Trigger warnings: talk of suicide
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a s h e
The temple was still and quiet in the late hours of the night, only the sound of heavy rain outside and the occasional shuffle of feet sounding. Silvery-blue light flashed through dust motes from the vaulted windows when lightning cracked, yellow illuminating everything below with the glow of torches and candles alike. From her vantage point, she could perfectly see the shrine, the staircase that led down to her mother’s tavern, the way that led to the infirmary. She’d have to give this place a good sniff-around one of these days, really investigate it… but for now, the assassin remained upon the rafter high above the ground, staring out the window positioned near the ceiling. She watched the rain batter the panes, and she blinked slowly when thunder rumbled. Lightning followed a moment later, and the raven-haired girl took a deep breath with it, magic singing in her blood. She was dripping wet still, having raced through the rain in the furs of a wolf and leaving herself thoroughly soaked. The temple had seemed a warm and inviting place to spend the evening when she’d finally slowed down her running, finally regained some sense of self. It hadn’t taken her long to climb her way up to the vaulted ceilings and find herself a comfortable place in the rafters, leaning back against one with her legs stretched out in front of her.. And she now had a bottle of wine tipped back, already half gone. Ashe licked the tartness of it from her lips as she lowered it back down to her lap, letting it settle comfortably in her chest, sinking down an suffusing through her with a tingling warmth. One might argue that it wasn’t wise to be drinking while lounging in the rafters very, very high up, but she had little care, little worry. She only leaned her head back against the beam behind her, fire-blue eyes staring dully at the storm outside. Lightning cracked, and she took another long and slow breath. Ashe glanced down at the bottle of red wine, raising it to inspect its contents. That little spider wouldn’t have been bad company just then. She could share a drink with the little beast and and feel a little bit less lonely without actually having to be around anyone. She frowned and lifted the bottle back to her lips, tipping back the bitter wine that burned her nose in its strength. Stupid, drunk little spider probably would have loved it. Lightning snapped again, thunder rumbling in its wake, and Ashe thought of the last time she had stood outside in the middle of a storm. Balanced. That’s what she had felt for the first time in a long time. The feeling had vanished with the storm however, and she had never found it again. Tonight, sprinting through the rain on four paws, she had not found any balance. No peace. The assassin slowly and deliberately expelled the air from her lungs as she reached back and pulled up the hood of her rich blue cloak, covering her soaking wet hair, and she drew it closely around herself. It was wet, of course, so even drawing it around herself and her soaked-through training clothes wasn’t enough to stave off the shivers of cold. Alcohol, however, would definitely to the trick. She took another pull from the bottle before wiping her mouth with the back of a scarred hand, her eyes snapping up at another flash of lightning. Her own magic was humming in response, blue and gold veins of electricity flickering along moon-pale skin and within black hair. She glanced below her then, wondering if anyone would notice the tiny flicks of light high up in the shadowed ceiling. She was confident no one would look for her up there… Until movement shadowed at the edge of her vision, and her head snapped around to the source, eyes sharp and her free hand already gripping the hilt of Reckoning where it rested in her lap. |
