The peace that formerly reigned in Terra Nova has eroded, now little more than a memory. War ravages the continent. Disputes divide kingdoms; ideals divide families. The quest for power consumes absolutely and indiscriminately. None are immune to its allure.
Who will rise and who will fall? Only time—and ambition—will tell.
UPDATES
05.26.2023
2 month character creation hold for all existing members begins 6/5/2023. Ended 8/5/2023.
10.29.2023
Change in how times flows. Was 4 IC seasons, now only 2 IC seasons per 1 OOC year.
5 whole years of Heir Apparent goodness! When I started the site, I knew I was hunkering down for the long haul, but I never could have predicted the numerous twists and turns this roleplay site has seen. Hundreds of plots, characters, and members have come and gone, all leaving marks on the site. I am so very thankful for those who have invested. Because you keep coming back, keep getting on, and keep writing, Heir Apparent has the legacy it does today. Three cheers to us!
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 26, 2023 18:13:07 GMT -5
(For @raff, after marching orders, but before the soldiers head out, before Rhedara goes with Keelan to meet the Vitlock brothers)
It was the end of a long day sitting and looking pretty for her new job. As mixed as her feelings were about being something nice to look at in addition to her other duties, Rhedara found that she sort of enjoyed the work. She got to see different kinds of people and saw a different sort of business transaction than she’d ever seen in her life.
Now she was on her way home, taking her time since the weather was warmer with the coming of Ver. Enjoy the warmth before the rain comes in and all that. It was always difficult to say when it would rain in Nevermere since there were always dark clouds in the sky, but sometimes if there was going to be a big downpour, the sky would grow much darker.
She had her hair back in a loose braid instead of her more customary tight braids that she often pulled into a crown. She thought the less severe style made her look a little older and less like she was about to clean out a fireplace…and it was pretty. She didn’t get to do up her hair like that while in the military. Even though the plait was done loosely, the strands still tugged at her scalp, so she tugged at the leather tie that held the end together and unwound her hair as she walked. Much better.
Deployment to Cambria in two weeks. His first send out with no Pair to lean on and no one to look to but himself. On top of that, there were one hundred people per unit and he was responsible for his own men and women in them as Lieutenant. If a command position was a little uncomfortable before, it was downright oppressive now. Fuck. Double fuck on a rope. He'd just told Cady and his other siblings and she was the only one who'd turned away from him in instant anger. Said she'd never forgive him for 'leaving her.' But now he had the onus to tell Red-his girl. The only woman in Terra Nova who's opinion meant the world to him that he was shipping off.
Still clad in his uniform, his rank patch resting heavy on him, he trudged in the general direction of Red's house. His blue-eyed gaze was distant and looked only at the ground in front of him. The hazard pay he'd been given sat heavy in his pocket, untouched and unwanted. Something to give his family while he was away and a ridiculous consolation prize if anything happened to him. Raff couldn't decide if he was more angry or just unhappy but miserable seemed to be his strongest outlook at the moment.
And then he saw a breathtaking brunette with long silky raven tresses falling down her back, her red mouth caught in a smile. It brought him out of the recent news and sharply back into the present--Red! Something strange tugged at his stomach and Raff wasn't entirely sure what it was other than a need to be close to her. Right now. Yesterday even.
He quickened his stride, and shoved through the people dumb enough to stand between him and Rhedara. The tall man was either plowing right through them with a single-minded intensity or they moved out of his way. Raff snuck up behind Red and wrapped his arms around her waist from the back in an impromptu hug.
Last Edit: May 28, 2023 13:25:53 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 28, 2023 14:26:28 GMT -5
She didn’t hear the footsteps coming at her from behind—it was too crowded for that. Perhaps she should have heard something though with the way Raff was plowing through the crowd, but there really was nothing unusual about someone pushing their way through people around that area. If anyone wanted to be anywhere in a hurry, you kind of had to. She was also a little tired and really wasn’t paying that much attention to her surroundings until she saw the door to Bette’s home in the distance. Almost home! Soon she could decompress a little before figuring out something simple to eat.
That’s when two arms looped around her from behind and pulled her in. She didn’t even think or wait to register that she knew those arms before she swung her elbow as hard as she could backward toward the ribs of whoever it was that grabbed her.
