home..." "I have been your home. I am your home." She inhaled a sharp shaky breath before she glared down at him, falling to her knees to grab at his jacket before she continued. "You wish to not speak of duty yet you have a responsibility to me. If you do not wish it then-" Kitty released the lapels of his jacket, turning on her knees and looking through the grass for the vial in which he had made her drop. Her words coming out jagged like the edge of a knife, raw and bleeding much like her heart. "- Then let me remedy that which you so loathe!"

16:46

@lucraz

The world stopped. Arven had tried to make himself open up, show Katherine who he was now, explain how he felt. Maybe he had done so too well. He had wallowed so long in his own darkness that it had become familiar and now when someone else saw it they saw him for what he truly was they despised him. Just as they should. But when those words tumbled out of her mouth, absolutely furious as she said them, and moved to find the poison that had tried to prevent her from taking earlier, Arven’s blood felt like it had frozen on the spot, removing the entire world except for Katherine. There was no thought, nothing rational at least, only the simple need, the absolute certainty that he had to stop her. Arven lunged for Katherine and pinned her to the ground, heedless of what kind of force he used, simply wanting to make her stop, make her notice him, make her live.

18:40

“You can’t!” Arven roared, his tearful eyes filled with panic, with the fear of a man that felt he had nothing left to lose, only to see the final part of his heart, the last piece that he had refused to acknowledge just hoping that if he didn't he couldn’t break it like he had everything else. That he wouldn’t do what he had just done. That the last good part of his existence wouldn’t believe that she was better off not existing anymore.

18:42

“You can’t.” Arven pleaded, his sobs beginning to wrack his body his words barely forming, being forced out now, because they must, because there could be nothing left unsaid, nothing left untried that had even the slightest chance of convincing Kitty to live. “Whatever you want of me you’ll have it, I’ve always loved you Kitty, I just I just don’t see how anyone could love me anymore. You say I have a duty to you, but what about when I wake up in the middle of the night and your eyes only have scorn for anymore? What will happen when you finally realize that everything that was good about me, that the man you fell in love with died so many years when his own mind couldn’t stop screaming at him? How everyone else I’ve cared about died and one of them died in my arms and I can’t forget how he looked at me as I lied to him and told him he would be fine, even as he couldn’t feel his legs anymore? So how could you possibly want me to fulfill some duty to you?” I only want you to be happy Kitty. There isn’t anything like that for me now though. And if you try to be with me, try to find what we once had, I am only going to drag you down with me. So please, don’t die. Try anything, go with anyone, live the life I know you deserve.” Arven’s words had become a hoarse whisper at this point, softly speaking them into Kitty’s chest as his flood of tears continued unabated, falling where ever they may lay. His grip upon Kitty’s arms had relaxed, as Arven was no longer able to hold her, only his simple weight stopping her from getting up now. “Please. Live.”

18:42

@enchantednymph

One moment she was searching frantically, tears blurring her vision as she focused on the ground and the next she was pinned beneath him as he stared at her. His own fury at her words clear as day on his face as he roared at her. "I can't?!" She roared back with just as much power as she could muster. Her chest heaved with each shaky breath as the wind churned around him, his hair blowing partially across his face. "I have been here waiting for you and you come back to tell me that you have nothing left! Well then let me make that statement true Arven!" His stare bore into her, making her heart ache even more so than it had the first time she had pleaded with the heavens to take her. The look in his eyes, the shadows that were hidden beneath the surface were so clear as she stared up at him, her own tears streaming down the sides of her face as his fell, plopping against what little skin was exposed on her chest. "I can't." She responded in a whisper, as if his very presence had stolen her breath as he lay there atop her. When Katherine spoke again, her voice came out cracked, so raw with emotion that she sounded nothing like the girl he would remember. "I have mourned that loss already, I have heard stories. Seen first hand..." She swallowed the knot in her throat, her eyes never leaving his. "You may not be the boy I had fallen in love with but your soul is the same. She glanced down at his heart. "You are you in whatever shape or form and for you to-" Katherine broke off, her eyes closing as she shook her head. blankspace

09:11

"Do you really think so little of me? That I could ever look at you in such a way? Is that truly how you view me, Arven? If I was so weak then would I have waited seven years? I have loved you every day and will continue to do so. When you made your promise I made you one of my own. Do- Do you remember what I had said? Or do you just choose to pretend it was but a dream?" She looked at him, real and true as she waited, the air stirring around them, her body so thin and frail beneath him. A shadow of her own self, clearly she had not been taking care of herself. His words cut deep as he told her to go, to live a life in which she knew he meant without him. "I do not want just anyone, Arven..." Her voice was barely a whisper, carried away on the wind and hidden behind the rustling from the weeping willows branches. His grip loosened and her hands moved to wrap him in her arms. "I promised you my heart. My soul. Shadows and demons be damned I'm not so weak as to run just because you're not the boy I had loved." "You beg me to live, yet you're denying me the very thing that gives me a reason..." Her own tears flowing still. "Let me make that choice Arven, let me choose whether I would be dragged down. Let me prove to you that I am strong enough to lift you up instead...please."

09:12

@lucraz

“I’m scared that you’ll look at me that way Kitty because that is how I view myself.” Arven’s muffled reply came as he melted into her embrace, lacking the strength to hold himself away from her anymore. “I know the words you say. I have returned and despite everything, I am still myself. Every day I wish I was someone else. Someone who deserved the promise you made to me.” Arven slid to the side, staying within Kitty’s embrace, even pulling her closer, desperately craving the warmth of her form, the gentle touch of her love upon his fractured heart. “Of course, I remember your promise. ‘I’ll always stand by you Arven for you my other half, my heart only beats with yours, my soul is only whole alongside you. Whatever may come, we will weather it together, stronger with each ever than we could ever be apart.’ I’ve never forgotten, Kitty. I can’t remember how many nights I whispered that promise to myself in the dead of night, trying to steel myself for what would come or seek solace from what already had passed.” Arven paused, running his hands through Kitty’s hair, truly feeling just how much smaller she was now. He had always been larger of course, but in the past when he embraced her it had felt like holding a star, lively and bright. Full of the promise of tomorrow and so sure that tomorrow would be wonderful. Now holding her close felt like trying to hold water in his hands, desperate to keep it there, but always on the verge of losing the struggle. Even her hair bore the scars of their time apart, its full and lush body now lank and loose from malnutrition. blankspace

10:52

“You are so much stronger than I am Kitty. If you truly think that I am worthy of your love, worthy of your attempt to save me, then I couldn’t imagine anything I would want more.” Arven squeezed her tightly now as if reaching for a lifeline from the quagmire of his own mind. “I’ve never wanted anything more than to come back to you, to see your gentle smile in the morning as we wake up together, to hear your bright laugh as I shared my day with you and yours with me. I’ve always been at the whims of your plans, wild and crazy adventures that they were, so now Kitty I am begging you. Please save me. If you can still see the man you love inside me, show me where he is. Let me be him in every way I can because I miss him too. I never wanted him to leave but I haven’t known who he was for years. I was so scared that he was lost forever, that all I had left was the crushing days without you, that my soul was rent in twain and left to rot, corroding as the war did its best to rend it asunder and scatter the pieces to the winds. My heart only beats with yours, so for so long, it feels as if it was halted, never to beat again. I’ve only wanted to return to your love Kitty, I just couldn’t handle it, if you didn’t love me anymore. For too long when I tried to think of you, my mind only told me of how I had already failed you. So please, be my better half, please lift me up. You don’t need to prove anything to me, because I already know that you can.”

10:52

@enchantednymph

The relief she had felt as he softened against her was something that Katherine relished, whether intentional or not she felt whole as his body pressed into her the way it did. His words tore at her heart, her eyes shutting as she just enjoyed the embrace. Him pulling her closer was like the anchor she had needed from being adrift for so long. Bringing her back down from the precipice that she had stood at for so long longing for death. How much of a fool she had been, to have almost given up and not being granted this boon from the gods. He may have been damaged, broken and in his own eyes beyond repair but Katherine would take what she had been given and make the most of it. Like those pottery artists from the orient who filled the cracks of pottery with gold so too would she. She would give him the warmth and hope that he so desperately needed, and in turn perhaps she too would be granted what she had been longing for. Her eyes remained closed as he spoke the words she had uttered so long ago, the memory replaying in her mind. Each word pulling a piece of her back from the brink and back in this moment with him. Her anger becoming but a small ember inside of her chest. "I hear your pleas, I feel them in my very soul Arven and I respond in kind..." Her grip on him loosened, her hands moving to cup each sides of his face that had found themselves buried in her chest. She lifted him, wanting, needing to see into his eyes. When they were revealed to her only then did she continue. "I will be the hearth for you to return to, the roots of your growing tree...what ever it is you need of me I will gladly give it for I only exist for you." blankspace

15:38

Katherine's dark eyes held his gaze for a long moment as her heart beat thudded against her chest, the soft thumping of it reminding her that she was indeed alive, and her hands that held Arven's face proof that he too was alive in this moment. He wanted her to save him, to give him the breath of life and before she could think her mind instantly reacted, her lips crushing against his in a needy plea. She wanted him to live, and if it took her very last breath she would give it, truly. He had been a hero for his country and now it was her turn to be a soldier to trudge through the darkness that was his mind and bring back the man that had been lost and forgotten.

