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!
There were some perks to being an officer, one of those being you knew when and where staff were assigned or who was training where. It made it easy to avoid some and find others if she so chose. Today was the latter type of day, especially since he was shipping out and wouldn’t be around to bother anymore. Lucky Raff didn’t even have to pack a punching bag, he’d have one right there next to him. ”Stormcrest.”
Kat was smiling wide at the kid, although it certainly didn’t look like the friendly type of expression. He would soon be off to Cambria though, maybe he’d get eaten alive by one of the women there, literally or figuratively it would be kind of funny. He was a part of Nevermere though so it was her job amongst with others to make sure he was prepared. That was definitely the only reason she had offered to teach give him a lesson, not just to teach him a lesson for suggesting she’d stoop as low as Regan.
”Training sessions, let’s go, chip chop.” She knew he figuratively had free time based on the schedule, and if he wanted to lie about it that could at least be some fun. Or he could always go running to daddy, who was apparently Warren these days, but Kat didn’t think that was likely.
By now, Ber had seen enough of other peoples interactions with Winters to accept, with the utmost reluctance, that he now had to listen to what she told him to do. By now, he had also learned that she frequently went out of her way to irk perfectly undeserving people who were minding their own business by appearing unannounced and trying to drag them off to some made up training session.
Example A: himself, right now.
With the clock ticking on how much time he had left in Skia for the foreseeable future, he had started taking every opportunity he had to visit Temperance and Thom, and his days off were no exception. He’d been walking through the halls of the military wing, on his way out of the castle, when Winters’ irritating voice sounded from beside him and he turned to see her equally irritating face. Unamused and more than a little annoyed, he looked at her. “I don’t have training today,” He said. “And I’m already busy.” Doing things like not working. On his day off.
Kat didn’t really give a rats ass that the private had plans. He was a soldier and if he was told he didn’t have free time anymore then he didn’t. Simple as that. And really, Ber was lucky that she was talking to him at all, clearly this kid was a curse to anyone who did. That Dresmondi who suddenly disappeared, shouted at Regan at the ball and she got shredded (and not in the good way), thank god she had no plans to be friends with this loser.
The slightly annoying part of all this is that Berengar was a bitch to deal with, but she knew she had been too. Little prick was probably just as stubborn and thus she was going to need to get creative. ”Well now you do have training. Alternatively we could head to Woody’s office and have him settle it?” If he wanted to be difficult then she would be too. She had planned on how to phrase it to a higher up so if he wanted to push them so would she. There was time for relaxing when you weren’t about to go to an unfamiliar place, surely he could understand that at least in his pea-sized man brain.
Woody. It took him a moment to figure out who Winters had referenced, but even her less-than-polite nickname for the captain - and the realization that her opinion of the man was likely similar to Ber’s - did not endear her any further to him. Nor did it make him more inclined to listen to her. Not with his precious free time on the line.
Crossing his arms, Ber glowered at Winters for a long moment with one question on his mind: was she bluffing? Her tendency to act in the same irritating manner regardless of the situation made it hard to tell. If she went to Woodwick, the soldier knew that he would be in the wrong, but he couldn’t help but question whether she would even bother running to the captain for anything. She didn’t seem the type, at least not if he avoided practically daring her to do so.
Because it was his day off, Ber had all the time in the world, but Winters would have to leave him alone eventually, either due to the call of some other duty or, more likely, boredom. Maybe he could hurry that along - or, at least, stubbornly stall until that time arrived. Without moving and pointedly sidestepping her question, he repeated flatly, “Woody?”
Kat crossed her arms and tilted her head looking at the soldier like there might be something wrong with him. ”Did I stutter Stormcrest or should we make a stop at the infirmary instead?” Kat had seen the private do this before with her. Try and get her sick and tired of waiting on something to leave. But seeing as her presence was bothering him, that was enough to keep her interested.
”Maybe you have some brain damage and need the healers to tap some holes?” Her smile was overly sweet, and she spoke slowly as if Stormcrest might be slow. Or maybe he had gone deaf? Oh that would be splendid.
Winters, Ber decided, could go die in a hole any day now. No one would miss her, least of all Ber.
With the same unimpressed, unamused expression, he watched as she mirrored his pose and answered his own question with another one of her own. So far, the options she had put on the table consisted of training, Woodwick, and an unnecessary visit to the infirmary, and none of them were remotely appealing. At her condescending tone, his eyes narrowed, and still resolutely standing in place, he toed the line of insubordination and shot back, “Let’s not and say we didn’t.”
If anyone here had brain damage, it would be her, especially after he found a way to wipe that saccharine smirk off her face.
Oh how she had despised extra training when she was in mandatory. Kat had of course been smart enough to slink away when it was her time off, so really this is what Berengar got. Had he never been stopped on a day off before? Were they training them soft these days? Because that would be quite the shame. Unsurprising, but a shame.
