Such a lonesome start..

SASCHA

Sascha was crouched on the ground close to his home as a few people had gathered around this odd sight, curious on what was going on. Sascha had not realized it however since he found himself being occupied with matters of great importance!! Well.. at least for the young carpenter. His hair had gotten pretty long by now and few had actually seen him around since the darkness. After he had left the sanctuary he had poofed from sight and was first now reemerging from the depth of himself. Why? Well after the illness he endured for such long time he hadn't really felt better. Sure; he was freed from the illness but it had sucked the strength right out of him so to speak. It had almost been such that the sun burned his eyes out when he stepped into the heated sun and it had taken quite some time for him to adjust to this new existance. But in any case; here he was. Crouched on the warm ground as people tried to see what this "crazy" man was up to.

People muttered behind him to eachother, wondering if their neighbour had gone mad but as a squeek shot through the air the silence spread around him as one now could see a small shadow moving underneath his hands. Sascha had found this injured bird almost getting stepped on without the chance of flight. It seamed like it's wing was broken and the poor thing struggled to get free from Saschas gentle hold. "Don't worry little guy.. Just hold still" He mumbled before the terrified bird vanished in a bright light for a second. As the light faded, Sascha let go of the bird that in haste scurried over the ground before taking flight. Disapearing high up in the sky. Sascha gave out a sigh of relief as he stood up, first now noticing the people around him with a surprised look on his face. Hmm? One person started clapping their hands which soon followed by more joining in. This ofcourse made Sascha embaressed which he badly covered with a nervous little laugh.

sanctify yourself

and you will

sanctify society

She was getting vaguely used to the Hallowed Grounds, to the blistering and miserable heat, to the fact that she was always sweaty and bits of her skin were always pink and painful. This probably meant it was about time to head back to Halo, to the brutal cold and blinding sunlight, to frostbite instead of sunburn. Yet possibilities abound before her. New faces, new plants, things that were green (do you know how unusual a color that is in the tundra unless it’s someone’s eyes?). It was hard to bring herself to go back just yet, and the trip to the portal was such a brutal one it wasn’t as if she’d just be popping back and forth every other day.

So she keeps exploring, having moved from scavenging and hunting to just wandering. The housing is not impressive, generally, which reminds her of home. Housing in Halo wasn’t much to look at either, having more pressing things to attend to then painting and decorating. House renovation was about finding ways to keep the cold out and the fire going strong, maybe adding a second hearth if you house happened to be large enough. Small was good in Halo though, kept the warmth in. There are a few more impressive looking places here, and she’s vaguely tempted to sneak in to some of them just to look. Harmless intentions, though probably she’d still get a hand lobbed off or some equally terrible punishment if she got caught and so she resists the urge. The threat of her brother’s “I told you so”’s was enough to scare her off, and not much scares her.

Eventually a small gathering catches her attention. She wiggles into the group, watching as a flash of light emanates from beneath his palms and then a terrified looking bird wings its way out of the boys hands as fast as it seems capable of going. “You healed it? she asks, looking for confirmation of what seems the most likely scenario. She does not clap, as some others do, but shoves to the front of the crowd to catch his attention. Healing magic saved her life once, but the reality that strangers had it, that it was an attainable thing had never quite crossed her mind. How useful, she thinks, looking at the hands that held a bird that up until a moment ago was living a death sentence. She was that bird, once.

Her dark hair, like usual, is braided over her right shoulder, the scar on her chest there hidden beneath fabric and hair. She’s wearing pants today, having grown tired of pretending to be a lady in a dress around here. Her scythe, that strange and unusual weapon from her strange and unusual mother, hangs on her back with the blade arching above her head. Along her waist is a belt of knives, each of varying shapes and sizes, collected over the years from whatever she could find for their usefulness rather than their value. Her amber eyes are bright, keen, and interested by the boy in front of her.

weaver

-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --

Quote by Charles Dickens

SASCHA

Sascha felt at severe unease and wished the clapping crowd would start wandering away by now, yeah, like 5 seconds of clapping was way enough for a guy like Sascha. To his sincere relief a woman pushed herself to the front of the crowd which obtained his focus more then the applauds he had gotten over such a simple act of decency. If he was that bird he would probably not object to be saved from something that could easily end his life in this terrain. The embaressed Sascha looked at the woman as he scratched the back of his head slightly, unsure still to what to say. Sure this place was well more then amazing to magic users (most of the time) then earth had ever been but why did he always feel fear when getting caught in the act so to speak? It was not like they were going to burn him alive here after all..

