RP:A One-Sided Wedding

From HollowWiki

Summary: Jarith, recently purged of his Corruption has spent some time looking for Talyara, a dear friend, loved by his children who went into mourning after her sister’s death…

Sage Forest Bell

Talyara is perched atop the platform of the Sage forest bell, her back pressed against the wall as one leg swings idly off of the side. At first glance, one might not recognize the woman in the moonlit shadows; her clothing was teared in various places, having been snagged on her travels through the forest. There was a fresh gash on her right cheek and her lip sported a semi-healed split. Her normally unruly chestnut locks were even more so, tangled and matted with dirt and pits of twigs and leaves. Despite the severity of these changes perhaps the most drastic changes was that of her weight. Her cheeks were sunken in and her bones seemed to stick out even through her clothes. She was always very petite, but normally her body was soft with feminine curves; however, now she was all harsh angles. It was clear that Taly hadn’t eaten in a while.

Jarith was not the same as he’d been. The procedure had altered the warlord, and in truth, changed him. No more was the king, the knight, the barbaric warlord. His clothing remained similar, but the armor was more apparent, a strange azure tinge held it. The leather remained dark, his furred cloak was discarded and he looked younger, his height even had shrunk in slight as a sort of proof. The Northern-borne was different in more clearly defined ways however than his clothing and height. Gone were the tri-ringed eyes, replaced with eyes blue as the tundra he hailed from, the pupils were even lost in the ritual. The breath from his lips is chilled, a frosted mist from every exhale and yet he seems warm, his skin fairer, yet kissed by sunlight. If a vampire were near, they’d even note the heartbeat of the male has slowed to a rate that near does not match another soul, dreadfully easy, and even it beats only every few moments as if the harsh conditions had slowed his aging and his body down in some fashion. He moves normally however, and in fact the ink of Corruption is gone, leaving the male as he is, altered and yet whole, unless perhaps he is blind, yet he does not seem to need aid in his walk, nor in finding the witch who had become dear to him, a female he was deeply concerned for the moment she departed just before the birthday of his children. The emergency and family matter had clearly taken it’s toll. His voice is the same, even and deep, a tone like honey. “Taly?” He spoke soft, drawing to a stop a few yards away.

Talyara startles at she hears someone call her name; it wasn’t because the voice was foreign, but rather she had not seen or spoken to anybody since fleeing the tavern the morning after her sister’s death. Green gaze drop to the ground and it is easy to see, even from that distance, that the light has gone out of her eyes; her irises are no longer a bright sparkling emerald, but rather a muted, muddy green. She blinks several times; there was something different about Jarith but in her current starved state she couldn’t pinpoint what those differences were. Taly’s tongue darts out to wet her injured bottom lip. “Jarith,” she responds in a a cracked, husky voice. “What are you doing here?"

Jarith couldn’t quite explain what he’d been doing, as a strange after effect, while he’d lost a vast majority of his magical skills. Something however, in his changes allowed the male a feeling, an awareness that was perhaps heightened in the realm of magics. He could feel the witch as a presence, a pressure that pressed against his conscious like the push of water against you in a stream. The northerner had simply followed the push until it strengthened and his eyes found her. She had changed terribly and his frown would at the least acknowledge that his worries had not been unfounded. “ I… was walking… Talyara, Sweet, you look as a skeleton, dear. You need food, drink…Something.”

Talyara feels her own frown tug down at the corners of her cheeks. Not that she was smiling before, her expression was rather blank. At the mention of needing food and drink, the witch gives her head a firm shake. “No,” she says instantly, tenting her legs and drawing them against her chest. “I’m fine,” she elaborates rather unconvincingly as she wraps her arms around her knees. Her eyes lift from the man, unable to look at him in the face. “You should be with the children."

Jarith tilted his head at her sadness, this was a loss he could firmly understand, even if she might have doubted such a notion. Either way, it was not his place to condemn her, judge her or demand how his friend come to terms with her loss. Twins were connected uniquely, and he had no doubt for the young woman it was the same. His focus at her mention of the kids returns a sad smile, “Indeed, but they are enjoying the company of their grandmother tonight… They are very eagerly waiting for your return, Cia especially… Do not forget, you owe the three of us a day.” The northern-borne grabbed a few bottles from his pack, fresh water along with a bit of food just in case she would change her mind. “ You know this isn’t like me… To just let a dear friend suffer alone, I’ve half a mind to drag you back and place you in the kid’s direct care… They’d have you full of cakes and confections before you could argue, y’know.”

Jarith dropped 1 summer sausage.

Jarith dropped 4 Ever-Chilled Water.

Talyara wished she could have smiled as Jarith mentioned the children, but even the thought of them was not enough to upturn her lips as much as she cared for them. “They are better off without me,” she mumbles softly, her nose crinkling slightly at the food as she hugs her legs a bit closer to her body. “It was selfish of me to impede on your family time that night in the garden."

