(text-colour:#b495ee)[(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[(text-colour: #f094ef )[''PULLED THREADS'']]
[An interactive novel exploring a glimpse into the different lives, possibilities and desires of a dreamwalker warlock tiefling called Vanquish, and the abiding connections to the people that shaped her, hurt her, loved her.
==><==
(text-colour: #f094ef )[''CW: abusive and unhealthy relationships, alcohol, sexual themes, blood, self harm, grief, dubcon, slavery'']
<==
Enjoy your dreamwalk, wherever you may
[[roam]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Another night of lost sleep. (click:"lost sleep") [But no matter, when you wield the world of dreams, (click:"of dreams") [their intoxicating threads pulling you from rest, to that in-between place you
(click:"place you") [stray.
(click:"stray") [There's not always an expectation when you slip between and let the threads pull and the eyes stalk.
(click:"eyes stalk") [But tonight you feel something. (click:"feel something") [Pathways splitting you in three.
(click:"you in three") [Three expectations, worlds, possibilities to unravel before you
(click:"before you") [beneath
above
[[wherever they want]]]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[One quivers. (click: "quivers")[A (text-style: "shudder")[vibrato] in the tension of its string, the pitch of its note pining beneath your skin.]
Another flutters. (click: "flutters")[Settles to a (text-style: "sway")[sway]. Steady, and vast.]
One feels (click: "feels")[(text-style: "smear")[uncomfortable] to look at. Like if you stare too much, not long to go.(click: "go")[
[What thread is pulling you in?
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[vibrato]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[sway]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[feel]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[You breathe in deep as you hear the notes behind you from the piano. That familiar diminuendo as her touch steadies, fingers light.
(click: "light")[Sweet smoke and heady drink; (click:"heady drink") [flushing lungs and bleeding guts. (click:"guts") [But always sweet on the lips before that long way down.
(click:"down.") [ [[Down.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[The stars, your home.
(click:"The stars, your home") [This ship they call a //Spelljammer// the vessel that streams you between the stars the Planes, (click:"Planes") [your hooves a rhythmic click on the wood, your tail a swish above deck, below.
(click: "below") [You like to hang it over the side when you sit on the edge, count the stars, [[count your scars]]]]]]==><==
(text-colour:#b495ee)[
the strip of leather has marked deep. good
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[go to sleep]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[stay awake]]
(text-style: "blur")[incessant footsteps incessant air]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Eyes closed always closed in this brief moment. (click:"brief moment.") [Nothing but you, (click:"but you") [the dance of notes, and the waiting mic, a statuesque lover between your hands as fingers brush, (click:"fingers brush") [as claws catch the metal. (click: "metal")[Old and worn like the walls around
(click:"walls around") [and the face in the corner you [[pretend you don't see.]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Same night each tenday. (click: "tenday")[Same booth, alone.
(click:"alone.") [Same tipped hat, shadowing part of his spotted face, deeply scarred by something. (click: "something") [Already a hundred stories in your head as to why when you sing on that small, smokey stage
(click: "stage")[alone.
(click: "alone")[Your claw catches the golden bracelet on your wrist
[[bound]]
]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Not alone enough.
(click: "enough")[The other constant sits to your side. (click:"side") [Sometimes he roams the bar, all smiles and delight amongst patrons and friends. A beacon of prosperity and popularity amongst this vibrant community, sore beneath the githyanki's heavy heel.
(click: "heel")[//Who is this creature?// you think so often as you sing, when he stalks back to your side, flipped, [[pulled inside out.]]
]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[But then you sing louder.(click: "louder") [The words smear over his stains on your tongue, the cracks on your lip. (click:"your lip") [The notes are you. (text-style: "fade-in-out")[dizzy dizzy]
(click: "are you")[Your shackles beneath weightless as you //sing
sing
sing//
(click:"sing") [ [[and open your eyes]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[And pretend you're not looking in the corner, at the githyanki with the ragged scar.
(click:"scar")[You're probably staring simply because he is githyanki around these parts. At least one of his status. Because most you see around here what you all are collectively now - //istik//.
(click:"istik")[But you are always good at lying to yourself (click:"yourself")[about whatever you want.
