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 Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:28 pm
(685 words)
The decision is made hastily, once his rank as a Knight is acquired as he is fueled by emotion not logic. When he leaves Saturn and steals aways on a cargo ship, he’s been back from his venture to Denebola for less than two weeks. He’s been away from Thrymr for four months now and his heart aches from the separation.
He’s halfway out of the solar system when the weight of things hits him square in the chest.
He’s just abandoned his post. He cannot return to Saturn for any reason. He’ll need to avoid the moons of Saturn for an extended period of time.
It leaves a hollow feeling in his gut. Still, he stays firm in his resolve, he’s abandoning post for a reason and he knows that his dear Ahe would understand. Crims will just have to explain it to them, even if he dreads the thought of not seeing his beautiful white-haired senshi.
When the ship lands, in a port that trades secrets for currency, Crims sneaks out of the ship he stowed away in and looks immediately for a way to get a paper to write a letter to the senshi of Thrymr. He has to explain, because otherwise his heart, his home, would fret and worry, especially if Mont Blonc informs them that he abandoned post.
Once he acquires the tools needed for his letter, he sits down in a tavern and begins to write furiously.
Dearest Ahe, my heart and home,
There are things that have happened and I have abandoned Crims.
I cannot return to Saturn, I cannot return to you.
I have done something, perhaps unforgivable, but with good reason--
Something has happened and I cannot properly explain right now, but I will be unable to see you for some time-- how long, I don’t know. You cannot come to me either, it is complicated but I need you to know that I love you, I miss you, I crave you. I will explain better when I am able to come see you.
I am sorry my love, but I will come to you as soon as I can.
Until then, I will write to you frequently, whenever I get the chance.
Always,
Tarren
The letter is full of scratched out sentences and scribbled out words but finally, it is finished and he folds it up carefully. On the outside of the letter he writes in careful script Ahe, senshi of Thrymr. His signet ring is fastened around his middle finger and he pulls it off to dip it into the ink he’d procured for his quill.
Crims hesitates before pressing the ring to the paper, opting to pick it up and press his lips against it softly, as though Ahe will know of his actions before he pushes the insignia to the corner of the letter and watches it vanish. His eyes flutter closed and he exhales deeply through his nose trying to calm the hummingbird patter of his heart.
He gives himself a few more moments of peace before he pushes out his chair and leaves the tavern, pulling the hood of his stolen clothing up over his hair as he goes. He has a job to do, a goal in mind and he’d be damned if he let anything keep him from accomplishing it, lest he fail and all of it be wasted.
So he goes and trades fabricated secrets for information involving the intergalactic slave trade and barters for any information on red-headed native slaves.
Eventually, he’s clever enough to outwit someone out of their ship and crew and he takes to the space seas.
He’s got things he needs to do and space he needs to put between himself and Saturn, but he starts to countdown the days until either he achieves his goal or it’s safe enough that he can sneak back to Thrymr without Saturn catching wind.
He did promise Ahe that he’d take him to see all of space if he ever got a ship after all.
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:50 am
A Letter to His Heart (1033 words)
The day Crims receives the letter is a rough one, where he is battered, bruised, and barely scraping by. Seeing the mark of Thrymr sends his heart into a rapidfire torrent of beats against his ribs. A panic wells within him and suddenly, Crims is terrified that Ahe might have reacted poorly and therefore rejected him. His hands shake as he takes the letter into his hands and orders his crew to leave him alone for the rest of the night.
They’re all a little beaten, worse for the wear but still standing and they take his orders without complaint, eager to have a night to recover rather than work their fingers to the bone.
He’s no closer to his goal as he’d been when he’d first written and his heart aches from the time and distance between him and his senshi. Still, he has not saved his intended target but in the few weeks he’s been on the space seas, he’s liberated a dozen slaves and he counts it as a small victory. He did claim that he wanted to be a revolutionary and he was becoming one, slowly.