”Questioning an order is quite the offense Stormcrest. Captain Woodwicks office it is.” Kat would move closer then, although she wasn’t sure if she’d just push him through a portal or actually drag him to the office. Or maybe he’d stop being a dink.
In attempting to toe the line, he had apparently crossed it instead. Who knew Winters was such a stickler for the rules. Probably only when they suited her. Bitch.
Maybe she wasn’t bluffing. She looked serious and certainly began to move toward him as if she was. Ber stepped back as Winters stepped forward, willing to give metaphorical and literal ground if it meant that she couldn’t actually grab him like he half expected her to. Still, some doubt - or perhaps misplaced optimism or, more likely, foolish pride - lingered as his mind raced for a way to squirm his way out of the net that he could feel closing in around him.
The problem was that they both knew he couldn’t say no. Orders were orders, and she didn’t seem to appreciate him questioning hers. So he questioned her instead: “Why are you like this, Winters? Don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
Kat noted how far her stepped back, and how quickly as well. Now she would know his reaction should she step forward again, and honestly the idea of having to deal with Woody was just about the last thing she wanted to do. Stormcrest didn’t need to know that though, as he didn’t need to know how easy it was to bend the rules without breaking them. He needed to learn how to vomit on command, or cry, either one usually deterred a higher-up. A lesson for later.
So she focused, looking like she was thinking, whether he took that as thinking about why she was the way she was or coming up with an insult, Kat didn’t really care. Because she was opening a portal right behind Stormcrest, the size perfect for him and leading to a part of the training grounds. She would then step forward. If Ber moved backwards then perfect, but if not she’s give him a quick shove. ”Nah, I’m just a bitch.”
Unaware of the portal that Winters had started conjuring behind him - or even, really, that she could do such a thing, given that the events of the ball had greatly overshadowed those of the tournament the day prior - Ber stepped back again, into the portal, as she moved forward. Her shove finished the job. Once more, he had expected her to try to yank him forward rather than push him away, so arms outstretched, he stumbled backwards… into the training grounds?
“What the fuck?”
Once he regained his balance, the soldier stared at the familiar space that was most certainly not the hallway in which Winters had just accosted him. By the time he turned back to her, irritation warring now with confusion, she had stepped through to the training grounds herself, and no sign of the hall or the portal that had transported them here remained. Ber rounded on her. “What the fuck was that, Winters?” He repeated. As it began to sink in that he had not escaped the training session she seemed so determined to have, frustrated anger made his words more aggressive than the pure bewilderment of before.
After the nasty business of needing to push him through the portal, Kat stepped through gracefully and swiftly, closing the portal with ease. Honestly he made it easy, although she was sure the same trick wouldn’t work twice, it just meant she’d have to come up with something for the next time. Maybe pop into Cambria and whisper boo in his ear. That would be a laugh, but also probably not what Commander Usher had in mind for her.
As Stormcrest rounded and swore some more she just laughed. Had he thought he was actually going to get away from this? That was sweet, poor thing. ”Good, you’re angry. Hit me.” That was always the best time to train. Emotions on the surface and pushing away meaningful thought. He had to learn to not focus on it, and to check himself before he wrecked himself.
In contrast to the growing anger racing through his veins, her delighted laughter rang in his ears. Then her words reached him. She wanted him to hit her? Fine.
There was no need to ask twice.
Closing the distance between them in a long stride, Ber rushed forward, pulled back his fist, and threw a punch right at her jaw.
It would be easy for Kat to use magic at this point. Knock him around a little and teach him a lesson. But that wasn’t the point of this whole thing, and she hadn’t wasted her own afternoon on something he’d already trained for. If he was going to go to Cambria he’d need to learn how to fight a woman without magic, and lucky for him Kat was pretty damn good at fighting without it. Six to twelve her fists and knives had been her weapons, and although the military had given her other options, they were tried and true.
So when Stormcrest charged at her with a fist cocked back it took a lot not to sigh. Idiot. Ducking to the side where his fist was raised and swinging, she would attempt to jab at his ribs. ”Think.”
Was Ber thinking? Not really. Driven more by his anger than any particular strategy, he had rushed forward with his fist drawn back. Winters dodged his blow and jabbed him in the ribs with an order to do exactly what he wasn’t doing. Fists clenched, he faced her again and took a breath, eyeing the way she stood. Then he moved again, feinting one way before throwing a punch at her other side.
Apparently Stormcrest had just needed a reminder to think. Hopefully something that wouldn’t happen in the heat of battle but she could work on training that out of him. One blow at a time she would make sure the kid learned. Besides this was generally fun for her anyways and slightly reminiscent of teaching her younger siblings. Not that the annoying soldier was anywhere close to a Van Zant, not a good enough choice in friends to be.
When he moved Kat watched, seeing the change in direction and taking the hit on her shoulder knowing a quick change in direction would weaken it while attempting to ram her other fist into his stomach.