macawbre

[macawbre]

"Huuuuuh? You do, do ya? I guess the worlds a small place. You know, Robin was from Plegia just like me and I never met 'em until Ylisse, so…" His smile didn't skip a beat, despite how big this small world was. He hummed, crossing his hands behind his back as he looked over Lianna's diagrams. "I guess you were at the right place at the right time. Just like right now, ahaha~"

"You're going to have to tell me where you come from, whenever you have the time. I've been hearing about a ton of wild places, but each one gets less and less logical the more I look into it."

Henry scratched his chin philosophically, not thinking too hard about the logistics of it all. "That said…" He was polite enough to let Lianna do her thing, guiding the pegasus knights off their mounts and onto the ground to ensure that they weren't made for easy pickings. "Huh. Guess we never really considered dismounting… Usually in the heat of the moment, everyone just plows in gungho and hopes for the best. Clever, clever~"

"Trust huh? You probably arm your soldiers with a game plan before they split off…"

"Back home, we organize ourselves into duos, who lead battalions of our own. Guess you're uncomplicating the process, huh?"

"Geez, you stumped me. I don't even know what I don't know anymore, ahaha~" He thumped an elbow over the desk, resting his chin on his fist.

Did You Have Any Questions?

[macawbre]

"Oh thank god." Not the commander types were wayyyyy easier to handle than actual commander types, and he was sighing to boot! Exasperated was a good sign, because it was either that or straight up pissed, and Henry would prefer to razzle dazzle the former any day. "You know, you could just let me go on my merry way, nya ha ha! I'm not hurting anybody, I pinky promise."

The lights are still running their course, glittering in ways that resembled ephemeral stars. A touch and go light, here one second and gone the next. He wondered if it was a crime to be beautiful in a dying way. The upstarts and eager rabbits in cadet clothing certainly thought so.

He tilted his head, picking himself up off the ground and dusting himself off. Thoughtfully, he mused on their colors, as diffused light faintly traced over his white hair before fading away. "Distance casting? Heck yeah there is. You want to give me permission so I can show up whoever's show this is? I betcha I can do you one better, ahaha~"

Whirling his finger as a joke, Henry laughed as all the cadets straightened their backs and put on their worst scowls.

"Don't you think about it! The folks behind these fireworks have been at large since the last weekend, lighting up loads of illegal fireworks and other explosives in the area. Sure, they may've stuck to shows but just yesterday, a firework hit a stand and lit the thing on fire. And guess who has to clean it up!"

"Not my problem, bubs! You clearly have the wrong guy, since the show is still going and all." Henry whirled on his heels, walking right up to Mr. Not Much of A Commander, with a smile the size of a shooting star. Another light burst from the sky behind him, lighting them both under a faint green light. "Come on, my guy. My name's Henry. I uh… teach here. You gotta believe me…"

"And if you don't, I can at least promise you that we'll catch the perps faster with me on your side, you know. It'll be fun. Whatd'ya say?"

@swordsmanoftranquility

special delivery { Zihark & Henry

[macawbre]

"Oho! I see, I see! Ever vigilant, arentcha? Well, it they're claw marks deeper than any animal, have ya considered they might be…" He flourished his hands, shaking them like he was in a bad jazz number. "Beasts and ghouls of the undead variety?"

"Anyway, you came to the right place-- or uh, well!! It was probably not the best idea just to pin up your concerns on the board like that. What if it was legitimately dangerous? You coulda gotten yourself killed, or better yet…. turned." Henry never really understood the logistics of the bulletin board in the first place. Who was keeping tabs of it? And what if the professors turned a blind eye and let the kids just go about giving each other more bloodbound tasks to fulfill.

Not that that didn't sound fun, but--

"Still, between you and I, dontcha think we can handle it? Nya ha ha! I loooooooove big beasts and monsters of the undead variety."

But good gracious, she certainly didn't look it. In fact, from the amount of stress she was taking on for just one person, he wondered if she was going to grow a full head of white hair by the end of it. His crackling voice lowered a bit, less obnoxious, more… well. Professor-y. "Look. I believe you. Don't you worry your little head-- these things will occur. In fact, it's a surprise it hasn't happened until now!" He was downright awful at this reassuring thing, but he had come around to it. Maybe he had gotten a little soft around the edges or something. Stars catching his eyes and blinding him a little.

By the time they dug their heels into the graveyard, he pushed the gates wide open just to get a load of all the dirt kicked around. "Y'know, I occasionally had a habit of graverobbin', nya ha ha! But this sure doesn't look like one of those…"

Maybe he shouldn't have admitted to that. Oh well. What's a conscience to a dead man walking?