(click:"you want.") [ [And you want (text-colour: #e5c360)[[him]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[The first night he'd arrived, a few patrons had immediately left. Some round here just wary of the githyanki elite. (click:"elite") [Of names and titles and the power they bear that no-one else but their blood has a scratch at wielding.
(click:"wielding")[That had pissed off Nezarr. (click:"Nezarr") [He'd barely even made time for patrons, nor flashed that alluring smile for that pretty teal tiefling he likes that only drinks gin. (click:"gin")[No. (click:"No.") [He'd sat as stone in his usual corner by you, foot on the stage, discord in your harmony
[[your notes]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Then the same night, the following tenday, he was back. (click:"back")[Then again.(click:"Then again") [Again.(click:"Again") [Until you'd sketched him out with each flicker of your impermissible gaze, that everytime you closed your eyes, on stage, behind closed doors, beneath Nezarr's hand
(click:"hand")[ [[there he was]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[You'd dreamed of him.
(click:"him") [And wondered if Nezarr knew when you woke up, his violet view already aflame.
(click:"aflame") [The clientele had gotten used to him now, and your nights were as busy as always. Busier, even. (click:"even") [People are here for you. (click:"for you") [//You.// (click:"You.")[So you find your voice (click:"voice") [catch his amber eyes
[[and sing]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Your spotlight is always over far quicker than you want. (click:"you want") [Hooves clicking down the stage steps softly, the applause and whistles dulling at your back as you take Nezarr's outstretched hand.
(click:"hand")[He says something about //a drink for my sweetsong//. (click:"my sweetsong") [To //wait for him there//. (click:"him there") [That he //won't be long, abbil//.
(click:"abbil")[A light brush over the crest of [[your horn.]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[You are steadfast as he touches you. (click:"touches you") [All impulses to twist away gouged out. Tucked away for a strange day.
(click:"day")[He slithers out the back door, a sting of light splitting him in two. (click:"in two") [It catches the edge of your tail, the piercings there that were yours. (click:"were yours") [Still yours. Old golden rings.
(click:"rings")[The tall drink before you. (click:"before you")[But that amber burn [[behind you.]]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[You slide your hand over the bartop. Stale and smoke smeared. Droplets of condensation, rims of drinks long drunk.
(click:"drunk")[Your own drink a tall stemmed sour cocktail. Nezarr likes to make them for you sometimes.
TOUCH (click:"TOUCH")[You drag your finger along the stem, catching a cold drop of water. Had you ever told him you don't like cocktails?]
TURN (click:"TURN")[You are free to look where you wish as that door closed. So you do, turning to that table in the corner. And for the first time since he'd walked through that door, he pulls off his hat, and dips his head.]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[Sit at the bar and wait]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[Approach your admirer]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Nezarr often clears this stool for you, shaped long ago into your form, its rests comfortable enough for your hooves, and adjusted just right for your height, the coil of your tail.
(click:"tail")[Finger to rim, claw rippling the surface of your cocktail.
(click:"cocktail")[He takes care of you, doesn't he? (click:"he?")[When are you ever wanting?
(click:"wanting?")[Your finger slips over the rim into the liquid.
[[You stare at the ripples, feel the cold.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Your knee bent, just about to sit on the stool. (click:"stool")[But you pull it back as you push away your drink, watching the pristine surface of its thin decorative layer, (click:"layer") [split.
(click:"split")[The bar at your back, you walk
(click:"you walk")[ [[walk away.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[But the warmth of those amber eyes, unreachable, when just steps
(click:"just steps")[steps away.
(click:"away")[You could never quite figure out the desire behind his eyes each night.(click:"night") [Does he want to devour you
(click:"devour you")[or worship you.
(click:"worship you")[Maybe both are the same [[to someone like him.]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[You cross your legs, long skirt slit to the hellblood ridge of your hip, its silk a wash over your tail.
(click:"tail")[Still, he sits as stone. (click:"stone") [Fixed. (click:"Fixed") [Fixated.