15:39

@lucraz

Arven’s mind screamed out against the words that Kitty so lovingly told him, shouted that they couldn’t be true, that no one would ever love him, and that anyone who would even deign to say so, must be lying, must be trying to hurt him instead. He could barely hold her gaze as she lifted his head to look at him, only the seizing of his throat preventing him from denying what she said, preventing him from begging her to take it all back. He was supposed to be her everything? He found it a daily struggle to exist and she wanted to be the one to exist for him? But he wanted this. More than anything else he could imagine in this dirty and ugly world, he wanted to believe in her words. To let, to ask her to do just as she said. That even when he felt like there was nothing left in the world for him, that he would always have someone to return to, that he would have someone willing to listen and hold him, even as his hand rose in a dark reflection of the act. Could he do that for her though? She was willing to be his hearth, his roots, his place to forever return to. What could he offer her though? All he had given Kitty so far was pain. Driven her to the top of this hill to never return again, all because of him. Could Arven truly trust himself to return that kindness, that comfort, that love? When she kissed him though, it washed those thoughts away. Only to behind a wall, most certainly not gone, perhaps not even changed yet. But behind lock and key, to which Kitty held the means. Eventually, Arven knew he would need to take that burden, that to leave that with someone else, even if it was her, would mean that those thoughts would come back eventually, deeper and more forceful than before.

15:44

Now though, there was only the want. The want to love Kitty as deeply as she loved him, the want to let all of her words wash over him and wipe away his fears. The want to simply exist in this moment and to let the future sit out of reach, out of notice until it must be dealt with. The want to pull Kitty’s body as close to his as he possibly could. So Arven simply gave in, forcing himself to surrender any rational thought to simply let the sensations run through him and then impart them back tenfold. So as Kitty’s lips pressed against his, her need and desire showing through their embrace, he replied back telling his love that he was here and that right now nothing could change that, no force in the universe could pull him away from her. He crushed her body to his, enveloping it in his own once more, needing to feel as if every inch of their skin was touching the other. He rolled her onto her back again, but now not in an attempt to stop her, but to show her his devotion, his promise to be a part of her forever more. Stroking her cheek with one hand, Arven broke from their kiss to leave a trail of them down her neck, needing to savor her taste and impart himself on her everywhere he could. Rising from where her neck met her collar Arven rose to look her in the eyes once more. “I promise Kitty, I will always stay by you. I may no longer know who I am and I cannot promise that I will not darken the hearth you will give me, that I will not poison the roots you use to support me, but I can promise this. I will never ask you to leave again, I will never wish for you to leave my side, and I will always be there when you call. For I love you, Katherine Sweeney. I love you, my dearest Kitty, who never lost hope, who was willing to see the light even as I thought myself swallowed up in an endless night. I love you and I will never leave you.”

15:44

@enchantednymph

Arven pressed his body into Katherine's and she felt that spark of hope ignite. The weight of his body nearly knocked the wind out of her petite form but she didn't care. They rolled and she was once again laying in the bed of grass beneath the willow tree. His hand stroked her cheek and she pushed her heads weight against it, his calloused and scarred hands a welcome difference to her delicate and smooth skin. The kiss broke and Kitty shut her eyes, enjoying the feel of his lips as they began to travel along her chin, down her neck and even further still until he met the fabric of her dress. He pulled away, his eyes swirled with a multitude of emotions and Katherine held her breath as if the very words he was about to speak were what she had been waiting for. 'I promise Kitty, I will always stay by you...' Pretty words from weathered lips, her heart seemed to beat along with each syllable, her eyes refusing to look anywhere but at the man who hovered over her. Pretty words mixed with shadows and edges in which she knew would remain, but nevertheless Kitty accepted them. She would prove to Arven that what he said would not come to fruition. That her devotion to him would never waver, he was her heart and she his and there was nothing that she would ever let come between them... not even himself. '...I love you and I will never leave you.' His closing sentence had her heart swell, nearly begging to be ripped from her chest so that it could be presented to him. Her lips parted, her tongue darting to coat them before she spoke in turn, her eyes pleading for him to believe them. "Should you darken my hearth, I shall light a fire to warm you, to provide you with the light in which you need. Should my roots become poisoned while I support you I shall provide the water in which the roots require... Drowning them so that you may still be held up, that the foundation in which we build will only come back stronger." blankspace

19:10

Her hand rose to stroke his face much like he had, her eyes shed the last few tears in which she had. They truckled down her temples into the waves of her rich brown waves of hair that were fanned around her head. The bright green grass underneath her seemingly highlighting her bright green eyes against her porcelain cream skin. The sanguine smile she gave him could move mountains, painters and poets alike would weep to see such beauty that she offered to the love of her life. Kitty used her free hand to grab one of his own, moving it over her heart. She flattened his hand against her breast so that he may feel what beat beneath. "I declare this so before the gods of this world, to the heavens above and the ground below... To the winds that they may carry my words to the ends of the earth. I give myself to you, Arven Lyrason, from that very first moment many moons ago until time has eroded us to nothing but stardust."

19:10

@lucraz

The words Arven never truly expected to hear anymore, the words he was certain he had denied himself evermore, nearly took away all of his strength right there. Instead, they lit a fire inside him, showing him just what he had been living for all these years, just what had worked to come home to, what he needed to live for. If that is what Kitty would do for him, the lengths she would go to return him to the man she knew he could be then there was nothing else Arven could do but strive to make sure she never had to. “Then Katherine Sweeney, my beloved Kitty, If you will forever be mine, from now until the end of time, then know that even as stardust I will still come back to you every part of me seeking you until we are whole again, for I know that I never will be without you. Wherever I may be, wherever I will go it will always be with you, because I could not be there otherwise. Kitty, I love you. Not only that, but thank you. Thank you, Kitty, for loving me.” With that Arven bent his face back down to hers, the streams of his tears mingling with the trails on his face, as kissed her with all of his being, begging her to feel what he felt in that moment, just as she had since the moment they reunited. Never letting his lips break from hers, he slowly removed the black mourning dress from her body, sure that he would never let her feel that sorrow again, swearing that from now on she would only wear colors that matched the smile on her face. As the top of her dress came undone, Arven began to kiss every inch of her skin, marking her with himself, making sure that every inch of them would yearn for each other, always cherishing each other when they met. Kitty helped him remove his armor, her own lips reaching for his body, making sure to always be connected, even as she frantically worked at the strings that held his outfit together. blankspace

11:32

Finally breaking for a moment, an eternity to them both even in the brief second it may have been, Arven let Kitty drag the armor off of him, baring his chest to her. As he threw it to the side her hand traced his scars, some older and some newer, her fingers taking the time to sketch them all, reacquainting herself with him, learning his new form and all that had changed about him. With a slight smile, the morose memories of his time on the battlefield coming back in the pause, Arven covered Kitty’s hand with his own, squeezing it gently to both reassure her and recognize what she felt there. Bringing it up to his mouth to kiss her palm, he had her stop, desiring to move forward now and no longer linger on the past. Those years were behind him now and the years with Kitty, were what was important now. Reaching down now, he lifted her hips up, removing the long black skirt that covered what he desired and represented her own past years. Dragging it and anything under off, Arven finally had his beloved nude below him, her body soft and small, withered from her sorrow and pain, but no less lovely to him, no less desirable to the burning fire within him. Bending down once more he took her into another kiss, a promise to the future he would have with her and the promise that now would be everything they could both wish for. @enchantednymph

Her heart swelled with the devotion of his declaration. The tears that had been in her eyes were no longer held as she let the last of them shed from her eyes, her lips that had been so set in their determination to prove her love turned upward into a smile before his lips would claim them. A kiss that sealed their promises to one another beneath the willows whispering branches. A kiss that tasted of tears, longing and hope. Never once had the kiss broken as his hands freed her from the black bleakness that had been her premature mourning. Buttons scattered, abandoned and never to be sought for again as he revealed her cream colored chest. His lips leaving a heated trail from her mouth, down her chin and lower still. A soft moan escaped her lips as he marked her with his affections. Soon he too was bare to her and her eyes raked over the body that had once been unmarred by war. Yet as her hands traced each and ever scar or blemish she found them heartbreakingly beautiful. This man had been through hell and yet he had come and returned to her, this man had lived to tell the tale and when he lifted her hand to kiss her palm the tears that had swelled in her eyes dissipated. He wished to moved forward and so they would. Arven lifted her with ease as he began to remove her skirt, the dark materials begin discarded to never be worn again before his body came crashing back into hers. His lips once again claiming her own in a passionate kiss that wouldn't end. One hand sought out his, their fingers interlocking together as she felt him align himself. His manhood pressing against her womanhood, her body reacted almost instantly as his tongue darted forward and finding itself inside her welcoming mouth. blankspace

05:56

The breeze blew around them, the willows branches encapsulating them in their own little world while their desire for one another was once again cemented. One thrust of his hips and Katherine and Arven became one. He loved her and she loved him in kind, their bodies slowly building a symphony between them of moans and sighs, of whispered declarations of loves and cries of passion. The desire they both felt was obvious as his cock stretched her, filled her to a completeness that she hadn't felt with anyone but Arven himself. Her slick walls squeezed and teased as he slid in and out of her depths, building their desire into a crescendo that filled her heart and mind leaving everything else behind save for the man that completed her. @lucraz

Kitty’s tightness was the first sensation of many that flooded his mind. The yearning that they had felt for each other, even if their reunion had been marred by shadow, was now being released in a euphoria that they both shared, a celebration of each other’s bodies and self. It was as if their lives were being rejoined under this tree, the sensation of pleasure a monument to the fact that they were indeed still alive and now, that they were together. That certainly wasn’t a coherent thought running through his mind, however. All that he could think of was the need to feel Kitty more, to experience all of her that she would let him. How his dick pushed past each of her folds as they squeezed around him, dragging him in further with a desire that mirrored Kitty’s longing these past seven years. Arven continued to thrust in and out, his body arching over her’s as she lay beneath him, her loving gaze holding his as he had to break from her lips for breath. Arven paused in his thrusting, simply luxuriating in Kitty’s warm womanhood as it surrounded and held him tightly, leaning down to Kitty’s ear. “Since you’ve promised your everything to me, I promise to you that right here and now, and every moment hence, I will show you that you are mine,” he whispered, the rough scruff of his stubble rubbing against her cheek during the intimate moment. “Every inch of you will know what it’s like to belong to me, to please me.” He gently kissed the spot under her ear as he picked up thrusting into Kitty again, his slow and strong movements pushing as deeply into her as he could, seeking to etch himself on her insides. “Because you are the perfect woman for me. Not only did you hold strong for my return, never wavering in the faith that I would come back to you, but even when I did and shattered the hope you clung to you still took it upon yourself to reach out to me,” Arven continued, taking Kitty’s other hand and mirroring the one they held intertwined. Placing both hands abov

