bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

"You would have done it because you think it was your responsibility to uphold? Hm, that's certainly one way to view it, but I'm sure we could have talked something out, all of us. I don't think any of us ever wanted to be kings. And there's no need to be ashamed, I basically denounced my right to the throne and Rikiya just ... handed it over to Khojin to be with Caelan.", he admitted. Nayantai had once wanted nothing more, but then, when he'd come back all the way from Adrestia, the weight was too heavy on his hurting shoulders and he already knew that he didn't want to be king, that he couldn't be one and that he'd fail his country, if he assumed the throne. And all that aside, it would have meant he'd have to part ways with Rain, another thing he'd rather not do. "Bland? Oh my ... that's one way to put it. You're right, thought. He's more like a fiddle being played by his folk than he is a duke that's playing his folk." And that he was - hardly anyone ever listened to him, just like nobody felt inclined to cut out all the racist remarks they spewed, as well as all the things they hardly ever understood. Nayantai was, for one, glad to not have been in Alster very often, but on the other, he felt almost sorry for Declan. "Pff, I'd like to see that - you're on, young one.", he spoke, amused, eventually putting his bowl aside, now that it was empty. He was done with food for today, and there'd still be some tomorrow. "They're inseperable now, finally." Rikiya had made it awfully clear that he'd rather die than to be apart from Caelan ever again, and while Nayantai didn't like their relationship at all, in the very beginning at least, he'd made great effort to accept the situation for what it was. Of course, he doubted his mother was happy, but Enkhtuya was a piece of the past, someone long forgotten and swept away, and while Nayantai would long for a hug from her in his youth, thinking about it now seemed silly.

"Alright, alright. But we both should, so we should share our labor." They'd be done earlier, maybe, and they could devise a plan after that or even before that - and then spend the rest of the day doing not much else; they could use it, and while being on the move was important, just as it was important to keep all of the possible dangers in mind, they hardly could run themselves ragged. "I wasn't so sure when we first came to Silesse, but ... I'm glad you think differently. I'm sorry for being overbearing, alright? And I'm happy to here that.", he accepted, nodding. Richard was full of surprises, and Nayantai, who hardly ever cried, felt overjoyed by now, but it wasn't enough to actually make him cry happy tears - he wasn't that sentimental, but he was tired enough to at least see his vision go kind of blurry for a second, as he used his sleeve to wipe it away. "For some reason I feel like your brother is responsible for my grey hair, more so than ever. Sometimes you scared me more than the things I should have been scared of instead - that felt like it took years off of my life." And that it did, but he could only slightly laugh about it now. Dayan would never change, though, he was dead now, so their circumstances had changed a lot. "So you knew! Then what about the time Rains crown went missing and randomly appeared in Atwicks and Floras room? That was you two as well, wasn't it?" Of course Nayantai knew, but he laughed about it now, and hearing the confessions was reassuring in the feakiest of ways. "So you want me to settle down, huh? What was that about starving myself without knowing?" And if Nayantai was honest, he'd probably be lonely - it sounded odd, but ... he never was alone after meeting Rain again, but one by one, everyone left him now, and Richard was all he had. "Fine, fine. Maybe I'll consider it."

"Yes. What I'm trying to say is, I doubt anyone would be disappointed in you if you made the decision not to be king when you could be - in hindsight, it doesn't seem right anyway. Raising someone to fit in a role they might not even want is asinine, and besides, making you sit still while Dayan prances around, all over the world and goes where he pleases doesn't seem fair, either.", he elaborated. And though Dayan had never expressed that he even wanted the throne at any point in his life, Nayantai knew better than to assume he wasn't the tiniest bit jealous of his little brother, which was a secret best well-kept, after all, it no longer mattered. Dayan was dead, Flora and Atwick as well, and Rain long gone, too - it was just two lonely souls out here. "Khojin? Oh, I'll never hear the end of it, but Rikiya didn't, either." Of course she was pissed, mad for a lifetime, and the fact that both of her remaining family members were lovestruck and unable to lead a goddamn country enraged her even more; but even though all that happened, she didn't consider leaving Thria to anyone else, not even once. Whatever it was because she felt bound by her duty, or because she didn't want to risk another war, Nayantai didn't know, but he wouldn't ask - it was too late for that anyway. "I wouldn't wish something like that upon anyone, even if I didn't always see eye to eye with Caelan." (Propaganda? lmao.)

