(♆) beware the daughter of the sea - kal tryout dnp

[76heart]

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━ｃ  ｌ  ａ  ｉ  ｍ        ｈｅｒ━━━━━━━━

━━━━━━━━ｂｙ   ｆａｔｈｅｒ＇ｓ━━━

━━━ｔｈｉｓ    ｐ  ａ ｔ  ｈ    ｗａｓ━━━━
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━━━━━━━━ｗ  ｉ   ｔ  ｈ━━━━━━━━
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━━ａｎｄ     ｂ  ｅ  ｎ  ｔ     ｏｎ━━━━━━


━━━━━━━━━━━━ｏｆ  ｔｈｅ━━━━

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❝ who am i you ask,
who am i you think?

what strings did the stars pull to make
me?
what design was my creation?
who did the stars make me to be?
in what stars do which i align?
am i the will of the stars, crafted by
their pointed, fathomless hands?

or am i the creation of destiny, of fate?
am i the product of their careful,
timeless design?
am i the making of their plans come
true?
am i a part of their ever detailed plan?
is who i am set in the stones they've
made, the path they've laid?

or is it the cards that forced my
creation, that had a hand in my
animation?
am i a part of a hand they cast?
a piece to their ever expanding deck?
am i simply a card that someone
pulled, subject to their wills?
am i merely a part of them, forced to
follow the hand that i've been dealt?

no, i am none of that, i am me
i am too twisted for their making,too
broken for their design
i am no piece of the stars to control
i am no puppet or pawn of destiny
i am no card in a deck

who i am is me, you are foolish to ask
who i am is me, all i'll ever be ❞
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[76heart]

━━ｔｈｅ  ｇａｒｄｅｎｓ  ｏｆ━━━━

━━━━━ｓｈｅ  ｉｓ  ｔｅｎｄｉｎｇ━

━ｉｓ  ｈｅｒ  ｏｎｌｙ  ｗａｒｄ ━━━

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xilo readopt ● hosted by Pinnacle ● kit made by sixbane ● growth done by KaatLove ● my post on the thread
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blood red roses - C21 FX ● warbringers - jaina ● how the tide rushes in ● kingdom fall - claire wyndham
head underwater - toby lightman ● i am legend - colton dixon ● age of gods - brunuhville ● black heart - two steps from hell
impossible - two steps from hell ● neptune and mars - two steps from hell ● will i make it out alive - jessie early
one eye open - daniella mason ● it's got my name on it - sarah reeves
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[76heart]

How the tide rushes in
And covers footprints in the sand
As my hope's erased and carried
Out of my hand

How the tides ebb and flow
As driftwoods tossed upon the shore
And my heart's cast aside
And lost evermore

wippp

[76heart]

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━━ｔ                   ｈ                   ｅ ━━━━━
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━ｉ    ｈ  ｅ  ａ  ｒ  ｄ    ｈｉｍ━━━━━━━

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❝ father, i'm listening now. ❞


4002 words



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xxxLong ago, when the land her people lived on sunk below the sea, their gods gave them tails, and allowed them to live beneath the surface of the sea. From there, three kingdoms emerged, each with conflicting values, though only two survived, and those two found themselves locked in a war that never seemed destined to end, until now, where only one remained, and it was all her fault. She had let one destroy the other, and now all of her people were in terrible danger, and fearing for their lives, as their enemies killed their King, and tore their home apart, forcing them to obey their rule, and killing the ones that did not. She had let this happen, she had let him die, and now all of this was her fault. The guilt made her sick, and yet, some part of her, couldn't let go of this sick and twisted smirk. Her father was gone, and something deep inside felt lighter, felt relief she had never before experienced. She almost wanted to laugh at the relief she felt, but she didn't, the guilt hit her all over again before she had the chance.

