archived.

muses now added to this roster include:

muses now added to this roster include:

for someone with a reputation for beings of ferocious nature, they made quick work of collecting a plate of hors d'oeuvres and leaving the gala immediately for peace and quiet. they settled down in abandoned courtyard sitting by a fountain. the dragon shifter was bewildered by humans that could linger so long in such a cramped and crowded area. it was so loud. there was music, singing, talking, and too many things at once for a recluse to handle. at the very least the food looked intriguing. if there was one thing ren was fascinated by it was human food. so fascinated they were by their colourful treat that they hadn’t noticed the presence of another nearby. ren bit into the strange pastry, registering unbearable sweetness and retching quietly before allowing the masticated monstrosity to fall back onto their plate. it was a given, that a fledgling dragon wouldn’t know proper table manners either. they weren’t exactly the picture of grace they’d been at the beginning of the party.   @fractaele   /   lucky dip sc.   /   enchanted masquerade au.

            marbled statue of a magnificent sword &. crown obscured the view of the other. a petite woman dressed in layer of tulle , beads sparkling in gown akin to the galaxies above. she had trained years for this day to be recognized as a fledgling dragon hunter. to go venture beyond the borders to find a dragon to kill according to tradition. yet in this moment , doubts festered beneath beauty. why did they need to follow this tradition passed down between the ages as sacred. peace filled the land , they were prosperous … why was there need to bring more bloodshed into that ? she pulled off gloves to stare at her hands , porcelain white with only the slightest marring from training but nothing else had tainted them. &. soon she would hold a scaled creature , a god of the skies above , their ichor painting her fingers. could she do it ? no … she had to or else her father - 

she was by far not the first human to interact with them. upon leaving their enchanted wood, the residual magic must have made their glamours extra potent because not only would it hide draconic scales, or slits, but humans had come up to fledgling beast with kindness and gifts the likes of which they’d never experienced before. before even uttering words, they had been fed and fawned over, humans stumbling over each other to aid them navigate this part of the kingdom. it was all very overwhelming, and they note quite sure how to handle conversations when they had spent the majority of their life alone. the tone this human took on was far different, prompting young dragon to look gaze upon moonlit beauty with widened eyes, pupils drawn thin in alarm. had she been talking to them ? how were they meant to respond to such a shrill request ? they bowed then, tilting their head to the side curiously.   ‘   i apologise.   by all means,   keep going.   ’

@becomestorm​   said   :    “i didn’t mean to, yang.” many times they’d had this argument, how frustrating it was to be taking hits for one another. this was different, the both of them unscathed by grimm, at what price though? both their auras had expired, and they couldn’t be heard over the wail of grimm. stubborn, dragoness had been, ren even more so, forcibly using their semblance to change her disposition, bearing down the instinct to retreat, retreat, retreat. “/i’m sorry./” for taking your will away.

      to  invoke  the  sheer  fury  is  something  only  a  true  fool  would  do   ,   but  there ‘ s  nothing  steering  a  mind  made  up  of  black  sludge   &.   toxins  when  it  comes  to  grimm   ,   is  there   ?   yang  doesn ‘ t  know  why  she ‘ s  expecting  that  much  out  of  this  swarm   ,   doesn ‘ t  know  why  she  would  ever  be  focusing  on  the  utmost  minuscule  of  details  when  gunfire   &.   endless  war  cries  fill  the  surrounding  wood  like  unholy  symphony.   may  it  act  as  a  warning  for  the  other  creatures  lurking  in  the  shadows.  may  it  remind  them  that  a  dragon  lurks  within  the  forest   &.   her  rampage  knows  no  mercy  to  the  damned.   fangs  bared  in  warning   ,   blue  flame  licking  at  lower  lip  with  each  round  of  explosive  ammo  fired  from  prosthetic   &.   ember  celica ‘ s  chambers   ,   every  punch   &.   kick  of  steel  toed  boot  used  to  dispatch  the  very  things  standing  in  yang   &.   ren ‘ s  way.   the  mission  to  begin  with  wasn ‘ t  difficult   :   a  simple  extermination  of  a  manticore  terrorizing  a  small  tribe  just  beyond  the  mistrali  mountains   ,   said   &.   done  with  minimal  injury  nor  stress.   as  it  always  should.  ah   ,   but  how  surprises  seem  to  lurk  around  every  corner  with  their  unforgiving  grasp.  lotus   &.   sunflower  should  know  to  expect  the  unexpected  in  this  profession  of  theirs ‘  by  now   ,   although  when  could  they  truly  prepare  for  a  group  of  ursa   &.   beowolves  surrounding  them  as  though  twin  dragons  are  naught  more  than  simple  prey  for  accursed  maws   &.   teeth  to  crunch  into   ,   tear  apart  like  mere  ribbon   ?   limited  aura  or  not   ,   fighting  spirit  is  always  alive   &.   well.   (   perhaps  it  is  not  about  fighting   ,   but  rather  SURVIVING.   )          exhausted  come  the  pants   &.   billows  of  blackened  smog  betwixt  chapped  tiers.  audits  pick  up  on  troubled  grunts  ,   then  no  sooner  is  yang  spinning  ‘ round  on  heels   &.   launching  herself  straight  into  the  massive  paws  of  ursa  that  could ‘ ve  smacked  ren  halfway  across  the  woods  if  not  for  yang ‘ s  act  of  valour.  the  unbridled  desire  to  keep  her  most  beloved  safe   ,   even  if  the  cost  comes  at  a  hefty  price  in  the  end.   her  aura  shatters  in  a  flurry  of  flickering  golds   &.  despite  that  much   ,   xiao  long  still  finds  the  strength  to  toss  her  foe  back   &.   end  its  reign  of  terror  with  a  single  blast  to  the  head.  people  do  stupid  shit  for  the  ones  they  love   ,   don ‘ t  forget  that.  she ‘ d  never  forgive  herself  if  anything  happened  to  ren.  not  when  yang  is  there  to  prevent  it.  pant  ,  pant.  the  beginnings  of  a  raw  snarl  claw  up  the  back  of  throat  as  scathing  eyes  scan  their  grimm  swarmed  surroundings  for  an  exit  to  book  it  the  hell  out  rather  than  fight  it  out  like  normal.  her  focus  elsewhere  however  leaves  her  wide  open  this  time   ,   for  an  otherwise  devastating  blow  that  would  have  easily  taken  her  out  if  it  weren ‘ t  for  …  ren.   widened  do  lilac  hues  become   ,  shifting  blue   &.   finally  a  brightened  shade  of  scarlet  in  sheer  anger.   part  rage    ,   part  fear   ;   both  because  of  ren   &.   the  grimm  in  question.  

