Post by Bauldar on Feb 9, 2020 16:43:42 GMT -8
When Drake told him that he was going to a memorial service and that it was important, Bauldar was expecting several things- the end of the world being none of them.
He had arrived at the service feeling even more out of his element than normal. In the last few months he had stayed with Drake, he had yet to get used to the sheer size difference between himself and the others who lived in this land- his towering height and massive antlers only serving to make him feel alienated and awkward around others. That feeling was worsened when he realized with a sinking dread that the attendees were separated by importance- several benches stretching up the building suddenly separated Bauldar from his one source of grounding familiarity. Unknown faces swam in front of him in all directions and he felt boxed in. Trapped. Maybe coming hadn't been the best idea...
But his friend had needed him. So here he was.
He had honestly tried to pay attention at first- but after a while the voices became a droning in his ears and time passed fairly quickly. It was only sudden screaming that snapped him out of it.
His eyes immediately started desperately looking for Drake, thinking of nothing else but his safety. When Bauldar finally spotted him, he wasted no time putting his massive frame to use and all but plowing through the shrieking crowd towards his goal. When he had finally reached him, he stumbled upon strange scene- amidst the anarchy, there was a man speaking frantically with his friend. He realized that it was a man that could only be Rai, Drake's father.
Upon realizing that he froze; despite the danger surrounding them, Bauldar could feel the importance of this moment and he refused to be the one to take it from them. He thought he heard an apology pass Rai's lips but he couldn't be sure.
And then chains broke through a weakness in the wall and everything went sideways.
If asked afterwards what had happened next, Bauldar would have only been able to give a vague recollection; the memory being doused in the frantic fear and chaos that could only be caused by the end of the world.
The last thing he remembered was an all consuming, suffocating, and excruciating pressure that seemed to cause the air he was trying to heave into his suddenly starving lungs to be too heavy... Too much.
Bauldar tried to stumble towards Drake, arms held out in a vain attempt to stave off what felt like death and reach for his friend.
He would never remember hitting the ground.
Waking up was a slow, weighty thing, and he had no idea how long he laid there in a crumpled heap on the ground. As soon as the confusion cleared he jack-knifed into a sitting position and rapidly glanced around the room. Something had definitely changed. While the dead and injured were beyond his count, he realized no one was fighting anymore. A part of his brain registered a strange rumbling and beeping sound in the background that hadn't been there before which he promptly deemed unimportant and filed it away to worry about later. For now, all he was worried about was finding Drake again for he had lost him in the disarray of rubble and bodies (unconscious or dead he couldn't tell) left in the aftermath of... whatever that had been.
Any relief Bauldar felt upon finding him was smothered by the raw grief painted on his face.
As he slowly approached, the tears making rivulets in the dust and grime that covered Drake became clear as well as their cause. He didn't have to touch him to confirm that even though he still stood, Rai was dead. He closed his eyes as his heart broke for his friend. From what he had pieced together about their relationship he definitely didn't like the guy, but he knew Drake's feelings about him were complicated and very conflicted- he wished it hadn't ended like this. Ended with Drake wracked with anguish over what could have been and now never would be.
As he got closer, a thought occurred to him- there might be something he could do. He couldn't bring Rai back to life but just maybe... yes! He could and would turn this tragedy into something that would help Drake.
He could feel the moment his Katashi bloodline abilities activated, pounding through his blood not unlike adrenaline and calling out for something he was only recently beginning to recognize as power. After explaining his powers (limited though his knowledge on them is) to Drake one drunken night, Bauldar had tried repeatedly to convince Drake to let him use his abilities to replace his arm. He refused every time. This time, he was making an executive decision on his companion's behalf.
This could be Rai's last gift to Drake and it was quite possible he was still angry at the man on Drake's behalf because the thought that "maybe now he could finally help his son for once" was rather vindictive.
While Drake was distracted, he attempted to remove Rai's right arm and attach it to Drake.
