#(although she is a special case because she is literally the goddess holding HERSELF responsible in her human form)

[revoleotion]

What would Tsubaki's paladin oath be?

OK HERE'S THE THING

@pinkestlittlebutterfly is the local Paladin expert and I am TRYING my best but I will never get it(tm) as much as she does, so that's who you should really ask.

HOWEVER! As far as I understand Paladins, you have SOME freedom when it comes to your oath, maybe not in the game but in general I feel like he has a Oath of Devotion going on but the way he does it is not what you'd expect. He's devoted to his subclasses and will do EVERYTHING to keep them save and happy. I think his original oath might've been towards his creator but now he pledged loyalty to those he wants to protect. Even if they hate him. Even if they resent him. Even if they try to betray and harm him at every turn. He swore to protect them and that's what he'll do.

For all his many..... can of worms, I think he would never be tempted to break that oath either!

[caraidean]

First Flirtations || Ced & Tine

Participant(s): Ced of Silesse, @sireneia / Tine

Words: 3,500

Type: C-Support

Summary: Ced saves Tine from a nasty fall, and finds himself with a genuine, deep attraction to her that neither expected to find. 

        MENTIONS OF WIND magic brings Tine’s mind to images of her brother excitedly talking about the home they had supposedly once shared. A bit of that love had rubbed off on her; how could it not when he seemed so happy speaking of Silesse and its affinity for the sky and all that made it up?

She’s thinking of that home as she squeezes her eyes shut, wondering if maybe in the afterlife if her mother is enjoying a place like that. Soon she could be joining her, she thinks— find out on her own. Tine hadn’t taken a step back into that wondrous land herself so she wouldn’t be able to recognize anything like it, only match descriptors, but she could learn to love it, she thinks.

She doesn’t get that chance— at least, not yet. Though she had been bracing herself for a horrible fall when the earth of the cliff cracked beneath her ( her fault for wanting a good last look at Alster but not knowing the lay of the land, what terrain was safe and what was not, due to her lack of… really going out anywhere ), there’s a curious floating sensation unlike anything she’s ever felt. Her eyes flutter open, her hands still clasped around the red pendant looped around her neck in a prayer that betrayed her thoughts, and the sky floods her sight.

The mage feels herself smile before she looks down and yelps. The fantastical feeling of flying wears off and she’s back to drawing inward towards herself in fear. She does notice the man who seems to be directing the wind, guiding her back to even ground again and it’s only when she’s standing back on her feet that she eases up, though her hands still remain closed tightly around her necklace.

“ I um… thank you. ” Her eyes hover over the tome in his possession, and she finds her voice again to ask, “Did you save me with that ? I’ve never been able to do anything like that with my magic… ”

Ced was having a hard time fitting in with the rest of the Liberation Army, if he could speak frankly. He’d spent the last several years alternating between working alone or leading his own group, only pausing for that brief allegiance with Leif towards the end of the last year. It had been a relief, certainly - finally getting rid of the sense of responsibility, the crushing self-doubt that had been following him around.

But something so mundane as scouting with two or three of the other members of the army? It just felt so strange to be doing this instead of lurking in a tent planning, or forcing himself to give some moral raising speech. He stood on the cliffs and sighed, looking back at Alster and feeling his eyebrow quirk up a little - and then he heard a sharp crack, and the starts of a scream. He whipped around, knowing instinctively what must have happened, and thrust out his hands–

Got her

Ced let out a sigh of relief when he ‘felt’ Holsety’s winds wrap around the girl, curving his fingers back into his palm and tugging her upright before setting her carefully back on solid ground. He extended his hands in case she needed to steady herself, but the poor girl seemed to be clutching her pendant too tightly to notice.

“It’s fine.” Ced assured her quietly, following her eyes to his tome. He shifted his cloak to cover it instinctively, before remembering what Seliph had told him - no more secrets. Not after the damage secrets had caused to their parents. So he reluctantly let her look, even tugging it out of his cloak and holding it in his hand.

“Holsety is…special.” He glanced at her hair and blinked for a second in surprise. “You…you’re from Friege, aren’t you? I would have thought you knew the Holy Weapons can do things most can’t.”