      it  doesn ‘ t  matter  in  for  a  split  second   ,   not  when  yang  sends  an  ire  -  sparked  punch  to  the  belly  of  her  enemy  near  instantly.   it  hurts  this  time.  she ‘ s  using  energy  she  doesn ‘ t  have   ,   no  aura  to  protect  her  from  the  violent  recoils.    ❝  sure  as  hell  doesn ‘ t  seem  like  it    !  ❞  yang  snaps   ,   hisses.   they  have  always  been  harmonious  in  their  designs   ,   yin   &.   yang  incarnate    ;   they  fit  to  one  another  like  matching  puzzle  pieces    ,   filling  in  the  spots  one  lacks    &.   soothing  the  anger  of  the  other  should  it  come  down  to  it   ,   but  this   …   this  forever  remains  something  they  will  never  settle  upon.   ❝  you  know  i  can  handle  the  hits   ,   you  KNOW  i  can  stand  my  o  —   ❞   pause.  silence  strangles  vocals  mid  sentence.  sunny  dragon  knows  what  ren  is  about  to  do  the  moment  she  feels  their  hand  lock  around  her  own.  this  numbness  is  something  girl  inferno  has  only  felt  a  handful  of  times  before   ,   though  it  never  gets  easier  to  adjust  to.  nothing  could  ever  prepare  her  for  this  god  forsaken  emptiness  veiling  both  emotions   &.   gilded  frame  from  grimm.   this  numbing  calmness  that  feels  more  painful  than  she ‘ d  like.  they ‘ re  moving  away  thankfully   ,   but  it  doesn ‘ t  matter.  feeling  this  way  is  far  worse  than  any  death  sentence  via  eldritch  horrors.   ❝  y  ‘  don ‘ t  …   ❞   sharp  exhale.  it ‘s  like  she ‘ s  been  holding  her  breath  for  hours.  how  does  ren  even  do  it   ?   no  wonder  yang  thinks  so  strongly  of  them.  there  she  goes   ,   ripping  away  from  their  hold  for  the  first  time  in  her  life.   ❝  just  get  to  do.  that.   you  don ‘ t  just  get  to  decide  whether  i  can  feel  or  not   ,   ren   !   i ‘ m  not  —   ❞   don ‘ t  say  something  you ‘ ll  regret   ,   don ‘  let  your  emotions  get  the  best  of  you.  ren ‘ s  safe  now   ,  aren ‘ t  they   ?   you  both  are.   ❝  …  i ‘ m  not  you.  ❞   &.   when  she  speaks   ,   it  is  with  a  quivering  lower  lip   &.   the  painful  realization  of  what  was  just  uttered  in  this  bout  of  frustration.   a  fang  bites  into  lower  lip  so  hard  that  blood  begins  to  form   &.   trickle  down  its  curvature   ,   though  dragoness  quickly  smears  it  away  with  the  back  of  hand.  regret  is  already  eating  her  alive.   guilt  flays  her  open   &.   strings  her  guts  across  the  land.  

