A Heart so Cold
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

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#1
It was late, and the infirmary still needed a lot of work. Isla had just emerged from the study where she had started trying to keep rudimentary notes on those who had visited her so far in the Sanctuary. The treatment rooms and the ward, at least, were clean now and functional, but it was all woefully under-equipped.

Rubbing at her forehead, the medic sighed and walked on quiet feet through to the little anteroom that served as a reception, preparing to leave for the night. The temperature, while pleasant through the day, dropped alarmingly after sunset, and as such she was bundled up in a ragged scarf she had found and a coat too large for her willowy frame. She'd started a fire in the study, but even a few steps out of it and she was seriously considering sleeping in the infirmary.

In fact, Isla paused to gaze back through the ward wistfully. What would the harm be, really? She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand, shaking off the thought and turning up her collar. Soon, she thought, there would be more medics, ones with magic, and nurses and others to help out. Best not to start thinking of the place as hers.
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#2
Archebold had wandered freely, almost completely unnoticed since arriving. In his wake nearly a half dozen piles of ash had been left behind as mere remnants of what was.

He had never eaten so well, so freely. Dare he think it, Archebold was actually quite happy with himself. He had never felt so...alive...so powerful...so free. That was a frightening thought for one such as himself. He wandered aimlessly, the harsh reality of the ineffectiveness of his day ring brought him to dwell in caves and other dwellings like an animal as he explored the foreign land.

When he arrived to the infirmary, his attire was slightly dusted but still not a wrinkle could be seen. He appeared in the doorway without so much as a sound when Isla glanced and gave him her back. A single tap of his walking stick was given to announce his presence.

"Funny thing...this new world we find ourselves in...so much is unknown...it's like being born again. Yet we strive for the familiar." He would wait for Isla to face him before he offered a fanged grin. "Forgive me...I don't think we have met formally before. Archebold Cobb..." a hand looped onto his chest as he offered a half-bow.

"You have been fast at work here it seems..." He muttered glancing around the infirm...fighting the hesitation to grin before looking back to the young woman with hollow, black eyes.
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

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#3
The rap of the walking stick against the ground made Isla's heart jump into her throat - the medic flinched in surprise, turning sharply to face the doorway only to find the gentleman death there himself (apparently). Her chest beat wildly as she took a few breaths to slow her rising adrenaline, offering Archebold a smile that was as relieved as it was embarrassed. "You frightened me there," she admitted, turning to face him fully and about to apologise for not recognising him when he offered his name freely.

Ah. The Bloodfiend Captain of the Wall (the fangs were a giveaway even if she hadn't realised it). Not that the Wall was there any longer. "I don't believe we have, no. Isla Lockwood," she introduced in return, offering a curtsey befitting a duchess that was made ludicrous by her current attire and their surroundings.

"I have had to be," she remarked of the infirmary, offering a wry sort of smile. "Injury and sickness does not wait for you to be ready, after all. But... and forgive my plain speaking, you are hardly the sort of man in need of a doctor. How can I help you?"
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#4
Archebold grinned at Isla 's startled reaction as he leaned against his walking stick. "The apology is mine to give...force of habit I suppose." Archebold glanced around before turning his attention to the young woman chuckling at her courtesy.

"Such formality...but you're correct, an infirmary is the last of my concerns...so I'm afraid there really is nothing you can do for me...I am here actually...to ask if there is anything I can offer you."

Archebold stepped fully into the infirmary, walking stick tapping around as he gave himself a makeshift tour. "I'm afraid my reputation was not favorable back in Northhaven..." his long, thin finger slid along gathering some leftover dust, to which he pinched and wiggled his finger clean.

"As you can imagine, I'm eager to prove new beginnings can work for anyone. While I lack a healer's touch, I am well versed in surgical methods...I'm an avid study." He quipped with a smirk when he turned to Isla. "Are you aware in some cases leeches are often used in medical practice? Should the need arise, perhaps I too can serve a similar purpose...if needed of course."