Jarith blinked at her and gave a stubborn almost glare at her before it lessened to a simple and factual tone. “ Talyara you have never impeded or interrupted anything about my family. You helped to grace me with one of the first good memories in a long, long time. You made my daughter happy, my son too. That means more than you will ever know to me Taly. Contrary to anything in your head at the current, the kids are not better off without someone like you in their lives. You are a good woman, an amazing and strong woman, but things are incredibly hard for you right now.” He paused as he thought of a better way to word her situation. “ This event should not end you, it should change you, it should test you and build you into a stronger woman. I believe… in my heart that is what your sister would have wished of it, not this… never this.”

Talyara frowns and looks away from Jarith, her head tilting back to lean against the wooden beam. She breathes out a heavy sigh and closes her eyes. "It has changed me. I have denounced magic. My sister's burial was the last ritual I will ever perform." At the mention of her sister a rogue tears breaks free and rolls down Taly's cheek, and one that she wipes away angrily. "My sister is gone," she snaps in a hollow voice. "The only family I had left is gone." The witch unfolds her legs from her body and hops down from the platform to land before Jarith; up close it is even more apparent how much weight she has lost. "You should go back home to be with your children."

Jarith seems oddly surprised when she dropped so easily, of course the woman was decidedly closer to him and he could see how she had faired during this whole ordeal. His frown mirrored her own and then a strange Idea formed in his mind. Times had changed and yet it never changed the way his people did things. No amusement showed on his features, but the Northern Borne was laughing internally, and it may have been slightly evil. “Talyara, what is your last name, I sadly did not ever get it.” The question was random indeed, yet he seemed rather normal in asking it, perhaps trying to delay his dear friend from leaving.

Talyara squints her eyes slightly at Jarith as examines him now that they are in closer proximity to him. "You look different," she comments in an offhand sort of way before his question has her canting her head curiously to the side. "Last name?" She repeats in a confused tone before shaking her head, causing her messy locks to fall over her shoulder. "I don't have one." She did, of course, but after her father's abandonment she dropped it, never speaking it again.

Jarith might have smiled if it weren’t for the ease of this. Still, he seemed inclined to respond with a sad nod. “ I guess you are right you know, I should get home.” Those strange eyes make him seem blind, the lack of pupil strange and yet it fits him, the soft huff of a frosted breath following his words. “Different? Yes, the Corruption is gone and… Well I suppose you could say I have come from it with some new changes. Things I myself must re-learn.” One of them was not what he did next, his hand tugged something from his pinky, a strange item, one collected a long while back. The ring seemed unimportant and yet carried in the jewel the old Donnave crest, an etching of a falcon in glorious flight, with a blade and flower in talons. The etch made the jewel visible for the rare true Violet amethyst it was. Still, he stole the little witch’s hand and without ceremony slid it upon her ring finger, crossing his fingers and binding it, with the paltry magic he had left to her possession. “ Talyara, I name you Talyara Donnave, Mother of Ciadra and Braedan Donnave of Frostmaw, by blood and bone I am yours. You will find the ring will stay with no one but you. I may have no real magic left, but the binding works with my family. This names you to be recognized as my wife by all in the nomadic and forlorn of Frostmaw. I know, simply by your generous heart alone that you will be a glorious mother to our kids. I do not bind you to me, I’m sure you have a real lover of your own, but I do bind you to us, to my family, to our kids. Please do not leave them.” Oh that little sneaky snow-born jerk, he’d pulled a fast one she likely would not be pleased about. If the ring left her, she sold or ridded herself of it, the woman would find it back in her possession like some strange magnet. Still he bowed gently. “Be angry, but no… You are not without a family, you are precious to me, and I know Cia and Braedan will be very excited. Do not forget your promise of course, you still owe them a birthday day, and they will be eager to collect soon. I will leave you for now Taly, please eat, please find your way from this darkness. If you need a hand, just ask and Mine will always be present.” He turned then, walking the way he’d come, back home, as she’s asked.

Talyara narrows her eyes slightly. The Corruption was gone? The witch was turning this over in her mind, trying to make sense of it, that she wasn’t even aware that Jarith was tugging off the ring. In fact, it isn’t until he takes her small hand in his and slides the ring over her bony knuckle does she look up at him again. Those muddied green eyes widen in surprise when Jarith bequeathes a new name unto her, although it is the title of mother that causes her mouth to fall open. Slowly, Taly shakes her head and moves to try and tug the etched ring from her finger. “Jarith, no. Don’t. The children deserve better—wife?!” She says with a bit of a squeak, a frown tugging down on the corners of her lips. It’s not that she didn’t -like- Jarith but she had Emrith. It seems he was thinking along the same lines when he explains that the title is not meant as a binding to him but rather the family as a whole. “I…but…” she tries to protest, her malnourished mind trying to wrap around what had just happened between the pair. It isn’t until he is already walking away does she try and call after him. “Jarith! Take this back!"