18:33

e her head, Arven pinned her in place, placing just enough of his weight on her to let her feel all of him, while still supporting enough of it himself to keep both of them comfortable. “No one else could have done that. No one else besides My Kitty could have been strong and kind enough to do so.” Now Arven began to thrust in earnest again, his animal desire to feed the heat rising through his body powering the pounding he was delivering to Kitty’s petite body. His breath turned to hot pants as he took in how she shook below him, her squeaks and moans accompanying the bouncing of her modest yet beautiful chest. His thick cock was beginning to bottom out in Kitty’s soft pussy, his hips meeting hers with a rough sound that pierced through the silence of the hill. Arven had forgotten what this was like, how perfect it was when he and Kitty were joined, how it was as if they were always meant to be like this. “You- are- perfect- Kitty!” Arven shouted in between labored gasps and his own loud moans. “There’s no one else for me but you! You’re everything I could want and more than I deserve!” He continued trying to maintain eye contact as the intensity of the action threatened to overwhelm him, his muscles on fire with exertion, but nothing could stop him now, nothing could prevent him from conveying his feelings to the only woman he loved, the woman who was already an inseparable part of him. @enchantednymph

Each thrust of Arven's hips were with such precision that Kitty found herself lost in the ocean of passion that he seemed keen on taking her through. Their journey of loss and love and rediscovery all coming to this point in time where both of them relished in every part of each other. Arven leaned over, his breath hot on her ear as he spoke. His speech stole her breath, sucking it out of her only for it to come out in a heated moan of desire and yearning. This was a part of Arven she had never explored before, with his demanding tone and forceful thrusts. He would consume her very being and it was exactly what Kitty wanted. She had meant the words she had told him. Her walls were slick with her desire as he drove home time and time again, his hands moving to lift her own, pinning them over her head. His weight an anchor; keeping her from becoming adrift in the ebb and flow of their ecstasy. Her breathlessness evident the moment she opened her lips to respond to his declaration. "Your Kitty, always." She confirmed, her eyes hidden beneath her thick lashes. Her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath only for Arven to begin thrusting into her yet again. A moan would escape her, her cries of pleasure being carried off by the wind and up to the heavens. Katherine hoped they would hear, let the gods also rejoice at their union. "Yes! Oh gods, Arven. Fill me, consume me!" Her petite body rocked with each and every thrust of his powerful hips. Her legs spreading and moving to wrap around his waist. Her hips lifting up from the soft grass beneath, opening her even more for him. His cock driving into her, etching his essence into her very being. blankspace

14:44

Katherine would remember this moment, the way he stretched her. His words and his body both letting her know to who she belonged. Her moans became louder, needier as her walls began to twitch and spasm around his rigid manhood. His head pressing into her just right to send her over the precipice of her release. Her eyes which had been open shutting tight as small stars began to dance across her vision. Every fiber of her being began to tingle, her porcelain skin coated in sweat as she rode the waves of her release. @lucraz

The waves of Kitty’s release hit Arven like a two-pronged assault, the musical tone of her voice crying her pleasure at his touch and movements as her wet and molten core squeezed him as if begging him to climax with her. She had said the words, said that she was his, and then begged him to fill her. At any other time that would have been enough to instantly release inside her, giving her just what she wanted, just what she needed and deserved. Right now though he had to fulfill his promise. He was going to show her just what it meant to be his how her body was going to be used by him, how he would claim and treasure it every day and night from now on. Slowing his thrusts during Kitty’s climax Arven let her ride it out upon the gentle yet deep rocking motions of his hips, his thick cock slowly pushing through every trembling and quivering fold of velvet pussy. He let off her hands to make sure she could cling to him how she liked, her legs already clenching around him as if she would never let him leave again. Still slowly rocking inside her he bent his head back down to the side of hers and simply let his tongue gently lick her earlobe, as he then whispered, “That’s right, my wonderful little Kitty, cum for me, show me how much you need me inside you and I promise, I will never leave you feeling unfilled again.” @enchantednymph

A whimper would escape Katherine's lips, the way he continued to rock inside of her as her entire body shook. Arven had released her hands and it wasn't long after that her hands gripped at his shoulders. Her nails digging into those strong muscles. Her chest pressing upward as her nipples brushed against his chest. Those same small perky sensitive peaks were as hard as the mountaintops as they pressed against him. Her heels digging into his hips as her head shook side to side until her eyes fluttered open. Kitty was so sensitive as he continued to thrust into her, those slow rocking motions of his hips seeming to drag out her climax in the best way. Every nerve in her needy cunt tingling as that ache continued onwards. Arven bent down, his tongue flicking at her earlobe and causing another moan to escape her. Her hips began to roll along with him, that tingling pain now becoming a new heightened pleasure. Her breaths ragged as she let her hands move up into his hair. Clinging onto him as she whimpered. "Mmmmm Arven, more. Aaahhhh- Please! I- I need-" Her hips rolled again as if she was trying to get him to quicken the pace. She needed the friction, the fervent heat more than the gentleness. @lucraz

“Don’t worry baby girl I’m here for you,” He crooned into her ear as he rose back over Kitty. The hands gently gripping his hair, begging him to stay close, indeed made him do so. Bracing himself on his arms as Kitty’s body encircled him in a loving and needy embrace, he began to pick up his pace once more. The girth of his thick cock began to plunge into Kitty’s hot core with a ramping-up abandon, his hips soon slamming into hers as Arven delivered the force she had begged him for, the impact of their bodies reverberating through the silent air. “That’s right my precious Kitty, I’ll give you whatever you want, even if that’s driving your mind clear of any thought but me, if that’s flooding your body with so much ecstasy you feel as if though you’re melting.” Arven panted the soft feeling of Kitty’s sublime pussy driving him towards his own climax, even as he so desperately attempted to deliver countless ones to Kitty. @enchantednymph

The deep rumble of Arven's voice in Kitty's ear was exactly what she needed. Adding in the grunts and the sounds of their bodies as the came crashing together over and over it wouldn't take Katherine long before she felt the pressure building inside of her once again. Her walls tensed and clenched, her ass and tits bouncing with each demanding thrusts of Arven's hips. He stretched her, filled her to the brink with a heat so intense that she soon found herself erupting. Her pussy coating his cock once again with her cream, the added slickness only heightening the moment as his cock hit her center. "Gods! AAAAA-rven!" Her cry was deafening near his ear, her fingers that were locked into his hair pulling with a force as she rocked her head side to side. Oversensitive yet not overstimulated Kitty moved her close to his neck, her lips parting as she bit down in the place between his neck and shoulder. Her cries now muffled as her tongue pressed against the tensed muscles in her mouth. Her pussy continuously convulsed around him, coaxing him towards his own climax. @lucraz

“Oh Fuck,” came the low growl of Arven’s own release, the piercing cry of Kitty’s own intense climax ringing in his head as she tightened her grip on his head, clutching him to her in ecstasy. The slickness of her erupting fluids made his own release simply inevitable as Arven slid forward to release his own cum deep into her womb, filling her just as she had been begging him to do. He did his best not to collapse on her, their labored breathing in time with each other as Arven simply rested in Kitty’s warm embrace, his jizz slowly leaking out where they were joined, a testament to how much he had released, how much she had coaxed from him with her alluring body. Even as Arven slid to the side, Kitty still clung to him, her arms and legs locked around him in both the remains of her physical pleasure and emotional need to keep him near. Arven simply did the same and held her tight, letting her head nestle into his chest, where his scent rose up to greet her and reassure her that he was there, just as his arms petted her back in an effort to do the same. “That’s my good girl. I knew in the bottom of my heart that waiting for you would be worth it and you have gone above and beyond to prove me right. I’d forgotten what heaven was supposed to be like, but right now I can only imagine it as me right here, snuggled in your loving and caring arms.” Arven kissed the top of her head, his heart overflowing with the emotions running through him in their sudden whirlwind of a reunion. Maybe they had only started, but in that case, this was certainly a start that Arven would never let falter. “I love you so dearly my little Kitty.” @enchantednymph

Completely spent and content Katherine felt her body finally relax after Arven had found his own release. The feel of his seed filling her so much so that some could be felt dripping down to the grass below was a feeling she didn't want to forget. Even as Arven slid from her depths she could still feel him, a whisper of the real thing but remaining all the same. Katherine felt her eyes growing heavy as she curled into Arven's side, her hand resting on his chest over his heart. His heart beat so hard that she could hear as well as feel it, a small flushed smile forming on her face as she tilted her head so that she could look up at him from where she lay. Her heart skipped a beat as he spoke. Poetic words that were poetic and perfect in the post bliss that the two were sharing beneath their willow tree. "I have loved and will always love you, Arven Lyrason...my fierce lion, my protector and my heart." Katherine kept her hand on his chest though her head moved back to where it had originally lay, hie heartbeat loud and true in her ear. A melodic beat that she would never grow tired of hearing for as long as she were to live. Her hand that had rested over his heart ran over the expanse of his chest, her fingers toying with the red hair that grew there. He was beautiful, he was hers and for the first time in a long time Kitty felt safe and comfortable enough that pretty soon her breathing became even, her eyes fluttering shut as she fell into a soft slumber into he arms of her lover. @lucraz

