Dawning

"Dawning" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
“In South Aidorin I was born, heave away, haul away…”
Darien huffed as he got to the edge of the cliff of Haligan, planting his walking stick in the soil and staring into the bright horizon. The sun was just rising and though the air was freezing, he could feel the beginning warmth of the sun. He swept the length of his coat behind him and dropped to his knees and then a cross legged sit at the edge of the rocky drop, taking in the sight. It was refreshing to be out of the village. He hummed a little and continued to sing under his breath, pulling out one of his journals to leaf through the pages.
“In South Aidorin, ‘round Cape Horn, we’re bound for South Aidorin…”
He heard a hum and a soft step behind him, and he looked back. He was greeted by a small, familiar figure with a head of black and white hair facing away from him. 
Akkey’s shoulders drooped tiredly as the portal zipped to a close by her feet. She was exhausted. Wasn’t a good idea to do that after playing with the kids. I need a nap… She wearily passed a hand over her eyes as she turned on her heel, only then noticing Darien looking at her. She hopped back in surprise, “What the!”
Darien waved awkwardly, pencil in hand. “Sorry,” he called out, halfway making as though to stand. “If this…if this is your morning spot, I can go elsewhere…”
Am I so tired that I didn’t notice him behind me. Yikes.
“No, no.” she waved a hand, “You just surprised me for a moment.” She peered at him; he was the one who led the debriefing. “You’re Darien Whiteland, right?”
He nodded cautiously, still ready to hightail it if he needed to. But he knew her from their meeting yesterday; she seemed a skilled strategist. “And you are…?”
“Akkey Black.” She settled on the ground, seemingly unbothered by the cold and snow, studying him and gauging his reaction to her name.
He rubbed behind his ear, frowning out at the sea as the name rung a bell. “Ah, weren’t you…the royal ward of the Wilderwest?” He avoided mentioning the king, in case it would upset her.
She regarded him for a moment, “Yes. I was.” She studied him further, sizing him up. Darien Whiteland. I didn’t meet him when he came to camp, but I remember no one liked him. “And you were a High Central mage. You made the dungeons.” Her tone wasn’t accusing; merely statement.
He chuckled, but there was little humor in the sound. “Merely a High Central mage, she says. But yes, I did both those things, if memory serves.”
“Pardon the ignorance. I was a little busy when you visited us,” she leaned her head on her hand, giving a small grin, “This is a perfect opportunity to educate myself, though, if you have the time.”
“Well…” He spread his hands and then clasped them together, looking down at his journal, forgotten in his lap. “Due to a long string of mishaps, I was one of the Triumvirate of High Central, and then all of a sudden I was kidnapped by demons, reshaped into a new person with a new moral compass, and forced to fend for myself ever since.”
She couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows, “Demons, huh.” Poetic. And one of the Triumvirate? I wonder... “So being one of the big three and the mastermind behind the half breed dungeons, I’d wager you know a lot of things about that particular topic.” She leaned a little closer to him.
He gave her a bemused look and shrugged. “Of the dungeons, yes. I did at least have a hand in all of their designs, if not their entire construction from beginning to end. Of anything else, my knowledge feels…regrettably out of date.” In his general mental awareness, he felt an intense curiosity coming from the half-breed. “But surely you knew this.”
“Not particularly,” she replied, “I wasn’t captured back then with everyone else, nor was it my job to be too involved with Central.”
“Buuut now it is,” she hummed thoughtfully, glancing in his direction, “If you are no longer the one in charge, then who is? Who has the most power and influence over the dungeons now?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it? Central is overrun with criminals and syndicates and warring factions…it could be one of them, but I doubt they could keep up with the maintenance of the network as well as I know they’ve been controlled.” His pencil tapped rapidly against the page of his journal as he stared into the sea again. “Someone is charge, but I couldn’t tell you who it was if you held a sword to my throat. Likely one of the leaders of the factions, is my best guess.”
