swornfate

[swornfate]

“hey, look. it’s you,” mj says, a proud grin on her lips as she flips her sketchbook to show off her best interpretation of her newest miserable muse. a spitting image if she does say so herself. “hope you don’t mind. your misery inspired me.” she chuckles as she returns the sketchbook back into the safety of her lap. it seems this island has no shortage of people in crisis. “you can have it. if you want.”

[swornfate]

“hm? as useless as what?” mj asks with feigned confusion only to release a chuckle a moment later. “sorry. i shouldn’t be messing with you. i’m listening.” normally, she wouldn’t take this kind of attitude from a complete stranger, but the girl’s overdramatic mannerisms make it hard to take the insult to heart. “so you’re a princess. that uh, explains things. i mean, if it helps, there’s a chance your friends will show up if they’re not here already. and i'm sure your kingdom has a king or queen to look after it while you're gone, right? not that i support outdated institutions that depend on keeping the working class poor, but y'know.”

"Is everyone here as useless as this?" she asked, her hands clenching into frustrated fists. "You should have been listening while I was talking to you," she sighed. Stella let out a groan. "This is a travesty," she said. "What am I going to do? My friends and the entire magic dimension can't survive without me. My kingdom needs it's princess."

[swornfate]

“rhaena! how good to see you again.” jace grins at the sight of her, always finding pleasure in her company. “please don’t apologize. i’m glad to see you enjoying yourself,” he assures, gesturing to the wide array of delicacies on her table. “i’m not doing so bad. still adjusting to everything, i suppose. i did see baela not so long ago which pleases me greatly. i was nervous for her as i am with everyone else who has yet to show up here.” especially for his mother and brothers whose safety he prays for in his absence. “but how are you? everything well, i hope?”

Closed Starter : Rhaena & Jacerys ( @swornfate ) Venue : The Modern Lobster

Rhaena's eyes were probably bigger than her stomach when she ordered but she was sure she could eat all the food in front of her. She just wanted to try everything. Food tasted so much better now than it did back then. She looked up from her food after one pleasuable bite and smiled brightly, "Jace!" she exclaimed with her mouth full. She swallowed, "Sorry. Jace, hey! How are you?"

[swornfate]

a touch of redness finds his cheeks at her words. “i’m afraid i was carried away,” jace says with a sheepish smile at the thought of his obliviousness to her presence. “i’m more mindful usually.” it seems his mind has a tendency to wander these days.

his smile falters slightly at her question. “the realm i come from is at war. my mother’s rightful inheritance has been stolen from her and as her son and heir, it’s my duty to fight for her claim and mine.” he rests his hand on the pommel of his sword, his lips pressing into a thin line. “the war will be won with dragons surely— i may never even need to draw my blade. but even so, i find a dragonlord should know how to wield a sword just as ably as the reins of his dragon.”

katherine had seen the action happening on the beach from afar, a normal person may run in the opposite direction of a sword being swung around so freely - but the blonde was from a time where swords were common and most people carried one. nodding at him in greeting she let a small laugh. "do not apologise - you looked as if you were in a battle with an invisible man, i can only assume you were practicing for something." katherine replied, offering him a tentative smile. "what are you preparing for? if you don't mind me inquiring."

[swornfate]

“you'd think so,” jace agrees, sharing the woman's frustrations. “and yet, i have so many loved ones i’ve not seen here still.” he's thankful he's managed to run into baela and rhaena, at least. their presence keeps him grounded, baela's perhaps more than most. “truthfully, i’m more hopeful of returning home to my family than to see them turn up here. my mind grows restless thinking about what might be transpiring while i’m gone. i feel like i’m shirking my duties being left to do nothing here.”

closed starter for @swornfate // daphne for jace

" it's frustrating that i cannot seem to find my husband or child anywhere here. you'd think that if i am here, they'd be here too, right ? " daphne groaned as she rolled her eyes. she hated not knowing if simon and august were alright. she wanted to be able to check in on them, but she couldn't. even if her husband didn't want to be with her for whatever reason here, daphne knew he'd still talk to her and let her check in.

[swornfate]

“jaehaerys was-” what? an accident? a mistake? to say it aloud would be to make the same justification for his guilt as alicent just did for lucerys. perhaps the two of them aren't so different, even if he loathes to think it. “whatever the realm might believe, my mother would never have sanctioned such a vile act. it was done without her knowledge or mine and i am sorry for it.” and he speaks the truth. helaena, good and kind and so unlike any of her siblings, didn’t deserve to suffer for her brother's crimes. the punishment should’ve been reserved for aemond targaryen alone.

“that much we can agree on.” still, it does beg the question of why there had to be a fight at all, he wants to say but he bites his tongue before the words can tumble out of his mouth. they won't get anywhere quarreling over a throne that doesn't even exist in this world. “we’ll never truly see things eye to eye, that much is clear to me,” jace concedes. “but i do recognize there’s no point in arguing in circles in a place where titles and thrones are meaningless, especially now when i assume we share a common goal. to return home, that is.”

the brunette swallowed thickly at the others words, shaking her head. "your brothers loss, it truly broke my heart although i doubt you believe me." alicent was honest, aemond had acted without instruction and thus caused so much blood shed. "i could say the same for my grandson, he was not given the opportunity to grow or enjoy life." a tear ran down her cheek at the memory. "i think we can both agree jacaerys that mistakes were made in the fight for the throne, and lives were lost too soon."