That came off as too aggressive, so he sighed and put it back in the pouch on his hip. “Are you alright? Sometimes the fright of a fall can cause as much harm as the fall itself. You’ve not gone into shock, have you?”

        THIS THEN MUST be Holsety. Legendary weapons truly were something else, that much Tine was aware, but to give humans the ability to defy gravity? Wind, in her mind, was either light or something that could cut your very flesh— so she had been warned as a mage proficient in thunder magic herself. But what Holsety just displayed to her was neither the gentle breeze nor the deadly tornado.

It was a tender strength she had never known ‘til now.

“ …Of course. ” She surely must have looked dumb with her question, and her throat feels as if it is closing up with her shame. Still, she can’t leave him without a response when she asks about her state— surely coming off as ignoring him would only make things worse for her. “ I’m fine. Sorry about the trouble I’ve caused… ”

Her head tilts down slightly, and she is about to keep herself in check, not to speak back or say anything more than necessary, until she remembers where she is now.

Memories of her apologizing to Seliph only for him to forgive her so easily flash through her mind. She didn’t need to fear as much as she had in days past. Her wavering gaze moves upward, back to try and meet Ced’s own. Perhaps Silesse’s prince would not be as surprisingly gentle as Seliph was, but he did save her. She did not imagine the wind that granted her both exhilaration and safety, and maybe she was deluding herself in hoping so, but she wanted to believe that that wind spoke for the man who controlled it– that he too could be kindand she need not fear him.

“ A-About earlier, um… what you were saying… ” She loosens her grip on her necklace, though her posture is still very much so reserved as she gathers the courage to speak again. “ I’ve seen Mjolnir a few times, yes. It is strong, can strike anything down and protects us… but it makes Ishtar a feared goddess. I’ve only seen Holy Weapons as things that can cut down people but you’re different. You saved me without bloodshed… Mjolnir can’t do anything like that. You and Holsety are something wonderful and… ”

You made me feel safe without being family.

She cups her hands over her mouth, that bravery seeping out of her rapidly now and her voice grows softer as she averts her gaze. “ I’m sorry. I said too much, didn’t I ? ”

“It wasn’t any trouble. You just…need to be more careful.” Ced said quietly, trying to reassure her. He paused and glanced at the poor girl walking behind him, slowing his pace so they fell into step together - although considering how much taller he was than her, his current pace was actually quite uncomfortable for him. He resisted the urge to just pick the girl up and carry her, either with Holsety or just physically.

She didn’t look like she weighed much. She looked…slight, and delicate almost. Ced’s brow furrowed for a second after realizing that, for the first time in a while, he was attracted to someone…outside his taste. Still, it would be incredibly poor form to start flirting with her now. If he could remember how to flirt in the first place.

Gods knew what his sister would do to him if she thought he was trying to pressure a poor girl after saving her life. So instead he focused on the conversation proper, listening to her slight rambling about Mjolnir and raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sure it could do something similar, if they just…experimented.” He said quietly after a few moments, unsure how to speak about Tine’s family. “All too often, people forget that magic doesn’t have to just be a weapon-”

And he found his words snatched away by her frantic apologies, Ced raising an eyebrow slightly in what was almost disbelief. Someone had done a number on this poor girl, that was for sure. Gods. What was it that he was feeling now? Not the surge of pure attraction from earlier, but…not quite pity, either. He didn’t know what to think.

“You didn’t say too much.” He assured her, quietly. “We have quite a distance left before we get back to camp. Please…keep talking.”

          HER FACE IS a canvas, one repeatedly painted in different shades of confusion every time that the male replies to her. She thinks her hunch at least was right however, that he could be kind. His voice is a foreign sound both literally and figuratively — a far cry from Hilda’s scoldings.

Tine realizes that she would very much like to continue hearing him speak that way to her, to draw out whatever gentleness she could from him, though she had not even the first idea of how to.

Somehow, his claim that magic ( besides Holsety ) doesn’t have to just be a weapon seems believable to her despite more than a decade of her life spent not knowing anything like it. She wishes she hadn’t cut him off, taking away that voice she so wished to hear more of right now.