(click:"Fixated")[Your finger is cold, still dipped in your cocktail. And you lift, licking it clean. So sure you see a flash of his fangs when you lavish your tongue [[along the edge of your claw.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[You've forgotten you hate the taste of this cocktail, (click:"cocktail") [because you wonder for a moment what he might taste like between your lips instead.
(click:"instead")[What was he like in your dream? (click:"dream")[You try to recall as the tip of your tongue rolls over what's left on your finger. (click:"finger")[Then there's nothing more but skin but wet. (click:"wet")[And the way he consumes you beneath [[the shadow of his hat.]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style: "smear")["Who are you?"]
(click:"Who are you?")[It's a whisper you feel tinge your wet lips. (click:"lips") [You want him to hear. To say something back and hear the temper of his voice. (click:"voice") [To twist it into the [[notes of your own.]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style: "blurrier", "upside-down")["Abbil?"]
(click:"Abbil?")[Look away.
(click:"away")[(text-style: "blur")["Abbil?"]
(click:"Abbil")[Smile. Temper your heart. heart hear t (text-style: "shudder")[ [[he a rtttt]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[You drink your cocktail before he can speak again, thinking of a different taste.
(click:"taste")[He takes your hand and you down the rest.
(click:"rest")[//Something something// slithering words. (click:"words") [And you nod and slide off the familiarity of your stool, hooves clicking into the groove they've probably made.
(click:"made")[He pulls you to the door, and it opens to low light and laughter. [[Voices and heavy smoke.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[The threshold a lance. But at least a cut you know.
(click:"know")[So why do your hooves stick before that next step; (click:"step") [why does your head turn back to where it shouldn't look.
(click:"look")[A silent plea (click:"plea") [//devour me devour me in your strange dark sea//
(click:"strange dark sea")[You think he tilts his head in promise as if he heard you, before you're
==>
(click:"you're")[(text-style: "blur")[gone]
==><==
(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(link: "what thread to fray next?")[(goto: "wherever they want")]
(link:"back to the beginning?")[(restart:)]
or have you [[seen enough?]]](enchant: ?Link, (t8n-depart: "dissolve"))
(enchant: ?Link, (transition: "dissolve"))==><==
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Thank you for reading and spending some time with Vanquish in the different threads of her lives.
(text-colour: #f094ef )[''Written by:''] Des in Twine
You can find more of my work including links to my socials, interactive novels, fic, art and 3D at my website (text-colour: #e5c360)[(link:"ADILSHAR")[(goto-url:"https://desdimonda.neocities.org/")]]
(text-colour: #f094ef )[//Toz jala githyanki toz dov'shtil z'varni.//]](text-colour:#b495ee)[You'd thought your hooves might feel heavy as you walked, treading a deadly path, unknown. (click:"unknown") [But no. For you'd already walked it in your dreams.
(click:"dreams")[Solace. (click:"Solace") [Sung it in your notes.
(click:"notes") [ [[Known.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[He's still as you approach. (click:"approach") [Steady in power, pride. Things you are deeply familiar with. That claim you take you. (click:"take you") [But the way they shape your admirer's body
(click:"body") [//bliss.//
(click:"bliss") [Ferocity behind those eyes, like most githyanki. Their pillars of power, ungiving. And with this one, (click:"one") [something in the mirage of his mouth between the shreds of smoke, (click:"smoke") [of shadow. (click:"shadow") [Like he needs to contain a maw too big too sharp.
(click:"sharp") [Or was that just
(click:"that just") [ [[a dream]]]]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[You stop by the edge of his table, (click:"table") [the sway of your tail still the rhythm of your last song
(click:"song") [that was all his.
(click:"all his") [You dip, (click:"dip") [hip to table as you sit, leaning languid at its edge, (click:"edge") [drawing leg over leg, (click:"over leg") [silk hissing a kiss as you breathe out,
(click:"breathe out") [(text-style: "fade-in-out")[[slow.]]]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Nothing, for a while.
(click:"while") [Just the way he looks at you. (click:"at you") [Just the way you smile.
(click:"smile") [That scar on his face is rougher than you could ever see ever tell
(click:"tell") [ever dreamed.
(click:"dreamed") [It begs for a touch for a kiss. (click:"a kiss") [Its ends dragging a promise over [[his lips.]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style: "emboss")["Miss Violet Voice."]