[swornfate]

“i know. i just get so restless- and it frustrates me to think those traitors can do as they please while we must play our hand so carefully.” to think his mother’s name is being slandered across the realm as a kinslayer while nothing is said of aemond targaryen makes jace seethe with anger. “you needn't stay my hand, baela,” he says, his gaze softening when she turns his head to face her. “i shouldn't even be burdening you with my troubles.” they should be rejoicing for having found each other after being separated for so long. this is a good day, not one to be reserved for sorrow. “i’ll be careful, i swear it,” jace assures her as a smile, more teasing than the last, returns to his lips again. “besides, have you ever known me to be unwise?”

baela smiled at the other seeing his smile form slightly, she looked around and back at him "no need to thank me." she nodded her head slightly as a response "that might be but, he knows how you feel about him, jace" she heard his words and felt herself get worried about what he meant, but a part of her knew what he had meant saying that "he will jace, but you" she let her hand move to the bottom of his chin softly to turn his head to look at her "need to be smart about it, we aren't home" she said softly.

[swornfate]

“it’s not a common name here,” coriolanus agrees, leading him to think that maybe it wasn't in naporia where they first crossed paths. “are you from panem? maybe you’ve seen me on the television then, if you keep up with that kind of thing.” it's the only other conclusion he can come to. “i was the mentor for the girl tribute from district twelve during the tenth annual hunger games. her name is lucy gray. i think you might remember her better than you remember me. her performances leave quite the impression.” 

she paused, clove had attended a meeting or two for work but nothing more than that. "the only meetings i'd attended were for work, i'm a personal trainer at the gym." she explained, shaking her head. "no it's something else - coriolanus it sounds familiar a name not of this world perhaps."

[swornfate]

coriolanus feels a flare of anger rise at her words. who exactly is this woman? he doesn't recognize her and yet she thinks she knows him well enough to pass this kind of judgment on his character. so young, she keeps calling him, as if she's implying she comes from a time when he's not. he wonders, perhaps, if she's not all deluded because if lucy gray is from the future (albeit, a not-so-distant one), who's to say there can't be others who come from a time months, years, even decades from now?

because of you. because of the hunger games. so the games do go on then. coriolanus isn't sure whether to feel disappointment or relief at this news. “i didn’t create the games,” he says defensively, fighting to keep his tone even. “you can’t blame every citizen of the capitol for the work of some select few.” there's more to what she's saying — something he's missing, and he can't help but look at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell him more of this grievous crime he supposedly committed against her.

"I don't understand how you're so young," she said. "But I know you. An older you," she explained. Maysilee didn't even want to look at him. He seems so different than the Snow she had witnessed in her time. "You're a bad man, Coriolanus Snow. I've witnessed it first hand, your cruelty. I died because of you, because of the Hunger Games."

[swornfate]

the number of people he doesn’t know who apparently recognize him is starting to get disturbingly high. ever since his discussion with lucy gray about mayfair, and with every passing person he doesn’t know claiming to know him, coriolanus feels increasingly worried he can’t trust his own memory anymore. how sad to think he might have to add descent into madness onto his growing list of misfortunes. “that doesn’t sound unlikely, actually,” he says as he tries to recall the girl’s face from his past but ultimately does not. “i do some political work at the town hall. maybe you’ve seen me during a council meeting. my name is coriolanus, if that might ring a bell.”

clove & coriolanus || @swornfate

her brows furrowed at the sight of the younger man. "you look familiar." clove admitted, shaking her head as she tried to place where she knew the other from. "i have no idea where i've seen your face - but i know it." the raven haired woman chewed on the inside of her cheek. "how long have you been in naporia maybe i've seen you at work?"

[swornfate]

“i could not say. this place is a far cry from the world i know,” gwayne admits as he returns the stares of the curious onlookers with a raise of his brow. he’s not yet familiar enough with this place to be differentiating the norm from what’s not, but even so, why would so many trouble themselves over the matter of others’ personal preferences? have they nothing to worry about for their own sakes? “here.” gwayne takes a packet of cinnamon from the table and tears it open before patting it into his own cup. “now they can stare at us both.”

closed starter for @swornfate // emma for gwayne

" is it really such a rare thing to enjoy hot cocoa with cinnamon ? so many people have given me such weird looks for having it. " emma shook her head, running fingers through her hair. " i didn't think it was that odd. " her whole family seemed to like it, but nobody she'd met here thought it was normal.