How ironic it is that her babbling was what stopped it, yet she can’t make herself implore him to continue. She really does think she’s said too much now, though not because she’s offended him. If she’s done anything, it’s deprive herself of something nice.

“ …Okay. ” She inhales, trying to think of what even to say. She’s not used to this much freedom, but could she at least take this to mean he might not find her horrible to listen to? Could she be hopeful that he would talk to her again after they stopped today?

Ah. What was she doing, being so hopeful about this? Regardless of that, she was supposed to be filling in the lull between them now. It looks like she hadn’t blundered this as badly as she had initially thought.

“ I wonder… when you say that magic doesn’t have to just be a weapon… could even I be capable of that ? I don’t have anything special, ” she looks down at her Elthunder tome attached to her belt, an attempt at mimicking how her cousin wore her own holy tome, “ but… I would love to be as kind and dashing as you to others if I could. All I know is magic, and that’s about all of what I’m useful at. ”

Sometime along when she was sharing her honest thoughts, she had begun to break out in an unconscious smile. It was small, but it was definitely there and likely to grow as she said whatever came to mind from her heart.

“It doesn’t have to be a certain kind of magic.” Ced said after a few moments of quiet thought, considering her words. He’d always felt a need to use his to help people, one way or another - and perhaps wind magic was the second best inclined in that direction. Beside healing magic, his wind let him do a great deal for the common people, even before he discovered the sheer elemental force that Holsety brought with it - he had broken storms, carried supplies over chasms to build bridges, granted pegasus riders a tailwind to move faster. Holsety had amplified that…thousandfold. Thunder magic, however, proved difficult.

“If someone knows one kind of magic, they have two options.” Ced spoke carefully with these thoughts in his mind, falling back into step with her when he noticed he’d pulled ahead. Not by any deliberate design, just…the height difference that he was growing increasingly aware of. His legs were longer, so he walked faster.

It had been almost adorable, watching her suddenly up her pace to make sure she didn’t fall behind again. She was all…eager energy, a desire to speak and spend time with him. Or at least, that’s what he thought.

She was endearing - and he was a hopeless romantic at heart. He’d gotten that from his mother and father both, as much as he wished to deny it.

“You can learn a form of magic that might be more useful, outside of fighting.“He said, gesturing towards the cleric in their group. “Or you can think outside of the box, growing creative. In Silesse, during the winters, Fire mages are some of the most desired to help combat the chill that can set in. I’ve heard rumors in Thracia proper that Thunder and Wind mages have been trying to combine their magics to bring about rainfall, to try and fight the droughts that plague their lands. For my part, I can move supplies, break storms, hold back disasters…catch pretty women who stumble off of cliffs.”

He cursed himself for that last line, feeling himself slipping into how his father talked almost instinctively - but he looked over at Tine and smiled reassuringly anyway, nodding his head. “Just think about it. You can figure it out.”

    Two options, huh? Where some might find being limited to just two as restricting, it was very freeing for Tine on the other hand. It meant a choice, something to try and wrest, and from the look of things, neither option seemed terrible or utterly confusing! Difficult, perhaps, but if being helpful to others in ways she hadn’t been before was the consequence, then the price was more than worth it.

“ Thunder and wind mages working together… Southern Thracia must be full of very resilient people. ” Word of mouth was all she could rely on as a cooped up princess, and even then all she had heard of Thracia was how they were dogs that had no choice but to take the mercenary life to survive. It was always so derisive, sountrusting of them whenever there was commentary — to hear of the steps they were taking to help against their fates was inspiring in a way and so very personal in a way it had been lacking before. Her voice as she mused her thoughts out loud to herself had a dream-like quality, one that shattered when when her mind finally registered the rest of what her walking companion had said.

“ Oh… ”

Her heart skipped a beat. That… meant her, right? She was pretty? Honest to goodness? And as a woman and not just a cute child!

But as quickly as she let her thoughts run with her, they took a turn for the greener. Pouting a bit, she says with much delay, “ I bet you catch a lot of pretty women then. ”

It was dumb, and she’s unsure if the blush high on her cheeks at this point is due to the warm feeling from earlier or if it’s from her current shame at making such a comment. She speeds up slightly, a small attempt to run away from what she had just said.