(click:"Miss Violet Voice") [You sink into the vibrato of his voice. (click:"his voice") [Deep, and danger. (click:"danger") [Its tones start to temper with yours, tucked safe beneath your skin. (click:"skin") [Alone. No harmony that yet fits.
(click:"fits") [(text-style: "smear") ["The very one, jhe'stil."]
(click:"jhe'stil") [The //jhe'stil// around your lips tugs the smallest of smiles. The flash of a fang, you think. [[You want.]]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[He takes your hand, his so large,
(click:"large") [consuming.
(click:"consuming") [You know githyanki are longer lived than most. And as you feel his old, worn fingers stretch over yours, (click:"yours") [as you see the shadows pour into the lines the scars, (click:"scars") [over the paintspray of spots, you wonder for a moment just //how old//.
(click:"how old") [Numbers scatter in your head as his fingers roam the pathway of yours. (click:"of yours") [Over the keys of your knuckles, the scythes of your claws. One cresting around your palm, (click:"palm") [up. (click:"up") [It snatches your heartbeat beat
(click:"heartbeat beat") [(text-style: "blur")[ [[beat]]]]]]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[His breath hot against your hand.
(click:"hand") [You feel:
(click:"You feel") [(text-style: "emboss")["Voss."]
(click:"Voss") [He looks up, (click:"up") [and you breathe sharp to steady (click:"steady") [(text-style: "sway", "fade-in-out")[dizzy dizzy dizzy]
(click:"dizzy dizzy dizzy") [And the feel of his teeth against your skin, (click:"skin") [the drag of his fangs, (click:"fangs") [the dent of a promise, the door
(click:"the door") [to devour.
(click:"devour") [You hold on tight.
==>
(text-style: "blur")[Don't let go.]
==><==
(click:"Don't let go") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[githyanki never need as much sleep as the rest. but then you are also an anomaly, needing even less. (click:"less") [but since that day, you've yearned for it.
(click:"yearned for it") [often left unanswered, like you know you will be tonight. (click:"tonight") [restless. stagnant.
(click:"stagnant") [you sit at the edge of your small camp, tucked in a cave in some mountains, [[overlooking the closest town.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[he always lets you sleep first no matter how far you've both walked, (click:"walked") [who hunted, who has killed, who didn't sleep last night.
(click:"night") [who bled too much the day before, the tang forever stuck on your tongues.
(click:"tongues") [you know it's an act of penance. (click:"penance") [small and (text-style: "double-strike")[sweet] no. (text-style: "strike")[sweet] no. sweet. [[you supposse.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[you have several camps both underground and below. (click:"below") [you are welcome at a few settlements, as long as you're sensible, disguise well.
(click:"disguise well") [sometimes when you approach, one of the long range guards sends a warning bullet at your feet that means //"not today"// and you turn back around.
(click:"around") [that warning isn't for you. (click:"isn't for you") [that bullet isn't for you. (click:" for you") [but it always lands at your feet. as if they're too scared to direct it at their intended. (click:"intended") [too scared it will bounce off him and he'll [[split the world in two again.]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[you beg him to in your dreams.
(click:"in your dreams") [will you dream tonight, tucked away in one of your quiet camps, (click:"quiet camps") [watching from your corner as he reinforces the psi-barriers, teeth clenching away the pain you know is there.
(click:"know is there") [you'd been sympathetic at first, those many years ago. (click:"years ago") [kind and giving and eased his pain with drugs and your own body.
(click:"own body") [ [[now you like to see the ache.]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[you think maybe it's because it's the only thing left either of you have.
(click:"either of you have") [pain. (click:"pain.") [pain and some strange desire to keep going. (click:"keep going") [some falsity that you can re-forge what you both lost back together, with the dregs of what's left of each other.