“Hmmm…” she squinted. Do I have to go to each faction and talk to them individually? “Do you have a list of said leaders?” She pulled her hair thoughtfully, “Or even who you think might be in charge… I don’t care how outdated or wrong your information is, I just need a starting point…”
“A starting point for what?” He looked at her again, completely boggled. “My dear, the factions are nothing to sneeze at. Are the dungeons not starting point enough?” He was seized up with fear inside at the thought of going to confront any of the factions, let alone their leaders. His fingertips, damp with sweat, stuck to the page as he fumbled with it, halfway between turning it and leaving it be.
“They could be. But I don’t have the time, energy, or frankly the patience to go through the small fish individually.” she grinned and raised her brow, “Plus, I’m not doing anything disastrous. I can hold my own, don’t worry.”
“Well…I know of three of the larger ones. There are many more, but I kept my distance from them enough to where I have no information about them.” He began scribbling down names and places on a fresh page. “The Jarl of the Conclave that rules the South, Vidar. I hear tell that he hides in the Jaw of Fenrir, but as to where or what that is, I have no idea. But it can’t be good. They are a band of marauders, chaotic and eager for violence.
“The second is the Crows of Crestwill, they fancy themselves as hospitable merchants and traders, but their practices are…questionable. Bordering on piracy. They have a leader they fashion as their queen–Ai Kauri. They live in the East archipelago.
“And then the Vesallgarðr. If anyone truly is trying to run High Central proper again, it is them. They are strict and scrupulous, and a stickler for their own rulebook.” He gave a dry laugh. “They literally call their leader ‘the Law’. They must be great at parties. But they are having trouble taking over again, as the city has all but crumbled.”
She squinted down at the piece of paper Darien wrote on, grumbling to herself as she thought. Hearing the name Fenrir made her skin crawl, but she shook it off, “Okay, so if I talk to each of these guys then it makes it easier to destroy the dungeon systems in bigger swoops, right…” she mumbled to herself, almost inaudibly.
He shook his head and put an elbow on his knee, tearing out the page of his journal and folding it in half, handing it to her. “You rebels just never quit, do you?” he said in amusement. “You took out a fallen valkyrie, turned the Warden, fought in Ragnarok of all things, and now half of what hear across the land is how much you and the Rebellion are fighting back against what remains. That’s why I even have half a mind to assist all of you, though each of your successive plans gives me yet another heart attack…”
"Well," she laughed in apologetic agreement, accepting the note gratefully, "Granted not really a Rebel thing and more of an Agent thing..."
central-is-growing
He raised his eyebrows. The journal shut with a soft snap. “I’m afraid I’m unfamiliar. An Agent of what, exactly?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
"Ehhh..." she pulled at her hair, realizing what she said, "I'm assuming you've heard of whole towns and cities disappearing overnight back during Ragnarok?"
She quirked her lips, "That was me. I'm an Agent of Helheim. I work for the goddess Hel."
central-is-growing
Darien squinted at nothing in particular. “Hmm. That rings a bell or two. Doesn’t the entire Rebellion work for Hel, at this point?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
"Ah, not to the degree that I do. She assigns me specific missions like soul collection and... this." She held up the piece of paper he gave her, "She wants to stop the half breed persecution and the dungeons. Immediately. And I'm her messenger to all these guys."
central-is-growing
He leaned his forehead into his hand, keeping his bewildered gaze on her. “Immediately? By yourself? Wh...what are you going to say to them?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She sat up straight, holding up a finger and sipping on an imaginary, white... thing that she had, seemingly trying to speak like Hel herself, "Hel is upholding her support of human life, and the sacred covenant of free will. But she requests the immediate halt of her children being captured, enslaved, hunted, or anything of the sort on the scale that it is now. To establish a whole system soul bent on the persecution of a single kind of human…it defies all logic and morality."
Akkey dropped the act and grinned at him, "Crazy, right? I have to pass that message along, or something along the lines of it, to anyone with the influence to bring down the system."
central-is-growing
“But...but they won’t listen, will they? Why would they?” His own fear still radiated deep within him, a fear instilled by years of running, running from others, running from what they thought of him, running from himself. He looked at the short woman in front of him, and saw determination. Resolve. She had to have, to collect souls, of all things. But his gut told him it would be enough.