xxxThe two kingdoms had been warring for centuries, a milennia, for as far back as anyone could remember, and one had finally won, all because of her.
xxxTruthfully, she didn't know why the two kingdoms had fought, why they had warred, why they had sought to destroy the other, and she wasn't sure if anyone did really. Was it for control? For revenge? To take back something one stole from the other? To protect something ancient? Regardless, whatever had caused their actions, it seemed too late to change any of it now. Everyone was too angry with the other, too bent on bringing the other side's ruin, too fueled by their prideful hatred to end the fued, or to take steps toward fixing it, and besides, the enemy had already won, and she had let them.
xxxShe had fought for peace once, argued for it with her father at first. She had screamed at her father how much she hated him for doing nothing but fanning the flames and fighting back, and she had screamed more when a soldier from the other kingdom killed her mother during an attack, and he stood by, and did nothing. He had been nothing but another king who wanted to claim the land of the enemy, like all the kings and queens before him, until they took the one thing he loved, and that was the one time he stopped, the one time he did nothing. He made no move to avenge her mother, his love, their kingdom's queen, and that's what angered her most, what truly fueled the burning hatred she held towards her father. Every other time, before and after, he had retaliated, and she had hated him for it, hated him for continuing this war, for refusing to set his weapons down and end it, but then the one time he needed to fight back, the one time she needed him to retaliate, he did not a thing, and for that, she despised him. Yet now that he was gone, murdered by someone she called a friend, she despised herself for not being more like him, and actually doing something. She was nothing but a scared coward, a stupid fool. A blind, cowardly idiot was all she was.

xxx"My sweet Zeraphine, I implore you, listen to reason!" Her father cried, reaching out for her with his paws.
xxx"No father, I'm not going to fight! This war is pointless, you need to stop it, so many are losing their lives because of your pride. You can stop it, please try." Zeraphine pleaded, hovering in the water by the doorway, her tail fins faintly swishing to keep her afloat.
xxx"I've told you already, it's not that simple. There is so much you don't understand." His voice was strained, verging on desperate. Both of them knew they were running out of time, that soon they would be surrounded by their enemies if they didn't do something, and fast, and they knew all too well what would happen in the event of that, because it had already happened to her mother. She had been rushing to get the remaining servants out of their castle when they found her.
xxx"What isn't simple? Surrendering for the sake of your people? I should hope a good king would do that, that they would see this bloodshed was beyond pointless." She spat, fuming as she fixed him with a glare. "And if there's more going on, why don't you tell me? You ask me to fight for you, beside you, yet you tell me nothing! How am I meant to understand if you never tell me a thing?"
xxx"Phina please, we don't have the time for this." He begged, swimming over to where she was, suspended in the crystal colored seas.
xxx"Don't call me that, you have no right!" Zeraphine growled as her eyes teared, swimming to the room's other side, away from him, and out of his reach. There was another entrance on that side, she could just leave there instead. Only her mother, and an old friend of hers were allowed to call her that, something softer and more affectionate, and her father had lost that right so long ago. Her father opened his mouth to retort, but something stopped him, and a moment later she learned why.