(click:"each other") [you tighten the leather around your arm, watching it cut into your skin, [[harder.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[you hear his steps closer as he's done re-inforcing the barriers, so you flop down onto your makeshift bed, fingers clawing into the blanket that had once draped over
(click:"draped over") [ [<a data-passage="" class="tooltip"><span style="text-align: centre; white-space: nowrap; font-family: verdana;">^^you, my love^^</span>(text-style:"blur")[//you vah'k gi//]]
(click:"you vah'k gi") [all that was once left of //him// scorched out of it, as scorched out of you. (click:"out of you") [your only respite left your scattering dreams, (click:"dreams") [and the long crawl to death [[you cannot seem to reach.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[every night he wants to join you
(click:"join you") [most nights he tries.
(click:"he tries") [tepid hands reaching out to feel not you, (click:"not you") [but the echo of where //he// had been instead. (click: "instead") [you a conduit for what he really wanted.
(click:"wanted") [but wasn't that exactly what you did too? (click:"too") [digging out pieces of the Plane's pariah because //his// love [[drenched you both.]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[he's on his back, your palms smothering his clavicles. like blades, these days. (click:"these days") [his bones prominent, piano keys. (click:"piano keys") [the leathery art of his skin picked in more tattoos than before. (click:"before") [and scars. (click:"and scars") [ones asked for, (click:"for") [and so many not.
(click:"not") [drags his fingers over the leather wound tight around your arm. (click:"your arm") [ [[bleeding again.]]]]]]]]]]==><==
(text-colour:#b495ee)[
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[let him touch]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[push his hand away]]
](text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style:"smear")["there's nothing left of him there."] whisper
(click:"whisper") [your other hand drags up his throat, fingers separating his ragged beard, longer than before. (click:"before") [you feel the edge of his mouth as he speaks.
(click:"speaks") [(text-style:"shadow")["you're bleeding."]
(click:"you're bleeding") [lifts his bloodwet fingers to his mouth. (click:"mouth") [sucks away your strange coloured blood. not red, dark purple, [[like your hair your eye.]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[hes used to your rejection. like a dull knife to re-wound.
(click:"re-wound") [that's all this is, really. (click:"really") [just something to cut back open, wound me, and
(click:"and") [(text-style: "blur")[ [[feel.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[you dip down, mouth over his. (click:"his") [breath, (click:"breath,") [and breath.
(click:"breath.") [(text-style: "smear")["so what?"]
(click:"so what?") [you watch him lick his lips. then feel it. kiss it.
(click:"kiss it") [(text-style: "shadow")["would you bleed for me?"]
(click:"would you bleed for me?") [the leather loosens, unwinds. (click:"unwinds") [it hangs from your wrist, sodden in dirt, in blood. (click:"in blood") [the faded runes of tir'su barely legible in the low light as it drapes over orpheus' throat, obscuring the scratched
(click:"scratched") [(text-style:"blur")[V]
==><==
(click:"V") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[you'd talked once, when he was alive, about if you could love each other without your love for him.
(click:"your love for him") [did you both just exist in your hearts because of him as your tether (click:"your tether") [your anchor (click:"your anchor") [your resonant star.
(click:"your resonant star") [you'd agreed //yes, without our love for him//
(click:"yes, without our love for him") [but you hadn't conceived (text-style: "italic")[ [[without him]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[your hands spread around his throat. a familiar rope.
(click:"rope") [his hand sulks down to his side in a sigh, skimming your thigh. (click:"thigh") [he closes his eyes as your thumbs obscure the V on his throat
(click:"on his throat") [as you caress it, (click:"caress it") [hard, (click:"hard") [ (text-style:"fade-in-out")[desperate.]
==><==
(click:"desperate") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[crowds make you nauseas. (click:"nauseas") [everyone reeks of loss. yours isn't special. (click:"isn't special") [what's special is the reason for all this loss walks beside you.
(click:"beside you") [not everyone knows, just enough to make your lives misery on misery.
(click:"on misery") [there is no-one left for him, but you.
(click:"but you") [ [[and who exactly is left for you?]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[always a ritual for him when he sleeps first. (click:"first") [stretches. meditation. as if life is as it was. (click:"as it was") [it infuriates you this banality and ritual of care.