"So far I’ve only managed one.” Ced was amazed that that line had worked at all, even if it had apparently struck her confidence. What had happened to the poor girl…were her guardians like his father was? Worse, even? From neglect to abuse?

He couldn’t dwell on it for too long, turning on his foot and deciding to clear the air. A hand reached out as he stepped down a ledge, offering her support, and when she took it he smiled at her.

“I hope you didn’t take any offense.” He said calmly, even as a part of his head started to scream at him. Gods help him, he was acting like his father - but he refused to play it out like he would. He wouldn’t toy with the poor girl’s heart. “But, yes…the Thracians are very resilient. Like you, from what I’ve heard.”

   She stops, face stuck in its beet red shock. Though she had been slow to realize at first the flirtatious implication of his words from earlier, it was like noticing them at all made her hyper-sensitive to any future thing he said.

Her timing is fortuitous with how they reach the ledge, and she gently lays her hand in his. Even if she had thought herself rather foolish for her little show of envy, she was no match for this downright princely gesture. His smile was just the icing on the cake really. The moment was so short, yet for that small time of support, she feels a little bit like a princess out of one of those tales she would read on her lonesome when her mother was too busy being the focus of Aunt Hilda’s wrath.

“ No, I didn’t… No offense taken, I mean. ” She bites her lip, unsure how to dissuade him with her meek voice. However that was not at the front of her mind. Instead, her thoughts lingered on where they were connected, and perhaps with more daring than she would have had at the start of their conversation, she moves her fingers to wrap around his hand and tighten their hold. “ Um, sorry to say something that won’t make me sound so resilient then, but… may I hold your hand until we get closer to camp? It’s a bit hard to keep up with your legs…”

In the end, it was a bit of an excuse, and maybe this was a bit much to spring onto him. He surely didn’t intend to lead things this way, did he? Yet here she was, being too clingy…

“Why not. It’s not that far.”

Ced gave her a gentle smile, squeezing her hand to assure her. He noted just how much shorter than him he was for the first time, a somewhat intrusive thought that made him raise an eyebrow and blink in surprise. She seemed so small, so…delicate. But she’d made it through a life which he could only assume…ah, well. He’d said that she was resilient. It might not be clear to the eyes at first, but there was something about what he could see past the nervousness in her eyes, something…

No matter.

Maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to her…if the Magi Squad were here, they’d laugh at me for finally straying away from my ‘type’. I suppose it’s harder to get any more distant from tall, brash dark-haired warriors than a cute, tiny and timid mage girl. But…

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the camp came into view, letting go of her hand with a small amount of reluctance - before clearing his throat and coming to a stop, tugging lightly on her forearm to get her attention.

“Before we return, I…would like to see you again. Other than on patrol, if you’d allow it.” He smiled, although this one was a little more nervous, a little more wary. “I know a place in the next city, well, hopefully it survives the battle intact at least…I’d like to take you there.”

   Her worries prove for naught. She doesn’t dare lace her fingers through his but she finds herself content enough with the warmth of his hand meeting her palm. For a few minutes, she could live a little dream and maybe tell her brother about it– sigh in reflection of how she looked like a fool in front of a handsome hero within their army’s ranks.

The time is fleeting. Tine expects this, yet she still feels disappointment when his hand leaves hers. Her gaze falls back down to the ground until she feels his touch again beckoning her focus to him, both a little curious and a little afraid of what he could want to say.

“ …You want to? ” The emphasis falls on the second word, and it’s clear she hardly believes what she’s heard. When Ced continues, adding details to his invitation, she can picture this as more than just a jest or fantasy.

“ I’d… really like that. I promise you I’ll go! ” She realizes she’s raised her voice unintentionally, and she covers her mouth with her other hand for a few moments before releasing herself of worry. So what if she got carried away with her excitement there a little? She lowers her hand to over the center of her chest, revealing the smile that’s formed on her face now. “ Um, you can find me anytime. If I’m not doing something for Seliph or my brother at the time, that is. ”

She’s the one to put some distance between them now, but as she resumes her walk to the camp, she turns back to Ced and waves her temporary farewell, her heart feeling a little lighter than when she initially came out here.