◙ outside the walls

@☤ Simon [Yin] Daehyun runs his fingers through Murphy's mane, trying to keep his head steady. It throbs incessantly and the sun is suddenly so scorchingly bright that he has to blink the spots away from his eyes and squint at the plains in front of him. Tentatively, he raises his head to see if his perception has improved. Yeah, no. The world still swirls in front of him in an image the consistency of heated glue. Don't barf. He instead focuses on the tiny red stain on the hem of his jacket sleeve. It's going to be a pain to wash off. He sighs.

Blood, and the green of the plains, fresh under the summer sun. His horse's powerful muscles move below him, its footsteps still thunderous. Blood, plains, a horse, noise, redness, light, green, horses, sounds, sounds, brother is waiting at home. Red. Green. Horses. Bright. A green horse, and brother. More red. Don't forget, January 13th. Don't forget. Don't forget what? The green horse, and the redness, and the noise, and the brightness. No, don't remember. Brother. Brother's coming. Now he's waiting at home. January 13th. Don't forget. Don't remember.

Daehyun blinks again (since when was he this sleepy?), but his eyelids are suddenly made of lead. January 13th. Brother's birthday. How old is he? Twenty-seven. That can't be right. Daehyun is twenty-seven. Brother is older. Ten years, maybe five years? But, how old? Definitely twenty-seven. A green horse, and red blood. Noise - a scream. Whose? Bright...glinting. Metal. Blade? Horse. Green horse. Don't forget. How old is he? Why, Daehyun suddenly wonders, in this brief moment before unconsciousness, this moment of warped lucidity, why can't he remember his own brother's age?

He knows why. His heart seizes in his chest and it suffocates him from the inside out. The bloodied stallion, January 13th, don't forget. No. Forget it all, don't remember- His eyes roll to the back of his head and he sees red, then black. He tumbles off of his horse in a messy heap of limbs.

[[ so simon you're probably the only person who will understand this even a little. actually scratch that even i don't understand what i just wrote. so much wtfery and dae is once more princess peach so go save him, commander charming. ]]

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] "You're gonna get your _____ kicked," Simon replies, after seeing the word Daehyun scratched into the dirt with the toe of his boot.

He watches as Murphy approaches the two of them and he shakes his head. The white beast is not terribly attractive- down right strange looking at times. He still has no idea why Daehyun chose the horse, regardless of its' rather dopey looking face. He places his thumb and index finger in the corners of his mouth and whistles, loud and clear. He waits for a bit. A couple seconds later, and sure enough, the pounding of Elluvian's hooves are audible.

A bit later he can see the black stallion quickly approaching at a gallop. When the horse stops in front of him, he leaps on, adjusting himself on the saddle before jerking his head forward. He taps Elluvian on the side, gently, jolting slightly as the stallion raced forward.

The wind laces spindly fingers through his hair, and he relishes the feeling.

[[ so _____ty ]]

@☤ Simon [Yin] Daehyun flushes at Simon's words, but his relief at actually being alive overpowers his embarrassment. He takes his friend's hand and attempts, for the nth time, to stand. Yet again, the nausea sweeps over him, and he coughs into his hand. It comes away red and bloodied.

Ugh, it's too bright, he thinks to himself. Maybe he's concussed. That really isn't good, considering how they're right in the middle of a mission right now, and a decent sense of balance is actually necessary. At least he seems to be getting steadier on his feet, now. How in the world did he screw up this badly? His brother's going to be so angry at him when they come back from the mission, with a screwup this bad. He writes "brother" on the dirt with his toe and grins at Simon. Man, he's really going to get his _____ handed to him when he gets back. Brother's always been so about his safety.

Feeling slightly more at ease, he looks around. The formation has already moved on, but he can see where they are based on the armada of green flares up in the sky. He scans the plains for Murphy and, seeing him wandering about, signals for him to come. The hideous, white beast canters over, letting Daehyun onto his back.

Tilting his head at Simon, Daehyun gestures to the fading green flares over the horizon. They'd best get a move on.

[[ sorry it and sorry my tense may change occasionally ]]

[[ Keep in mind, however: Lee Jaewoo is a member of the Spec Ops team. He is not incompetent.

He will not make any large sacrifices or mistakes. His goal is to get in and out quickly and efficiently, with minimal deaths. ]]

[[ NOTICE: for all those roleplaying here, outside the walls, in the expedition, please mention "Lee Jaewoo".

He's an OC who's currently in charge of the entire legion while Simon leads the Spec Ops team. This is specially set up so that anyone who needs the mob moved for plot purposes can, essentially, control the legion. ]]

[[ also, i meant to say thirty feet, not meters. thirty meters is...pretty far lol ]]

[[ omg it's terrible gold star i tried ]]

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] He technically should be at the center of the formation, directing the advancement of the Legion. But, as always, he is the Captain of the Special Ops team before he is the Commander. He's placed the more-than capable Jaewoo, his second in command, at the center of the formation and trusts him to lead the legion well.