He craddles the letter carefully as he carries it into his quarters on the ship, settling into the chair at the desk immediately with his eyes never leaving the sigil. His fingers trace the stamped symbol and he sucks in a shaky breath before turning the envelope and carefully opening it. He slides the folded paper free carefully, opening and smoothing it out. His eyes flutter closed and he takes deep breaths, trying to calm his pulsing heart before he begins to read.
His stomach flips, lurches as he reads and he swallows while he traces each word with his finger. He reads, then rereads, and rereads it again with a slow spread of smile when he reads I will still be the home that you return to when you can and I love you in his lover’s scrawl.
Tension seeps from him and his body sags in relief, the dragonfly-wing flurry of his heart winding down to a steady pulse.
The knowledge that Ahe still loves him is all he needs to calm himself.
He fetches ink, a quill, and paper to construct a response because he is too eager to assure his heart that he has received their letter and while he is battered, he is alive and safe.
To my dearest Ahe,
It pains me to know that I have made a decision that keeps me separated from you, but know that my heart is yours to keep wherever I may be. I still cannot give you any information about my whereabouts or what I am doing, it will endanger everything I am hoping to accomplish-- I don’t know if they’re sending anyone after me or not.
But know that your letter has brightened my world, as you have simply by loving me. I miss you, immensely. Knowing that you still love me, that you forgive me for my sudden disappearance and the pain it might have caused you, gives me strength for another day. There is not a force in the universe that can keep me from returning to you.
I am alive, a bit battered and bruised, but I am alive and I will continue fend off death until I can come home to you. The things that I am doing, they are dangerous, but know that I do them with the best of intentions.
I have acquired a ship and hope to acquire more. When I have an opportunity to see you, I will take you to all my favorite ports and stars, like I promised that night I confessed that I was in love with you. (I still am, in love with you, very much so.)
The nights are long and the days harsh without you by my side, but I’d rather you be safe and with your people than out on the seas with me when I am but a babe against seasoned sailors. I hope to be a formidable captain, then I will come for you and I will make up for all of our lost time.
Ahe, my beautiful Ahe, I love you with the entirety of my heart that I leave in your care.
I will come home, when I am able, until then-- remember how much I loved you that last night we had together and remember the oath that I swore upon Crims. Remember that I am a man of my word and I am no one’s man but yours.
With all the love in the universe, I am yours.
Always,
Tarren
He waits for the ink to dry before he folds it carefully like before, addressing it once again to Ahe, Senshi of Thrymr in careful, neat script before he seals the envelope and presses his lips against their written name. He dips his signet ring into the ink and presses the seal against the heart of the envelope, eyes fluttering shut as the letter disappears before him. He waits a minute before he slides Ahe’s letter back into it’s envelope and slides it into a hidden pocket in the inside of the jacket he’s taken to wearing when he’s not in his powered state.
It sits right over his heart, where Ahe undoubtedly resides within him.
Crims needs to make sure he’s capable of holding his own before he returns to Thrymr so that when Ahe does get to accompany him, he is able to protect them and keep them safe.
The day cannot come soon enough for the rogue-knight.
Until then, he resolves to have a spine of steel. There are people to save and information to gather and he needs to get his rescued captive back to their homes. He abandoned his post for a reason, he’d be damned if he let it go to waste. People need him and as much as he needs Ahe, he cannot turn his back on those that need him, not if they’re victims of circumstances like he’d been. Besides, Crims always wanted to be a revolutionary, now was his chance.
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:13 pm
To be Given in Person (1034 Words)
It’s painful, going about each day and not knowing if it’s safe to make a trip to Thrymr or not. It doesn’t help that weeks go by before he can write to his heart or before he gets a response. It’s the nature of his life as a deserter, he muses, and he has to remind himself that his position as Crims would have kept him away from Ahe as well.
It’s just harder knowing how close in proximity Thrymr is to Saturn.
