scary stories to tell in the dark

He often traveled by night, his blind eye putting too much strain on his good one during the day. It was a relief to walk around with a small light source - the moon and stars, of course. His singular eye drifted up to look where he knew they were, before admitting a defeat. The fog was much too thick tonight, and Bae was ignorant of the stories of beasts and creatures. If he knew, he would have laughed anyway.

Some flowers bloomed at night. Stronger and more potent. He was on the lookout for them. Moonflower was a broad term. It held others, and there were some that didn't have the name yet bloomed at night anyway. He searched the edges of the Brim, wondering if he should retreat to a more woodsy area. Though when he looked up, he found himself surrounded at all sides. Bae squinted against the lack of light, now giving a reason to curse it.

Nature was fickle.

@Rhaenyra

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the winds had been cool atop the mountains and rhaenyra was in dire need of a climate change. she headed south, or what she thought was south by the smell of the wind breaching the shoreline, and met the ocean against the treeline. rhaenyra hummed softly, standing atop of a pillage of rocks before making a soft descent downward onto the wet sand. it squished beneath her toes, and she stuck her tongue out in disgust before making her way forward.

she collided with a few trees here and there— her vision fickle with the abundance of fog that grew at her feet, and up to the tops of her head. she could hardly see. rhaenyra hated not being able to observe what was going on around her[mdsah] 'never let have the first opportunity'— her mothers voice beat in her head. times like these where rhaenyra was alone, her mothers ghost filled her head, corroborating any ounce of individualism that she curated on her lonesome.

the sylph kept moving forward, blindly following the smell of the ocean. the sound of the rolling tide became louder. she almost thought she met the edge before another scent hit her nose far too late. a male— but she had already tripped, but regained her balance before she hit the ground. sand splattered on her ankles and she grunted, facing the one who sat lonely in the midst of the fog. she would've torn his head off, a snarl pulling at her face, but she remained at odds. "sorry."

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"Why are you apologizing?" Did he really have to keep saying that? All the time? First Falsk and now this woman. He eyed her best he could out of the corner of his eye, knowing females could be proud. Too proud. He was the same, brushing off help if they asked to. He couldn't talk. She had tumbled and he angled his body after speaking, staring at her evenly and neutrally.

"You did nothing wrong." And did he have to keep saying that? Yes, obviously. His presence had been the one to startle her into tripping. How was that her fault? Perhaps he was too easygoing or just... didn't give a shit. It was often too easy to slip into aggression. Especially with strangers. Even through the fog, her stance was slightly prickly. She didn't mean what she said. He assumed this anyway.

But he didn't really care. Trying to make people see their 'errors'? Exhausting. "It was my fault." Bae continued after an uneasy and tense silence. Perhaps that would assist her in relaxing.

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the male before her confused her. the image of him, darkness mixed with the embers of a fire, muddled together. they meshed. they were created as something else. he became someone else. rhaenyra shook her head lightly, almost trying to fix her vision. you did nothing wrong, she has heard that line before. she has. she has. but where? the back of her mind was seamlessly blockaded off by an internal stroke of a wipe, so she desperately tried to remember where. where.

"habit." rhaenyra would shrug, damn well agreeing that it was his fault she almost smacked her face into the dirt. yet, he had the gall to apologize. again...he so eerily reminded her of someone else. but who? his words relaxed her troubles after being so heinously startled. the woman kept her distance from the beast, the shadow triumphant himself.

her mind froze as the statement rippled across her mind. it broke her. wore her down.

she inhaled deeply, almost like she had been startled. like she had seen a ghost. but he had died, didn't he? he had perished, he perished in those moments before her mind went black and appeared in the body of a mammal. in their room jaded with glorious riches and accomplishments that their kingdom reveled in. oh, how her heart sank. it pulsated. she swallowed a hard knot in her throat. "you look like someone i know," she'd comment, eyes still filled with bewilderment.

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"Mmm..." He said nothing at first. Grumbling, mumbling... Just accepting it. Obviously, it was a habit to not step on the toes of wolves that may seem aggressive or easily offended. It was a habit to apologize, even if one didn't mean it. Some folks... didn't. They kept themselves ignorantly confident, annoyingly not at fault. But then, the woman revealed he looked like someone she had known. 

Bae glanced up with his singular good eye on her.

"Is that so?" he commented neutrally, abandoning his search for moonflowers to focus on the greyscale woman. He went silent for a moment but knew he had never seen this one before. He knew it to be true. "it must be difficult" he murmured, eye dropping "I do not want to see anyone I knew." Especially one he had cared about so deeply, he had given up nearly anything for. He resisted a sigh.

"But that's preference" he rumbled, huffing with slight amusement — or madness "however, I have not seen anyone that looks like me lately. I believe you are safe from your past."

