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Post by Zack Asiv on Oct 11, 2021 20:53:48 GMT -8
He wasn't confused by her reactions. He had secretly been watching her for many, many years now. Though that was when she was just a candidate, not actually how things were now. She seemed to catch herself and ask a stable question at least.
"Alright, uh... Oh!"
He snaps his fingers before taking off the large coat he was wearing and placing it off to the side. He'd then take his black shirt off and place it down as well before he turned to face her. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes he'd let the breath out with a grunt as his body flexed in place, hands opening as his nails changed to sharp claws, his teeth turned jagged with enlarged canines, his hair spiked outwards and his eyes became slits. Symbols appeared all over his body connected like a series of interlaced symbols, even his ears sharpened somewhat.
"How about a mirror."
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Post by Rhona Hall on Oct 11, 2021 21:07:37 GMT -8
She stepped back further as he began to undress. It was not like she was uncomfortable looking at bodies but this would have been a WIERD start to explain how they were family. When he got in a stance she breathed again a bit of relief.
“Baha!” She started breathing excitedly and pacing again. “Did you or others port her or were you on the Ark? Both? Why didn’t you come to me sooner? Didn’t you think I’d like to know if I still had relations?”
She stopped in her tracks on that blurted thought. It was then she accepted it was out and waited for his answers.
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Post by Zack Asiv on Oct 11, 2021 21:12:56 GMT -8
He relaxed and reverted back to how he was before. Putting his clothes back on while she paced and spoke quickly.
"Sorry, I had explicit instructions from the last Matriarch not to approach you unless you accepted your blood fully, but I also wasn't sure how to proceed because of how things changed with the Ark. To answer your question I was on the Ark along with one other Knight. My mission since you were born was to keep an eye on you, as a candidate for our next Matriarch, your life was valuable beyond belief, but you were one of a few candidates at the time. I am bound by instructions as it were."
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Post by Rhona Hall on Oct 11, 2021 21:48:10 GMT -8
She clicked her lips. “After the Ark none of that mattered, and if it did we should have collected anyone who was left. We could have organized and none of us would have had to come to terms with being alone. Which I have, letting go of any expectations I placed on myself has helped me clear my mind and Qi. I hold my family close to my heart so to know that there are still some of us out there fills me to the point I’m positively giddy. But purposefully distancing themselves in such a dire time was a waste.” She argued.
She sure felt valued…
She also can’t really fathom the extent of what he means. She’s caught what he has said but she is hung up on one or two things she felt were a bit important.
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Post by Zack Asiv on Oct 13, 2021 23:20:47 GMT -8
He would shake his head.
"I tried to approach you when things changed, specifically after the Ark event. I logically believed that the matriarch had to have perished in the world we left, making you the last candidate, but my orders stuck. I can not disobey an order from a superior. Literally. There is an immense pain that rings in our head almost paralyzing me. I really wish I could have approached before."
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Post by Rhona Hall on Oct 13, 2021 23:28:48 GMT -8
She paused shocked by that disturbingly unexpected answer. “That’s a little fucked up… we’ll get to that in a minute because if that doesn’t get answered with another question I’ll come back to it.” She pointed. It’s not the weirdest thing she has ever heard and who knows what kind of brainwashing or Qi overpowering ability that might be.
She pondered a moment scratching her head and really tried to think. “My absolute condolences… I wish I knew them, any or all of them, truly.” It did ache to know there was more of them even before there were few but worse… that she had thought she was the only one left and then she wasn’t. She could count her blessings there would be few as of now but it didn’t ease the pain to know she’ll never meet the many.
“I just have so many questions… I suppose the next thing is. You keep mentioning watching me since I was born as a candidate for Matriarch, I’ve also noted you mentioned living long. So we are going to take that and break it in to three parts and start with Since I’ve been born.”
Rhona’s voice began to freeze. Her hands sharply halted flat palms through the air to her sides. She knew what questions she wanted to ask but it was the answers she might have been afraid of hearing.
“No never mind… we are going to skip to the rest explain being a candidate for the Matriarch and what you mean by long lives and why I’m so important. Just lump it all together and if I have more questions I’ll ask. I am in the dark so explain it to me this whole family business like I’m five... okay?”