It’s harder not knowing when the response will come because Ahe does not have a signet ring and must find other ways to get the letters to him. Still, the letters always manage to find him somehow and he thanks Cosmos every time they come.
When he receives the letter this time, he’s at a port in near the Hydra constellation fixing up the hull of one of his ships-- He’s moved from the one stand alone ship to a fleet of four, something he is stupidly proud of --when one of his scouts comes running up to him, chest heaving.
“Captain!” The young scout pants, thrusting out an envelope to him with their head bowed. “It’s got that symbol you wanted us to keep an out for, the one on your back?”
His head jerks up immediately, tools clattering to the floor when he reaches for the paper like a possessed man. “Thanks, “ he managed, eyes tracing over Thrymr’s sigil like it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen-- and in that moment it was. “Get Chesh over here to finish up these repairs, I’ve got something personal to attend to.”
“Yes sir,” the scout replies, saluting his captain before rushing off to find Crims’ second in command.
Chesh is the only one who knows the importance of the symbol he’d gotten tattooed on his left shoulder, because she’s the only person, besides Ahe and Iris, that Crims trusts completely. He can trust that she’ll take care of things while he takes time to read the letter.
Like last time, his heart is thumping against his ribcage at a two quick rate, but it’s out of longing, desperation this time than anxiousness. Still, he’s careful as he slides his finger into the lip of the envelop to open it, sliding the letter free like it’s his most prized possession.
(It is, anything sent from Ahe is his most prized possession.)
He reads it over, and over, then over again until he can recite the whole thing from memory then he folds it up, puts it back in the envelope before sliding it into the pocket of his jacket that rests over his heart sits. It fits perfectly against the other one that has been crinkled and worn from how many times he’s read it.
He sinks into the chair by his desk and contemplates what his response might be. The Festival of Colors is about to commence and Crims wants nothing more than to surprise his lover at it, but he still doesn’t know if it’s safe enough.
Sighing, he resigns himself to write a response because he knows Ahe is waiting.
(Oh how he aches knowing that he must often keep them waiting.)
To the person who owns my heart, Ahe
I have good news, the days in which we are separated are due to end, if only for a brief period. Things are going well out here, I have acquired three new ships and I have named my favorite one, Southern Lights, in honor of you and your people.
It is a small, but beautiful and sturdy ship and it reminds me of you, my dear Ahe. I hope that you can see it soon, perhaps it will be the ship I take when I am able to come home.
I am making a name for myself out here, I think that you would be proud of me for it. I hope for that at the very least but I cannot pretend that for every good deed I have done, I have committed some horrible acts in return. I trust that you will forgive me as I cannot forgive myself.
Still, I have not achieved my initial goal, but I believe that I am making a difference albeit a small one.
I hope that you will be proud of me when I tell you of my exploits.
Yet, not a day goes by that I do not think of you or wish that you were by my side. The nights are cold, but I comfort myself knowing that soon enough I will return to you and your smile will warm me from my head to my toes.
Oh, how I miss you and how I wish I could be there to watch you dance in the Festival of Colors. Perhaps I will be able to attend the next one and I can tell you how utterly stunning you are.
I ache for you, in my heart and elsewhere. I think of our last night often and I cannot wait until we can be together like that.
I will be home soon, wait for me.
I love you, I burn for you, I need you.
Always,
Tarren
He sets the quill back in it’s jar and waits for the ink to dry before he begins to fold it up, chewing on his lip as he thinks about his next course of action. When he slides the letter into an envelope, carefully writing Ahe, senshi of Thrymr and preps his ring he hesitates.
Something stops him from sending it, instead he gingerly places it with the letters in his jacket an idea striking him and a coy smile spreading across his lips.
He’s been away for too long, this time, he will personally deliver the letter to his lover. There have been too many weeks that melted into months that he’s been gone. If he takes but one ship and is careful and clever, he can make it to Thrymr and avoid the knights of Saturn who might be looking for him.
It’s time for Crims to go home, so he sets about making it happen.
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