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the man continued to speak. he spoke so gently towards her, so softly, that she almost let her guard down. inherently, that was the effect that his man...this man used to have on her. it came in flashes, phases of her that she wished to be a part of once more. she looked down at her body. her wolven, furry body. she used to wear fur itself. she used to have a collection of the finest furs in the kingdom, and now she was one of them. her eyes almost popped out of her head, the reminders of her...her old life funneling back into her mind.

she took a step back from the man. "yeah. yeah i—" she breathed heavily. she thought she saw a ghost, she backed away. rhaneyra tripped, gasped, and yelped. "mother above—" she'd curse, attempting to regain her bearings once more. her memories came back once again, biting her in the back of her head. she'd settle herself, looking back to the man once again.

ilia. luciya.

they had been there in the throne room. they had been watching— luciya was the reason. she was the reason he had been dead. her. her. her. anger filled her, red hot, blazing fire. the archeron's were bred to burn, and she was a dragon of the fury. she had a phantom touch— his head had been in her hands, his hair wild and soft as it threaded between her fingertips. the sharp almond cut of her nails raked across his scalp, her plainly colored hands soaking with blood. his delicate, thick blood, that stained her hands with such an ichor and morsel of regret that she felt vomit rise and sting in the back of her throat. she'd utter his name, but what was it? she'd chant it like a soft prayer, satiating the all-mother to give them a chance. the chance that they deserve. his plated armor, silver, and valyrian steel, coated with blood. her dress, a favorite of his, silver-lined with the rhinestones of forged from the mountainside, covered with his blood. she touched her hands to her neck, wiped her face. blood splattered her there, too — it flooded her.

she was choking. constrained. the sounds of his throat contracting haunted her. the wails of their dragons cried out. "yes. safe indeed." her eyes were hollow, deprived of life itself. "what do they call you, ser?"

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While his dull, usable eye went bright scarlet as she stumbled backward, Bae made no move toward her. He already had turned his body to face the woman and he felt she would be the type to snap if he assisted her in a physical manner. He allowed her to compose herself, giving her that mercy without words. He said nothing as she dived into her mindscape — he could only assume she was there. He did not even shuffle. The concern left when she began to speak again.

"Baelfire" he uttered when she asked of his name "and who are you, my lady?" Perhaps if he got her to speak more, she would not look so... defeated? Thankfully for the woman, whose mannerisms spoke of being in a kingdom, he also had been in one. He mimicked her 'ser' with the appropriate gender-based honorific. "you may join if you wish" he added after a beat "I am merely looking for moonflowers... They are evading their gathering at the moment." 

He let that settle, glancing away from her pale grey form to gaze at the foliage through the mist. He grumbled a bit, cursing in another language before attempting to part the tall grasses to look.

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blockquotes indicate flashback!

---

 

rhaenyra listened as he spoke. she was pleased with his mannerisms, and pleased that he addressed her with a title. perhaps she was just dreaming, and never left the walls of her kingdom. but she was afraid that it was a mere farce, yet refused to open her eyes. rhaenyra doubted baelfire's intentions if they had been pure, but that's how it was for everything. rhaenyra didn't believe anything on the surface level.

she swallowed the lump in her throat.

— 'my lady, your sword and shield,' the voice rang from behind her as she stood on the step-stool in the endless maze of their library. she'd hum, not bothering to turn her back to see who it was. "your grace," ser harwin called from behind her. "yes, ser harwin?" rhaenyra would beckon back, not turning just quite yet. ser harwin cleared his throat. begrudgingly, she turned this time, only moving her head an inch to side-eye them. ser harwin she knew, her father's favorite kingsguard member. he was tall, married, and had growing stubble on his chin with wavy, lapel-length hair. average, to say the least.

she almost didn't see the man standing beside him. towering over him.

"yes, ser harwin?" she'd re-ask once more, not giving the soldier beside him a once-over. "your grace, this is ser casimir lanthys," rhaenyra's eyes felt heavy with boredom. "i've met a lot of men, ser harwin. is there a purpose for this one?" rhaenyra turned back once more to the bookshelves, picking out her favorite copy of 'mrs. grindelwald's shades of red,' and pocketing it between the crevice of her tricep and breast.

"indeed, princess, ser lanthys is to be your personal guard. he will tend you to your daily meetings, promenades—" rhaenyra froze in place. a few seconds went by before she heard ser harwin shift on his feet, almost as if he were ready to bolt at a moment's notice. rhaenyra did finally turn then, slowly, and she slid down the ladder and onto the heels that burned her soles. her arms had crossed over her chest, book between her breats as she moved it.

"he won't last." she'd utter, loud enough for the pair to hear them. rhaenyra refused to look at him. "it was the prince's order, princess." it was her brother's doing? "twat." she mumbled under her breath before the most heartful sound flew past her ears. ser lanthys had the nerve to laugh! rhaenyra still didn't look at him, but a deep part of her wanted to hear him make the sound again. her lower body tingled.

ser harwin bowed towards rhaenyra, to which she nodded him in farewell. he exited, and she was now alone with ser lanthys. rhaenyra turned back towards the shelves, but this time taking a seat on one of the lavish cushions, fancying an opening of the edition of the book. ser lanthys stayed still, soldier-like, unmoving as he studied the princess' movements. rhaenyra didn't hear him fuss, 'you can sit down, ser lanthys.' she'd shrug.

"i'm afraid that would be inappropriate of me, princess." his voice was deep, captivating. rhaenyra waved him off.

