"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
02-20-2017, 12:16 AM (This post was last modified: 02-20-2017, 12:17 AM by Ashley.)
He was angry. There was no way around this. The devil take them all, he would pay; and he would do it one body part at a time. Starting with the cock, and then the balls. Leading all the way to his tongue. Ashley cursed, pumping his feathered wings in the air as he made landing on the sandy beaches of his home Ischia was warm this time of year, even if the rest of the world around them was crisp and cold—where the trees were ablaze with color, here everything was as green as it usually was. And while Beqanna was distracted with the scent of randy humping, a tired ginger colored man had been in search of a rapist. And had been unsuccessful. FUCK he says mentally, kicking backwards at a rock with a force enough to blow it to pieces—willed by magic, fueled by the sheer anger that pumped in his veins. Kerberos was gone, and he had no more time to dedicate to looking for him. Protecting Wallace and Ischia had pretty much fallen to him, and he had to see to its borders. He had been gone far too long as it was. “DOVEV!” he bellows, his voice rolling over the sands and through the trees. Ashley’s summoning of his student was not often, but he knew that when Ashley calls, the young pup will answer. Or at least he better. On pain of death.
He came to him, the brand at his flank burning with purpose, his body covered in blood and bites and bruises. He reeked of that coppery tang and rough sex, was bathed in the evidence of his dark deeds. Somehow this felt worse than taking lives. He knew why, didn't want to go there, didn't want to think of her. Didn't want to feel the loss again. So much pain. There was a hitch in his gait and in his breath, unseen blades of sharp steel puncturing his organs as he answered that beckon that still rang through his mind. As he obeyed him.
Normally he would care that Ashley saw him this way, would do whatever he could to scrub himself clean of his blatant sins, but now it just felt like it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.
His mentor was all he had left.
So Dovev came to him, split with bone and torn tissue, slick with sweat and sex and a painful catch in his step. Zoryn was a rough bastard, and his damned sister got what she deserved. Dov had seen to that. His heart was heavy, but it was ok. They'd never look for her again. They'd never hurt her. They would only come for him. Only him.
He tried to mask that slight limp with steady movements as his deadened eyes met the raging fury in Ashley's. He used to have his own wrath to blaze in his, used to feel the strength and power of his anger. Now he felt nothing. Sadness and ache. Loss. He'd lost so much. Cerva, his daughter. Leliana. Gone. He said nothing as he stopped before the magician. Blinked.
Breathed.
03-06-2017, 03:03 PM (This post was last modified: 03-06-2017, 03:07 PM by Ashley.)
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ASHLEY
He’d have to be brought to heel.
And so the young pup would be, by the All-mother. Ashley’s nostrils flared with disgust as he took in the sight of Dovev. His skeletal spines were wracking at his body and he was obviously in pain. But that was by his own doing, and not by anything that the ginger man had done to him. Power had given him a taste for death, and so Dovev had gone off to seek his own—for what purpose, and what given muster, Ashley had no idea. But his eyes flared golden fire as he drank in the smell of sweat and sex that reeked off his body. He limps, and Ashley finds that he has had enough. He approaches the man-child and knocks him on his knees, sending him into a kneeling position.
Lest he forget his place—it was here, in the dirt.
A sneer washes over the pup’s body as Ashley hisses at him, all the anger festering away at the months that he has kept his emotions penned up. Months of searching. Months of torment. Months of guilt. “You look terrible” he says, and with a blink instantaneously heals the student—even going so far as to remove the dirt and odor from his pelt. Dovev exactly who Ashley was, and this level of power was nothing. Together, they were the quiet combination. Dovev the loud barking dog—and Ashley, his silent owner. A powerful partnership that so often has gone overlooked.
And yet, the time for his usefulness was at hand—and Dovev would look the part while he danced.
“I teach you your power, and you go off half-cocked on some helpless girls? Have you no honor?!” He spews, circling the boy angrily, pacing a divot into the dirt around the black stallion. “Disgusting.”
A dark smile sets on his features then. There are matters to attend to, but he would get there eventually. “Enjoyed him, did you? Did you get off on the pain?”
and the girls caressed me down ughhh that's that lovin' sound
He kept his head bowed, his body aching, soaked in the smell of his filthy sins. And before he knew it, he was forcefully knocked down. He buckled to his knees with a sharp grunt, gritting his teeth and raising his head only enough to lift burning eyes to his mentor, his master. He had never been good with authority. Their relationship had been tumultuous at every turn, and he was constantly having to learn to shut the hell up or pay for it in flesh. He didn't seem to learn that lesson so easily.
