Doing It All For Love...

[Nova Lycan]

Love...

What is love...really?

Well, to me love is the reason most of us get outta bed each mornin' to greet the day, to seize life by the horns and to make the most of what's been granted to'em. To me love is openin' those eyes to see someone you care deeply for and want to keep seein' day in n' day out. Maybe forever. Love is about fightin' to protect what you hold dear and to keep movin' forward. To keep goin in the face of anythin' n' everythin' because whatever it is you're doin' it for is worth it.

In short, love is kindness, compassion, protection...all of that great goodness.

But love ain't just about that, right? There's that darker side to love. That ugly side that nobody wants to look at and yet we fall prey to it time n' time again. Because as much as we don't like to admit it, as much as we try to hide from it?

Love is also pain. Greed. Sacrifice...n'...

Death

My name is Taglia Velinsycka Djulkorren. As it stands I am currently a young adult in my early-twenties. I am a Drakanite and a child of the mountain, specifically the south of it. Not the deep south, don't worry. I am clearly a female, though when I was in my early teens I can name a good number o' times I was called a boy. I like makin' things, never really had a true love for fightin' even though I've been told I have a talent for it. And as of recently...I've been promoted to the rank of Thane of The Dauntless.

How did I get here...?
Did I want this...?
I did but not like this.
Not like this at all.


When I was younger-- much smaller too I was out playin' by my lonesome, doin' what any child would do as the world wasn't quite horrible in my eyes just yet, and a witch approached me. I liked to be friendly to everyone, you see, so we talked. She was a rhymer, a riddle-giver and I was young and dumb enough to not know how to answer'em. Oh but I tried...and I failed. I thought it was a game and even mimic'd that peculiar speech pattern o' hers n' sheee did not like it.

So she cursed me...

 Every time I spoke, I had to rhyme or else I'd be made to choke on my words. Now how petty do you have to be to put that on someone that wasn't even capable of comprehendin' the danger they were in? That much. Just that. But if you were payin' attention, you'd know that ain't where the story ended.


My papa was a Drakanite of the holy variety, one that was both strong and stubborn. He was...my hero when he was still around, and it was solidified the moment he took to trying to fix me. This man prayed night n' day for a miracle, and then went on to try every trick he knew to expunge my curse and yet...nothin'. All hope seemed lost, at least until he got a vision. One vision. That was all it took and he gathered everyone he knew and went out for the longest time to gather things. These things were either ancient or just powerful, all of which I can't even remember the name of for the life o' me, but it was all for this ritual. For me. And when it happened...there was a light and a bunch of sparkles, then someone or somethin' was just there engulfed in silver.

And without me knowin', somethin' was said.

Next thing I know, my papa in all his greatness just stood up, stood in front o' me and said the words 'Thank you Alacritas' n' 'I love you' to me...before turnin' into nothin' but light. He was gone after that.

"...Papa..."

And what I got for it was holy magic. I don't...want to think about where it came from or why. I just have it. Hel, I kept it for so long because I didn't want to lose a part of that man. I still cling to it but lords know I ain't the holiest mage. I want to be. I want to be the best, really, so I can do'em proud n' honor his sacrifice but...the years followin' have had their ups but a lot of their downs. For starters I found out that I can't shift like my kin, but I got a tail around my late teens, so I'm essentially a freak o' nature. I've seen more death than I care to admit. Been tryna' punch above my weight class with a demon dragon that wants to make me her servant! The raids for Vassalization, the battles against Deephold and their people, Ragnorak...I think that one hit hard the most, not just cause we both lost and won but...we lost the mountain, and the village I was born in was gone with it.

My mama died that day too...so looked like me and mine were just...orphaned.

Gods. You know I joined the Dauntless with the goal in mind that I'd meet this Alacritas, to thank her for what she did. To get some guidance. Say hi to daddy but...I ended up gettin' caught up in the string of fate. No issue there, just a lot to do. A lot to fight. A lot to prove and yet the few things that kept me goin' was my brothers, my best friends, my eventual girlfriend and three people. Hela, who mentored me and trained me to the best of her ability before she...vanished. My Grimnir Jokul, he was a strong one and in my opinion necessary for what the world needed and...