"you're free to do as you please, ser lanthys, but you look quite uncomfortable standing there."

"and how would you know what i looked like, princess, when you haven't looked at me since i've been here?" rhaenyra paused before she flipped the page in her book, contemplating his words. she inhaled, shaking her head. "there's no need. you'll be gone soon enough— they all are." there was a certain melancholy to her tone.

"and why is that, princess?" he would ask, pushing it.

"because i'm a bitch, ser lanthys." he looked surprised at her usage of language. if rhaenyra's mother had been here, she would've been slapped. her ear pinched. "it is no secret, either." she'd raise her brows, continuing to scan through the pages.

"your brother doesn't think so." this caught rhaenyra off guard. so off guard, that her head raised to finally look at him. there he stood. a towering fear— dark golden eyes, dark hair loose in front of his eyes, white quartz encrusted into his black-plated armor. he wore valyrian steel. he wore the white quartz proudly that was melted into the armor on the back of his palms, epaulets, and chest. a contender for the general and head of the kingsguard. he was firmly built with rippling muscle, clearly surpassing the boys at his age. rhaenyra's eyes lingered far longer than they should've.

"he—" she stuttered like a fool for the first time. her heartbeat in her ears. she suddenly felt smaller than him, but that emotion fleeted, returning with the same grueling anger that consumed her countless time before. she returned her attention to the book. "of course he would think that. he's far too busy in the dragon pit or in the throne room."

ser lanthys shifted. rhaenyra heard the heaviness of the armor shift along with him— heavy plates that echoed on the hardwood floor. her guard hummed, almost tempting her. "i didn't realize the princess read such...sensual novels..."

rhaenyra's face went red hot.

— "rhaenyra archeron, ser baelfire. a pleasure to make your acquaintance, i'm sure." she'd bow her head lightly, almost dizzy from her remembrance. she continued to act normal, act straight. just like her mother would've wished for her. "moonflowers?" she walk beside him carefully, inquisitively. she wasn't familiar with herbs. "i'm afraid i'm not familiar. would you care to enlighten me?" as he would tell her, she could barely think straight. for as ser casimir lanthys filled her mind, utterly, endearingly, and forevermore.

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She seemed to be putting on some sort of brave face. While Baelfire was not one to be prying, he was perceptive at times. Whatever she thought about, it was enough to leave a sort of aura or feeling to those around her. "Lady Rhaenyra" he dipped his head to her before turning back. Thankfully, they both seemed to have gotten used to the fog. He could see shapes within, and she could see him clearly. Not that he was hiding... Fine, maybe he was.

"A moonflower is a term for a night-blooming plant species" Bae continued quietly "there are various flowers, like Ipomoea alba, that only bloom at night" He shuffled a paw over the dirt patches, trying to find the tell-tale signs of illuminated petals "you can find moths drawn to them, due to their sweet nectar" He frowned, leaning back "each flower has a different use. Ipomoea is useful for treating snake bites. Flowering tobacco is a sedative... Most of them have white petals."

However. "I'm looking for Mirabilis. It can purge toxins and clean wounds. Their leaves reduce inflammation as well. They're purple-pink plants."

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rhaenyra liked that he bowed. a man with abstaining gentry. it felt like it had been ages she's been shown with so much respect— let alone the decency to be noticed. the thought and malice of the very notion of being ignored thwarted her advances of kindness as it always had. she was a woman of a trove, vested in the confidence she had to forge on her own path. on her own strength.

the fog had dissipated, and she could finally see the beast that hid beneath it. he was a large man. exceptionally large. he had been through war— or a battle of the sorts. his eye had been marred over, pale pink skin replacing the spot where he could once see. there was a milky white orb that held its place there, but she felt wholeheartedly that his vision had been lopsided. he looked to be the reflection of a monarch butterfly, a butterfly that had been through a grave battle. it was almost comforting. war was something that the princess was familiar with, the time of stress and loss almost felt akin to home, yet it left a deep hole within her heart. a lingering desperation.

as ser baelfire spewed knowledge, rhaenyra would listen. she would be as interested as she could, sucking up the information that dripped from his maw.

flowering tobacco. white petals.

 "mirabilis— a pretty name." she'd sigh lightly, shaking off the sand from her fur and following him as he stood.  "i supposed we should get started, then, shall we?"

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"We shall."

Sadly, if they continued to look for long — they would find the flowers escaped them. Or just Baelfire's notice. Be it the sea's breeze causing salt to wither the blossoms or just a terrible night for gathering... He would come empty-handed back to the Ford. He bit back words of annoyance. It wasn't anyone's fault though. These things just happened.

He made a mental note to look within the Ford's island when he got back. Perhaps he'd have better luck further in the mountains? He knew if wolf life was sustainable here, then flowers and herbs were too. He had seen plenty, so it wasn't an idiotic guess. Nosing around in the dirt gave him no results though. Perhaps Lady Rhaenyra had better luck...

"Did you find any?" he asked over his shoulder, having given the woman her space to look. He had started a few steps away, nosing the dirt and trying to find moth traces. Nothing.

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