silent in the trees ┊ DEATH (O)

[RICHARD.]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; font-family: times new roman; letter-spacing: .6px; color: #494949;"]tw // death of a character , past relationship abuse , blood n stuff like that he got shot
(also just a brief note that this is a retro thread, it takes place when the big fight with bp is happening so if your character is at the fight, they wouldn't be here for this oop)

a crimson red started to take over the pure, white snow as the blood began to surround the area where seb had fallen down. there had been nice weather all day, the sun was shining and with spring around the corner, there had been brief days of temperatures that made the outside feel warmer than normal, but as he laid there all he could think about was how cold he was. there wasn't a bright light, his life didn't flash before his eyes like all of the stories he had heard before - all that he felt was cold and alone.

everyone had left for the final fight awhile ago and seb had been pacing around the lodge grumpily. even after the fall of their family, he was still being treated like he couldn't handle himself. even now, eddie told him he wasn't allowed to go to the fight because max didn't want him around that. he couldn't help to feel so useless, let alone so bored.

after moping for awhile, he put on a hoodie and decided to go outside for awhile for some fresh air, kicking clumps of snow as he grumbled to himself. he was about to start heading back in when he heard someone walking through the snow behind him, making him turn his head towards the person.

"ian?"

he wasn't really alone, but the company he had wasn't preferred. ian stood over him, head tilted to the side as he watched the life from seb slowly disappear. for a moment, seb just thought about how he wanted his siblings around, how he wanted beau to be there and not off abandoning them again. he didn't get to say goodbye when he left, and he wouldn't get to say goodbye as he died. he wanted his parents, he wanted his mom there to tell him everything was going to be okay one last time and he wanted to hear him say how his dad was proud of him just once.

maybe he would see them soon.

seb stood there in disbelief, blinking his eyes a few times to make sure he really saw ian standing there. it wasn't long before the initial shock turned into anger. "what the hell are you doing here? how did you find us?" he demanded, pointing a finger at his sister's ex. "beau and cass told you what they would do to you if you ever showed back up, are you stupid or something?"

"but, they aren't here, are they? it's just you today, seb." a tightness grew in the youngest van doren's throat as the older man spoke, watching as he put his hands in his pockets to pull something out. he could still see max running into the house crying the night she decided to finally end things with ian. he had never seen her so scared before, her lip bleeding from being busted open, a black eye and bruises starting to form. it made him sick to his stomach then, and even just thinking about it was bringing back that same nausea.

seb lifted his hand up slowly, looking at the blood covering it. the metallic smell began to invade his nose, making him rest his head back down into the snow to stare up at the sky. if he had to take a guess, he didn't have much longer now. he was starting to feel so tired and weak.

"you better stay away from max, you hear me? yo- you better just leave her alone, you already put her through enough pain." it was hard to meet ian's eyes as he spoke, but he forced himself to do it, his own eyes narrowed at ian. truth be told, he didn't meet ian all that much because after he and max got engaged, he made her stop visiting the house as often as she use to. even with the minimal interactions that they had, seb felt uneasy with standing face to face with him.

"or what? i know she misses me, and neither you or your siblings are going to keep us apart. i know you guys have been lying to her, telling her about how bad i am for her. it's not going to work, i'm going to win her back." ian finally took his hands out of his pockets, now showing off the gun he had been hiding his pocket, making the air catch in seb's throat. "i just need to get the rest of you out of the picture." seb didn't have time to react as he raised the gun and pulled the trigger, making seb fall backwards into the snow.

"hey, we need some help out here!" ian called out as he noticed that seb was slipping away. "sorry you couldn't make it the wedding, sebby. i know max would have wanted you there." he said, crouching down to pat seb's cheek. he wanted to swat his hand away, but he couldn't bring himself to move anymore. instead he let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to be where he was anymore. his last thoughts as he drifted off was him imagining he was back at home, everyone still being alive and settling into the dining room for a family dinner as he pushed away the pain and the sound of ian saying things to him.

a few seconds passed and richard van doren took his last breath.

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 2.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Lucia was well acquainted with death.

Ever since her birth, it was all that she knew. A plague that followed the Stirling family wherever they walked. Perhaps it made sense considering their line of work, but then with that understanding it ought to have only been the family to have to meet their own demise. But no — in her life, countless innocent lives were lost as a result of the family’s actions. Friends, acquaintances, strangers whose families never had the chance to say goodbye, all for greed and the desire for power.

That was all that this was, wasn’t it? Greed and power. Not survival, but the yearning for something more to make life worthwhile. How many more people had to die before they realised that this simply wasn’t worth it? Lucia was by no means an activist for peace, but this? All of this senseless killing? It was astounding. These were all once faultless beings — she never quite believed that a person could be born inherently evil, despite having two brothers which ought to defy that opinion — that did not know what it meant to be so barbaric.

Lucia was that way too, once upon a lifetime ago. She used to be innocent, like the rest of them, but she wasn’t so modest now. This was now her life; the blood and the bruises, the jagged wounds like teeth against flesh and that hollow void nagging within. Something there was missing nowadays and it made her feel rotten and sick.