"Geez, they really hauled dirt around here. Check out the looooooooong claws cutting into the ground… And--"

He neared a grave, thumbing the stone a little to assess the damage. "Y'know back in Ylisse, we have Manaketes and Taguel that could cleave into stone like this. But they're pretty cognizant of their beast-like features, so I doubt they'd just roll around and desecrate a resting place."

"Do you have any beast men around these parts? It might help the narrowing down process, ahaha~!"

Extra Credit With The Dearly Departed

[macawbre]

Henry fire emblem is my favorite creepy pasta

[macawbre]

activity check { 7/30/2024

hiatused!

[macawbre]

been replaying awakening and i forgot how much i love this guy.... nyaha ^_^

[macawbre]

It is a gentler version. He's not a gentler person, but he knows what gentle is. Like a neighbor adjacent, separated from him by glass panels. But, he suffered from a number of ailments that made him indifferent to the fact. Even if he could not be gentle nor could the world allow gentleness to spawn, he suspected that with Mitama's hands, she could rewrite that. She could. The scars riveting through her hands remained. (But she could.)

He brightened quite frighteningly—for what, he could not tell. "Can't promise ya that! I think the sight of my own blood is a cherry on top to this whole war thing!!"

"But ya know, you're a reaaaaaaal softie. Every time, or not, that just means some time is still on the table, yeah?"

He called her bluff in the way someone turns over a stone in the garden. Nothing is entirely out of place, but the underside of the stone is now upside. And he liked when a garden had that brand of oddity. (He doesn't know the word for vulnerable, but it's just about on the tip of his tongue, somewhere. Somehow.)

Henry clutched his stomach to laugh. "Well, I'm technically supposed to be the one watchin' you, so I guess you're right. Can't die quite yet!"

He grabbed a handful of pomegranate seeds and swallowed them in one long huff. Hell was a long way from home, but he'd need to go back one day. Until then, he was pretty pleased that tomorrow was a Monday, and a school day at that!

A strikingly normal Monday. They deserved as much.

[END]

rock-a-bye { Mitama & Henry

[macawbre]

Oh geez. A scammer out in broad daylight.

At least, that's what he assumed before stepping into the musty little hole-in-the-wall, with a guru all but melted into a tanned leather armchair. When Lissa had asked him to tag along, he wondered what a princess like her could be scared of, anyhow. Death? Weakness? Blood? All the usual one-notes of humanity, right? So why would she go through the trouble of exposing herself to things like that when war already did the job? Guess the tail-end of the ad really hooked her, line and sinker. Because if just meeting a guru for a day could squander your fears forever and a half, who wouldn't take the chance?

She squawked out a few rubbery notes, as Henry loomed behind her with an eerie, crooked grin directed at the guru. "Yeah! Yeah, you're doing fine." He whispered back, though loud enough for anyone to overhear. He kind of felt like melted wax and a letter-knife, stiff and sharp at the same time. Normally, his chipper mood was unchippable—but whoever was sitting behind the counter had some particularly strong illusionary magic to 'em.

"Nya ha!" Nonetheless, his smile relented. "Well, ya got us! We're here to be suckered, so bring us your best punches, will ya?"

A wispy, knotted hand emerged from the guru's thick sleeves, old as moonlight. The guru's joints were hardened, deforming their entire hand into a broken wing. "……Vvvvvvvvery weeeellll." His voice crackled like grounded glass. Grasping the satchel slowly, like a mechanical hand cricking and cracking, he accepted the offering at the speed of molasses.

"Hey, Lissa-- brace yourself, nya ha ha!!" All the candles in the store blew out simultaneously, and the guru erupted into flame, before his figure melted away entirely.

A thundering darkness swallowed the room, erasing every trace of musty ol' shelves and heavy-woven curtains to leave them with a blank canvas. "…Aw heck! I'm reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaallly gonna have to ask this guy how he DID that, because that was--"

"You are Elizabeth. Not a fool. Nor a hanged man."

A disembodied voice whispered to them from the sky. The clouds shifted and discolored, and before them emerged a fairly young girl with tears streaming down her face as she watched a lone star fall. Her hair was a stark blue, a symbol of the royal family, and she wore a mask that could not obscure her grief. Beside her are other young children, eyebrows furrowed, praying with their eyes open. They all look so much younger now. The sky is red, and has looked this color since they were born.

The children look back at you. At you.

"A lady. A hero. A symbol of hope."

✦ TEST OF COURAGE ...

( FAITH+1 ) affluence.

[macawbre]

activity check { 6/2024

Skill Points: 19

Passed!