If the hit landed and the arms loosened around her, she’d turn and take a step away as she did to put a little distance between the two of them. She’d prepared herself to reach into that well of magic when she finally saw who the man was.
“Oh goddess, Raff I’m sorry!” She’d slapped both her hands to either side of her face before she rushed forward and put her arms around him in that way people did when they’d accidentally struck someone they didn’t mean to hit, “Are you okay?”
A small savage pain flared up, paralyzing him for a good half minute. In quick reflex, he pushed outwards hard with his left palm to strike back. (No idea if that hits or not or where-up to you) Suddenly there was a rising wave of nausea and Raff dry heaved hard as he was bent in half, clutching his stomach. His face was red beneath the curtain of shaggy hair as he dry heaved again. He exhaled hard and forced himself to stand up tall, and then arched backward to relieve the sudden strain.
Then he finally opened his eyes and worked to catch his breath,
"RED!" he choked out in a gasp.
Last Edit: May 28, 2023 15:06:15 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 28, 2023 15:18:45 GMT -5
She’d taken one step toward him when he reached out and shoved her. He did land a hit on her...right on her left breast. Nothing was particularly tender in that area at that moment, but the force of his strike still hurt more than it would have if his hand had hit a few inches higher. Her body turned with the strike and she stumbled away and she just managed to not fall on her butt, but she did have a hand out in case she completely lost her balance.
She heard him dry heave before she was able to straighten herself out enough to see it happen. Stepping toward him again, she reached out to touch his shoulder, but stopped herself, unsure if he’d reflexively strike her again. She wasn’t scared of him, she just didn’t want to make anything worse. So she hovered by him until he was able to speak.
Wincing, she blurted, “I’m sorry! You startled me.”
Red's tiny little face popped into view next to his shoulder and Raff was thoroughly surprised. His I'm sorry came out at the same time as hers and he laughed quietly.
"My bad fer sneakin up on ya. I dint git ya hard did I? I wasn't..." he paused to pull back his hair into a knot. "..wasn't looking at what hit me and just struck out."
Come to think of it, he'd landed squishy. There were a few places on a woman that were squishy which meant that he'd... Oh. With his left hand still on his stomach, he looked her over and didn't see any red marks on her face or throat.
"Did I just hit ya in the chest?"
Last Edit: May 28, 2023 15:45:39 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 28, 2023 15:59:01 GMT -5
“No, no I probably should have looked to see who it was. It’s still daylight,” she said even knowing that she’d probably do it again, “You didn’t get me that hard…the location was just a bit unorthodox is all.” Her breast did hurt a little, and she wanted to hold it until the pain was fully gone, but there was no way she was doing that in public, “But yeah, you got me…there,” she looked down at the squishy thing in question then bit her lip and leaned in a little and said in a low voice so only he’d hear, “Why don’t you come inside and kiss it better?” She said it to break any tension as well as to be provocative.
She reached out to touch his hand that was holding his stomach, “I got you good did I?” she bit her lip, "Are you okay?"
"Actually if I did that on a guy of regular height, it woulda smacked the bladder and made him wet himself." he explained, feeling a mix of pain and guilt.
Actually Raff felt like shit for smackin her and Red's attempt at humor only made him feel more remorseful. His knee jerk reaction to strike without looking had made him hurt someone he liked. A lot. It wasn't because she was a girl. He was too Nevermere army for that-it was that one of the few people on Terra Nova he wanted to trust him, just got hurt by him. But she'd nailed him hard and he had to admit she applied what he'd taught her perfectly.
He looked down at the woman beside him gave a small smile.
"Damn good hit Red. Ya done did it perfect. Dontcha worry 'bout me, I've been through way worse." And considering he was about to tell her he was gonna be deployed to Cambria soon, things would definitely get much, much worse.
"I was knda thinkin maybe we should find a place ta have a serious talk..." Raff said, not sure how he would talk about it. He wasn't even sure how to say it to her. He hoped Cady's reaction wasn't a female example to go by and that it was just a teen sister thing. The tall shaggy guy had no idea how Red would take the news.
Last Edit: May 30, 2023 15:44:44 GMT -5 by Deleted
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 30, 2023 17:06:01 GMT -5
Her attempt at humor didn’t appear to have landed how she wanted it to. She’d hoped to make him laugh and maybe reply to her provocative joke with something rakish. She’d half expected him to scoop her closer to him.