You look terrible.
And in a beat, he was healed, washed clean of the wounds and bruises, of the blood that was not all his own, of the smell of sweat and sex and wicked misdeeds. I teach you your power, and you go off half-cocked on some helpless girls? Have you no honor!? The scolding hurt, but the mention of Leliana hurt far worse, and he flinched from it, his eyes lowering in uncharacteristic defeat. Disgusting, the magician spat, circling him. Yes, he was disgusting. He always would be.
Enjoyed him, did you? Did you get off on the pain?
His eyes shot up to meet that dark smile, surprised once again at the endless power of this man that owned him. Zoryn. He'd seen what happened with Zoryn. Dovev's face darkened with a snarl and he lunged for him, no matter how foolish it was to do so, hating the reminder of what he'd done. Hating himself for being himself.
Of course he hadn't liked it, he didn't enjoy pain, only knew how to bear it. Pain was Zoryn's high, not his. Hurting Zor was what he liked, watching the suffering be instead deep pleasure, hearing his guttural moans at the things Dov did to him. Feeling the heady power of being the one to pull such deep desires from another. All by beating the shit out of him. Dov was good at pain, good at destruction. Good at driving that gold-painted man over the edge of ecstasy time and again. And his wicked sister, too.
He was good at the terrible things, good at bringing pain. He had been trained for it, taught to use his body as a weapon to protect a love he no longer had. All thanks to the Ash tree burned into his flank, and the man before him. All thanks to the one he now threw his body towards in a powerful but useless attack, heedless of the consequences as always.
It was hapless—but Dovev had a deathwish and Ashley knew it. He watched Dovev come at him, silent except for the animalistic snarl he put forward. The ginger man phased out, and reappeared a breath later behind the young pup, facing the other direction, looking at his backhand. His face was hard, but his words were soft—almost crooning to the bone-plated warrior.
“I will not give you what you seek, Dovev. You have beat yourself up enough already. There is nothing I can do to you that you do not already do to yourself.” He looks on, golden eyes watching where the bruises and the scars that had built up were. “You sought to train to defend yourself and Cerva. I leave, and suddenly Cerva has disappeared, and there is a Leliana. And a whole tangle of others. Dovev…” He stops here, looking down at the ground, stretching out his own muscles and flapping a wing before looking at the pup’s back again. “…you are a better man than this.”
The time would come when he would address the situation with Leliana further, but for now, he was looking onward to bigger things. “You are a resident of this island still. How familiar are you with the going’s on here?”
He expected a rebuke, a fight. A beating. He expected a beating. What else would he expect as recourse for attacking the formidable man that gave him everything even as everything else slipped away. Ashley phased out, and Dovev charged through nothing. Only air. He stopped immediately, his shoulders slumped and head dipping heavily. His mentor would not fight back, not today. And he confirmed it a moment later.
I will not give you what you seek, Dovev. You have beat yourself up enough already. There is nothing I can do to you that you do not already do to yourself.
He breathed, had to breathe -keep breathing. It was surprisingly painful for this truth to be acknowledged, to be brought to his own attention. He was, wasn't he? He was punishing himself. It wasn't enough though. It would never be enough. Just do it, he didn't say. Just beat him. Make him hurt as she must hurt. He would bear his pain, his heartache, and he would bear hers too. Let him hold all of it. All of it.
You sought to train to defend yourself and Cerva. I leave, and suddenly Cerva has disappeared, and there is a Leliana. And a whole tangle of others. Dovev… you are a better man than this.
He'd had the right intentions, hadn't he? He'd tried to, even with the darkness born in him. Even the obsession, the need for control, the affection for Cerva that had been seen so wrongly by others. She'd been so perfect, they'd been perfect, and he'd only wished to keep it that way forever. But his mind was not strong enough, or perhaps was too strong, and he pushed it all out of him. He forgot everything. Found a new love, a different love in Leliana.
Poisoned them both. Lost them both. Killed them both.
He wished his mentor would wipe Dovev from her memory. Free her of the pain he saw each time he slipped away to watch over her. He couldn't help it. He had to see, had to know. Even if it killed him. He accepted the pain, would gladly take it to free her.
A tear slipped from his haunted, black eye, stroked his cheek with the anguish in his heart. But he straightened, and finally turned around. Ashley asked for his knowledge of Ischian current events and he squared to him to answer, his voice quiet but firm. Hollow, but certain.
"You brought the girl home from the forest."And you hit a hell of a lot harder now."The prince hasn't returned."
I'll take my bow, I won't make a sound I whisper truce as the ashes hit the ground
