caniscomplex

[caniscomplex]

the answer everything but what she'd wish to hear, singular laugh laced with a tone akin to frustration escapes before her judgement gets the better of it. ❛ if they are not to be of the effort, the least they can do is help unearth the cause. without old tales clouding their minds. ❜ tamed rage grates through trained teeth. sharp, too sharp. but have they not shown more resolve alone to get to the superstitious town that forbids them to resign to whatever folklore plaguing cynefin's own local psyche ? an insult to a journey far more dangerous than roaring waves and sticking earth. ❛ this fate only awaits those who lack the will to fight it. ❜ she's got orders to fulfil, a debt to repay. fuel that keeps her will ever unyielding, no matter the state of exhaustion that's sure to await her in some passing moons. it's simply unimaginable to lay down arms without giving them her all.

sharp tongue cuts the inside of her cheeks after the outburst, unfitting of her rank — most of all ashamed of who the recipient had been this time. solid composure she's made a renown of in an early career all but vanishes at the mere sight of a savior turned . . friend. the double - edged effect of safety ; there's no fear to restrict herself around lintang, only wishes she could control her emotions better about this disheartening situation. ❛ i apologize, i didn't mean to imply this of you. ❜ the truth of it, kai has never known someone with more volition. so much that admiration easily turns to worry in the soldier, the length to which the healer can go to see something through. isn't she breathing proof of their will ? a sigh, pondering on their idea of acceptance. ❛ i do suppose there would be worst company to be cornered in with. ❜ finally, a smile. ❛ for the field, i'm not decided on it being friendly or not. i don't know what to make of so many side eyes. ❜

their hands are made for two completely different things, —almost on opposite ends of the spectrum—lintang thinks, eyes drawn to their friend's fingers as she speaks. even without touching her hand, it's not hard for them to recall from memory the feel of kai's callused palm, their own fingers pressed into the skin. bloodied, battered, used to hard work. it's a thing of marvel, no matter what anyone has to say about it. the urge to take it and link their fingers together is almost overwhelming, but lintang steadies themselves. for a second time, they allow themselves to meet kai's gaze. it's not quite a smile that greets her, but even to the onlooker, is it not painfully obvious how their entire being softens in her vicinity?

lintang sighs. "no, perhaps it isn't death that will come find us," they say. what goes unsaid: are there worse fates than death? "but with the progress... or the lack thereof, as you say, perhaps trapped is an outcome that we must learn to accept sooner than later." it's a difficult thing, acceptance. especially when the both of them are foreigners, watched by these hawk-like local eyes. "if what the townsfolk are saying is true—" that the mudslide is made of magic, or that it is a hand exacting an ancient prophecy. "—then how much good can scholars do against fate? i wish they'd come up with brilliant ideas already. but no luck."

[caniscomplex]

❛ we're not dying here. ❜ surely there's other ways to put it, but none more fitting to speak her mind on both the predicament they find themselves in and the tales of the locals. of course they have a chance, of course they're not getting swallowed by either mud nor waves. as for the second inquiry, the stained hand that pushes a shared plate towards her companion answers for her. scrubbing has the same ineffectiveness on calloused hands than a shovel has on the landslide. the mud sticks to her fingers, dry dirt sits where cuticle should be, old blisters burst under fresh ones. hours spent endlessly failing to dent the wall ; dig, drill, delve — nothing budging. the lower her morale gets, the higher her restlessness runs. ❛ nothing so far. and not for lack of trying. when we think we made a dent, a blink and it's not nothing's changed ❜ yet, even stuck between land and sea, she's not ready to call herself trapped. her duty might momentarily lie to the academy and the severed road, but her purpose hasn't shifted ; where lintang stands is where kai shall be. ❛ any of those scholars brewing up brilliant ideas ? ❜ she might be staff, but she doesn't have the interest to listen to them babble in the halls and grounds she patrols.

location: anywhere you want it to be.

status: open [2/5].

lintang is not a creature of superstition. perhaps one must be a long-time resident of this quaint town on the cliff, must be able to see the sea under them out through their window to believe in the old crones' tales. but the truth is this: they have seen the dangers of war. the pyres of bodies and the sea of blood are what await clwyd-isle on the war front. believing in a prophecy isn't that different from believing in war, they think. you'll die either way. the thought—spoken in aster's voice rather than their own—is enough to make them snap to attention. "do you think we have a chance?" they ask, gaze focusing on the person at their side. this is something real—something tangible. "has anyone made a breakthrough? with the mudslide? the things i've heard have not been pretty."

[caniscomplex]

⸻⸻ ✦ BAEK HARU — blood staining your lips, your own flesh stuck in your teeth  /  the low hum of a long - lost melody, forgotten for a reason, yet nested familiarly within a mind  /  a dance with the devil, a feast with the hells.