xxxThe sound of someone speedily rushing through the water reached her ears, and she whirled around to see who was approaching, only to realize a moment too late the sound had come from the other side, at the entry she had only moments ago been in. When she turned, she came face to face with the eyes of an old friend, one whom she had thought she lost long ago. It was the boy she used to play with growing up, the Admiral's son, Tiamik, who had been captured in one of the attacks years ago. Everyone had assumed the worst, that he had died, and they held vigils for him, and mourned the loss of him for so long, but evidently, he was quite clearly alive, floating before her, with a blade pressed to her father's throat. She swallowed, her mind and her heart both struggling to comprehend the sight before her. Her attention should have been on how to disarm him, how to get the device the blade protruded from off the end of one of his paws, where it could no doubt retract and extend, but the shock of seeing him again was just too strong. He looked so different now, with scars covering his fur, and a cold and hardened look cast upon his face, but his eyes stayed the same pale gray she knew so well.
xxx"Tiamik.." She breathed, remembering how his name felt on her tongue. He merely narrowed his eyes, and offered a smirk. Her father on the other hand, quickly ceased his struggling and began a scamper for a new way out.
xxx"Tiamik, is that you? Why, it's been so long since I last saw you! How you've grown, you've turned into such a fine man, why don't you put the blade down and let us talk-" Tiamik pressed the blade closer to her father's throat, quickly silencing him. Panic rose to her father's eyes, and he began to throw out any word that came to his mind, blubbering like an idiot, desperate to stall and save his life. The sword was pressed closer to his throat, and her father scrambled for the right words to save himself.
xxx"Z-Zeraphine, please! Tell him to spare me! I'm your father, please!" He shouted, panicked tears beginning to pick at the corners of his eyes. He began to flail, and she felt her heart catch in her throat.
xxxShe looked to her old friend, and when she caught his gaze, her heart dropped back into it's cage. He was going to leave the choice up to her.
xxx"Your call, Princess." He purred, his words dripping and oozing with silk, until it came to her title, and his voice hardened with the faintest bitter tinge.
xxx"I-" Zeraphine began, quickly looking between the two men, still trying to figure out what was going on as her heart began to race. All she could hear was the blood rushing through her ears, and the way her heart pounded like a hammer of hard stone. When she said nothing more, her father's eyes widened to a point she didn't know was possible, and he began to madly flail, and growl at her with a venom she didn't know he possessed. "Why aren't you asking him to stop? This wasn't what you wanted all along was it? You didn't plan this did you?" At first he merely sounded terrified beyond imagine, absolutely horrified at his life's thread being so close to snipped, but when she gave no response, he turned on her, accusing, his eyes widening before narrowing. He let out a feral snarl, his paranoia consuming him, forcing him to grasp at everything his paws could reach, and accuse his daughter of conspiring against him. She inched back, the end of her tail hitting the wall. She had never seen him like this, and while it was pitiful, it scared her all the same. Her heart beat faster. "You wanted this, of course! This was you plan all along! You kept in contact with him, didn't you? You knew he had switched sides, and you planned this, to make it look like you hadn't ordered it at all, you joined the enemy! You treasonous wretc- ughlk!" The sword flashed in the light as it moved, the action quicker than a blink, and she watched as the form of her father stilled.
xxxHer world suddenly stopped, screeching to a terrifying halt, her eyes frozen open in horror, and her mouth agape in surprise. All she could do was picture the way it would sound as his crown clattered to the stone floor above the sea.
xxx"I didn't say to do it." She croaked finally, looking up at her old friend.
He flashed her a smile, before the blade returned to the device on his wrist. "The choice was never yours to begin with, Princess." He replied, slowly approaching.
xxx"But you-" "But I said?" He taunted, mimicking a fake pout.
xxxHe sharply closed the distance between them then, his muzzle landing close to her ear. She shivered at the close proximity, not liking how they were mere inches apart. "Times have changed Phina, I'm not your friend anymore. Be glad you weren't my target." Tiamik's whisper made her shiver again. His nose hovered near her ear for a moment too long, before he leaned back, grinning.
xxx"I'll kill you for this!" Her threat was weak, no more than a pitiful whimper, and her eyes were filling with salted tears as she felt the anger begin to rise again. Her rage had deflated with his appearance, but it was rapidly returning now, feeding on her pain. He leaned in close again, this time closer.
xxx"We both know you won't Phina," He was right, she knew he was. Her anger flowed out in a shaking breath as she let out a small whimper while he continued, and she crumbled before him. "now go, before someone finds you. I won't spare you again." With that, he whirled around and left, his tail flicking hers and leaving a stinging feeling, but not one that hurt more than her heart. She had lost her best friend, truly this time, and she had lost her father, her hate for him no longer seeming to matter.

xxxThe last thing she saw before rushing away, cloak pulled tightly to hide her features, was the spiraling color of red staining the sea as it joined with the ocean, and she felt sick at the thought of who it was rejoining with their watery home.

xxxAs soon as she was safely out of that castle, away from the horrible conflict and spilled blood, and as far away as her fins allowed her to swim, she collapsed into a heap of weakness behind a large rock formation, covered in barnacles and the tiniest of corals, sobbing uncontrollably beneath her cloak, tightly clutching some of the fabric to her chest as best she could with her stupid paws- and the dagger that could retract and extend fastened onto her wrist -, just longing to hold something, or someone that was familiar.