She wondered whether this emptiness was what led one to kill. Observation led her to that very conclusion. Frederick, for a start, saw no true pleasure in life. At least, he lived life with the knowledge that his death would and should be thrilling, one to mark him a hero in the eyes of many. Sometimes, it seemed as if he obsessed over his death so much that his life was so swiftly passing him by. A hollowness of the lack of meaningful memories to show that his life meant more than his death.

William, on the other hand, with his shallow emotions and shallow remorse. Nothing fazed her eldest brother, because he cared too little to hold any sentimental meaning over anything in his life. A hollowness in his soul because he did not care to let anything into that space. It frightened her, the way she began to sympathise with the ones she felt such distaste towards.

❝ Hey, we need some help out here! ❞ Alarmed, Lucia looked towards the source of the sound out in the woods as a man shouted. Surely the others had not yet returned from the fight just yet, and so Lucia was left puzzled as to what he needed help with. Treading through the snow, she listed off what she may potentially come across when she’d arrive.

She never expected to see Seb, laying in the snow.

❝ Oh my God. ❞ Lucia choked out, gawking at Ian before rushing to Seb’s side. ❝ What are you doing?! Do something! ❞ Falling onto her knees, Lucia quickly tucked her hair behind her ears before trying to feel for a pulse. Anything. He was still warm, but he was already gone. ❝ Shit... ❞ She uttered shakily below her breath, shaking her head slowly before looking up to Ian. ❝ What happened? Did you see who did it? ❞ His death was recent; the perpetrator had to still be out here somewhere.

// Seb :-( I'm literally so gd sad

[blake k.]

Death seemed to have become a new friend. As the pregnant woman followed Lucia out, she was quick to realize it was the worst. What had he been doing outside? She had been putting everyone to work, he should've been inside. She stopped a bit away, staring at the scene before her as Lucia took a better initiative. he died on your watch blakie she could hear the sneering comment from her father in her mind among the questions circling inside you're a child killer. what if it was your kid? oooh you're just like me, blake. A terrible parent, like him. Or so she assumed he meant as their shared violent outbursts and short tempers weren't at play here.

"I want anyone who isn't already doing something to search the mountain. I'm not letting this bastard get away. Go!" she barked, her attention then going back to the scene in front of her before it landing on who she could assume was the one to call for help...but Blake didn't recognize him. "Would you mind going with some members? I understand here you have that whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing, but I would appreciate if you humor me and stick around since you're the one who found him and I don't recall ever seeing you around" she explained, though her eyes were watching him carefully. She was armed should it be needed, though she hoped he would humor her and do as she asked. After all, didn't they detain the reporter anyways?

Blake looked at Lucia and then to Seb. The last death was still too raw of a wound for her to really process this. She knew it was happening, but she was a lot more emotionless than she would be. "Should we put him in that area you set up? Or perhaps in a spare bedroom?" not Seb's room though. She'd prefer it be close by where the other beds were for the wounded, but still in a private place. "I-...I-I'm not really sure...what to do" she admitted, her voice cracking by the end as she stuttered through. The wounds were too raw. Too raw.

"He was just a kid..." a tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke. She wasn't even able to protect a kid. She wasn't good enough to protect Alfie or Seb. She couldn't protect anyone. 

[spoiler=TAGS 4/1]
Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise — general
▪ Blake Adrian Kegan | Blake, Blakie | open to nicknames
▪ AFAB | Identifies as Genderfluid | she/they
▪ 23 | Born July 26th | ages real time
▪ combat | member of Flintlock Lodge

Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised — physical
♦ Health: 100%
— They stand at 5'9" with semi-long wavy ginger hair. She has a rose tattoo and a few scars from past events. She's closer to an athletic build and is on the thinner side. She has an Australian accent as she's originally from Adelaide, Australia.
— minor injuries: n/a
— major injuries: n/a

Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it — important events
— 4/1 Had Xena
— 12/05 Lost her best friend, Alfie
— 7/26 Celebrated her 23rd birthday
— 5/31 Had Keiron and Louis; The "Hell Twins"

Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it — personality
— I like to think Blake is a good example of the whole "strong, independent woman" thing even if she doesn't identify as a woman. She has a short temper and what I gently put as homicidal tendencies. She will gladly fight someone, regardless if they're bigger than her or not. However, she's also rather maternal and is more likely to protect a child than anything. Her maternal side has massively shown itself since the twins were born, though that leaves her more violent side to be overlooked or forgotten.
— Maternal, "Strong Independent Woman", Protective
— Violent, Homicidal Tendencies, Short Tempered

I'm headed straight for the castle — relationships
▪ Ryan Kegan x Katherine Kegan
▪ Pansexual | Panromantic | Polyamorous
▪ It's complicated | Crushing on one | Maybe Crushing on no one
    ↳ Involved with Danny Hargrove
▪ Ex-wife of Edmund Moray
    ↳ cheated on her
▪ Mother of six
    ↳ Thomas and Charlotte Moray (2yrs)
    ↳ Louis and Keiron Stirling-Kegan (10m)
    ↳ Xena Hargrove (0m)
    ↳ Guardian to Danny's son, Cade (9yrs)

They wanna make me their queen — interaction
— Physically very hard | Mentally intermediate
— Uses compound bow and arrows
— Also skilled in hand to hand combat
— No killing and ask before major injuries or major interactions
— To attack, [member=9567]Noccy[/member] & attack in #B34600
[/spoiler]