𝒊.

full - name : baek haru. nicknames : ——— . age : twenty - nine . birth date : november 8th . khemia : trained . rare magic : — . familiar : rakan . gender identity : non - binary . pronouns : she / they . orientation : bisexual . place of birth : cynefin , clwyd - isle . occupation : trader . face - claim : go minsi .

𝒊𝒊.

height : five foot , four inches . hair : dark, kept as long as their patience allows for . splits ends from badly self - made hair chops over the years. eyes : dark brown with a darker shine when one would pay attention, something swimming in the abyss of her irises. scars : bandage concealed blade inflicted lesion behind their left knee. never fully healed, never fully hurting. price paid. piercings : — .

𝒊𝒊𝒊.

parents : baek daehyun ( father , alive ) / choi eunjeong ( mother , alive ) . siblings : baek jiwon ( older brother / deceased ) .

𝒊𝒗.

sun : scorpio . moon : capricorn . rising : libra . myers - briggs : entj - commander . alignment : chaotic evil . enneagram : the challenger . soul - type : the king . temperament : choleric . element : water. aesthetic : the split - up tarnished .

𝒗.

comprehensive and formatted bio tba.

𝒗𝒊.

born and raised in town with all of their beliefs and customs. never a fully rebellious child to it all, but never a full conservative either. curious mind above all, making her own ideas on things as she grows old will stress her family to no ends.

in a town not that populous compared to the tales of the capital she hears from her parents, there is a sense of feeling trapped that settles inside. on the lookout for some freedom, it's not long before she finds somewhere within the surrounding trees to escape from her duties. in and out before their family could get suspicious of haru not following their strict set of rules, it is their hideout. their perfect place.

until it's not theirs anymore, and someone had seem to claim it for their own as well. always with a wave of confrontation in their step, it's not long for their storm to dissipate at the sight of one ceridwen wynne-jones.

the one person she'd been constantly remembered and warned to stay away from for years after the other was old enough to enter the school. forbidden to approach her in a courtyard — no set of rules or guidance were laid for an off - trail hideaway.

friendship blooms in the sways of leaves, and her hideout spot becomes theirs, and for a few years the secrecy of it holds strong. secrecy her brother is allowed into, for he noticed the longer outings and the longer - lasting smile on his sibling's features. a warning is head, although much tamer than their parents. he doesn't trust the other, but trusts haru. leaves it to her judgement, simply to be careful.

and that carefulness turns into recklessness, a slip up in schedule shines a light on the little guise. haru's family is far from pleased. not only did she disobey, but she lied and outright shamed her family by associating with ceri.

contact stops, friendship forcefully halted. for months she endures the pain of not grabbing what is within reach, shivering at the ice she has to engulf herself in whenever her best friend tries to get near.

pain that she'll soon find out to be nothing next to the one at the horizon. there is an accident in a factory that claims her brother's life. he'd only just gotten in a few months ago. the news broke for a second only that another comes along. it might have not been an accident at all. it might have all been the doing of a single person. and all the warnings and forbidden contact starts to make sense. timing all too close for it to be a coincidence as well. the whispers turn into a louder voice, coming not only from the remaining household members, but from deep in the shadow of her room.

there has always been a presence felt near, though she never paid it any mind. imagination easily running high, there was never a reason to think it was anything but the delusions of a tired mind. that fateful night, however, there was no denying it. the power of the words reverberating through their skull makes tears dry, silent sobs falling instead at the realization and validation ; ceri is the source of the tragedy.

affirmation this sentient shadow will not stop repeating, fire it won't allow to die out. a mantra hammering itself in her head has the baek's pack up bag to leave cynefin behind. her mother won't stand a minute longer in a town with a that child — unbeknownst to her that her own remaining one had gotten latched onto by something far, far worse.

rakan, she'll soon call it, after a pact had been agreed upon blinded by loss and grief. these creatures know something mortals don't ; power. such was recognized in haru, untapped talent so potent it hurt the demon to think of it unused. training hadn't been started, verum never in the baek's cards. their affinity to khemia is, however, undeniable. why else would the entity so set on a contract. why else whisper sweet promises of revenge and never being powerless again if raw power wasn't already on the table.

she wishes she could learn quick, away from the prying eyes of a broken family. a lamb draped over by a wolf, here's the first domino to a long, long, long chain.

years passed, and someone that resembles a grown haru has resurfaced along the streets of cynefin. or so people think. in and out to finalize a new trade post, a shadow is left behind the spot where people think they saw her again. that is until the sighting stays permanent. not by choice, but by landslide.

tl;dr — familiar driven, bent on revenge fractured soul that plans to nurture the chaos that recently set itself over cynefin to use it for their own personal gain on their years long vendetta in the making.