xxxDays later, when things had finally calmed down, and the sand had began to settle, she found herself in the far back corner of the tavern she used to sneak off too every night, concealed by the blackness of her cloak, and the lack of light. Everything had changed so quickly. As soon as word got out that her father had been killed, and the princess was no where to be found, most of her people began to scatter, and try to swim and get to safety, outside of the borders of both kingdoms, while others stayed, holding out for a hope that they knew deep down didn't exist, and others still joined their enemy, their new rulers, overlords, quite willingly, eager to keep their sorry excuse for lives. The ones that made attempts to run, or well, swim, were swiftly caught. Some where killed, while others were rounded up, for when the other kingdom's cruel and tyrant king would come, so he could choose what to do with the deserters, and whether to spare their lives, or end them. She had a feeling it would be the latter, and her heart sunk. Why had she run, why had she let it all happen?
xxxThose who stayed, or willingly joined their "new rulers" were not harmed, but they were watched, and closely. She was seeing that now, as the fifth soldier of a group of them presently in the tavern practically breathe down the bartender's neck. Zeraphina knew the man well, and he didn't deserve this. He looked positively terrified, beyond frightened by these kalon soldiers, all burly and large, crowding around the table closest to him, drowning themselves in drinks and seaweed specialties he had no choice but to make. The poor man was shaking, and she so wished she could do something to help him. But she couldn't, she just couldn't, and there was nothing more despicable to her than that.
xxxWhat had happened to this place? It used to be filled with life, with light and happiness, and thousands of stories waiting to be said where tellers gladly told the tales, the reason for her coming here each night, and now the sea was just empty and cold, filled with a pungent thickness that permeated everything it touched, and corrupted it into a feeling of despair, like a world being covered in sickly, slimy green. Why had she allowed it to happen? She should have stopped Tiamik, she should have known he was bluffing, lying when he said the choice was hers. He knew, despite her hatred for her father, she wouldn't have said yes, to kill him, she should have known he would never let her make the call when he had express orders to do so, and would likely be killed himself if he didn't. He had always known her better than she had ever known herself, and she had never been able to truly know him, even though she thought she had. How could she have been so blind? Why had she let her favorite place, this tavern, down? Why had she let her people down? She could have stopped this, she could have, but she hadn't. Why didn't she? Why didn't she just get the courage she needed to have? Why was she still hiding now, like a coward? The blood of her father, her family, of all those innocents, was now on her hands. She could have stepped in to stop it, stop them, but she didn't, she hadn't; she had just stood there, watching it all happen, and then ran. She was nothing more than a scared, little coward, more pitiful than her despicable father. At least he had done something, while she had done nothing but swim away and hide like the foolish coward she was. She wanted to laugh at that, at how utterly pitiful she was, but she wasn't alone, and she could do nothing if the soldier's turned her way and saw who she was. She was terrible, and she had no right to feel empty, like a shell with no husk, not when she had done nothing. She hung her head, and tried not to cry as she faintly listened to the solider's talk, her thoughts slowly wandering to them without her consent.

xxx"Did you hear? The princess ran when the Tiamik came to kill her family. Some say she helped him to do." Zeraphine frowned, her brows creasing. Her people, and even the enemy thought she had helped? She couldn't stop the silent sob that left her throat. How could she have allowed this?
xxx"I 'eard that she could 'ave stopped it, but stood aside, and let 'em die." That was painfully true. She felt herself wilt on the chair, her light eyes slowly going to look in their direction.
xxx"Do you think she cried for 'er life? Threw 'im in front of 'er to save 'er own skin?"
xxx"N'aw, no way of that. I've 'eard she's a feisty one, I think she helped him, may have even done it herself. I'd not be surprised if she was in contact with our king you see, and let our guys in. They say there was little resistance at the gate, like what happened with the queen. Maybe she helped with that too." What? She would never, she would never hurt her mother, and how- how dare they bring her up! How, how dare they slander her name!
Anger rapidly filled her, and her paw slammed loudly onto the table as she rose, drawing the attention of the soldiers, and causing the poor bartender to jump.
xxx"That's not how it went!" She snarled, fixing them with a harsh glare as she swam their way. If they recognized her, or knew who she was beneath her cloak's shadow, they didn't notice, and if they did, she couldn't bring herself to care.
xxxThe soldiers grinned at her, laughing, rising to join her, towering over her like a mountain.
xxx"And how would you know? You the princess?" One challenged, leaning in close. She could smell his would breath, and wrinkled her nose.
xxx"No, but I know she's not like that." Zeraphine returned, swimming further up to meet his challenge.
xxx"Oh really? Is she not a traitor? Is she more like 'er cowardly sweet mother? Always advocating for peace, for the kindness towards her people? Bah, I'm glad we got rid of 'er, she was an easy targe-" The more he spoke, the more she felt her anger rise and boil, and finally, she couldn't take it anymore.
xxx"Don't talk about my mother that way!" Zeraphine loudly growled, shouting the words out as her paw shot out, the dagger leaving it's metal sheath, and embedding itself in the man's heart. The room went silent, and she froze as it dawned on her what she had done.
xxxShe had just killed someone, oh gods she had just-
xxxZeraphine staggered backward, beginning to tremble, horrified by what she had just done. She hadn't meant to do anything, she hadn't meant to, t-to kill hi-
xxxHer gaze was jerked upright as one of the soldier's roughly grabbed her face between the sides of her paws, yanking her to meet his rage filled eyes. The cloak's hood fell from her head in the sharp action, and she winced as recognition dawned on the man behind him.
xxx"What do you mean 'my mother'? Do you have anything to say for having just killed my friend, Princess?" She wanted to struggle, to wrench herself free, but his eyes held her in place, catching her and holding her still with they penetrated her soul.
xxx"I'll have you killed for that, but not before I take you to see the king. I'm sure he'll have a few words about what to do with you." His breath hit her face strong and hard, but she hardly noticed it, his eyes still had held her still, forcing her still.
xxx"Maybe if you're lucky, you'll get to see your mother again, in the afterlife." His hold over her quickly broke as the fifth soldier spoke those words, and she found herself roughly wrenching herself from his grasp and knocking him down harshly with her tail as she spun away from his reach. She thought she heard something crack.
xxx"Don't you dare speak of my mother again, or I'll kill you too." Zeraphina growled at the fifth soldier, her face inches from his as she held his dagger to his throat as she spoke. When she released him from it, she left the tavern in a hurried gush bubbled water, and wasn't seen again for a very, long time.