"Creaky? Do they really ...?", he suddenly asked. Nayantai ought to have heard it if he did, but now that he got up, then squatted back down again, he couldn't hear a thing, and he grimaced now that he looked back into Richards face. "You got me good on that one, I'll give you that.", Nayantai commented, not as amused as Richard was, but smiling about it, at the very least. He knew that he was old and that his age would eventually get the better of him, but by the gods, he wasn't ancient just yet - and his bones most definitely didn't creak or hurt, just because he did normal things ... well, as normal as killing a bunch of people could get. "Like I said, it's fine. And besides, I wasn't a big help either. I just brought you all the way to Silesse, without an explanation, and refused to look back - no wonder you were angry. I just didn't feel save in Adrestia any longer, and I still don't.", the old wolf admitted. Not only that, he doubted it was save for any of his kind, dead or alive, as long as Olette and Alster existed, or as long as adrestians got their way anyway. Weren't they just the worst? "Hm, actually, did we ever give you flack for something you didn't do? I know we never punished either of you, not seriously anyway, but given that you two were pretty much the troublemakers and Flora and Atwick were anything but that, I feel like we might have just chalked up everything to being done by the two of your, not them." And that wasn't even wrong - if Nayantai compared either of them in their childhood, he'd come to the conclusion that while, both Dayan and Richard seemed to have rather mischevious tendencies, coming more after himself than the twins, who took after Rain, it seemed. "You do? I'm glad, then." Old or not, Nayantai wasn't helpless - he'd survived thus far, and he'd spend a good chunk of time dragging Richard to Thria, and he did remember to eat. "Every week? You don't need to. If you want to explore, I'll be happy if you come by once in a while ... and we should go to sleep, we can use the energy tomorrow."

Nayantai shook his head. Whatever Richard was king or not didn't matter - in the end, what mattered to both him and Rain was their childrens wellbeing, even though he couldn't guarantee any of that at this point. Old or not, he had plenty of things to regret, plenty of blood on his hands, and he knew that it'd haunt him for as long as he was alive, but what was worse, despite being heralded a hero for what he'd done, he couldn't even protect those most dear to him. "Well, it's just what ifs anyway. Reality is much different now." And it also meant that Myriad was out of question as a place to live at. "Yes, very much so. Khojin and I didn't like him very much, but he tried his best to acommodate with that. I was pissed about it for a good long while, not just at him, but at Rikiya too. In the end, it doesn't matter - they belonged together and they made that clear. I can't even be mad.", he declared, and he couldn't. Nayantai would've lost it if he had spent so many years apart from Rain and only reunited because of certain circumstances - and once all was going well, they didn't have much time left together - Nayantai loathed thinking about it, but it had been reality for both Rikiya and Caelan, something which neither of them deserved. "Just don't go overboard, alright? And ... well, I would've been surprised if she wasn't, given the feats of her brothers before her." That encompassed all of them, even Atwick, though, the twins were much less of a hassle to deal with than Richard or Dayan, something he almost genuinely missed. "Be honest, you don't like either of them that much, do you? Muhan and Shuren, I mean.", he suddenly mumbled, but then already lay down and turned over. "Good night to you, too, Richard."