Mun Info for Henry has been updated with Shipping Preferences (⁉), as Nanna and Quan are happily engaged/married.

[macawbre]

masquerade archive!

just a lil sentimental. just a bit! (this is mostly for myself to backlog in the future)

“Sorry buddy, I’m a pure maiden looking for love.” And a liar. He shapes both his hands into a cute heart over his actual heart. “I want home security, seven children, a chicken farm, and if you’re feeling spicy, a pint of salamander blood.” “And– I think I’d like to know how you tick. You’re weird!”

Thread 11 ※ Henry & Ratatoskr — [x]

Thread 5 ※ Mask 8 — [x]

Thread 59 ※ Mask 73 — [x]

Thread 42 ※ Switcheroo — [x]

Thread 40 ※ Mask 47 — [x]

[macawbre]

"Can I take a guess?"

The night was still, tonight, but he could feel it in the way the dark sat up there, cradling the moon. "How's about you keep a secret for me. Alright, kiddo?"

He cracked a maddeningly soft smile, though his mask hollowed out his expressions until he was just a basket full of unsung hymns. Pushing himself onto the railing, precariously balancing his weight on its beam, he elevated two knit fingers towards the roar of black sky.

"Don't you love a good spectacle?"

A single flit of light glittered out of his fingertips, flailing until it died mid-air. And abruptly, a burst of unmeasured sparks scattered from his fingers, lighting their masks up with a bright orange-blue siloquette. Flicking his wrist, his fingertips melted gold, blasting one wave of fire after the other, each blooming like poppies and sunflowers over the grounds—a garden, tended to by a horrible, silly man. Each firework was larger than the last, swallowing the darkness until his blood turned to ambrosia, and his rot turned with new leaves.

He cackled, no longer hiding his characteristic clanging laugh, and felt the heat zip up his arm and sear the stars with color. Ichor in the form of prismatic light burst overhead.

It was not a bad thing to be a bad guy, sometimes. And not a bad thing to lean on him either.

He closed his eyes and just imagined the colors running through the sky right now, and thought of a song that flowers would sing.

—End.

"Yeah... weird"

probably not a good time to say anything else, unless they decide to meet up after the masquerade is over. she lays against the railing to look up at the sky "Its not the hardest thing to work with, maybe you should pick it up again sometime..."

shes caught off guard once again by these small magic tricks, taking the dessert that was offered to her "oh--! uhm.. thank you!"

[macawbre]

[ Splash ] - Amid the decorations brought in for the occasions is a beautiful three tier fountain sculpted in with Seiros in mind. Come refresh yourselves! But do try not to get soaked.

The sight of the fountain while she's dressed like this has Altena booking it as quickly as she can in the other direction. She's not about to idle around here where someone could dare her to get in it again. She still feels bad about soaking Nanna's handiwork last year.

On her way, she crashes right into someone. "Ah sorry!" She quickly apologizes. "Here, let me give you one of these feathers as an apology."

"Oh shoot! Aw, come on, lady...."

Henry's cape and part of his sleeve seeped with fountain water, caught in an abrasive collision that he couldn't catch himself from. Well! At least he hadn't fallen all the way in!

"...Ooooh, well okay. I guess since I can't collect black feathers from my crows, collecting it this way isn't half bad either! Don't look so down, I'm not that attached to the look, y'know?"

He'd just have to do a little hocus pocus and dry the whole thing himself. Back to form in an instant, his grin stretched up from ear to ear. "Yoink! Alright. And here's mine, nya ha ha!" With a slight of hand, he switched brooches in an instant—black feather for a tear.

"You musta been in a hurry! If you need a guide, I'll just--" Whistling loudly, a cacophony of caws called out from the distance, making good time between fluttering through glass doors and window opens to get into the ball room.

"Call one of these guys! It's almost time for the night to be over, anyhow, so I doubt I'd be flagged for bringing these little guys in."

Sighing in satisfaction, he let motioned for a crow to rest on her shoulder. "They're scary good with directions. You're in good claws!"

[macawbre]

ethereal 2024 {

Nya ha ha! Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana! He’s here! Henry did an ugly little flourish for no one to see. He thought long and hard about coming, but let’s be honest, how could he miss it? There was nothing like watching a ballroom plunge into desperateness, trying to seek out a semblance of love. It was a claw-sic.

A showcase of the mundane becoming divine.He thinks the ugliness of a well-decored room, with untouchable ceilings and crystals mined from the bloody hands of others, was more or less a rite of passage. To desire, to be desired. To switch hands like going from the freshness of a split arrow to that of a knife in a fruit pie. It’s all so very pretty and unbeautiful.