xxxIn the months that followed, her mind became a dark and twisted place, corrupted by the constant war in her mind, by the two sides that fought against her, her guilt, and her hatred toward her father, toward her self, and her hatred toward the ones who had taken over, her enemy. She had become vengeful and was verging on cruel, twisted by the past that marred her life, marred her mind. Every chance she got, she took out the ships of the enemy, the land kalons they had recruited to extend their harsh reign above the sea, and carry those of her people who would not submit to somewhere no one of her world had ever seen.
xxxShe tried to stop them at every turn, tried to take them down, but it was never a big enough dent, and even if it was, her mind never let her believe it was. She was so hell-bent on vengeance, on bringing them down, that nothing but killing the king would be enough, and so far, she hadn't had the chance. Tiamik had stopped her at every try she made, always knowing her better than she knew herself, even now, as she had changed and become someone completely new, except for the peace he had learned the moment they met; she would never harm someone she cared for, and despite how much she hated him, wanted her old friend gone and with her horrible father, she still had some care left for him, and it was never going to leave.

xxxZeraphine began to be known as a blight upon the sea to her enemies, as a monster to be feared, and to kill the hope of her people, they lied, and said their princess was helping them, that she had betrayed them and killed their king, that the attacks on them were nothing more than rumors and distractions, falsities, and to her dismay, they believed her. She had become a monster to her enemies and to the people she called her own. It only fueled her with more hurt and anguish, more tears that fell in the rare moments she managed to get alone. Silently, one night, she vowed to fix it all, to show her people the truth, and rescue them from the tyrant's rule, and she intended to keep that vow until her last breath. She had too, for the bartender who always told her the stories and let her sit in the dark, for the Tiamik she used to know, and for her mother, who would hate who she had become, and that she had let her kingdom fall. She had to do it for them, she didn't have a choice.

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As a person, she is, perhaps, not the best. Her choices are not always right, and oftentimes she is too blinded by her own feelings to see that, as shown when she doesn't agree with her father responding with violence, not realizing protection is a needed thing because she is so bent on bringing peace.

Zerahpine cares greatly for the people she likes, and never, could bring herself to hurt them, and even if she hates them, still remains loyal and defensive of them, as can be seen with her mother and Tiamik.

She is flawed, imperfect, using her heart to think over her mind, and paying the consequences of rushing into things and running on impulse before thought. She does try though, and while now she is bitter, and full of resent, if she realizes she's made a mistake, along with beating herself up about it until it's solved, and sometimes even after, she does try to do everything she can to mend it.

Phina is determined, and sticks to her values like glue, and now after everything she's been through, she is hardened, often cold, until she finally finds someone to trust and let her inside so she can begin to heal.

She won't stand for what she thinks is an injustice, and hates when she's unable to do anything about it, or help someone in need.

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I put the personality section here at the end since I realized I wanted to reference some things and didn't want to spoil central pieces before the story, and ran out of time to fill the personality section with stuff that doesn't spoil or is better off reading after the story

the story is also inspired by the warbringers: jaina cinematic, and a book called deep blue