Valiantly fighting battles never had been his thing - and winning them, with just the two of them, didn't seem like much of an impossible feat when they knew who they were up against. They had devised a plan, hoping it'd work out, and now that they had been on the move again, nobody could stand in their way - to their surprise, or much to Nayantais amusement, their next target hadn't fled, despite them taking a day off from their slaughter, but that didn't mean they were done just yet, far from it, actually. But now, all of that was over - they had but one target after this, and once Aramis of Olette could consider himself headless, that was that. It'd end there, Nayantai would abandon Adrestia for good if he could, and Richard would, probably, do the same. A demon and his shadow was, if anything, a nice, near-mythical way to put it, but the demon himself would rather retire than continuing to slaughter until the end of time, and as for Richard, he wanted to see the world, didn't he? Going back to Silesse seemed like a stupid decision, and yet, Nayantai wondered if he'd have the chance to go back to Myriad instead, but no, they weren't who they used to be anymore and who knew what the king would do if he found out. Funnily enough, they hadn't heard his name once - and they found no clues as to who it was, either. "Richard, I have something for you.", he suddenly blurted out, wondering if he should be doing what he was about to do. Well, maybe he'd die, or he'd at least lose the battle he was about to fight. "Give me your hand.", he told his son, and once Richard extended it toward him, Nayantai took off the necklace he wore and handed it over to Richard. "Hold onto this, alright?"

The world moved on, and time stopped for no one - eventually, they'd all fade, be collected by the flow of time and torn away from what they considered their very lives. No one was immortal, and no one was made to live forever - some of them, however, had the tendency to overstay their welcome, or look death right into the empty eyesockets and challenged it to a duel, time and time again. Nayantai wasn't any better than that right now, they both could have died during any of their skirmishes, and those wounds that needed some patching up here and their could have been a sure sign of death, or at least could've gotten infected, and yet, none of that transpired. It was going to well, for Nayantais liking at least and while Rain wasn't here to agree with him, he knew that he'd have a hunch, too - by now, anything was possible, if painfully so. Whatever their steps were watched or not didn't matter, either. They left plenty of breadcrumbs out, for others to find and to pick up, only to never even come close to them - lying had its merits in a situation like that, but lighting a whole habor one fire was a feat not easily accomplished without having some red herrings.

He looked up when Richard started questioning his motives, but for a while, he only smiled until he was sure Richard wouldn't chuck that necklace far, far away as well. "No, your old man isn't going to play some sort of hero. Don't worry, I don't plan on leaving you alone.", he said, shaking his head. The fog and the approaching night would give them good cover, but Nayantai knew better than to assume all of this would work in their favor - at worst, someone had gotten wind of their upcoming show and had been busy fire-proofing the anchored vessels in the shipyard. If not, Aramis must have gone insane - more so than he'd already been - and Nayantai would, probably, not believe his eye. "You can use a good luck charm - and I know it's save with you, too." That it was, and besides ... Nayantai rummaged in his pockets, or something to show Richard, and once he'd found it, he presented it to Richard with a smile - it was the necklace he'd given to Rain, ages ago. "I have this.", he commented, smiling solemnly. All of this was about to go down, and though they'd come so far, his heart was close to sinking into his stomach - he wasn't nervous, but, he felt pained, maybe a bit underprepared. "Spoken like a true hero. Don't do anything reckless, you hear? No one's leaving anyone behind; I don't plan on dying to someone like Aramis and you shouldn't, either."

Could he even stand to watch all of this? There seemed to be a thin line between what reality and imagination entailed - there might as well be the realisation that, no matter what were to transpire, Nayantai would come to understand that fate was, if not a fragile concept, one he didn't wholeheartedly enjoy, either. Gods were nothing but imagination, too, and what followed was that Nayantai, who knew that nothing was made to last forever, was also wondering how long he'd live - they all expired at some point, and maybe today was one of those days where he seriously had to ask himself if he'd live a little while longer, or if all that he tried would be for naught, one way or the other, and he'd soon find himself stripped of the very life he claimed to cherish. "I take your word for it." Their plan was, if anything, borderline insane - both of them knew that, they had nothing but disdain for this country any way. The only way to swallow this pill, the realization that all of their lives were finite, was to experience it firsthand - but even then, if he were to perish on this very day, he couldn't let Richard do the same, though, he'd blame himself even in death, still, for being unable to be there for him. "Mhm."

