YOU'RE CORRUPTED | casting objects into the fire | spring equinox event

[Romulus]

ROMULUS MALUS - KINGPIN - COTC

The lion had kept things from his parents and siblings past their deaths/disappearances. From the matching earrings to small trinkets of appreciation, Romulus had become sentimental, despite the objects being locked away out of sight. He fidgeted in their presence. They weighed him down due the memories they held within, but he couldn't part with the effigies of the animals he adored and despised. When he heard his mother was holding a burning though, he couldn't help but feel his stomach drop. While the idea was his suggestion, he did not think she would go through with burning memories of their past. Ninazu had proven him wrong.

With the weight of the world on his chest, he managed to ruffle through his things and find some trinkets that he had long forgotten about. Purple eyes stared at them for a moment before sliding them inside a cracked leather satchel. A sigh left him. Romulus rose from the floor in dismay and headed out the cave's entrance into the woods without a word.

The shadows of the village kept him concealed until he appeared out of the dark with a stoic expression across his face and the bag's handle in his jaws. Flicking flame lights bounced off his sharp features, emphasizing the subtle pain that showed through his expression. Pushing past his nerves, he looked towards his mother. He watched in silence as she cast her and his father's achievement into the fire without hesitation. Smoke plumed as a result and his gaze followed until it faded as if he was watching their burdens diminish into nothingness.

Eyes peered off to the side afterwards. With only the fox in their presence, he was up next. Romulus swallowed. He stepped forward to the bonfire pit's edge and began lower his head to empty the contents of his bag onto the floor, only to stop them from spilling out instantly with his paw. The kingpin's gaze narrowed. He couldn't bare letting the memory fade. Leather grinded between his gritted teeth as he hesitated. He raised his head back up from the ground and snarled lowly to himself.

He whipped his head back, forth, and then released the satchel from his jaws. The leather bag flew through the air and landed in the fire. Embers shot into the air. Flames rose up, accepting their prize with a blast of heat. Orange hues reflected in Romulus' eyes as he watched the leather burn away, revealing what was inside. He purposefully shifted so the others couldn't see what had had burned, but by his distraught expression as he turned around, the audience could probably tell it was too sensitive to ask.

With that, he settled back into the crowd and waited for others. Romulus stared blankly forward in an attempt to stay attentive, but his mind was racing and he drifted off.

// OoOO a mystery...