Aven’s body felt spent after he and Kitty had come together. As she curled up against his side, he put his arm around her, holding her tight as she rested her head on him. “My little Kitty, my anchor, and my savior, I love you deeply too. I’m sorry I ever forgot that,” he whispered as she faded off into sleep, a needed rest finally overtaking her. For a time Arven simply lingered there, letting Kitty rest her head on his chest as the wind gently swept over them. For the first time in a long time Arven felt, well not quite, but almost whole again. It would likely take quite a while before he truly felt complete once more, but Kitty had already started him down that path with more force and love than he would have thought possible. Now it was time to start to return that gesture, to show that his love wouldn’t just be his impassioned speeches or the carnal pleasure they both shared, but that the day-to-day would be filled with love for both of them as well. He had promised her that she would never wear black again, that the mourning dress she had worn for him would be replaced by something bright and worthy of the happiness they would share together. Yet it would certainly not do for her to walk back into town naked. He hadn’t even properly returned here, just to Kitty, and while he might not care what the townsfolk would say, even these last seven years couldn’t strip him entirely of good sense. This was where they were going to live. At least for a time, until they could discuss it further and make plans for the future. The future. A concept that almost felt devoid of meaning for so long now, was suddenly something of great importance to him again. Gently pulling from Kitty’s soft and warm embrace, Arven quietly put his armor back on again, covering her nude form with his cloak. The issue now was where to get clothes now and to get them quickly enough before Kitty woke up. He had yet to see his mother and as much as Arven knew that he should visit her, the memories

20:50

of his departure left a bitter taste in his mouth as he recalled them. She had wanted him to go even less than Kitty did. He hadn’t even looked back as he left. Kitty’s house would certainly have her own clothes, and they’d be sure to fit, but the idea of approaching her manor, where her entire disapproving family most certainly still lived with the request for a dress already gave him a headache. And it would be unlikely to spare Kitty the shame he was trying to avoid here either, with the gossiping maids sure to spread the story far and wide throughout the village, inviting a horde of judgmental looks their and especially her way. blankspace

20:50

No for now the only solution Arven could think of was to try and buy a new one. He hadn’t been here in seven years but the town was decently sized, surely all the dressmakers had up and left in the interim. Squaring his shoulders he began to march down the hill, to the home of his childhood and potentially future. The houses did seem smaller and more worn down than he remembered. The streets missing cobbles here and there and the afternoon bustle was seemingly gone. The memories of all the towns he had passed through in his time during the war rose to the front of his mind and even with the others that had returned, it seemed far closer to the towns they had conquered, not the ones they had simply stayed at. Maybe he was simply more morose now, and the town was just a town and late afternoon wasn’t when everyone was out and about. Shaking off the fugue Arven stepped into a shop with the appropriate sign and window displays. A lone woman was the only person there to greet him, but she was kind and professional and soon enough a small green dress was the first purchase he’d made during peace. It almost seemed fitting now, and certainly, a gift for Kitty felt like the most appropriate thing to spend his money on. So he made his way back up to the hill where his love still lay, the afternoon sun lazily gazing down between scattered clouds as he climbed back and waited for his love to awake. @enchantednymph

In the hours since Katherine's disappearance there had been quite a commotion at her family's home. Kitty, the ever thoughtful young woman had not wanted to part from the mortal coil without leaving her parents an explanation for her actions that she had been so keen on achieving. Which meant that she had left behind a letter of departure. What place to set such letter but on the bed that she slept on every night and awoke every morning. The bed that she had spent many a nights and days crying her heart out after Arven had left for the war. The letter neatly written and sealed was sat upon her pillow, the off white envelope a stark contrast to that of her pillowcase. It was at the precise moment that Arven had reunited with his love that the maid had stumbled upon said letter. Unsure the contents or the whereabouts of Katherine the made had brought it to the mistress of the house who'd wasted no time in opening. The contents of said letter would send her into hysterics, quickly forcing the made to go and search for her husband. Upon his arrival and reading the contents John Sweeney became quite troubled. Summoning his footman he urgently jotted a note to the town's guard imploring them to come urgently. blankspace

15:50

The contents of the letter were as such:

The guard would arrive within the hour at the same time as Arven's return to the willow atop the hill. The letter would be given and words would be exchanged. John Sweeney demanding that his daughter be found. That this was just a tantrum of his daughters but on the off chance that it was indeed true he wanted her brought home. Both parents were questioned, the servants at the residence at well. They asked where she might be, where she liked to frequent and all the answers were the same. Beneath the Willow.* *With a destination and the evidence in hand a handful of town guardsmen headed for the hill. What they would find and what would transpire after was a tale that would be told in time...

Kitty was unaware of how long she slumbered beneath the willow but when she awoke she did not feel the comfort of Arven's warm embrace, instead her face partially laying in the grass, her naked body wrapped in some sort of cloth. Freshly awoken and disoriented Katherine feared that perhaps it had all been a dream, the declarations of love, the passion in which they had shared. Fear gripped her heart as she shot up, the cloak being pulled up to cover her body. It was only when her eyes actually fell upon Arven's face that she realized it was indeed fact. He was home, and he was hers. "Come to me..." Her arms opened, the cloak falling in kind as she waited for him to embrace her. @lucraz

Arven’s first sight as he crested the hill was a nude Kitty once again asking him to come to her. No longer one to deny his love he quickly closed the distance and embraced her, the scant 30 minutes they had been separated already too long. Keeping her warm and soft body in his grip he lowered them both back down so she was sitting nestled in his arms once again. This simply felt right. Her small smile as she nuzzled back into his chest, even if it was his armor instead of his bare skin. So once again he simply lingered for a moment, enjoying what he hoped would be an endless string of these small moments. Still cradling Kitty in his arms Arven grabbed the new dress from where it had fallen and presented it to her. “I meant what I said when I told you I wouldn’t let you wear black again, that you’d never mourn for me again. But that was the only thing you had, so I figured you’d like something to cover yourself as we head back into town. So I got you this. They didn’t have the largest selection in the world, but I figured something green, like the new spring of our love would fit.” He kissed the top of her head and smiled down at her after his little declaration. “That might be too poetic for the like of me, but it is how I feel about you, Kitty.” “Though I have to ask, what should we do now? I have to admit I haven’t been back to see my mother yet, you- you know how we parted. And while you are my home, I do still need a roof to sleep under.” Arven absently stroked the top of Kitty’s head while gazing out towards the town. “I imagine your dad’s opinion of me hasn’t changed much either in the time I’ve been gone. We’ll have to talk to him too you know.” @enchantednymph

Her heart swelled as he embraced her, lifting up her small frame with such ease. He sat them back down beneath the willow and Kitty nuzzled into him. Needing that contact to keep her nerves at ease from waking up by herself, even if it was for but a moment. She had been without him for too long and despite them becoming one again it did not unravel the scar his absence had left on her heart. Arven lifted the dress for her and Katherine's heart fluttered as she accepted the simple dress. While it was nothing like any her mother had picked out for her, it was the most beautiful dress in the world to her. It was a dress he had gotten her, and that was a magnitudes better than even the most fanciest gown. "Oh, Arven!" Tears swelled in the corner of her eyes as she hugged it against her bare chest. "I love it, I'll treasure it." It was indeed symbolic and that perhaps, was why Kitty found herself leaning up to claim his lips. She could have been poetic much like her earlier declarations, to voice those words much like he had but in this moment actions were what she could do. "I love you." The words whispered against his lips as she slid from his lap. Katherine bit her lip as she rose from the spot on the ground. Slipping it up her body and putting her arms into the sleeves she turned her back to Arven just as the wind blew, the skirt of her dress flapping softly in the breeze. "Can you assist me, my love?" Kitty would wait until she heard him rise, his fingers softly whispering across the pale skin of her back. As he laced it and knotted it she would look out at the town, her lips turned down in a frown. "Not my parents... I-" She shut her mouth, her eyes closing for a moment.it was best not to tell him about the letter. "We can't go there... You mother... perhaps?" She knew it was the cowardly way out. To make him face his side of things before they faced hers but they couldn't... Not yet. @lucraz (edited)

Arven smiled at Kitty’s declaration of how she would treasure the dress and her simple statement of love. As much as his questions had been about what to do next, he still almost held her in place as she slipped from his lap, her nude form beautiful and comforting to hold. Instead, he simply rose with her and took pleasure in the simple act of helping her get dressed, yet one more ordinary moment that he hoped to treasure in their new life together. Standing behind her as they both looked out on the town from the crest of the hill that effectively belonged to them, Arven simply listened to Kitty muse her thoughts aloud, taking no issue with her decision. At her hesitation, after suggesting that they visit his mother first he simply leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, the warm coppery scent from her hair flowing into his nose like the scent of home. “It’s fine love. I said that we would have to talk to her at some point. As long as you’re with me, I know that I’ll have the strength to face her, and the grace to apologize to her. You’ve already shown me what my absence has done to you and I know she’ll have likely felt the same.” Pulling Kitty back around to face him once again, Arven pulled her into his arms gently holding her once more. “So don’t worry my love, we’ll face whatever and whomever we need to. Together.” Taking her by the hand, Arven led Kitty back into town, just as he’d done so many times, seven years and more ago. The green dress gently fluttering in the wind reminded him how this time would be different though. Not as a young boy and girl brashly rushing forward, but as a grown man and woman, would they embrace their future together. They weren’t who they once were anymore, but they still loved each other, still loved whom each other had become. Even if that self had been forged in pain in loneliness. blankspace