Richard moved out and Nayantai waited for a bit, eyeing what would happen behind the thick blanket of fog soon thereafter, before getting a move on himself. Setting Olettes shipyard aflame was, albeit a questionable choice, one he would have made himself, too - there wasn't anything else to do any it didn't need to be a reputable decision: They had long since skipped that step by killing left and right, by deciding to cast away what little humanity some sheep would grand two wolves and Nayantai, frankly enough, didn't give much of a damn about any of that. Though, by now, as he passed by, the orange glow of hungry flames already illuminated the fog, making it seem like it burned even brighter - they had picked a good day for this, one that was anything but shabby for the assassination of a duke. If they were lucky, they'd be done in a matter of minutes, and if they weren't, they'd die, to never speak a word of any of this ever again. Nayantai didn't bank on the last one, but once Richard rejoined him, he couldn't help but muster a smile, despite the gloomy nature of their task at hand, all the while they slithered through some back alleys. "Lets hope it at least distracts them for a few minutes, we don't need that much more.", he whispered. They'd slip away before anyone knew that the shipyard wasn't their actual target, but that was wishful thinking - he had a gut feeling this one wouldn't go so smooth.

Olette was pretty on the outside, maybe, but it was about as ugly as its ruler on the inside - not only that, Nayantai wondered what it was that made him loathe this entire place so much. Despite being cleaned throughouly, it felt as if it was covered in thick layers of dust, always persistent, never dissuating and every stay they'd made here, he couldn't get one night of good sleep, often times urging Rain to just leave in the dead of the night, despite knowing they couldn't. If there was one place that Nayantai disliked, despite not being there often enough, it was in fact Olettes castle - and the closer they came to the throne room, the deeper his heart sunk into his stomach. They were here, had made it so far and now were opening the last door that seperated them from the truth and retribution they both were chasing after, but all in all, they never achieved anything that way - they didn't do anything just yet. Instead of finding just Aramis, however, Nayantai clicked with his tongue - his son was there, too, and Ares only meant trouble wherever he went, for whomever he interacted with. All in all, he seemed like what ought to be the worlds biggest obstacle in their path right about now, and their chances were skewed, albeit be it for the fact that they were trying to do their best, not actually achieving that.

"Missed my ugly mug yet?", he scoffed at Aramis, sporting a pretty indifferent expression. They never got along, they both knew that, and all they did was just them getting along for the public. In fact, Nayantai was fairly certain that Aramis didn't expect to be the last on their list, or for them to be as bold as to run right into his trap, but ... that was false as well. Something about this entire situation just felt off. It was too late to doubt himself and his own decisions, much like it was too late to seriously consider whatever or not he was making the right call; Nayantai hoped for many things at one, for a swift victory, but Ares was a variable in their calculations that they didn't account for, but even if they head, their course of action would've hardly changed. Beating Aramis would mean they'd have to go through Ares first, and Nayantai was sure he'd be able to manage that - and he drew his blade, having exchanged that stupid spear for something much more convenient, even if it lacked range, he didn't need it; the last time he fought before slaughtering was too long ago, and although he should've headed the warning signs that his own body was giving him during all of this, he was intend on fighting Ares from here on out, even if that meant he'd lose his head. There was silence for now, but Nayantai did take one more step closer, and he knew what that would do for him; have Ares come at him, with a hit that ... thought he could block more effortlessly ... what the? Fuck, this was bad. Horrible indeed - like this, getting past Ares was near impossible, and blocking those hits took effort, gave no time to strike back either. If Richard were able to slip past them, though, and just end Aramis' life, they'd be good to go ... right?

Fighting Ares had been one of the most stupid things that had had to happen to them - if he were a few years younger, he'd be able to take any hit thrown his way, but ... he wasn't, and it became painfully obvious that someone else had caught up to him long before and had surpassed him; Richard was right. He was old, and probably weak, and maybe even useless, but this wasn't supposed to happen, even if all those things were true. Nayantai wasn't calm, had never been one to be able to keep his cool, not in situations like this, even with Caelan telling him that, for the love of whatever he believed in, he couldn't run away for the rest of his life, letting himself be overtaken by emotions he'd bottled up all those years, but that didn't help. He had no knife, he was staggering, and this should've been easy instead. Nayantai was more than mad by now, at himself, at the circumstances, and at the fact that he could have killed Aramis years ago, before he'd even have the chance to plot something - but no. All of this happened because he let himself be controlled by others, by being told what was right for them - they'd all been wrong, and while Rain wasn't to blame, he was wrong, too, and it was Nayantais duty to clean up this goddamn mess, it always fucking was.