It was sweet that he felt bad for hitting her even as an accident. He obviously liked her, so it was natural that he wouldn’t want to hit her, but romantic feelings didn’t stop some men from striking out on purpose. She used to have a neighbor that was married to a man like that, and it was a joyous day for her neighbor when he’d fallen victim to the same storm that killed her dad and brother.
Besides, she was still kicking herself about hitting him despite his praise on the skill of her strike. He was the last person she wanted to hit. The praise he gave her would have normally given her shoulders a little wiggle, but her guilt kept any delight she felt to a small smile, “I’m gonna worry anyways, you know…I made you dry heave just now.”
His suggestion to go somewhere for a serious talk had her worried he was going to break things off with her for a moment, but she told herself that he wouldn’t have tried to hug her if that was what he wanted. Still, maybe she was overthinking it, but the way she said it made her think that she might not like what he had to say.
“Okay,” she said, trying to think of where they could go. Her house would have been a good place, but they tended to get…derailed when they were completely alone. It couldn’t be anywhere too crowded like the tavern would be at this time of day, “There’s a little strip of beach near one of the docks that doesn’t usually have a lot of people around it this time of year unless you had somewhere else in mind?”
"Beach sounds good." Raff answered quietly. He really didn't wanna do this. Finally found a girl that meant enough to meet the kids and he was being shipped off. The timing was shit. But he couldn't wallow or he'd drown, so he gave her a quick smile and took her hand in his, not caring that they were in public. Red was his girl so he could hold her hand without the world ending over something so small.
They walked for a little ways along the beach and he let go of her hand to take off his boots. Removing his army jacket, he rolled it neatly and stuffed it into one of his boots.
"I think this is as good a spot as any to talk about what needs talkin." he said to her, lowering himself to the ground and sat cross-legged in the sand.
"So what plans ya got in two weeks? Coz I bet mine are way more interesting."
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 31, 2023 18:22:46 GMT -5
His somberness was making her want to fidget in the worst way. What was he wanting to talk about? Did something happen to one of his siblings?
She smiled back when he took her hand, a little trill in her chest. It was weird how touching someone you liked could do that. She followed him to the beach and also removed her own shoes. There was hardly anything more uncomfortable than sand in your shoes—maybe the feeling of wet clothes plastered to the skin was worse though…
She was distracting herself of course.
He was normally…cheerful wasn’t the word, but he wasn’t normally this grave. She was going nuts trying not to pry it out of him before they stopped somewhere along the shore. This seemed like a “facing each other” kind of conversation, but she still sat next to him, legs off to one side, away from him, since she was in a skirt. Her shoulder bumped his arm.
“I’ll be doing some work in one of the southern villages,” she’d found out before she’d left, “What will you be doing?” She braced herself.
"Being deployed to Cambria." His tone was flat and matter of fact. The ocean breeze grabbed at his hair, whipping it this way and that but Raff sat very still, looking out at the water.
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 31, 2023 18:43:10 GMT -5
He answered, and she said nothing for a while, letting the words sink in. She’d known he’d be sent off somewhere at some point—that was a hard truth of being involved with someone in the military—but she’d hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. The distance would be a test on their relationship, that was for certain. At least they weren’t at war with Cambria…or were they? She hadn’t been privy to that sort of thing even when she was in the military.
She shifted to her knees and turned her body so she was looking at the side of his head, “Why?”
Post by Rhedara Shannon on May 31, 2023 19:15:16 GMT -5
Of course he couldn’t tell her. She should have thought of that, but the question had come out anyways, “Well…fuck.”
She let him pull her closer to him, shifting her body so she was leaning comfortably against him. She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arm over his middle, “Can you tell me how long you’ll be away? Or is it just until the job is done?”
However long it was, he would be gone a while…there were always letters, but it wasn’t the same as talking face to face. She couldn’t touch him through a letter. He couldn’t touch her through a letter. Was there something she was supposed to do when the man she was seeing would be off for the goddess knew how long? Her dad had never enlisted so she didn’t have a frame of reference.
She craned her head to look at him and bit her lip, debating if she should even ask, “Can…” oh it was dumb, childish even, but she asked anyways, “Can I give you some of my hair? A lock of it.”