17:06

So hand in hand they walked, the gentle afternoon welcoming them back into their home. It was a quiet walk, but not a heavy silence, simply a comfortable one, the silence of a pair that knew they would have all the time in the world to talk to each other and share their tales. They knew that sometimes, right now, simply being together was novel and wonderful enough to carry the moment they shared with each other. So after a short, quiet, yet loving time, they stood at the outskirts of Arven’s childhood home. The afternoon lit the place in its gentle golden light, promising a warm reunion like the one the couple had already shared. Yet it also revealed a place that seemed as if it had fallen out of care. The grass grew long and sparse towards the front of the home, the flowerbeds that had always bloomed with flowers of the matching season now lay fallow, choked with weeds that defied care instead of welcoming it. The shutters were closed up, the door shut tightly, all seeming as if they hadn’t been opened in a very long time. With a tentative squeeze of Kitty’s hand Arven opened the gate, its own hinges more worn than he remembered, barely supporting the listing gate anymore as it simply rested on the ground instead. Moving around the taller patches of grass the couple moved to the old door that was tightly shut, Arven knocking on it, yet receiving no answer. After a cold and tense minute, the afternoon sun losing its warmth rather quickly, he simply tried the door to see if it was open. It was, creaking open with a loud cry. The sun barely reached inside the house, the interior dark as if night had fallen except for the slight rays of light that just barely poked through the cracks in the walls. The stuffy air hit both of them as they entered, a stark contrast to the fresh promise of outside. “Mom?!” Arven called, his voice falling flat among the still shadows that now covered his home. “Mom? Mom are you here?” He called again, the crack in his voice sharp, pie

17:06

rcing through the quiet. Arven finally entered the house, his worn boots causing the floor to creak as if it had not been asked to work like this in months. He went towards his mother’s room, always a place of comfort and love before, now the tightness in his throat gave a new feel to the approach. Within a minute he was there, the deep blue of the door standing there as it always had. Now though instead of a deep welcoming reprieve, it simply looked gray and faded. With another nervous look at Kitty, Arven knocked once more upon the door, softly, as if afraid to break the door down. Closing his eyes after hearing no reply, he swallowed deeply and with another squeeze of Kitty’s hand, opened the door. The bed was full. A white sheet was pulled over it. Someone had left flowers in her favorite vase. They were dried and old now, but they were there. Everything else was there as if it hadn’t been touched. The chest at the foot of the bed she had always treasured. She said his father made it. Her loom still dominated the room. It looked ready to go. As if any minute Lyra would sit in front of it as she had so many times before. But the bed was full. And still. @enchantednymph

If only the lovers had known the horrible truth of what would come to transpire after their passionate reunion... Would they have done things differently? Would they perhaps have clung to each other with a new fervor atop that hill beneath their willow tree? Or would Arven had simply crumbled and lost the will to live completely in that moment? Those questions would be impossible to answer, but asked inside of Katherine's mind in the days to come. Kitty had followed Arven hand in hand, her side brushing his occasionally as they made their way through the town. Her mind on what their future might look like once they figured out where to settle... Katherine hadn't seen his mother since before he had told them both what his plans for life had been... and truth be told she would have visited Arven's mother if she'd thought she might accept her company but Kitty couldn't shake the memory of his mother when she had come to plead with her to convince her son otherwise. The look of desperation in her eyes that Kitty herself had felt followed by the anger in her refusal to do so. It had not been that Kitty hadn't wanted to convince him otherwise it was that she knew Arven, just as much as his mother. Once he had put his mind to something he stuck to it, and there was nothing they could say or do to convince him otherwise. It wasn't until they came to the front of the house that her worries had begun to set in the pit of her stomach. A sense of dread had formed around them in the eerie silence as they made their way through the house. Their hands still connecting them to remind them that they were indeed really there, Kitty offering Arven the most support she could. The floors creaked beneath their weight as if protesting their entry. As if fate itself was whispering to them... Turn back. blankspace

16:43

Arven turned that doorknob and Katherine would give him a return squeeze of the hand, her palm sweaty and cool as they were granted entry in his mother's room. Her eyes instantly seeing the white lump in the bed. Her breath held in her throat, tears already threatening to once again fall as she turned her attention to her lover at her side. He had been too late... Kitty hadn't known... If she had... The silence was deafening

Meanwhile elsewhere... The wind whipped harder than a breeze as the men made their way up the hill. Each one spread out and looking for any clue to the whereabouts of Katherine Sweeney. Men shouted the all clear save for the captain of the guard. He bent down, the fabric of a black dress had caught on an upturned root as it blew on the edge of the cliff side of the hill that overlooked the sea. Had it belonged to Katherine Sweeney? His thick brows furrowed as he called for his men, all of them coming to join the captain as he looked at the dress and then the sea. They would need to verify, it was the only clue they had. All the men in agreement they headed back down, a solemn silence as they made their way back to the Sweeney mansion. @lucraz

It’s it’s just not right. Where is she where is ? I came home, didn’t I? I’m here, I’m here so where is ? Every time I came home before this was always there to greet me. Always with a smile on her face, always so happy that I was there, so where is my ? Is she mad at me? I left but I told her I would come back I said that I would see her again so where is ? Will she not come out and see me again? She loves me so where is ?

16:49

We would sit around the table at dinner time recounting the day to each other. My adventures would make her so happy, her little boy living life so vicariously. She did so much to make sure I could live that way, giving Kitty’s parents the runaround when we were together, working hard in our garden so that we could have something special to eat while we talked, slaving away at the mill so that every day would be better than the last so where is m now? Maybe she’s out back if she hasn’t heard me come home with Kitty yet, after all, she loves her as much as I do, I’m sure she wants to see her too, we can tell her that we’re back together, that anything she heard before doesn’t matter now, that we’ve resolved to always be together now, that the world will be wonderful for us now, so of course she would want to hear that right? Wouldn’t m m want to celebrate her son’s new happiness?

16:52

Of course, she would nothing would make her happier than to hear how’d I come back and planned to stay no right? I know m m r didn’t want me to leave but that would just mean that nothing could be better than me being back right? That our idyllic days have resumed, but now I’m bigger I can take some of the work from her, I can be the one to ensure that we have enough, the one to labor in the garden as the sweat drips from my brow even as I wince in pain from the build-up of days. That won’t have to be y h r anymore, so where is she? Where is she so I can tell her my good news, how I can be the one to take care of her now, how I’ll be the best son she can have now, that anything I said before now, I didn’t mean it, I love her, I’d never leave, I want to see her smile for the rest of my life, to know how she cares for me to know how much my loves me. I stand up, it’s weird that I’m on the ground, I’m not tired right, I was just with Kitty and our walk was so perfect, the afternoon was beautiful y r should even come with us next time, since now that I’m back she’ll have so much more free time, now so she should enjoy it with us now.

16:55

But but but my legs don’t seem to be working for some reason, I have to stand up and tell my m er that I’m back now and that she should come out of the backyard now. I try to get up to do so, but for some reason, I keep slipping the floor seems covered in something and my throat is burning which is weird and why is Kitty looking at me like that? She’s trying to say something and it seems like her face is worried about something, but why should she be? We're just here to see m th r after all, she knows her and loves her right? Those two would always like to bond in the morning since the evenings were for me and m o er and the nights were for me and Kitty. So why is she looking at me that way? Why is Kitty crying? I can see her looking over towards the bed, but it’s not like my er is there, it’s not nighttime, she would never go to bed so early y m her always wanted the days to last a little longer, to always have as much time with me as she could, and that wasn’t just about me right, she simply loved life and nothing would change that, even if I was gone right?

16:57

So I try and take Kitty’s hand to stand, she truly is my pillar isn’t she always looking out for me, but when I finally manage to stand by leaning on her, she won’t go outside like I’m asking. She keeps trying to lead me to the bed and I know that I must be tired since I can’t walk but I have to go and see my m er. I have to go see my m t e. I have to go see m m ther. I have to go see my m ther.

16:58

And Kitty keeps leading me towards the bed. It isn’t empty like it should be there’s something there. The bed is made around it. I stand with my arm around Kitty as she holds me up and tries to tell me something. I can’t hear her for some reason. Or maybe I can, but I can’t understand the words. It’s like she’s saying that this thing on the bed is my mother.

16:58

There certainly is a woman there. She seems old. Not too old, her hair still has all of its color, and a full rich body that any woman would be jealous of. She’s beautiful. Though her face certainly has an abundance of lines on it. Some are laugh lines, a myriad mosaic around her eyes and mouth as if she loved the act of smiling. She must have had a wonderful life to love smiling that much. The stress lines are there also though. In some ways, they seem even more plentiful. It doesn’t seem polite to focus on those, however. You can see in this woman’s face that she would feel that way. Her eyes are closed, but you can picture how they would sparkle with joy and mischief as she talked. A playful face, one that loved the small jovial moments between people as if they were the most important things in the world. A woman who thought that would certainly have to have an abundance of love. I can see that someone has returned that love. The sheets she’s wrapped in are clean and beautiful, a rich deep blue that must have been the woman’s favorite color. I don’t know why I assume that, I guess that the door shares the same color, but this is my mother’s room so that can’t be true.

16:59

I look towards Kitty and open my mouth to tell her how she’s mistaken that the person in my bed can’t be my mother that she must have given her bed to someone else, to help another family. They won’t come out though. There’s just this high-pitched wheezing sound as I try and speak and something feels like it’s been lodged in my throat, but I’m fine I can still breathe. Kitty looks worried and of course, she is, it’s weird for me not to be able to talk like this, but she isn’t panicking. She just seems sad now. I can see her tears, but I can’t understand why I feel them on my own face. I know she’s the love of my life, but we can’t be so close after being reunited that I’d feel her tears as my own right? I’m still trying to tell her, that the person on my mother’s bed is a stranger and we need to go outside now, but she simply rests her head on my shoulder.