“I would just...rather you not get hurt, in pursuit of something that might not be possible. I’ve seen terrible things in my time heading Central. I’ve done terrible things. I won’t be the cause of those things again.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She blinked, surprised at the concern he had for her. Huh... I didn't expect him to be so... kind.
She gave him a gentle smile, "So have I." she turned to watch the rising sun, "I've made my mistakes, and I thought I didn't deserve to be around the people I hurt, so I ran. But see..." she wrinkled her nose, "It didn't solve anything. It took time, but ultimately I had to face the horrible things I did head on."
She turned to him, "You've done terrible things. Yes, that is the truth. But you've also changed. You learned. You're doing what you can to help the very people you hurt, like the raid and this list. And that's good enough, in my opinion," she pressed her fingertips together in thought, "I don't know if they'll listen. I have Hel by my side, but I still don't know if this will work. Yet I have to do my part to steer this in the right direction, and hope that it will stir some change in them like your own experiences did with you." She grinned, "And I'll do it without getting hurt. I have a bunch of people waiting for me, and they'll get very angry if I come home injured again."
central-is-growing
Darien ran the tips of his fingers over his own palm, feeling the deadened parts in his hands where the frostbite from the Demon Lands had eaten away at his nerves. He remembered the first time the other half-breeds let him share their fire, their space, their food. He remembered the feeling of his own heart crumbling and softening as they joked and laughed with him when they should have been resting any moment they could get. Not treating him with suspicion and hostility, as he deserved, but instead treating him like any other person should be treated.
He lifted his head to look out at the ocean, and then looked back at Akkey, meeting her gaze. He set his mouth into a worried, but determined line.
“Are you sure about this?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She let the question hang in the cold air for a moment, before giving him a reassuring grin, "Nope. But I'm doing it anyway."
central-is-growing
He gave a short exhale of a laugh, shaking his head and looking down. “I hate rebels so much,” he said with good nature. “Alright, very well. Let me know if I can be of more assistance.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She sniffed good naturedly, "You sound like my brother in law." She sobered for a moment, thinking of Hunter, before tapping her knee in thought, "Hmm, well... since I'm hopping right into the thick of each of these factions and all these dungeons to talk to their leaders, it would be nice to know if there's any exceptionally dangerous persons and situations that you think I should be wary of. Other than, you know, the general criminal and overall horrible population."
central-is-growing
He grimaced in thought and quickly gestured to take the paper back, unfolding it and making some more notes in the margins in as neat script as he could get. “Some...some notorious leaders that I’ve had narrow brushes with, or heard of, at least,” he said slowly and distractedly as he finished writing. He handed it back to Akkey.
akkeyagentofhelheim
She fell on her back in the snow, hovering the paper right above her head to study the names, "Just leaders? With normal skillsets? No mages or assassins or anything like that, right?" He felt a slight hum of magic buzzing from her finger tips as she recalled Satine and Hemlock, anything that she was unprepared for. That makes it a little easier... Heh...
central-is-growing
“I am unsure of the leaders themselves, but even if they are as mundane as a peasant, which I guarantee they are not, they will still likely be surrounded by people with those abilities. I would treat everyone as though they were the most skilled of mages, and then you are less likely to be surprised when they are.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
"Right..." she mumbled, still squinting up at the piece of paper, arms straight and locked.
moe-lazyeye
Just off to their left, Blunt was making his way onto the scene, his hand rummaging in a bag. Stonegit had to throw himself back into work as per usual so Blunt figured he may as well take a second trip out of home to spend time with his friend.
He saw her talking to an oddly familiar man, and for a moment he assumed it was Fiendal. But as he drew closer…he began to recognize him.
“Hey Akkey! I suddenly realized that I never gave you-” Blunt dropped the bag with a long , audible gasp, his eyes like dinner plates as he starred at Darien.
Upon spotting the man coming out of the treeline, Darien immediately scrambled to his feet, fumbling his book and nearly dropping it. “I have to go! It was nice seeing you, Akkey!”