Of course if he actually started baby talking she’ll probably throw a low-fist as his gut.
She thought back to her parents death. It pained her still and pained her deeply. She started to fiddle with the pearl earrings her mother’s only gift left that Rhona held onto. Even though this was her father’s family this was a tick she developed when thinking of home. If he was watching all these years why didn’t he maybe call the family for help? Why didn’t her father? Did he even know Kirin? Furthermore she didn’t want to know that this was a reason they sent her away before the fire. She didn’t want to hear that.
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Post by Zack Asiv on Oct 14, 2021 0:22:28 GMT -8
Kirin would wait for her to gather her thoughts and get to the questions she wanted to ask, surely there were many. Then he had to heavily fight back the urge to baby talk her, sure that he would get decked or something.
"Alright, to explain. So as you have probably guessed our bloodline is probably what inspired tales of werewolves through history and lore. The fur, the rage, the howling... Maybe not the howling, but still the raw power. That being as it is we have existed for a long time, and we live a long time. I myself was born in England in thirteen thirty two. I grew up and fought through the entire 100 years war as a mercenary for both the English and the French to bring wealth and fortune to our family. So by my count I myself am six hundred and eighty nine years old."
He gave that a moment before continuing.
"Being a candidate for Matriarch and what makes you so important, once again. Our bloodline is animalistic, if not wolves we are still a pack animal. Without a leader, an alpha, we would die out. Females in our family are very rare, even then the chance of pregnancy is probably one in a thousand or so sexual encounters for both male and females of our family. Beyond that for some reason the power we all share will not allow a male to become our Alpha. Without orders and purpose the males more or less go wild and are eventually hunted and slain."
He would take a breath or two before once again continuing.
"So our family built a system or Matriarchy and Knighthood. Chosen Knights such as myself will directly work for and with the Matriarch to allow for the extended family to live normal lives. The Matriarch gives the orders and we spread the word and protect the family. You and yours were allowed to be normal because when you were born there were actually two other female candidates for matriarchy. Your parents wanted you to accomplish other things and follow your passions and dreams. The Matriarch being your direct aunt honored her brothers wishes."
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Post by Rhona Hall on Oct 14, 2021 3:22:22 GMT -8
“Gods… you’ve been around.” Her pacing slowed and she muttered under her breath some things started to piece together everything he said. She picked apart the memories that stuck out to her that might relate to this and it began to fill some but others are only conspiracy theories by nature. “… oh that Christmas.” She whispered to herself that was someone from her father’s family.
She stiffened. “Please tell me we are cousins or your my uncle I don’t know if I can handle you being my brother.”
She started to think of the building questions. She scratched the sides of her head furiously tussling her hair even more than before it was practically teased madly now. Growing more and more frustrated with all these thoughts. Her will to keep trying was dwindling fast.
If Kirin was nearing seven centuries how old was her aunt, the matriarch? How old was her father? If she remembers history correctly they were using this inherent ability before Qi was really looked into.
“Other than us do we have a count of anymore here? You mentioned another knight that means another charge then? If you’ve lived that many centuries as resilient as that there are certainly more back on old world and there might be a way to get back. If some Prota zealots who survived can figure it out there shouldn’t be a reason a bunch of seemingly immortal ferals can’t.” She breathed. “You know how this works better than I do… if you are still affected by previous orders then I guess my aunt should still be alive right? You know, at least it seems you still get the hive mind signal all the way out here?”
She could ponder if she was the last and only candidate what that would mean for her but she also felt like that would have been a big shame. There could have been a better option and her family would have to settle with what sounded to be already slim pickings. That didn’t seem fair or right.
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Post by Zack Asiv on Oct 15, 2021 19:57:41 GMT -8
Kirin would chuckle.
"We are distant cousins. As far as we know there are three other than yourself. So Me, a young man named Sylvester, and Judge Raymand... A Judge is someone with a specific mutation to our bloodline which has made them especially good at hunting. Specifically people from our family who have done too much evil with their power. He will uphold any rules or laws put in place by a sitting Matriarch, so there is no need to worry about him."
As she continued, it seemed like she was just trying to process more than anything else, so he decided to sigh and lay out the hard truth at this point.