Because at the end of the day, he was opportunistic and stubborn when it came to the benefit of those he cared about. Now all he had to do was get Drake to somehow see it as a good thing.
He had arrived at the service feeling even more out of his element than normal. In the last few months he had stayed with Drake, he had yet to get used to the sheer size difference between himself and the others who lived in this land- his towering height and massive antlers only serving to make him feel alienated and awkward around others. That feeling was worsened when he realized with a sinking dread that the attendees were separated by importance- several benches stretching up the building suddenly separated Bauldar from his one source of grounding familiarity. Unknown faces swam in front of him in all directions and he felt boxed in. Trapped. Maybe coming hadn't been the best idea...
But his friend had needed him. So here he was.
He had honestly tried to pay attention at first- but after a while the voices became a droning in his ears and time passed fairly quickly. It was only sudden screaming that snapped him out of it.
His eyes immediately started desperately looking for Drake, thinking of nothing else but his safety. When Bauldar finally spotted him, he wasted no time putting his massive frame to use and all but plowing through the shrieking crowd towards his goal. When he had finally reached him, he stumbled upon strange scene- amidst the anarchy, there was a man speaking frantically with his friend. He realized that it was a man that could only be Rai, Drake's father.
Upon realizing that he froze; despite the danger surrounding them, Bauldar could feel the importance of this moment and he refused to be the one to take it from them. He thought he heard an apology pass Rai's lips but he couldn't be sure.
And then chains broke through a weakness in the wall and everything went sideways.
If asked afterwards what had happened next, Bauldar would have only been able to give a vague recollection; the memory being doused in the frantic fear and chaos that could only be caused by the end of the world.
The last thing he remembered was an all consuming, suffocating, and excruciating pressure that seemed to cause the air he was trying to heave into his suddenly starving lungs to be too heavy... Too much.
Bauldar tried to stumble towards Drake, arms held out in a vain attempt to stave off what felt like death and reach for his friend.
He would never remember hitting the ground.
Waking up was a slow, weighty thing, and he had no idea how long he laid there in a crumpled heap on the ground. As soon as the confusion cleared he jack-knifed into a sitting position and rapidly glanced around the room. Something had definitely changed. While the dead and injured were beyond his count, he realized no one was fighting anymore. A part of his brain registered a strange rumbling and beeping sound in the background that hadn't been there before which he promptly deemed unimportant and filed it away to worry about later. For now, all he was worried about was finding Drake again for he had lost him in the disarray of rubble and bodies (unconscious or dead he couldn't tell) left in the aftermath of... whatever that had been.
Any relief Bauldar felt upon finding him was smothered by the raw grief painted on his face.
As he slowly approached, the tears making rivulets in the dust and grime that covered Drake became clear as well as their cause. He didn't have to touch him to confirm that even though he still stood, Rai was dead. He closed his eyes as his heart broke for his friend. From what he had pieced together about their relationship he definitely didn't like the guy, but he knew Drake's feelings about him were complicated and very conflicted- he wished it hadn't ended like this. Ended with Drake wracked with anguish over what could have been and now never would be.
As he got closer, a thought occurred to him- there might be something he could do. He couldn't bring Rai back to life but just maybe... yes! He could and would turn this tragedy into something that would help Drake.
He could feel the moment his Katashi bloodline abilities activated, pounding through his blood not unlike adrenaline and calling out for something he was only recently beginning to recognize as power. After explaining his powers (limited though his knowledge on them is) to Drake one drunken night, Bauldar had tried repeatedly to convince Drake to let him use his abilities to replace his arm. He refused every time. This time, he was making an executive decision on his companion's behalf.
This could be Rai's last gift to Drake and it was quite possible he was still angry at the man on Drake's behalf because the thought that "maybe now he could finally help his son for once" was rather vindictive.
While Drake was distracted, he attempted to remove Rai's right arm and attach it to Drake.
Because at the end of the day, he was opportunistic and stubborn when it came to the benefit of those he cared about. Now all he had to do was get Drake to somehow see it as a good thing.