(click:"ritual of care") [you know why he does it. (click: "why he does it") [//he// used to find comfort in watching him at his routine and rites. (click:"rites") [one's routine became //his// own. a view to your mate's soul as clear as cracking open their ribs
(click:"ribs") [ [[and in]]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[when you look down from above him, your dulled claws scoring lines over his chest, over the tattoos, some torn with scars, (click:"some torn with scars") [you wonder what it would feel like to split his chest. (click:"split his chest") [to feel his ribs between your fingers like crystal. (click:"crystal") [sinew, lace.
(click:"sinew, lace") [(text-style:"shadow")["we have a long day tomorrow"] touches your shoulder
(click:"shoulder") [you don't care you don't care.
(click:"you don't care.") [you will walk it blind and bloody. [[stale and sore.]]]]]]]]]==><==
(text-colour:#b495ee)[
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[talk to him]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[get up and walk away]]
](text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style:"smear")["i want to visit his marker."]
(click:"i want to visit his marker") [his hand is around you, pikes of fingers in your waist.
(click:"waist") [(text-style:"shadow")["i've asked before and you refused."]
(click:"i've asked before and you refused") [sickening soft words in the crook of your neck. but you can't pull away, (click:"away") [just sink in.
(click:"just sink in") [(text-style:"smear")["that was then"]
(click:"that was then") [the words wash against his mouth, lips dry and beard too long. [[your fingers pick at its ends as you kiss.]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[it's stifling in here despite your shiver as you stand. (click:"as you stand") [as his hand scrapes down your arm, unsure whether to hold on, no ledges left.
(click:"no ledges left") [its the silence that gets to you mostly. (click:"mostly") [when you first met there was friction, frustration. (click:"frustration") [anger and bite. (click:"bite") [now a stale gnawing tether of grief and you both lost hold of the ends.
(click:"ends") [ [[so you do things like this]]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style:"shadow")["do you think we'll make it there?"] he whispers, tucking you tight against his barren body, bones and bruises.
(click:"bones and bruises") [(text-style:"smear")["no"] you say, shedding what's left of what you wear.
(click:"wear") [and you think that's the point.
==><==
(click:"that's the point") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[your hooves the only sound as you breach the barrier, see its ripples, and descend the small turn out. to down.
(click:"to down") [barely enough protective wear. barely a weapon on you but your maw and blunt claw. (click:"blunt claw") [you can stomp good with your hooves. can whip flesh with your tail alright. (click:"tail alright") [but what's that to a rifle a span away, a dragon above, a spell you can't see coming and you're shit outta luck.
(click:"shit outta luck") [you run your hands over your face as you look up. [[stars. countless, mocking stars.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[//he'd// called you var'cha. 'beauty of the stars, of home'.
(click:"beauty of the stars, of home") [the stars make you sick, now. each pin prick a memory a moment a touch you're slowly forgetting.
(click:"slowly forgetting") [you'd refused to speak the other day because you'd forgotten the sound of his voice. (text-style:"blur")[what next.]
(click:"what next") [you look down at the ground. cold. (click:"cold") [and just keep walking.
(click:"keep walking") [it's okay. (click:"it's okay") [he always comes for you
==><==
(click:"he always comes for you") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[You are the only //istik// here.
(click:"istik here") [Correction. (click:"Correction") [The only //istik// that can freely walk its decks. That has agency amongst a swarm of githyanki. (click:"of githyanki") [A name they call, not spit in insult.
(click:"in insult") [The other //istik// call to you sometimes. (click:"call to you sometimes") [Plea in their native tongues that you sometimes recognise. (click:"recognise") [Beg for your help, for freedom. For you to listen.
(click:"to listen") [Don't they see your smile, hear your laughter? (click:"laughter?") [Don't they see the way he touches you? Fingers smearing respect, not filth. (click:"not filth") [Don't they see your ridged ears? [[Clipped by your mate himself to match.]]]]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style: "emboss")["Like me,"] he had said some weeks after relinquishing your bonds, the burns of rope, the marr of chains healing. (click:"healing") [A permanent marker, but at least the blood had stopped weeping.
(click:"weeping") [(text-style: "smear")["Easier to move me,"] you had bargained one night, (text-style: "smear")["less restriction. Less //accident//."] (click:"less restriction. Less accident") [Had demonstrated such 'accident' by striking your chain across his face, cutting deep, bleeding beautiful.