With a mix of unease and relief he replied to the woman in front of him, glad to focus there instead of the clapping that touche started to die out by now. "Well.. just a minor injury really. But at least he bird is safe for now right?" He said with that wide accent that so happened when you came from China originally. He could speak english but could not read a single word if someone wrote it down for him. Sascha was a man of the naive kind; always thinking about the wellfare of all and that all actually wanted to help eachother, which perhaps wasnt entoerly true right? But that was Saschas point of view and it seamed pretty solid still. Intruiged of this woman Sascha then asked a very important (for him) question. "Would you have helped the bird if you found it wounded? He smiled kindly towards her while brushing off his hands on his black, asian looking clothing. Old habits die hard right?

sanctify yourself

and you will

sanctify society

"Would you have helped the bird if you found it wounded? he asks, and she pauses for a moment, taking him in. A kind soul, more like Korbin than her, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The world needed both. It needed those who were battle hardened and world weary, and it needed those that still sought to help, that still saw good in the world where others could not find it. It would be a bleak world without such a perspective, on occasion. It was already bleak enough. She answers honestly, which is not necessarily a strange thing for her but she does not always give out honesty so freely either. “The kindest thing I would have known to do was put it out of its misery. I don’t know how to heal.” I don’t know how to help, is what she means, but she doesn’t say it that way. That would be too honest, it would be more of herself than she is willing to reveal to a stranger.

The string of knives around her waist says enough anyone. She has lived of life of death. Her family, briefly herself, a constant slew of hunting. Her life was hunt or be hunted, kill or be killed. Her magic was almost useless, having never taken the time to cultivate her powers. It would be useful though. Useful to learn how to control fire (she lives in Halo, after all). Useful to collect new magics, like healing, so that perhaps she could do more than simply destroy. Not that it would change her, not that it would make her into something she was not, but perhaps it would make survival easier, making actually living feel more like an option. Living felt like a luxury.

He brushes his hands off on clothes that don’t look like anything she’d expect to see in Caido. Her clothes were too warm for the Grounds, though she’d stopped at a merchant’s shop to get something slightly more appropriate for Longheat and was now wearing clothing that at least she would not melt in. Here in the Grounds she went without her usual cape, the neck rimmed in raven feathers, which was the most unusual thing she owned other than the scythe on her back. “I take it you aren’t from around here originally?” she asks, nodding to his outfit as he finishes wiping his hands.

weaver

-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --

Quote by Charles Dickens

SASCHA

Sascha couldn't help to realize how pretty this woman was, even for one like him that sadly wasn't attracted to the opposite sex, but to say she wasn't pretty would have to be a complete lie. She was structured very well to be completely honest. And as she spoke no red flags was hoisted within Sascha. True; barely any flags was ever in the sky when it came to a person like Sascha who foolishly only wanted what was best for anyone. It had already put him in a bit of trouble and no doubt would do it again, which was perhaps why he had started training with Deimos a bit back. To at least be able to survive seamed like a good option, right? What she said however he could understand in a way, considering he himself have had to put animals down before when there was no possible help for the animal. Sure he had not been able to sleep for weeks after each time but sadly it was sometimes the nicest thing you could do for a furry, feathery or scaly friend.

"True, sometimes there are sadly no other choice. One can't let them suffer after all. One could see that Sascha himself did not like the idea however but also that he accepted that it was sometimes needed. No he didn't blame her at all, even the toughest things were sometimes needed in order to help an animal. When she asked her question he couldn't help but to look down on his chinese clothingstyle before looking back up at her like he just remembered this was not usual anymore to wear. He really should know but still seamed a bit clueless from time to time. Soon though a wide smile lit up his face as he replied on the question. "No i am not. I was walking through my home forest one day and found a cave with some weird lighting in it, went to investigate and all of a sudden i was here. Starving and lost. Took some fighting spirit and some nice people before i started to find my way here. Though i must say that many things still confuse me when it comes to my new livingspace. Not even sure exactly where this place is or how it was even possible to be honest. But im here now at least." He said while studying the woman before him intrigued before his face suddenly changed in a small gasp. Where was his manners!? "Ohh im so sorry!!" He said while suddenly bowing his head in apology. Old habits die hard indeed. "My name is Sascha! What is yours?"