Leaning back, both hands resting on the knob of his stick as he cleared his throat. "A new world of disease and dangers is a lot for one person to undertake...in short...I would like to assist in the infirmary." He had spent his years taking life...hell it was a habit he still hasn't broken even as we speak...but this young lass seemed innocent enough, ignorant to his ways...and ignorance was bliss.
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

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#5
Isla

this won't hurt a bit

"Might I suggest a greeting instead, if it's a habit you're looking to break?" Isla's tone was lighthearted, and she seemed much more collected after the initial surprise. A fellow Northavener was much better than a monster lurking around in the infirmary after dark (granted, if she knew how close Archebold might be to that description she might think differently).

She stepped further into the infirmary as he walked in, blue eyes following him as he gave himself a tour. Not that there was much to see, especially in the reception area - just a desk that no one currently worked at, a few benches for people to sit upon and... well, that was about it. Boring, really.

"Anything you can offer... me?" She tilted her head, before his meaning became clear. His reputation back in Northaven was of little import to Isla; perhaps if she'd had a chance to accustom to the place for more than five minutes, she'd feel differently. But if Archebold was keen to turn over a new leaf, and he had an interest and knowledge of medicine, who was she to deny it?

A wry smile flickered across her face, however, at the suggestion of using him as a makeshift leech. "I am not sure how happy the sick would be for you to draw blood from them," she said. "Or how much you would get out of it." She was treating it as a dark sort of joke, which seemed safer than the alternative.

"Well... there are a few with healing magic. And there's myself, and a midwife... but any assistance would be more than appreciated. Thank you, truly. Would you like to see the rest of the place?"






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#6
archebold
Fear is the price of imagination
Archebold wasn't lost on the effects of his kind toward the flock, even in a new world, old fears still loomed...and while others might have taken offense, he seemed to relish the thought. There was nothing more empowering than to know the feeling of pure superiority...even more so now that the leash which bound him was removed.

He simply grinned at Isla and nodded as if he understood the gist of what she was trying to say.

"My people have spent years establishing themselves as being tools for a means. Presentation in society a distant second. I spent years tailoring and pressing my person suit to mend those ties only to realize with enough time, it made little to no difference. They had already labeled me a monster, and whether I denounced or accepted such a title made little difference because their mind was already made up."

Archebold reasoned, stepping ahead of Isla as he anticipated her to follow along to give him the touch of the infirmary herself. Walking stick gently tapping along the ground in a dull pad.

"I chose to embrace what I was..."

He continued as his dark eyes surveyed, glancing back to the healer briefly.

"...I...hated your kind beyond words. Before arriving here I planned to sever the ties that bound my people, by claiming the head of my former sire. It would have been pain in its truest form to a body that had known only to be numb...but such was the desire to break free and tear down everything Northwind stood for.

Do you know what it's like? Not thinking or acting for yourself, but out of what your body was programmed to do? It's like being in a prison with no doors, no windows, no light. It's just you, locked within yourself. Total darkness. To become so desperate to be free, that we would plot to kill the beacon of our existence...such was the price we were willing to pay, I was willing to pay...

Yet here we are. The precipices of change. A new world, a new beginning for some if not all..."


Fingers trailed along various items in passing.

"...and for the first time in my life, I have no idea what to do."

Archebold chuckled as he examined some of the surgical tools.

"Freedom at the price of...nothing. Just given. You're right...it is foolish to assume anyone would accept the help of one who openly despised your kind for so long."

Again he turned to Isla, walking stick rolling within his palm.

"You speak earnestly...brave, as most would pander to me and tell me what I want to hear for fear of what they know me to be capable of."

For a moment his face turned stone serious before he charmingly grinned.

"I've always took to frankness...I myself hold nothing from no one. Call it a blessing and curse. I'm not ashamed of what I am or what I've done, or would have done...I was trying to protect my people, as any one of you would had our paths been reversed."

Archebold than continued along.