17:00

With nothing to look at, I turn back to the bed. It feels weird, but even I don’t want to leave. It’s weird given how eager I am to see my mother. I want to talk to her. Tell her that I’m back. Tell her that I love her. I should have at least gotten to say goodbye to her. To apologize for how I left and let her know how much I missed her. I went through so much to come back, even if I felt so lost that I didn’t know if I wanted to, that I should have at least been able to do that. Is that really too much to ask for? To at least have been able to say goodbye to my own mother? I fall down to my knees once more, embracing the cold form lying on the bed, my tears flowing unabated once more. “Mom, I’m--- I- I- uh I’m just so- I I I Mooooom.”

17:00

@enchantednymph

Heartbreak, that was what Arven was currently experiencing as his mind and heart battled to try and defy the very truth right before his very eyes. Kitty never once let that contact between them end, even as he fell to the floor. His silent cries were louder than anything she'd ever felt and as she leaned into him to offer him support the only way she knew that it would be a long while before he would come to the realization she had. Yet time ticked onward and still Arven hadn't moved from his spot on the floor, Kitty's worry that perhaps this had been the straw that broke him led her to bending down beside him, her knees touching the dirty floor as she rubbed at his broad back, though with his armor he'd barely feel the touch so perhaps it was more for her comfort than his. "Arven...my love." Her words were soft and soothing as she tried to lure him back to the present and out of whatever grief stricken place he was inside his mind. "Come on, you need to get up..." While her eyes met his he was still no where present, too far off in his fractured mind for her to reach. Her heart ached for him, her heart ached for the loss that he was experiencing, the loss that she too felt. While Kitty and Lyra hadn't been terribly close the girl had hoped that their bond would have grown, that she too would get more chances to experience that warmth in which Lyra had been known for. Her eyes had once again drifted towards the stark white sheet as Arven decided to stand, she too rising with him. That contact still a constant; whether he needed it or she, perhaps in truth it was both. He took longer to rise from the floor but Katherine gripped his hand when he had reached for it, helping him completely rise to his towering height. blankspace

15:07

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked over at the bed once more, she urged him forward. He needed to face reality, to see for himself that his mother had passed. To voice those feelings that seemed to bubble beneath the surface if only he could grip at the thoughts that seemed fractured. "My love, you need to s-say goodbye. P-please. No no, not outside. Your mother is here, Lyra is here..." The pain in her voice was evident despite knowing she needed to remain strong for Arven, he was breaking and she didn't know how to rightly fix him, or if she ever could. How naïve she had been up on that hill beneath the willow, so wrapped up in the possibilities in the future that she hadn't taken into account that life could be just as cruel as it was giving. Arven's mouth opens as if trying to speak, yet all that escapes him is the most heartbreaking sound, Kitty's eyes shutting for just a moment as she steadied herself. She needed to be strong, she needed to be his rock in this all consuming ocean of grief that Arven was experiencing. When her eyes opened she watched as he glanced at the bed, those bright blue eyes holding a small spark as if he was close. So close to coming to terms. Kitty squeezed his hand, leaning into his side as her head came to rest on his shoulder. A little more time, he would come to soon, he had to...he had to. Slowly, like trying to lure a startled animal she led him inch by inch until they were within touching distance of the bed. The lump beneath the white sheet even more imposing up close to the point Kitty's own tears streamed more freely now. She looked so peaceful and at rest, and Kitty tried to find some comfort in that but... blankspace

15:08

Arven fell to his knees once again, his body falling over the body of Lyra as he finally began to truly weep. The sorrow in his voice rocking the thin walls of the small home, Katherine's hand on his back the only thing keeping her from crumbling herself. Everything seemed off kilter, colors were dim, the air while stagnant seemed less and the setting sun seemed to be lackluster in color as it's rays came in through the window. His voice, his beautifully broken voice rocked Kitty to her core and she could do nothing but stand there and let his feelings flood her. @lucraz

It was just too much. I clung to my mother’s still, cold, corpse that was immaculately wrapped in her own sheets. I had no clue who had done that. Who the flowers had come from. Why they had decided to leave her here. Had it only been a couple of days? Had I missed out on seeing her by just that slim of a margin? If the war had ended sooner if I had marched my men harder if I killed more people faster, would I have been in time to see her? Even if it was her last day, her last moments. As I clung sobbing to her dead body, I would have done anything to have been there for those. I had been just in time for the love of my life, just in time to make sure that she still lived, but I had utterly failed the woman that had loved me for her entire life. I could feel Kitty’s hand on my back, hear her own crying, the tears streaming down her face for both me and my mother. She wants to be here for me, to keep together just as we promised each other, but even as I try to rise to touch her, the weight of what is here in front of me, of whom I am clinging to, draws me back in and rip countless more sobs from my throat, each one a blade slicing against me. I left her alone. Just like Kitty, I left her alone, but unlike my love, my mother had no one. It had always just been us. She was so happy for me when I brought Kitty into both of our lives, treating her just like a daughter of her own so effortlessly, but I could still see it. The pain in her eyes. She knew that this would always come, that I would always leave in some way, never to be solely hers again. But she was still okay with that, telling me to be with my love at every turn, always ready to sacrifice her time for Kitty’s. It was okay though. She wanted me to be happy. She was always thinking of me. I wish now, that I had thought a little more of her.

21:22

The sobs end finally, I don’t know after how long, but simply because I have none left. The body in my arms has not moved, nothing has changed, but now I simply feel… empty. Kitty is holding me still and now I can finally move my hand to hers. I let it linger there. It’s warm. Unlike my mother. It’s the house. She would never have let it get like this when… when she was alive. It was a place of life with her here. As if the sun had entered one day and let its light and warmth be contained by the walls we had. I loved it here. I just wanted more. Even now, maybe because it’s now, with how detached I suddenly feel, that doesn’t feel wrong. I loved and still love Kitty. I wanted and want to be with her. I just wish I had thought of another way to do it. I give Kitty’s gentle hand a squeeze, a light one since trying to move anything feels as if my body was miles away from itself. Silly I know. But as I slide down and away from my mother’s body, I rest against the bed, opening my arms for Kitty, wanting to hold her and be held in return. “I want to bury her,” I say, after the silence of so many moments, my hoarse voice barely emerging from my ravaged throat. “Today, if we can. I don’t know who did this, but I want to be the one to bury her. The one to give her the rest that she deserves.” I try to rise, but it’s simply too hard. For now, I rest with Kitty, trying to simply hold myself in place alongside her. @enchantednymph

Time had not been important as Arven grieved, not to Kitty. True to her word Katherine stood, still like their tree atop the hill. Unyielding and strong for the man that needed her. Even with the tears streaming down her cheeks, even when she felt as if she too were sinking in this sorrow she would not stop. Arven needed her, especially now. By the time he had finally let go of his mother the sun was well gone, the night air seeping in through the holes in the wall. The night creatures singing their own songs of sorrow as if to accompany the sobs that had racked through his body. Her hand remained right where it should on his back, even through the armor in hopes that even a small bit of the warmth she had would carry through to him at the time he needed it most. She watched, with tear filled eyes as Arven slid to rest on the floor, his hand rose to grip hers, that light squeeze enough to assure her that he would not drown in his sorrows, at least not today. Kitty would return that gesture, her petite hand squeezing with a strength his had not had. She was his rock, for now, for always and as he opened his arms beckoning her she would oblige. Falling to her knees to enter his embrace, her hands wrapping around his neck as her hands moved to the back of his head to stroke at his hair. 'I want to bury her,' His voice was coarse, so torn by the emotions that he had felt that it ached at her heart, her eyes closing as the last few tears streamed down her pale cheeks. 'Today, if we can.' blankspace

19:15

It wasn't realistic, she knew the sentiment, even understood it but there was a protocol in town to bury the dead. Papers that had to be filed, a plot to be found in the cemetery... She licked at her lips and released the air she hadn't realized she'd been holding in her lungs. She swallowed and took a steadying breath, readying herself for the words that she would need. The courage she would need to say them coming from the warmth of his arms as they enveloped her. "My love-" A slight crack, but no where near the level in which had been in Arven's own. "You can bury her, but not right now... Others... Other may need their own time to mourn, and paperwork will need to be filed. The payment for the plot be made." She closed her eyes, stroking his hair one more time as she pulled herself back only slightly enough so that she could see his face. "I will handle all of it, just take the time to mourn. To mend....your mother-" Another crack in her voice and this time a sniffle accompanied it. "Let's send her off right, yes? With warmth, and light and love?" Kitty stared into Arven's eyes, giving him time to address the words in which she had spoken. Most funeral rites took a week, but Kitty would try to make it take at most it would take two days, and then they would finally put her to rest, Katherine would make sure of it, even if she had to use her father's name to do it. It would get done. For her love she would do anything even if it meant the impossible.