Henry will lose himself tonight, and he thinks it will be very, very fun.

Accessory: Teardrop Crystal, hooked to a line of teardrop crystals attached to a thin gold chain hanging off his headdress. He’s chandeliering, I guess.

Tracker:

black feather: Altena white feather: Rajaion, Mystery Feather (Confirmed by mod) string of pearls: Senno, Mitama, Sara small bell: Azama teardrop crystal: Sue

Outfit + Mask

[macawbre]

[ Chocolate fountain ] - A seemingly endless fountain of chocolate, accompanied by plenty of biscuits, cakes, and cookies to dip in. / for ✨setting✨

Was that … ? No, certainly not the Raven King. But a beorc! How curious ( and entirely strange that the child should feel so Raven-like to the abounding senses of the dragon )!

“Hello … “ Rajaion begins at length, unpinning an ivory, heron-like feather from his lapel and presenting it. “I think the black one would suit you more, but I haven’t one to give. So the white one’ll have to do.”

And he knows he’s staring, but there’s a curious fascination about the curious beorc alongside him at the fountain.

“What is your name?” He asks softly, brows furrowing. “And … where might you hail from?”

He’s hard pressed to think he’s ever heard of a pale-tressed raven. How curious!

( Especially one that boasted more an ominous presence than even a raven of Kilvas — those laguz beorc feared as omens! )

Huh. This guy had a weird energy to him. Henry could feel a little tingly just from his approach, though he couldn't place his finger on if the energy was sinister or not. Either way, the tinglies always meant one thing! Someone powerful enough to kill him, if need be.

"Nya ha! Nah, if you think about it, irony is what sweetens the deal! What's a little white going to do? Kill you?" He snapped his fingers, and the white feather disappeared from the man's grasp. In its place, shined a pretty teardrop.

A piercing, happy-go-lucky smile spreaded over his lips, glad that he was even in this guy's radar. "Henry! Of uh... Well, I used to be from Plegia, abandoned that place. Then Ylisse. Abandoned that place too. Now I'm just here, Fodlan-style, I guess. What about you?"

"You must be familiar with the whole traveling mage schtick, so I won't bore you. But I actually teach dark magic at the school too. Uh. "Reason" if it so pleases the pope lady around here."

He could feel the guy staring holes into him, and while he quite enjoyed the feeling, he snorted. "What. Never seen a funny guy like me before? I'll tell ya, I'm a dime a dozen."

He stuck a skewer of strawberries into the chocolate fountain, offering it to the crazy powerful guy standing right next to him. "But I'm rather good at killing. And making jokes. And calling on crows."

"If ya ever get bored, just call on me! Gets boring all on my lonesome, nya haha!"

[macawbre]

"Yeah. Pinky swear! Normal swear, even. Have you ever seen her heal?? Sometimes she really is the only thing between the earth and death's door."

Though, he supposed since Azama was absent for all that, he may not have known. Heck, maybe Azama knew a side of her that he wasn't privy to. That's how father's worked, right?

"Well, now that she's back, you can gather your own intel. Your kid's been fighting your wars and other people's wars for as long as I can remember." He could only joke about it because he knows the punchline. He knows the children here are ticketed to war the moment they step under the doorway. "Ahaha~ Isn't fate kinda twisted?"

He sighed rolling one of his fingers in his ears, only half listening to a word that ran through this guy's mouth. He wondered if nagging was hereditary. "Aye, aye, my dude. Are you into picking at semantics like a vulture to a carcass? I don't see it--" A string of bells jingled in his face, stopping him in his tracks. "--Helping."

"But I guess I can draw the line at bribery. That's cool!"

Snapping his fingers, a teardrop crystal disappeared from his headdress and rested in between his fingers like a playing card. He whirled it up and down his columns of fingers, before blowing on his hand and making it disappear. In its place, he shook the bells with glee.

"Just kidding! Fair's fair. War's war. I can guess I'll be seeing you around more often, so when the time comes—brace yourself!"

He beamed enough for the both of them, knowing that he was just a stranger running circles under the moon. And this guy was the real deal. Blood and everything.

Fascinating.

[END]

hush puppy { azama & henry

[macawbre]

Henry stuck a finger in his ear, itching it, not quite sure if this guy was going to implode from the candy or if he was just feeling gassy. To be honest, he looked like he was running on some kind of invisible hamster wheel, star crossed and hex on the horizon, but nothing prepared Henry for the nonsense that came rushing out of his gullet in a huff of hot air. "Ahahaha~ THAT'S WHAT I SAID! But Sue told me it's just regular candy. Kind of sweet. Maybe you should save the counterspells on a real hex, you kidder."