[swornfate]

@escxpethenight

Cregan Stark's greybeards are marching south. If his men had a direct route into the Riverlands, we would not have to wait for Daemon to act. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON S02E05 | dir. Clare Kilner

[swornfate]

who: katherine howard & jacaerys velaryon @cquity where: sunset cove beach

despite what the whispers of his true paternity may claim, jace has felt drawn to the sea for as long as he can remember. listening to the tides crash and basking in the spray of salt in the air brings a sense of ease to his mind in a way most other things do not. some nights he even dreams of himself enveloped by the sea, pulled in by an embrace as comforting as it is unsettling. perhaps he's no trueborn velaryon as they so relentlessly declare him not, but he's a child of the sea just as he is of fire nonetheless.

and so, jace finds himself on the shores of the beach, a sword gripped tightly in his hand as he cycles through a series of combat maneuvers with practiced ease. it's been too long since he held a sword last and he doesn’t want to lose touch, not now, not if he expects to be prepared for what is to come once he returns to westeros. 

jace lunges forward with his blade, striking at the empty space in front of him. one of his last memories with luke was spent training on a beach, not unlike this one. he’d lost his temper on him that day, and he regrets to think of it as one of their final moments together. he feels his grief rise in his chest, and lets it boil into rage, thrusting his sword high, then low. forward and back. again and again, he swings his blade and parries invisible swords in furious blows until he hears the soft footfalls of someone approaching from behind. swallowing hard, jace lowers and sheathes his sword before he turns, not wanting to startle the other. “forgive me. i thought i wouldn’t be found here.” 

[swornfate]

“you have a dragon?” jace almost doesn't believe he heard her correctly. “that’s incredible.” he's become so used to odd looks and scoffs of disbelief whenever he mentions vermax — to think that someone else on the island knows of the existence of dragons, let alone has one of their own makes him bristle with excitement. jace doesn't recognize her, but he wonders if this stranger is from his world. a dragonseed, perhaps? he considers asking until she mentions camelot. the place doesn't ring a bell, so she must not be of valyrian blood after all. still, it delights him to think there are more dragons out there outside of the world he knows.

“that’s exactly how i feel about mine. vermax is his name. i hatched him myself when i was but a babe in a cradle.” he smiles fondly but his sentiments only make the hole of his dragon's absence feel more hollow. “i feel confined here without him. or perhaps incomplete is the better word for it. he feels like an extension of myself if that makes any sense at all.”

Morgana perked up slightly when she heard the other mention a dragon. It wasn't something she'd heard many speak of since her arrival in this strange place, and for a second it felt normal. "Not at all," Morgana stated, confirming to him that she didn't think he sounded crazy in the slightest.

"I had a dragon back home in Camelot," she told him. "Aithusa was their name," she added. "I never rode the dragon due to the small stature, but I do miss the companionship and having someone there when everything feels dark and lonely," she said. Aithusa was her only friend for a long time, they'd been through so much together.

[swornfate]

“the pork is my all-time favorite, personally,” mj mentions with a shrug before pondering his question. “how ‘bout we swap for a day? you get the pork and i get the beef — see if one of us can change the other’s mind about which is the best. deal?” 

Closed Starter : Malakai & MJ ( @swornfate ) Venue : Let's Taco'bout It

"Oh yeah, beef tacos are definitely the best," Malakai said, nodding, "Chicken isn't terrible and I quite like the veggie option but my go-to is beef for sure," he paused, "You thinking of ordering a few of those ones?"

[swornfate]

coriolanus can only ignore the weight of someone’s gaze on him for so long before he’ll direct a scowl their way. can he not even enjoy a cup of coffee without being bothered? who is this man anyway? but right as coriolanus looks up to make his displeasure known, the culprit in question looks away just as quickly, leaving him to sit there in puzzled silence. he knows he should just let it go, but something urges him to press the matter. “everything alright?” coriolanus asks, straining to hide his irritation. 

Closed Starter : Cato & Coriolanus ( @swornfate ) Venue : Whole Latte Love

Cato spotted Snow before the other spotted him. He was not the old man he remembered but he had seen photographs of the President of Panem when he was younger. Not to mention, the demeanor of the man gave it away a little more. He realised too late that he was staring, lowering his gaze to his mug quickly and hoping the man hadn't noticed.

[swornfate]

who: anna of arendelle & jacaerys velaryon @theblvckdog where: a park in central naporia

with his high valyrian lessons coming to an indefinite pause since the war (and now since this distance from the world he knows), jace has fallen a bit out of practice. still, as the targaryen heir to the throne, he understands the importance of keeping with the tongue spoken by his ancestors. even worlds away, he doesn't want to lose touch now. and so, he paces a secluded area of the park, away from curious ears and prying eyes, and recounts the history of westeros to the best of his ability without a maester or his mother to guide him.

“lanta jēdri gō se ērinnon, aegon targārien se zȳhon hāedars rhēdan pōja gūrogon hen vesteros naejot maghagon ry se tegor gō pōja udran…” jace trails off, his brow furrowing. “no, that’s not right. gō pōja udrass…” no, that doesn't sound right either. “come on, jace. you know this. naejot maghagon ry se tegor gō pōja… udrazma? udrāzma. yes!” he beams to himself for a moment before catching something in the corner of his eye. when he turns, he's started to find another face looking back at him. “oh, hello! i didn’t realize anyone else was here.”