"Tell me something Isla Lockwood...what inspired you to pursue this? To preserve life hm?"
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

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#7
Isla


take your medicine

Isla's lips parted as if to question Archebold, the faint confusion on her face probably enough for him to realise she was wondering what he was getting at. She was too polite to interrupt her guest, however, and instead followed along after him to show him the infirmary, listening inently as he spoke. "It is difficult to shrug off a prejudice," she agreed. "If you had asked me as a child what I thought of your people, I likely would have parroted the same biases of my tutors and family." Isla shrugged.

"That being said, you meet a lot of your kind on the battlefield. Whilst I could do little for you that you couldn't do yourselves, I have a healthy respect for what you are." And a healthy fear - that went without saying.

Absently, she pointed out different parts of the infirmary as they walked - the ward, the private treatment rooms, the operating room and, finally, the study she'd just emerged from. The faint scent of smoke from the fire and the candles still suffused the air around the door. At that point Archebold had expressed his feelings on her kind and his intentions back in Northaven - Isla halted outside the door, linking her hands loosely behind her back.

"Me? It wasn't inspiration, Captain, but duty that put me on this path. The Lockwood family has healed the crown for generations using their magic. I was not blessed with the gift, unfortunately. But I was blessed with a sharp mind and steady hands, and so I learned what I could the hard way." She lifted her gaze to appraise him. "What of you? Your heart beat once, too, the same as mine. What made you choose to become what you are? Did you hate our kind even then?"

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#8
archebold
Fear is the price of imagination
"Excuse me..."

Archebold spoke quietly with a subtle grin as he stepped past Isla through the doorway and into her study, brushing against her was unavoidable, but he was always so curious. His mind thirsting for as much knowledge as it could hold.

His own hands folded loosely behind his back as his walking stick swayed side to side like the tail of a curious dog. He had heard her question but chose not to answer just yet. Everything he ever did was always on his terms. How he spoke, where he appeared...few ever summoned him or pried knowledge from him without his approval of said questions.

He looked over her books, thin fingers trailing along various covers and spines.

"You acknowledge your, imperfections...for lack of a better term, and you adapted. Made what some would view as a short-coming, your asset. I hope you don't take offense to such an assessment..."

Archebold continued turning briefly to Isla as he looked her over.

"It is imperfection that allows us to evolve, improve ourselves. You are a better healer, a better person because everything you achieved in your life you worked for. Using nothing but your mind and the natural dexterity you have honed with your very own hands.

There is a certain amount of pride you must feel in your work, pride no one would ever really understand...because it belongs solely to you it is apart of the path you forged for yourself."


Archebold smiled as he turned to fully regard her, resting his walking stick against the desk as he leaned back and took a seat over the desk, taking a book and absently flipping its pages.

"As for me...ignorance of youth."

He responded candidly with a chuckle.

"Imagine you are presented with the offer, to preserve your youth, your beauty...with the chance to become something greater than you are. Your strength, speed, ability to heal all amplified into the next step of evolution...would you consider the fine print of what was to come with it?

The answer for me was no. I desired power. I desired strength, and fuel for my vanity. The cost would be great, or so some considered...the absence of pleasure, or siring a child. I suppose if I held a desire for a family it would effect me more but..."


Archebold simply shrugged.

"...never found something worth loving more than myself. Does that make me vane or self-reliant? I never know that answer...perhaps a little of both. You see the world differently when you don't live in constant fear of it. It's a sense of freedom that is...overwhelming. Beautiful even."

The book would be placed down onto the desk as he quietly studied Isla and motioned her over.

"Come here...I'll show you what I mean..."

Had she hesitated he would smile that fanged smile, his voice always at a constant calm, an ease as if he truly believed in every word he said.

"Please, I won't harm you. Had I the intention we would not be having this conversation."
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

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#9
Isla


take your medicine

Isla raised her eyebrows as Archebold excused himself, and she shifted out of the way to give him access to the study - not that there was much to see, given that the fire and the candles were all out. Granted, from what she knew of Bloodfiends the darkness didn't trouble them, but as the former captain appraised her books and files and desk, Isla at least lit a couple of candles for herself. Blowing out the match, she glanced up as he spoke of her 'imperfections'.