"Also! I can't sense a whiff of magic on you. You a fanatic or something?" He tilted his head all the way to the side, trying to discipher where all the hot air was blowing from. He still couldn't tell, even with a tilt in the other direction, discerning nothing of note except for his larger than life personality. "If you need someone to really hex you, I'm your man! Just call me up, I haven't had the opportunity to flex the ol' mage muscles in a little while. Ahaha~"

"Oh yeah! And here!"

"Since you hate the candy as much as I do, I guess I should give you something different instead. How's a--" Clasping a teardrop crystal from his chandelier resting atop his head-dress, he pulled it off, snapping the ring that was holding it up. "Crystal sound?"

"Ya can't eat it, but you can exchange it for some goodies, I hear!"

Clapping his hands together, he dusted off the excess rancidity—if that was even a word—and considered his work over and done.

"I'm Henry, by the by! Once you learn a lick of magic, come back and kill me yourself, ya hear?"

"Hey buddy, your vibes are rancid...! What's your deal?" Henry offered a bunch of suspicious Sue candies to him as a "peace" offering.

well! he NEVER! what! the auDACITY!

oh, so sennō just goes around giving people a sniff or two, but HE'S the bad guy? look, BUSTER, i've already had my fair share of run-ins with freakazoids today, and you're about to go on that list. don't you test me! i'll turn you inside out! i'll turn you into a dolphin! i'll turn you into an inside-out dolphin, and then everyone will look at you and say, ' good heavens, look at that disgusting little dolphin! ' and then you will feel VERY ALONE! because nobody wants ANYTHING to do with a freaky flesh dolphin! yeah? yeah, are you scared? are you SCARED YET?

of course, none of what he's just thought has been vocalized, because sennō is something of a "silent hater." instead he sits there, glaring unpleasantly from under his hat ( as has become his most common action of late ). once he finishes his little mind-marathon, he decides he'll cautiously play nice---but only because this guy smells, disgustingly yet intriguingly, like dark magic.

he looks at the candies, then back to this freak, then back to the candies, then decides he'll try one to forge this stupid bond for idiots. it feels odd and smells significantly odder, but he figures it's just because of his attachment to hoshidan sweets. always easy on the nose and tongue, indeed.

wordlessly he pops the candy in his mouth, chews, and sits there motionless. then he begins to sweat a little bit. then a lot. then his face contorts into a mix of nausea and abject horror at how a candy can taste so obscenely disgusting!

"ugh! what the hell is this?!" he screeches, spitting the remaining pieces on the floor with absolutely zero decorum. in his panic about this candy he's completely forgotten his original plan---after all, a dark mage just gave him a shitty candy. this probably means he is going to die. "countermagic! countermagic! i need countermagic! this freak tried to curse me with death candy!! uegh! eurhgh!! ghuerghhg!!!!"

[macawbre]

He supposed he didn't really understand where Mitama was coming from, but she could empathize nonetheless. Loud and moist and the whole shebang. Was that really what parenthood was all about? He just wasn't sharp enough to get it, and didn't want to press too hard that she'd break over it. To be honest, he was pretty used to cracks in pretty things, but just this once, he didn't want it to be because of him.

"Nya ha ha! Alrighty, you're welcome then. No hexing, either. Got it." He was amenable to the idea though. Should she say the word. "Treats? Got--"

"Hey! What're you looking at me like that for!" His goofy grin could take a million jabs if that's what she wanted. Besides, if he was coughin' up blood, she'd be on clean up duty before long. "I've got better things to do!"

"....Liiiiiike, making like a bird and getting some grub." He plucked another pomegranate seed from her bowl, flicking it squarely into his mouth. "And..."

Whirling his wrist in a full circle, he suddenly pursed a teardrop crystal in between two fingers. Just like magic. "Ta da! I have sweets where that came from too, since I was busy stashing them away earlier with another masked kiddo."

"You don't need someone to chase ya, and I put in enough leg work as it is. Maybe we can just meet down the middle, between a rock--" He pressed the brooch into her hand. "And a soft place."

"That's how the saying goes right? Hahaha!"

He shrugged, nonchalantly tacking on an afterthought like it meant fairly little to him. "Good to see you, though. The place was missing a little mystique!"

Now that she was back, he wondered if that meant a piece of himself that he left on her un-dug grave would return, too. That's how all memories were like, nowadays.

Ah well. In the here and the now, he was sure they were gonna have a ball of a time.

rock-a-bye { Mitama & Henry