Nothing had changed, not in the past ten, or twenty, or thirty years - Adrestia was a foul land, always been, and always would be. Nobody did anything to protect anyone and if anything, he wanted nothing more than to be left alone, to not die today because it seemed unfair, for both him and Richard, who had gotten on a tangent about not dying not too long ago - and now, that the silence that persisted was broken by the sound of bones and then a knife being knocked to the floor, Nayantai had lost it anyway. He wasn't good at controlling himself, bloody rage was all he knew ages ago, and all of that welled up inside of him at what could be the worst moment - he wasn't as young or agile as before, he could only move go so far, but he picked up that knife himself. There was no need for words, but for thoughts - if he went up to Aramis, would try to slay him himself, that snake would make sure that Ares would probably stab him or knock him out; at worst, he'd hurt Richard more, which meant, Ares had ... no, he needed to die, there wasn't any way around it. Nayantai had grabbed that knife Richard had lost, and while Ares seemed to be back on the move, the old wolf himself had a trick up his sleeve now, and he'd ought to use it - the only problem was, as Ares blocked his own hits, he almost made him fall back on his ass. Nayantai hated it, but he had to change up strategies now; which resulted in him passing the knife back to where Richard would have been, though, Ares was almost intent on going after him. "Stay here.", he hissed and tried to put his strength into another hit; the olettian brat staggered for what seemed like a second, but it didn't take much more than that to hit him back with full force - this was a comical display of his own lack of strength, but he just had to endure, right?

They'd manage this somehow, Nayantai was certain of it, but as it turned out, that wasn't what would be happening at all, no. If he'd cast aside his life today, he'd probably have figured he'd do it to protect someone, to keep Richard save, but none of that was the case - they both struggled against one single opponent, as if he himself hadn't seen enough war, and as if he hadn't lived through enough tragedies; none of it sufficed. One thing that surprised the old man was his aim, Richards willingness to catch a knife mid-air and the fact that Ares couldn't fend off two of them at once, not when he was busy struggling against an old wolf. There was something, but it didn't sound like a noise of discomfort either - it seemed as if it hardly hurt, though, Nayantai wasn't sure if that was merely a farce or not. Instead, time moved on, and he struggled with Ares, hoping that Richard would manage to kill Aramis, to get the revenge they both wanted, and then they'd book it out of there, somehow, with a redhaired monster limping after them, or something like that. Nayantai wanted that to happen at least, but Ares seemed to have other plans and the next fucking thing he felt was a harsh impact on his head, once he was staggering to the side - and all went black.

There was no time to regret what had happened, though, because even Nayantai had been knocked out cold, Ares was still faster than Richard could stab Aramis it seemed; or rather was able to catch up just in time - the prince was the next to go down, and they both had failed at their mission. When Nayantai came to, he hated the smell of what felt like damp, moldy air, and the fact that somewhat wet, hard stones were beneath his back - he made a disgruntled noise, feeling as if all of his fucking bones hurt. They had fucked up, and ... oh, oh no. As soon as Nayantai opened his eyes, he felt almost frantic, puzzling all the pieces together faster than he wanted to - he wanted to get out of here, now. He needed to be out of here as fast as he could, but the moment he found his way on his legs, rattling on the bars of cell, he was already out of it; he was frantic, not with excitement but with fear of what was yet to transpire, and ... no. This would go better next time. He still had plenty of opportunities, he'd get out of here somehow, some way, and he'd make it work but ... "Richard?", he suddenly asked. Fuck, why was it so dark down here? Did Aramis keep them in the dark on purpose? This man was godawful, if anything.