She felt a smile curl across her lips. "You speak as if I overcame some sort of trial by succeeding in my chosen arena," she said softly. "But I suppose you are right. I do take a certain amount of pride in my work. I have the skills to help people when there are no healers to save the day." Perhaps that term - save the day - was telling in some ways, but she didn't dwell on it.

Lingering in the doorway as he seated himself upon her desk and persued her textbooks, Isla glanced over him. Like some eldritch creature lounging in the shadows, the healer realised with a start that she had never seen a Bloodfiend off the battlefield. She had assumed that they lived to fight, and yet here was a former Storm Guard captain, flicking through the pages of a book as studious as one of her fellow medics.

His response was unexpected, since Isla had assumed he wouldn't answer at all. And to hear it fall so frankly from his lips... she frowned. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "Not that I don't appreciate your candidness, but you confessed to hating my kind just a few breaths ago. Not that you... never mind." He couldn't do anything in a few breaths, given that he didn't breathe, really.

"Then again, you say hated. Do you not, anymore?" She tilted her head.

But it seemed that Isla was not the only one with requests to make. She caught herself taking a step without thinking about it, logic interfering and halting her progress across the room so she could study Archebold right back. No, she didn't think he would harm her - he was right, and if that was his aim he would have carried it out already. But quite how he was going to show her what he meant was beyond her. And it was that curiosity that took her ever closer into the spider's web. She paused before the desk, deciding that was quite close enough. "I do not live in constant fear of the world, though," she said. "Rather, I am at war with it. No... that isn't right. I am at constant war with death."

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#10
archebold
Fear is the price of imagination
"The answer to your question is quite simple really."

Archebold mused as he reached over and gently took Isla by the hand and inched her just a few more inches closer.

"You asked."

Brows arched up as he chuckled, dark, hollow eyes hold her own as he continued.

"What have I to hide? I'm not ashamed of what I am, how I came to be, or what I've done. Every decision I've made has been deliberate. I seldom take leaps of faith if the intention to land on my feet isn't there. Everything I say or do has purpose, whether it's known now or later is another matter entirely.

Would you prefer I be brooding, silent...or pander to what I feel would be an answer that make you feel safe, secure...Consider my frankness a sign of respect.

My feelings towards your kind has no effect on how I address you. There is little cost to the truth...and to lie would mean to use effort I would otherwise have stored elsewhere for a more worthwhile purpose."


Fingers gently curled around her wrist as he felt for her pulse. It was strong, even for one without magic pumping through it.

"Now close your eyes...ease yourself. I read each beat as the words of the books you study from..."

His voice softening into a lulling, whispered calm as if to lull Isla into obeying...to ease her body.

"When before, had I just been simply a man, I would look at you and simply see a woman. Beautiful, soft...Now I see beyond that. I can shut my eyes and feel the life pulsing through you. Like sparks striking down a fuse and working its way through you. I merely have to listen...listen to each distinct beat. I could see what may otherwise be hidden, your fear, your deception, your happiness...and pleasure. Clued by a simple flutter.

I can dissect everything that makes you, you, just by listening or touching you. It's like realizing, all this time you were born blind. You couldn't really see anything at all, but than your eyes are opened and you can see everything. Quite literally...as someone who studies and aims to preserve life, imagine what that must feel like to have the veil pulled back and all you have to do is listen...and realize death is not your enemy, it is not the end...but the cure. You may open your eyes once more..."


Archenold instructed, fingers slid from her wrist to loop around her hand as he raised it and gently kissed the top of her hand before releasing her completely. His hands resting down on the rim of her desk as he looked Isla over.

"Did you find that satisfactory?"

{Bunny permission granted by Honey}
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

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#11
Isla


take your medicine

You asked.