Then there was my Thane. The bravest giant I ever knew. The one that ain't back down from no one...not even his own father when they butted heads.

Kazras Folhammar

For the longest time this man saw me as his daughter, the child he never had but always wanted. I guess cause we shared the same interest and...I always no matter what, saw him as the beacon we needed. If it wasn't Jokul, it was him. It was always him. I trusted him in times when I needed him most, and when Hela disappeared, when Jokul left...he remained. He had a plan, we had a goal, my Thane. My Hero. My second hero...

"...Papa..."

To this day, I don't think I was worth it. I wasn't worth doomin' the world. Everyone knew it, and I wouldn't have blamed any o'em if they gave me up. I'd be proud...I did my job. I fought. I did my best and even if I failed I fuckin...Gave it all I could. Stood up to the impossible and I did the unthinkable...I fought. And I lost.

But I didn't die. You did. Even said you loved us. Said you loved me...

"...Papa..."

I wasn't worth savin' because I knew what that was...I knew a final curtain call when I saw one and that clown of a Leech, with his flowery words and that horrid feelin' he gave me...I knew it was over. But you didn't think so. You saw me through...you gave up somethin' powerful and dangerous after usin' it and you saw me through. Do you know how hard it is to not cry when someone I love goes and does somethin' as crazy as that...? For me? For a stupid little girl who just went and swung her hammer at a fuckin' wall with wings!?

And yet...I'm told you saw somethin' in me. You told me, the day you made me your Huskarl. You wanted someone you could trust. Someone that could carry out the will of the Grimnir. Fine. I'll do it but not for me. I'll do it for you. I'll do it for them. They need me and by the gods above do I need them. So I accept this title of Thane. I accept this burden. I will keep on fightin' and I will lead our people to victory.

So do me a favor, daddy...mama. Father. Watch over me. Guide my words, guide my steel...and when it's all said n' done?

Save me a spot...

"I love you too..."

[Nova Lycan]

"Ah..."

   "Let me just...get this thing here..."

           "There she is! Hope he don't mind if I borrow it...then again, guess he won't know huh? Heheh..."


In the dead of what appears to be night, around a camp fire sits a litany of people. Each of them seem to be dressed in armor or at least some form of regal attire. A lot of them look to be Drakanites, a few are Giants, and even less are Beastkin. One of them is a certain kaiju who manages to, after doing some searching, pull out what looked to be a guitar, one that she made with a Jotun so long ago. Near her was a white haired man with a more dusky skin tone, and a woman with a lighter one. Both of them were just holding hands while watching, waiting.

   And what were they waiting on, you ask?

A song...

"How did it go again...? OH! Ahem!"

~I am a poor wayfarin' stranger...just travelin' through this world below...
There is no sickness, toil or danger, in that bright land to which I go...~

~I'm goin' there to see my father, and all my loved ones, who've gone on...
I'm just travelin'...to the mountain, I'm only goin'...over home!~

As she played, as she sang, one by one the figures would stand to their feet, all of them not moving from where they stood and instead remained looking towards her. Some were crying tears of joy, others smiling with pride. A large ground of armored individuals would even give her a fist to chest salute. Behind her, in that blanket of darkness eventually would come a door that would open, and in would bleed a light. It's brightness would seemingly beckon, it even caused the Kaiju to turn her head to give an over the shoulder glance-- at least for a moment...

~I know dark clouds will gather round me, I know my way..is hard and steep...
But beauteous fields arise before me, where god's redeemed their vigils keep...~

~I'm goin' there to see my mother, she said she'd meet me...when I come...
So I'm just travelin'...to my mountain, I'm only goin'...over home!~

And then she too would finally stand, dainty fingers still plucking and strumming at the strings of her second creation made manifest in this sweet in-between. Her feet would move, a turn as she kept playing. A steady pace towards that bright, beautiful light. Behind her, the mother and father would be the first to follow, but soon did the rest. All of them now revealed to be the forgotten, the sacrificed, the brave, the bold. All free from the shackle that is the mortal coil, and yet all here to greet their Kaiju, all to welcome her to great beyond. And as she closed in, no hesitation, no regret in the face of the end...she would keep singing.

~And so I'm travelin'...to my mountain, I'm only goin'...over home...~