the human will was not meant to be something that was toyed with so easily, and it seemed that each time ren did, the results were disastrous. their semblance had once promised them control, they could choose to ignore their trauma, they could rid people of pain, they could rid them of fear too, as well as happiness, sadness. they could incite rage if they wanted to, make someone so murderously angry the results would be traumatic. they could read another person, understand their motives, tell if they were lying. they could strip someone of the will to live. this semblance was too dangerous for someone who could barely understand emotions in the first place. this was why ren so often doubted their own sense of self, their own humanity, if they were so willing to mess with the fabric of another’s mind. if this is what became of wanting to protect their loved ones, then maybe ren didn’t deserve them.

dragoness’ definitive “ we’re going home ” should have silenced any oncoming retort. how hard lotus bit their tongue in an attempt to. they wanted so badly to stay silent and give yang time to cool off. a few years ago ren would have, attempting to make themselves scarce in the wake of their wrongdoings. a second apology lingered on the back of their tongue, bitter, acrid, but they wish to force it forward all the same, despite draconic stubbornness. ren never apologised, but fear they had done something unforgivable was so much stronger than any foolish pride. they had never learned to properly process negative emotion, resorting to childlike knives, and bouts of anger immature in nature, but their semblance was the only thing they couldn’t blame on anyone else. their semblance was a part of them, as real and tangible as bone, and flesh, and ichoric, traitorous heart. what did it mean that this faction of their soul was so hideously controlling ? i’m not a good person.

‘   i   ...   ’ a gulp, a stone lodged in throat, volcanic in nature, making it hard to breathe. the instinct to flee is unbearable. they’re scared. but of who ? themselves ? ren’s vocals had always been steady, impossibly calm, like still water. even in the midst of storm - like rage, they had a cadence that was harmoniously elegant. clear, and strong, and powerful. but this was different, with each vowel they shrunk, curled a little bit more into themselves. return to airship location was made deathly quiet save for near silent footsteps beneath them. guilt ate at their psyche, looming stormcloud peeking through the damage. they could handle the anger that surged when ren took hits for yang, but this was different, if they were yang, they wouldn’t have forgiven themselves.   ‘   ...   i really am.   ’   sorry.   they come to clutch at arms, as they followed in her stride, keeping expression and gaze to the ground like scolded child.

‘   i won’t   ...   ’   gods, it was so hard to speak. talking had never come easily to them, but they force out the words anyway, each letter a razor sharp cut down their throat because they simply couldn’t leave it here. they had to fix it somehow. tiny sparks of remaining aura flickered across scarred hands which twitched with the desire to reach out for their sunshine and instead recoiled.   people do stupid things for the ones they love.   ren really was an idiot. she ... she could have taken the blow. it didn’t matter than she had no aura left. it didn’t matter that ren had been worried out of their mind. they could have patched her up afterwards. this was nothing.   don’t.   ren had ben overreacting.   please.   they were always overreacting.   don’t hurt for me.   they projected their weakness onto other people.   please.   they had no faith in other people.   please don’t be mad at me.   but they had no faith in themselves either, not when they did things like this.   i’m sorry.   i’m sorry.   i won’t touch you.

this is where the start of villain verse begins with one defining change, the absence of ren’s main anchor : nora. the lack of someone to take care of ( depriving ren of a sense of meaning, purpose, and a distraction from their own severe ptsd ) meant that ren lost complete control over their semblance. they gave into the apathetic state of their semblance, using it as a crutch in order to functionally process their trauma. instead of having someone to pull them out of this trance from time to time, assassins in search of li found his son and brought them back, utilised the child’s exceptional lineage as well as his abilities in order to turn him into a killer ; one with the ability to manipulate and charm their target with their emotional manipulation semblance, one who was so ruled by apathy that it made their empathy non - existent.

in this verse ren’s clan were commissioned for espionage as agents of salem to monitor and find intel on the location of relics, other relevant information, and the possible surfacing of maidens + other notable individuals ( like silver eyed warriors, and agents of ozpin. ) while they have different clan members undercover in each of the academies, ren’s team was sent to vale and it was there that they were sorted into team jnpr by coincidence. they keep up the facade of living the life of a normal student while relaying information between their team and clan members, and possibly other salem agents depending on interaction. after the fall, and cinder successfully usurped the maiden title they continued to travel with rnjr / jnrr + travelling companions to keep a close eye on the unfolding events.

additional notes:

in this verse, you can also interact with ren pre - beacon in which they are regularly participating in assassination / espionage / acquisition contracts. there’s an alternate timeline where ren was raised into this lifestyle if you’re prefer that for separate aus.

ren freely manipulates in this verse whether they are using their semblance or not, but unless plotting takes place they will only be taking advantage of npcs. there won’t be any god modding unless you will it.