In the upper district -- at the same time... The sobs of one mourning mother echoed through the Sweeney mansion, the sounds of ice cubes clanking into an empty glass the only other sound as the guardsmen stood around unsure of what to do next. The captain turned to them, giving them a nod of dismissal. The didn't need to get the brunt of Sweeney's frustrations. He'd handle it the brunt of it, his eyes switching between Mr. Sweeney and his mourning wife as she sobbed into the dress of mourning that had indeed belonged to Katherine. The sound of bourbon splashing on top of the ice a welcome sound to the head of the Sweeney household. His wife's sobs becoming almost unbearable. "You say there were no other signs?" His voice was rough, almost like he had swallowed the glass itself as he turned to face the captain, his eyes red with unshed tears as he downed the dark golden liquid before slamming the glass back down on the bar. "Yes sir, the dress was caught on a rock, likely blown by the wind..." He shuffled nervously on his feet. "Our assumption is that she removed it before jumping over the cl-" The wails of sorrow were heart piercing as Mrs. Sweeney buried her face even further into the black dress. The frown on her husband's face only furrowed deeper as he poured another drink. "You're dismissed." His words were sharp, raw and terrifying as the captain made quick work to leave, being led to the exit by the head butler as he did so. "This is your fault! My baby, my sweet little Kitty! GONE!! All because you couldn't accept that wretched boy... My baby... My baby!" Mrs. Sweeney's word as well as something crashing against a wall were the last things the captain had heard before the door shut in his face. @lucraz

Arven understood the logic of Kitty’s words. There was no possible way that he could bury his mother tonight. As much as he wanted to put her to rest, to let this day close with some solace, just as his reunion with Kitty had, it was impossible. Any attempt to do so now would simply prolong the matter in the long run. The forces that ran the city would even most likely understand and console him while apologizing for his loss, all while ordering him to dig up his dead mother and rebury her in the “appropriate” place. He can’t even thank Kitty for saving him from that at the moment, however. All he can manage is a simple nod, agreeing with her words. Warmth, light, and love could not be further from his mind, but he wants to believe. So desperately he wants to believe that she is right. So on shaky legs that have not realized the time taken from him, only the weariness imparted from his grief, he stands with Kitty. Once again letting her be his rock, his everything. He felt so very close to the worries that he had voiced earlier that day as if he had already become that poisoned water that threatened to kill the roots she was trying to become for him. He had said he would trust her though. For now, that seemed easier than trying to do anything else. Then trying to be anything more than a fading fire, struggling to keep any embers going that it could, simply resting in the hearth that was her love for him. So they slowly walked back to the room of his childhood, a place they had shared their love so many times before when their young love seemed impossible to break and supplied them with boundless energy to live and love each other. The room was now like the rest of the house, drab and dusty, a place of joy that had become still now. But there the two went to sleep, embracing each other as they did in the past, the memories of the room not yet completely gone, the emotions there still clinging to each other like stardust seeking to form what it had once lived as.

21:43

21:44

It was a beautiful day for a funeral. After two days locked inside the house, Kitty only begrudgingly going out to arrange the funeral unwilling to leave Arven alone for long, they had arrived at the cemetery to a day full of sunshine, with nary a cloud in the sky to mar the bright light. The breeze was light and warm this summer morning, holding those in attendance in a cozy embrace, while not letting the heat become potentially stifling as it so often could during the summer. For everyone else, it would likely be a perfect day, a day to talk to those they loved and share in the beauty of nature with. It could not have been a less perfect day for a funeral to Arven however. It was as if the earth itself was laughing at him, both denying his grief but also forcing him to face what was happening in front of him with nothing to shield him, no shade to veil the awful truth the sun burned into his eyes. blankspace

21:44

What was in front of him? The fastest, and incidentally, cheapest coffin they could obtain on this short notice. Filled with the body of his mother. No one but Kitty and Arven was in attendance, Arven unwilling to force himself to talk about the raw unblemished facts and Kitty having put her life on hold for two days to be with him. She had said that her life was on hold for seven years before this and two days with her beloved were nothing. It had still left a bad taste in his mouth, however. As if he was throwing all his grief, his anger, and his helplessness at her, all the while asking her to solve them for him, when all she could do was try to console him with her words and support him with her actions, all things the voices in his mind threw away. He could see her expressions, how she looked at him with caring, but helpless eyes, wanting to help him in every and any way that she could, but not knowing how, because Arven could not say himself. Every time he met those eyes a wave of guilt washed over him, the feeling of being a burden overwhelming every time, as his reactions only intensified the emotions Kitty held. blankspace

21:45

Now was the day that was supposed to give him peace and for the first time since coming home, he had slept in instead of roaming the halls of his house. As if the oblivion of sleep would hold the inevitable at bay and release him from the reality of saying goodbye. For the final time. The world does not work that of course, nothing except actual oblivion would have stopped time, but thankfully Arven knew that there was no way that he could allow himself to cease to exist. Even with this pain, with this grief, with this feeling of an unending sinking pit dragging him under, there was still too much left in the world that loved him. He would never forget the look on Kitty’s face this morning, and the main drive of his life would likely be to make sure she never wore such a look again. So he stood here now. With another squeeze of Kitty’s hand, a mainstay of these last few days, Arven lowered his mother’s coffin into the newly buried grave. It was a simple wooden affair surrounded by nothing but loose dirt and a temporary marker carved with the name “Lyra Lilliasdaughter” to mark who and what was there. Slightly sweating from the heavy exertion on such a summer day, Arven walked back to Kitty’s side and took her hand once more. It was his main comfort these days, Arven feeling as if letting go for too long would leave him adrift and careening across his own mind. Another squeeze. He looked over, a knowing look on his face as Kitty’s expression told him what he already knew, that leaving now would only hurt more, that he not only had to put his mother to rest but also leave her with his feelings. Not get rid of them of course, but at least make it so the burden was at least not solely his anymore. blankspace

21:46

“I’m sorry it’s just me and Kitty here today. I know there are other people here who would like to mourn your death, that deserve to be here at your time of rest. I’m so sorry mom, but I just couldn’t ask them what your final moments were like, most of all what you thought of me during them. I want to believe that you understood, that there was nothing left there but love. But I’m so afraid that in the end you never forgave me, that when I last saw you and told you that it was going to be alright, that you knew what a lie it was. I’ll never forget the look on your face as I walked out that door, I can never forget that face because I doubt I’ll ever truly know an expression that spoke of such total heartbreak. And of such fear. In my head, I thought I was doing all I could for you and myself, but even in the moment, and especially in the nights after, my heart always felt like I hadn’t done enough. I’m so sorry. I’ll put out something, I’ll make sure that everyone knows, but I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll ever be strong enough to find out what those last moments were like for you.” blankspace

21:46

“I’m sorry you’ll never get to see the future I wanted to build either. If I had been able to come home and show you what I had done, the reasons I had left, had come to something I hope you would have been able to forgive me. That if I showed what I thought I could build with the results of my decisions, that you would have come around in the end. I also hoped that you could have been a part of it, that the future I made would include you because nothing will be the same now without you around. I don’t know who I’ll go to, to think about what the best gifts for Kitty will be, what the best spots to show her would be, and I’m so sorry I’ll never get to show you what the life Kitty and I will build together will be like. I had always pictured life with you in it and now everything I had looked forward to, feels less for not having you in it. I’m so sorry mom. blankspace

21:47

“Most of all I’m sorry for not cherishing the past that we had together more. At the moment everything seemed like it always remain that happy, that nothing would ever change the happiness of our days. Those carefree smiles are something that I’ll always look back on with such fondness now. These days it feels impossible that we could have ever smiled so much, that everyone else looked at it as something special when it felt so ordinary. Now it feels impossible. I want so desperately to feel that way again, but I know I’ve changed too much for that to happen. I feel as if that person truly has broken beyond all recognition, but somehow they’re standing here right now and it’s still just me. But instead of the joy that was always present, at least as I look back, all there is now is the attempt to grab fleeting moments of it and to try and make them last as long as possible. So many nights as I was gone those days were all I could think about and I just miss them so much now. So I’m so sorry for not cherishing those, for not trying to make even more of those times, for not staying. I’m so sorry I left.” blankspace

21:47

Arven knelt down at the grave, his tears streaming down his face from each goodbye, each nightmare that he wished to shed. “Most of all mom, I’m sorry for leaving these here with you, but I don’t want to feel this way anymore. I don’t know what I’m going to do going forward, and I feel like most of the time it’s going to be me failing. I know that if you were there you would support me all you could, and I’m thankful for that. So thank you, mom. Thank you for always doing your best, even when you failed, because you still acted from a heart that loved me. Thank you for giving me those moments to be sorrowful about, because even if they hurt right now, they’re still unspeakably precious to me. They helped make me who I am today and without them, all that would be left would be the pain. I don’t think I could handle that. So thank you for showing me what life could be and giving me a reason to keep going forward. Thank you. I love you and always will mom.” blankspace

21:47

While the day may not have been perfect for a funeral, it was home to two, both in the same cemetery. They had arrived after Arven had begun his speech and he had simply not noticed as he was consumed by his emotions. Even if he hadn’t been he would surely have given them the same knowing respect and space that they had given him. Perhaps fate loves irony though, for as Arven and Kitty came to bury a parent, two parents had come to bury a child, the worst fear of anyone who brings life into the world. @enchantednymph

The day had been pleasant and warm, a breeze blowing like a gentle caress, as if nature itself had been attempting to give Arven back a little of the warmth in which had been taken from him. Kitty had thought the weather perfect for a funeral, though deep down in her heart she knew that he might think the opposite. It was in the way he looked up at the sky as they had made their way to the graveyard in the middle of town. He had given a beautiful speech, one worthy of the woman who had brough Arven into this world. Kitty could see the boy that had loved his mother, the beautiful man that she had raised. Lyra would have been proud, Kitty knew, as Arven sprinkled a bit of the dirt over the casket. A tradition that Kitty had never understood herself but knew that it held importance. He thanked her, loved her and promised to forever. Kitty's eyes were swollen and flush with tears, her lip turned down in a frown as she silently sobbed for the man she loved so dearly. It had been hard, it would still continue to be hard but Katherine Sweeney had made her own promise and she would keep it, even if she didn't voice it out loud like the love of her life.

I will protect him, I will nurture, I will provide all that he would be without due to the loss of one such as you... I can only aspire to me half the woman you were and I pray that should we ever be granted children that I can be the light of their life just as you had been for Arven. I promise no matter what, I will remain at his side.