She sat up hurriedly, staring at him, “Whoa, what? Going already? I’m not done yet!” She glanced towards Blunt, confused.
Time seemed to slow as Blunt watched Darien stand to his feet. His hands began to move down to his waistline, and grip the hem of his pants.
Twenty…
His fingers tightened.
Five…
His foot lifted off the ground.
Years…
Suddenly Blunt sailed into the air with the grace of a ballerina, the tear away pants he had so paitently waited to use flew off his hips and were immediately caught away in a breeze. “Darien!!!” He sang as he bounded towards him, arms wide open.
“Gods,” Darien groaned, lifting his hand to cover Blunt’s bottom half. “Hello, please…please keep your distance this time. No need for interrogations. I was kidnapped by demons…”
Blunt caught his hands and spun him around once. “Oh so you do recognize me! I knew you cared! Your nose looks great by the way. Oh my darling, darling Darien, how could you have stayed away for so long?”
“That was difficult to forget…” He delicately extracted himself. “And I rather thought the rebels might execute me if I were to approach them.”
Blunt let him slip through his fingers and regarded him calculatingly. “Uh…yeah. Not a bad thought.”
He lasped into silence, and looked between Akkey, Darien, and his own unclad legs. He slowly put his fists to his hips and hummed once. “I’ve missed something haven’t I?”
Darien slowly held up his hand again, covering Blunt’s legs. “’Missed’ would imply that you were invited,” he said dryly. “Perhaps ‘interrupted’ is what you were looking for?”
“Huh…” Blunt mused. “Well normally when I interrupt something between two people they let me join in.” He swished his head over to look at Akkey and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “So what’s with dungeon master mind musher over here? His ass doesn’t seem as up tight as before. An ass, I remind you, that I promised to fuck at one point, consensualyofcourse, but never got to so shame on you for one thing.” He added as a side note, momentarily swinging around to face Darien again before returning to Akkey, an expectant look on his face. 
Akkey had scrambled away from where she sat when Blunt launched himself at Darien, and remained on the ground the entire time, bewildered, but overall amused as she always was with him. She glanced down then back up at his face, rolling her eyes, “It’s been a Hel of a long time, Blunt. He’s been through shit and he’s changed. I wouldn’t know personally though, this is my first time meeting him. Unlike you, apparently.“ 
She leaned back on her hands with a tired sigh, “He was in the middle of helping me with Agent stuff when you came.”
“Hm?” Blunt’s head perked up at her last statement, and then he looked away casually. “Oh, no, not yet at least.” He drew a deep breath. “Anyways…that’s news.”
The man seemed lost for a minute, and then he gave a defeated sigh and looked to Darien as he motioned vaguely at the discarded tear away pants. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch you earlier in that case. Was it impressive at least. I’ve been sitting on that bit for over two decades.”   
He tried to stifle an exasperated laugh. “Well, I’ve never seen anything like that before, so…sure. But yes, you are roughly twenty-five years too late. It’s been quite an eventful few decades. I don’t blame you for breaking my face back then, though. I definitely deserved it.”
Blunt was silent as he watched him, and then tksed his tongue. “Cool…cool…”
He rubbed his arm, feeling as though he had come to the end of an era of his life. “So huh…glad to see everyone is…in a better mental state these days. Character development and all that jazz…really…cool.” He reached an arm out to drape around Akkey’s shoulders. “Well, I have no idea what to do with myself now so I’ll see you around sweet cheeks.” He kissed the top of her head. “Have a nice time. Darien, smooches.” He added, as he kissed his hand before tapping it on Darien’s cheek as he passed, snatching up his pants as he walked off.
“Blunt!” she called out, exasperated, before turning to Darien, “Sorry. Uh, I don’t know what that was. I’m good for now, thanks a lot for your help Darien. I really appreciate it.” she placed a gentle hand on his arm.
He gave her a bemused grin. “You know where to find me for more. Please be careful.”
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Act I
Category:Events
Category:Blunt Donz
Category:Darien Whiteland
Category:Akkey Black