(click:"bleeding beautiful") [He had //liked// it. [[Laughed at the cut of blood over lips, licked over teeth.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Somehow, you had laughed too.
(click:"laughed too") [You'd heard him laugh beyond your containment, yearning for that sound to be with you, //for you//. (click:"for you") [The first time you'd felt that sweet sore pang of yearn, you'd wrecked his tent as much as you could from your chains.
(click:"chains") [He hadn't liked that.
(click:"He hadn't liked that") [The last time you'd heard that laughter though, this morning. (click:"this morning") [You'd slept in on your shared furs on whatever Material Plane they were leaving behind before embarking again [[to ravage to pillage to rape.]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Had listened to his laughter between their barks of Tir. You could understand most of it by now. Your language lessons in the forests had become ritual. (click:"ritual") [Almost, sacred.
(click:"sacred") [Quiet vulnerability as he'd deferred to you on his knees, looking up in a strange trust
(click:"trust") [strange reverence
(click:"reverence") [between your legs, [[breathless.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style: "emboss")["Ashkith'a,"] he had said one dawn as you'd stayed out in the forest again, sprawled between slates between books and ruined papers, skin damp and stuck between each other on the fur, long grass between toes. (click:"between toes") [(text-style: "emboss")["Your new name."]
(click:"Your new name") [(text-style: "smear")["Ashkith'a,"] you'd whispered, repeating it again. (click:"again") [Twisting it over tongue and through a kiss a moan, the sink of his fingers over your cunt swollen raw.
(click:"raw") [//Ashkith'a// he'd whispered that night, [[beneath you.]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[//Istik// no more.
(click:"no more") [He'd started to paint spots on your skin some days. Crowning over your cheeks, your chest. (click:"chest") [Down your arms, elsewhere you couldn't see.
(click:"couldn't see") ["Permanent" one of you had said one day, pulling the blank stick to skin he'd sharpened for another of his Prince's tattoos.
(click:"tattoos") [Permanent, the swathe of spots [[between your horns.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Your crown of acceptance.
(click:"acceptance") [You hear the Turning Bell ring to signify the upcoming departure for what you learned as their newly named city of //Tu'narath//. (click:"Tu'narath") [You'd been once, all blurred and blind, ears smeared to the boundless noise of Tir.
(click:"Tir") [Now it was voice. [[And becoming your own.]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[LOOK TO THE HELM (click:"LOOK TO THE HELM")[Your mate leans against rigging, sharp eyes ahead to the bow as he listens to the two githyanki at the helm who probably think he can't hear.]
TURN TO THE BOW (click:"TURN TO THE BOW")[Alone, the Prince stretches at the bow. His routine and rites. He had always cut an imposing figure against the stars, his birthright.]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[Approach the helm]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[Approach the bow]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Ignores you as you approach, hooves gently clicking on the wood, tail swishing a little too close to his long limbs, lit and lathered by a passing flare, (click:"passing flare") [like the liquid violet of your eye.
(click:"of your eye") [After that first introduction to the Prince, Voss had let you join him as he'd spent time with Orpheus. (click:"Orpheus") [An unasked for voyeur, a quiet companion, a translator, [[an observer of their rituals and rites.]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style:"emboss")["They talk of you,"] he says in common as you sink against his side, soft skin shaping into those familiar hostile edges and angles, long dented into your shape.
(click:"your shape") [(text-style:"smear")["Oh?"] You drawl against his neck. The long line of spots he likes lathered in attention.
(click:"in attention") [(text-style:"emboss")["Not istik, not githyanki."] Sniffs as he dips his head down, mouth smothering your ridged ear. (text-style:"emboss")["Creature. Aberration."]
(click:"Creature. Aberration.") [Your fingers latch to his long braid as you laugh.
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[Tug it]]
(text-colour: #e5c360)[[Don't tug]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[Bared teeth, playful bite.
(click:"playful bite") [Not enough to break skin. (click:"break skin") [No. Later. (click:"No. Later.") [Now a rumble to your throat as you hold him in place with a twist of his hair, tug of his braid.