That simple? Isla managed a smirk as he took her hand and drew her closer, his long fingers cool and strangely other, like something human-but-not. Staring into his eyes was like staring down a dark well, and though Isla was a confident sort she had to fight not to tear her gaze away. Suddenly everything outside of that hollow blackness seemed brighter and more vibrant, almost like a warning.

She cleared her throat. "Forgive me for saying so, Captain, but it is hardly a leap of faith if you are already reasonably sure of the outcome." Her tone was wry and amused - she couldn't help herself. "I would prefer you be yourself. Which I suppose you are, in which case I imagine I ought to be grateful." Or something close to that.

As hypnotic as his whispers were, Isla prickled, then relaxed at Archebold's orders, and she held his gaze for a moment longer before her eyes slipped shut. Logic returned again all at once. He was a Bloodfiend - a killer - a soldier - and she had put herself clean at his mercy on what? His word?

Foolish girl.

But those words ghosted over her like the soft breath of a lover, and despite herself... Isla listened. To be able to view the world in that way, to watch it unfold and bloom like some mythical flower. The things she could do... the people she could save...

Death. A cure? Only at that did she frown, blinking her eyes open and parting her lips to speak, only for him to steal her response with an unexpected kiss to the back of her hand. She folded her arms, as if to give them something to do. "Quite," she murmured. "Thank you. You are quite the talker, aren't you? Was the tour sufficient?"

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#12
archebold
Fear is the price of imagination
"So I've been told..."

Archebold replied leaning back with an exacerbated sigh, a smirk and arch of his brow in mock annoyance as he let his eyes linger on Isla . It was a not so subtle look of admiration of her 'body of work' before he leaned forward.

"As for the tour..."

He trailed, sliding up from the desk to stand a breath's distance away from the healer, offering a fanged grin and nod approvingly, lips puckering with the look of a man who was impressed.

"I prefer the think of it more as, quite revealing. You really are quite beautiful, have you been told this before? Not in a sense of flattery, but of genuine admiration of the craftsmanship used to create you."

Blackened eyes surveyed Isla once more before his walking stick began to tap, Archebold moving away toward the corridor.

"There is something I would like to show you, if you'll allow me. I don't suppose you are hungry?"

He asked, pausing only briefly to turn back toward her.

"Would bring me great pleasure to cook for you. Your tongue will never be more grateful."
Isla Lockwood
the Remedy
Medic

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#13

His grin was somewhat unsettling, though she thought that might just be because of the fangs. When he grew close, though, and there was no telltale heat from someone... well, living, for lack of better word, Isla was put even more on edge. Swallowing, she lifted her chin to meet his black eyes. From wanting to assist into the infirmary to what she assumed was flirting? Was this his aim all along? "If I have, I'm afraid I don't remember it. One does not usually have time for compliments on the battlefield." Not to mention, men usually spent more time screaming or biting down on something as she performed surgery, rather than telling her she had nice eyes or whatnot.

She let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding when Archebold finally moved away, Isla glancing over her shoulder at him and frowning. Now he was offering to cook for her? The polite rebuff was on her tongue, ready to fire, but a mix of curiosity and the need to prove herself unafraid stopped her. "I was on my way out anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't do much harm... so long as you don't feed me my own liver, or something."

Isla
the flesh is weak
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#14
archebold
Fear is the price of imagination
Archebold didn't laugh so easily, but to her comment it was difficult to mask his amusement. As he stepped aside to allow Isla to lead them out her laughed, heartily.

"Dark...possible..."

He teased as he followed behind the healer.

"...but none the less, dark."

The latter spoken in a manner of being impressed by the morbid sense of humor Isla apparently had.

Archebold paced casually outside as he awaited Isla to join him, when he would offer an arm for her to take. Had she chosen to do so, he would loop an arm around hers gently and begin guiding her.

If not, the rejection would be handled graciously as he would simply slip the hand into his pocket. Regardless, when she was ready, Archebold would lead her along.

"Would you like to know a secret, Isla?"

Archebold asked while leading her to his manor which was still in the process of being renovated.

A playful glint in his eyes as he glanced at her briefly at his side.


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