A breeze picked up and dandelion seeds scattered on the wind, carrying both of their promises to the heavens. Kitty shut her eyes for a moment, the silent tears streaming down her ivory cheeks as her hand gripped a little tighter onto Arven's broad shoulder. She would remain at his side until he was ready to leave and not a moment before.

It had taken time, but a funeral had been arranged. Mr. Sweeney had demanded the best plot in town, paying as much as was necessary for the best headstone money could buy. His wife, dressed all in black had nothing more to say to him. Hadn't spoken in the days sense. She blamed him, and he too blamed himself just a small amount for the loss of his precious daughter. They would burry her on this warm and peaceful day, though with no body the casket before them was as empty as both of their hearts. The priest in town gave a nice little sermon, one that both parents had approved though neither listened to as they huddled separately on either side of their daughter's casket. The sobs that racked both of them were not as silent as the couple mourning on the other side of the cemetery. Who they were or who they were mourning was of no importance to the Sweeney's. Their loss consuming them utterly and completely. It would be hours, as both sides mourned, the priest now long gone as the sun shifted positions in the clear sky. The wind picked up, and Mr. Sweeney had nothing left in him, rising from his knees he dusted off his pants, his eyes swollen and sore, his heart missing that crucial piece as the gravedigger came to finally cover the box which only contained that of the dress Katherine had been wearing that day. Despite the risk of being pushed away he moved to stand beside his wife, his arm reaching down to assist her up. The woman seemed frail, having not eaten in days much like their daughter had in the time before. Was this what Katherine had felt when she had mourned the loss of the boy? Sweeney wouldn't know, couldn't know but if it was he wished he could go back in time and do things differently...

15:27

"We've got to go dear, let the man do his job..." His voice was raw, cracking in all the wrong places, still torn up with all the emotions a parent should never have to feel. "No!" Mrs. Sweeney sobbed, trying her best to scramble free from her husband's clutches. She refused, not yet, empty casket be damned it was her daughter's soul that had departed and this was now the only connection the mother had left to her precious darling daughter. Damned her husband, damned the boy that had broken her heart to the point that theirs too would be shattered and scattered on the wind. "I hate you! I hate this...bring me back my daughter!" She screamed, her hands beat weakly on his chest as he cradled her to his chest. His hand stroking the back of her head as he tried to at least soothe some of the ache she had. It was an impossible task, but one he felt obligated to try. "Come dear. Come..." Sweeney sobbed, his own body seemingly refusing to leave the spot in which they stood. Somehow, perhaps by the strength of God himself he was able to take that first initial step, and then another and another, his arms still gripped tightly around his wife's arm as they headed towards the main gate.

Time had become irrelevant to the pair, yet not to the men who had to work to finish laying Lyra to rest. They remained, though off to the side as they watched the first shovel of dirt to hit the casket. The sorrow in which Arven felt almost palpable around them as Kitty offered him the support in which she knew he needed. However, they could not remain there forever. Taking his arm she silently pulled him towards the direction of the main gate, ready to take him back home. A home that was now devoid of the light in which had been his mother. Her throat constricted, too tight to form any semblance of words that she should convey but she hoped that he wouldn't fight her, that he would know that she was doing what she must, for them in this moment. They would ever so slowly make their way, with heavy hearts and heads hung low, each step away from her grave just that much harder but that much more necessary for the true healing to begin. One arm wrapped around Arven's waist, the other holding onto his hand as she led him down the winding cobblestone path. None the wiser on who they were about to run into on this bright and mournful day...

15:32

@lucraz

It was hard for Arven to move away from the grave even with Kity’s gentle insistence as if looking away from the casket would cement the reality for him, finally making true what had already happened long ago. He had said his piece, however. He had thanked her for her love and let her know, for the last time, how much he loved her. Had loved her. If what he had said was true though, there was nothing left for him here. The happiness he was so thankful for, that he had promised to carry forward, lay with another now. So with one last look, he let Kitty take him away, leaning into her gentle embrace, thankful for the warmth and love she showed him. “Tha-thank you, Kitty. For coming here and being with me and for the last two days. You promised to be my hearth, to support me as roots support their tree and I’m so thankful to have you here with me, giving all that could be asked of you and more.” Arven said, his voice slowly gaining strength as he spoke, the rawness that had taken hold of his throat during the goodbye he had said earlier slightly fading as an empty calm began to overtake him. “I promise that now, as we move forward I’ll be there for you like this, just as you have for me, though I hope our future is filled with far happier days than this one, I know that there will be troubles, but together, together we will be stronger than any of them.” His proclamation over, Arven finally began to straighten, no longer leaning on Kitty and needing her to hold him up, but standing with her as he holds her tightly in return. Just before they reached the gate that would take them away from the cemetery, Arven halted them both for a brief moment, clutching Kitty to his chest as he offered one more silent goodbye. As he did though, a loud shriek cut through the hot summer air, the sound a mix of shock, loss, and anger that broke the stillness of the day as surely as a bolt from the blue would have. blankspace

22:15

Jumping at the sound, both Arven and Kitty turned to seek the source, finding another couple also about to leave the cemetery. Expecting to see faces that echoed his own encompassing grief, expressions that mirrored the hollow emptiness in his chest, instead what he saw was an older couple deprived of words, their stunned faces staring at them both in utter incomprehension. At first glance they looked as if they had seen a ghost, utter shock leaving them as pale as one, but as the long moment stretched on with Arven too stunned by the sound and their sudden appearance to manage any words, their faces morphed into ones of sudden realization and relieved hope. Without any words, the woman sprinted over to Arven and Kitty pushing him out of the way as she gripped Kitty, sobbing inconsolably into her chest as she held her with fingers bone-white from how tightly she was gripping her. “My-my b-baby,” the older woman sobbed out, barely able to form words in between her tears, the force of her cries racking her body as she clutched at Kitty. “No, no one had se-seen you for days, darling a-and all we could find was your d-dress near-- near the cliffs!” “We had thought you dead kitten,” said the man, walking over to the pair as if in a daze, his face saying how he could scarcely believe what he was seeing. Reaching the pair, he took both of them into his arms, fully encompassing them both as he held them as tightly as he could as if the moment he let go Kitty would disappear from in front of him. “We, we knew how much you had been hurting from that boy, the one who went off to the war, but when the men came back, saying, saying that they couldn’t find you, just a tattered dress, me and your mother Katherine, we, we just couldn’t believe it.” blankspace

22:15

@enchantednymph

Everything had happened so fast, one moment her and Arven were standing there talking and the next Kitty had heard a sound she had would never forget for the rest of her life. Her mother barreled into her, ripping the last bit of contact she had with Arven and crushed Kitty against her chest. The reaction was one that Kitty hadn't understood until her mother held her out at arms length to stare her down. Her tear filled eyes were nearly hollow, her skin as pale as a ghost as she shook. Both her mother and father were in mourning clothes and from their reactions they had been here for her and it was in that moment that she had recalled the letter she had left for them. Guilt racked at her as her mother struggled to speak, her words still full of sorrow yet holding a tinge of hope now that she had her daughter in her arms. The look of confusion was no longer on Kitty's face as she let her mother cling to her, a strange look crossing over her face as she glanced over her mother's shoulder to Arven where he stood still shocked from the encounter. Her father's words brought her attention to him as he spoke the thought that had crossed her mind. Indeed, they had thought her dead and it was her own fault for not having reached out after she had left the cliffside. With the tasks she'd been responsible for in the place of Arven as he had mourned his mother's loss... Her lips went into a thin line as she simply shook her head. "Papa..." Her words were muffled as she was pressed between both of her parents. Neither one of them even acknowledging that boy as her father had put it. Kitty's hands tightened around them for a moment before she forced herself free and took a step back. "Baby?" Her mother's voice was the faintest of sounds but carried by the wind.

04:14

She was tired, but even more so she was upset for a multitude of reasons that she would need to process later but first and foremost there was only one thing she was concerned with. Kitty turned her head to stare where Arven stood, moving around her parents and taking him by the hand. She squeezed it tight as her parents turned to look at her with disbelief and confusion. "What-" "Papa, Mama." There was a solemn look on her face as Kitty stared down both her parents. "That boy, is right here." She took a breath to steady herself before she continued, she looked past the look of hurt on both her parent's face, she had caused this and there was no chance to beat around the bush from what had happened. "I apologize for how I had left... but Arven is home. You never understood my feelings, driving us apart and because of that-" Her head turned upward to glance at her heart as he stood there, she couldn't tell what feelings were going through him but she had an inkling of an idea. Just like her own heart which was worried that they would once again force them back apart. "Arven has suffered. More than I could have ever comprehend and he needs me. I am sorry for the suicide note, I apologize for all of it but I do not regret it." Her hand squeezed tighter, her thumb tracing the back of his hand. "There's a lot we need to talk about, but right now is not the time... We're heading home. Tomorrow we will come to the house and we can talk." She didn't wait for them to answer, instead pulling Arven along with her through the black iron gate, the sound of her father's outraged disbelief behind them though as Kitty glanced back she saw her mother holding him in place and preventing him from following. (edited)

04:15

The rest of the way back to the home that now lacked the ray of sunshine that was Arven's mother had been quiet, both Arven and Kitty unsure of how to break the silence that had followed the interaction with her parents. She knew he had words he wanted to say but she just wanted to be home, to be wrapped in his arms and undisturbed by outward forces. She wanted to rest and not think of anything else but the man at her side. Perhaps it was her selfishness but Kitty did not care. With the finality of the front door being shut Katherine buried her face into Arven's chest, inhaling deeply and finding comfort in the warmth of his embrace.

04:15

@lucraz