Is it a good choice?

That remains to be determined.

Meanwhile, he races forward on his specially bred horse. He gives it a steadying hand on its' neck, running his fingers through it's billowing mane for a second. It's easy to ignore all of the action, ignore the pounding of the hooves and the beating of his heart. And he does so, indulges himself for a brief second. He's on his very distinctive horse, pitch black where the others are brown. The inky black strands of its mane whip wildly in the wind, and his pressed uniform pales in comparison to its black pelt. Although not visible to him, he knows of the intelligent blue eyes his horse possesses. It's the only horse he will ever ride, and he is the only one the fiery stallion allows onto his back.

He quickly focuses back onto the scenery whipping past him. There are few trees in the wide open plain in front of him, a couple dotting the far sides where the formation doesn't even reach.

There have been remarkably little titans in their way, and it's far too peaceful for him to let his guard down. He has done this far too many times, seen far too many comrades die because they let their guards down for a second too long. It's the calm before a storm hits.

Just as that thought strikes him, black flares streak through the sky, marring the blue skies with smoky black lines. He looks back for a quick second and he can see the distinct white of Daehyun's horse peel away from the formation in the direction of the aberrant. He sees the small figure shoot out and slice through the heel, but he also sees the miscalculation in Daehyun's movement.

He looks over at Astrid, who's riding next to him on her dapple grey, and nods sharply before pressing his triggers and launching himself over to where the limp figure of his best friend lays in a heap ( fear shoots through his system ). He retracts his hooks and is moving forward and staying in air based only on momentum- before he shoots a single hook at the nape of the neck.

The sudden connection from his left hook directs him to the left and tilts his movement, jarring him into an angle. It's distinctively his own style- where he moves in a straight line before launching into an arc and finishing with a full circle with both blades extended. He flies forward, in his own unique arc, as he slices through the nape. The momentum causes him to spin around once, viciously, both blades out, before he lands lightly next to the steaming corpse.

He walks over and tugs at the dog tag hanging from Daehyun's neck. He offers a hand and hides his fear behind a snarky comment.

"Getting sloppy on me, Jung."

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] [[ *money on the titan gdi i hate typos ]]

[[ someone rp with me goddamn it i'm desperate. ]]

His horse's gallop thunders below him, only a few beats off of his accelerating heartbeat. Winds whips at his face, pulls at his cloak, tears at his hair. The speed causes his eyes to water, blurring out the image in front of him of the sprawling plains.

Air here is clear and fresh, and the adrenaline shooting through Daehyun's veins isn't enough to quite stop him from taking note of it and the exhilaration of freedom. Still, his clammy hands are clenched tightly around the reins, the back of his spine at once icy and burning hot. He isn't sure if he enjoys this strange, dichotomous combination of desperate terror and blithe exultation, and he isn't sure if he'll ever know. The only truths he is sure of at this point is that they are outside of the walls, and that one wrong move in this beautiful, cruel world will cost him his life.

As if to answer his thoughts, black flares bloom from the right flank and an Aberrant runs towards him with a leering grin. Daehyun whips out his blades, and, knowing that his formation partner will most likely fire the signal flare, launches himself at its heels. Reminding himself to breathe, he neatly slices through its left ankle. The titan falls, but not before flailing its right leg and tossing him into the nearest tree.

Daehyun collides back-first into the tree's gnarly trunk, slamming his head into it and slumping onto the ground below. He swears internally as the landscape around him seems to spin before his eyes. How could he have messed up this badly? He's been doing this for ten years, for god's sake. He attempts to stagger to his feet, only to fall again, the nausea causing him to vomit a little in the back of his throat. It tastes of blood.

Scarcely thirty meters away is the titan, its heel rapidly regenerating as it struggles to stand. Who, Daehyun wonders, will get to his feet first? Himself, or the titan? Personally, he chuckles internally, he'd put his money of the titan. Still, how many times has he been in a life-or-death situation like this? Seven, eight, nine, ten times? He attempts to stand again, but his legs feel like lead. His horse is nowhere to be seen, his partner is...somewhere, the titan looks like it's almost done regenerating, and he'd really appreciate it if someone would kill it right about now...

But he knows from experience that that's probably wishful thinking.

[[ guhasdfhjklashdfjkl what ]]

[[ hey guys! in case you missed the announcement, rping in here is now open for survey corps members. (and members of the garrison/mp if you're brave enough, but since you aren't going to be under orders...uh...it'll be difficult xD). if you don't have anyone to rp with, just leave a starter here and i'm sure someone (or myself) will respond C: ]]