(click:"braid.") [You'd done this dance in chains, many a time. (click:"a time.") [Many a time punished, many a time strangely praised. You do it often to see what [[snaps out of the box this time.]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Your hand slides along the thick length, his sharp eyes staring down, (click:"staring down") [goading you to //pull//.
(click:"to pull") [When he doesn't get when he wants, (click:"he wants") [he grabs you instead.
(click:"instead") [Hand to horn, claws click. Thrusts your head back as he takes a kiss. More. Tongue lapping along the soft line of your jaw, [[teeth chattering over the cut ridges of your ears.]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style:"smear")["And what of you?"]
(click:"And what of you?") [Nips his teeth along your jaw in question. Had learned some of his silent language of the maw.
(click:"of the maw") [(text-style:"smear")["What do you see me as?"]
(click:"What do you see me as?") [Pulls back, the answer so simple his face is almost
(click:"almost") [gentle
(click:"gentle") [ [<a data-passage="" class="tooltip"><span style="text-align: centre; white-space: nowrap; font-family: verdana;">^^mine^^</span>(text-style:"emboss")["Vo'a."]]
==><==
(click:"Vo'a") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style:"emboss")["More fire in chains, sometimes,"] he teases against your ear. (click:"your ear") [(text-style:"emboss")["Maybe kali'istik should go back where it belongs."]
(click:"where it belongs") [You lift your hand to his face, still tilted, tucked into yours.
(click:"into yours") [Run your fingers along the deep scar left behind from the whip of your chain that day. (click:"chain that day") [Dig your claw along the gouges, the raised ridges. (click:"raised ridges") [The break of his spots, to split of lip.
(click:"of lip") [(text-style:"smear")["Mmmm,"] and a sweet smile he tastes.
==><==
(click:"he tastes") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Sometimes he'd left you alone with Orpheus, and you'd become a ghost.
(click:"ghost") [Ambivalence. (click:"Ambivalence") [It was mutual as you'd warred with something strange beneath your skin whenever Voss touched him, not you. (click:"not you") [Whenever Orpheus made him laugh and attempt a word of common, not for you.
(click:"not for you") [Those times you were involved, he ignored you too. (click:"he ignored you too") [Until one time, you were tired of being an ornament, (click:"an ornament") [and took charge.
(click:"took charge") [A quiet (text-style:"shadow")["about time"] slithering through your fingers as they twisted the shreds [[of his short beard.]]]]]]]]]](text-colour:#b495ee)[He mesmerised you sometimes in the way he moved. (click:"he moved") [You'd grown to love watching his motions his movements. (click:"his movements") [A dance. Not dissimilar to the way he fucks. (click:"fucks") [All elegance all grace with that power and fierce.
(click:"and fierce") [Such difference in Voss. (click:"in Voss") [Roughness to his edges. Sharp, but control. Fluidity to Orpheus. [[An uncertainty that pulls at your curiosity.]]]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[(text-style:"smear")["Teach me,"] you say, catching his outstretched hand, posed perfect. (click:"perfect") [Still.
(click:"Still") [Steady, he looks up beneath two fresh tattoos that crown the shaven sides of his head. (click:"his head") [His ink had grown since Voss took you. Almost bare at that first glance of the Prince. Now lines of luxury on his [[skin almost as empty of spots as yours.]]]]]]
(text-colour:#b495ee)[Silent, he takes your hand, (click:"your hand,") [turns you, (click:"turns you") [eyes to the Astral Sea.
(click:"Astral Sea") [Your tail flickers to steady the unexpected movement and you hear a soft noise in your ear as he slides a hand down your arm, the other beneath your chin.
(click:"your chin") [(text-style:"shadow")["Don't think, Ashkith'a,"] he always speaks to you in Tir, never common, (click:"never common") [(text-style:"shadow")["move with me."] A leg around yours. (click:"A leg around yours") [Twist. Body dipping as steps along the deck.
(click:"the deck") [(text-style:"shadow")["Feel."]
==><==
(click:"Feel.") [(text-colour: #e5c360)[''FIN'']
(click:"FIN")[(link-goto:"pull another thread")]]]]]]]]]]