"With how things sit now, you are the only one who could become our Matriarch. As far as my standing orders, it sadly isn't a mental link, its an instinctual need to obey. She could of told me to never speak to you, and centuries after her death the only way I could break those orders is if the matriarch of that time ordered it. So that is not enough evidence to hope she is still alive."
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Post by Rhona Hall on Oct 16, 2021 1:28:23 GMT -8
“I understand you feel you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel but… if you had a choice do you honestly think I’m cut out for it? You say you have watched me all these years I’m not much of a leader… a soldier, yes but a Matriarch? Kirin some of my attempts at leadership choices have tried to kill me… some have actually killed other people.”
She exhaled heavily and looked at the ground where she made her catastrophic mess. She started to see a metaphor in the crumbling and and melted rubble.
“May I meet the others?”
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Post by Zack Asiv on Oct 25, 2021 12:17:57 GMT -8
Kirin would calmly listen to Rhona's own thoughts on the matter. It was important to figure out if this is something she would want to do as well.
"Well, it's not that we want to force you either. Besides even if you did, it's not like we would blindly follow either. There would be council and considerations to rules, and even in this new world we have to act as we did before the War of Attrition."
He'd shrug, it's not like she would be commanding them into combat or war. This was technically peacetime. Maybe a hundred years from now something would pop up, but she should of grown by then in Kirin's mind.
"Of course you can meet the others. I can call them if you want and we can set up a meet and greet."
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Post by Rhona Hall on Oct 25, 2021 16:18:25 GMT -8
Yes I’d like to meet them. What ever is best and most convenient for them is fine.”
She started still thinking about his answer and she wasn’t satisfied. “But… Kirin, I don’t know how much of my life you have been watching but I’m pretty solid I’m assuming you have seen me in some very vulnerable moments. I was just putting my foot in my mouth about having no expectations and coming into my own because I thought I had nothing else. But you should know me and how much I care about my family, I may not understand the weight of my importance to you but I can’t let you down. To be absolutely honest at that award ceremony before it became the Arc, I lamented that there was no one in the crowd was there to see me receiving the award. Maybe my peers or mentors but no one who could honestly say they’ve seen me grow.”
She pointed a finger. “You were, and if I was not the best option now that I’ve become the only option, then I’ll need to do better in honor of it all. If you would choose me then I will fear you have low expectations so I’ll just have to raise them. If we live as long as you say we do then it’s highly likely the chance will come when I… when you’ll all need me. I’ll do it especially if I am the only one who can, so… Would you have chosen me if you had an option?”
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Post by Zack Asiv on Nov 3, 2021 20:43:28 GMT -8
Kirin would listen carefully and consider what she was asking for the time being. It wasn't ridiculous to wonder of the choices as it sat, but to Kirin it was a question he had been expecting. Still being asked this way gave him enough pause to think about it. Though he'd smile, give a thumbs up and say;
"I would have thrown my vote in for you."
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Post by Rhona Hall on Nov 4, 2021 12:30:16 GMT -8
To be honest she knew it was an answer and yet it was not one she expected. She couldn’t even fathom why he gave her that answer, to her it made no sense.
Whether it made sense or not apparently didn’t matter to Rhona.
She returned a smile about as big as the horizon. She felt the sun warm at her back. Maybe it warmed her insides or maybe that was her lifted spirit. A fire burned in her eyes and for the first time in a while she felt like all her hard work was for something. It was so silly to her that she had to realize the acceptance of those she looked up to was so important. Then again she always wanted to be someone people could rely on. She always wanted to be in the front lines stopping any who tried to breach her for if they stayed in front if Rhona then all she held behind her was going to be able to carry on. She was the last line of defense now… she was not going to break.
The next Kirin might know is her arms around his waist and her cheek pressed against him she squeezed gently. “You look too cool to be lying… I won’t disappoint.”
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Post by Zack Asiv on Nov 12, 2021 13:17:57 GMT -8
He wasn't expecting the hug. Having raised his arms wondering if he had done something wrong for a moment, before realizing what was happening. He'd chuckle before returning the hug with a wide arcing movements to lift her up and laugh.
"Don't worry so much, just go with the flow for now."
He'd put her down and push her away and up by the shoulders. Still smiling wide.
"Anyways, I'll put out the call to meet up with the others. You ready or need some time?"
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