They were in quite the bind with this one - this should've been easy, like all their other skirmishes, but it turned out to be anything but that, a nightmare at best, and Nayantai felt as if the world itself had forsaken both of them, basically told them to go fuck themselves and swallow their pride because they didn't have much left anyway. They should have stayed in Thria, or abandoned their quest for revenge at some point, but ... Richard didn't let himself be detered and Nayantai wasn't going to rain on his parade; in fact, he was more than aware that whatever or not he was good at things he did, he at least had to make an attempt to stay calm for both of them, even if he was fairly certain that he'd be losing his mind from here on out. His head hurt and so did his remaining eye, but there was nothing wrong with him, aside from what seemed to be dried blood that would mat all and any hair it touched - for fucks sake, he'd been weak enough to be beaten by that lame excuse for a sheep? Truly, he was getting old, very old at that - and he was hurting himself over it yet again.

"You're fine ... ugh, at least something.", he commented, taking in another waft of air - this place smelled like it had been boarded up, not used, or as if Aramis had some corpses rotting in his basement for a long while now. Whatever the case, it didn't matter. It was pitchblack darkness that they found themselves in and they both needed to get out of here before the Duke of Olette paid him a visit; because if he did, Nayantai would be the one that lost his mind for real this time, and Richard didn't deserve to see any of that - he deserved a normal life. "In a cage. Or a cell. At least a good five meters away from you. I can't really see shit, but it's fucking wet and disgusting down here.", the old wolf complained, as if he hadn't lived in a ditch like this for around four years, the last time he was in one of these dumps. Eugh. The smell was almost nauseating, now that he was too aware of his surroundings and frankly, wondered what would happen if he wouldn't pay enough attention for the next few seconds. Whatever would he do about any of this? He rattled the bars again, then leaned down, touching the ground to search for a stone, or something that he could throw somewhere. "What about you? Are you in one piece? What about your arm?", he suddenly threw into the mix, unable to find anything. Fucking hell. "I hate this bastard ..."

Crying over spilled milk wasn't worth the effort they had put into their initial suicide mission and while Nayantai wanted to believed that they'd get out of here, mainly unscathed and well-off, he knew well enough that the biggest problem of being locked in here wasn't the fact that they found themselves in Olettes dungeons, but rather, that nobody except Shuren knew where the fuck they were - and that he wouldn't meddle with the affairs of someone like Aramis, or even consider dabbling into what was Adrestian soil, just to get back an old friend that had said he might as well die out here. All hope was lost, though, because there was one other thing. Fuck. "No need to be.", he suddenly expressed, still going on and on about rattling the bars of his own cage, not content with what he had, wanting to get out of where he was and desiring freedom that he'd lost - there wasn't much he could do about any of this, he couldn't protect Richard, couldn't save him from the one thing he wanted to keep him away from and now ... "I'm the one who should be sorry. All of this is entirely my fault and if I'm honest, I should have talked you out of ever coming here." And that aside, Ares and Aramis pissed him off, too.

Why did they have to win? It was hardly fair, then again, the world had never been just, and the rules set, the law that had to be abided, was nothing that Nayantai enjoyed. Much like Dayan, he thought all of that was in his way, and even now, when they'd fallen out of that jurisdiction, they were being punished accordingly, by a mad man with too much free time and too many spies everywhere. "That's a relief. As long as we can talk, I'm sure it shouldn't be so bad.", he answered. Switching to thrian was needed, however - they'd be understood either way, that much he was certain of, and even if they weren't, they wouldn't be able to foil the plan of a mad man either. Hope was the last thing they had, but that aside, they also needed something to cling on, whatever that would wind up being. "I'm fine. That Ares brat is much stronger than anticipated, and he got me good. My head hurts, but we should try and fix your injuries first. Do your ribs give you any serious pain if you sit down?", he suddenly asked. They needn't puncture any organs - it would save to assume that Richard could just rest and try to sleep it off, but they had to get out of here first. And all that aside, they had many more problems on their hands after this. "Richard, you aren't the one to blame. You even stabbed him, and you probably gave him an injury to remember you by, too. This was just unfortunate. And it's even more unfortunate that I'm old and useless.", he hissed, trying to bend the cage bars by now - no, that wasn't working either.