sanctify yourself

and you will

sanctify society

He doesn’t seem to hate her as she admits she would have just killed the thing. It wasn’t necessarily out of a lack of compassion though, and perhaps that’s what makes the response acceptable. Weaver doesn’t kill for fun, has never killed for fun. She kills to survive, to eat, to live to see another day. She doesn’t blink an eye at it, not anymore, though her first life had been hard to take. The second was the hardest though, because she knew what was coming, knew what it was like to watch the life leave the eyes of something so very alive only a moment before. After that, it got easier. Eventually, it became no different than walking or breathing or having sex, just a part of the things she did. Perhaps it should bother her more that killing doesn’t bother her now, but maybe it’s just a fact of survival.

Or maybe there’s something a little twisted about it. Korbin hated killing, despite the fact he knew how. It is why she does most of the hunting and he most of the trading. They were simply better off that way, each taking on the tasks they performed the best. Was it wrong that she killed with ease now? She’d learned to trap, which was her preferred method of hunting. It’s not as if you could sit out in the below freezing temps of Halo just waiting for prey to stumble along, and besides, she didn’t have to watch the animal die sometimes. Sometimes she was lucky and the trap killed it. Other times though, she had to do the dirty work. Food was worth it, though.

“Huh,” she says, looking intrigued rather than puzzled. ”I’d heard about that, people just being portaled in from all over. Didn’t happen in Halo though, we’ve just been trapped there.” It really does seem like the better deal, and the more she learns, the more she begins to worry about what might be in store for them. Halo was hell enough, but it was her hell, and it was a known hell. Whatever was going on in the Grounds and now the Greatwood, she didn’t particularly want it making its way to her home.

And yet the more she learned the more it seemed so very inevitable.

”Sometimes magic is best not thought about too much.” she ways with a slight quirk to her head, a hint of a raised brow. ”It’s not a thing that makes sense. You shouldn’t be able to heal, but you can. Doesn’t make sense, doesn’t have to. The truth of it is simply that you can heal, and the truth of it is enough.” She didn’t get involved with the gods, not really, or put much thought into where they came from, why they cared about the humans living in their land, why they even allowed humans to keep living. It seemed as if they could simply take it all away, and yet events suggested they were not all powerful, just more powerful. There was a difference.

He apologizes for not introducing himself, and she waves a hand to say it’s fine. Clearly she doesn’t much care for manners, given that she’d given no name herself and hadn’t even really thought of it. That said, she is not rude, and she returns the piece of information to him as is custom. ”Weaver,” she offers. ”You live around here now?” Hands spread, gesturing to the general around them to indicate she means literally around where they are and not, of course, the general continent of Caido. That part she didn’t really need to ask.

weaver

-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --

Quote by Charles Dickens

SASCHA

True, Caido was ALOT different then back home in China and it took some getting used to but it wasn't like he was totally unhappy here as a current state. Back on earth he had been in hiding; both from running away from the military and the forever pretending he liked women. Constantly on the look out for a potential wife to be, hiding the fact he had no interest at all marrying a woman. Liking men in China back then was not acceptable at all after all so before he found himself here he had prepared for a life of unhappiness, here however it seamed alot different both within that matter and about everything else. For instance he had never seen that bird before that he just saved but at least there existed birds here, right?

"Yeah, shortly after i came here i ran into a man also from earth but from the future! Can you imagine that? I now wonder alot how the futures everywhere would look like.. Apperently they don't ride around on horses at all anymore kind of.." Wait... had he ever seen a horse here in Caido? He must have but since they were so common back in his time he might not even had paid attention to it... hmmm.. He looked around in hope to see a horse now but couldn't spot any so he made a mental note to pay more attention in the matter after this. "I must say i feel embaressed.. i don't even recall if there are horses here, are there?" Yes totally embarassing statement that he wished he never asked right after he asked it. Ofcourse there should be horses.. right?

Wait by the way.. Halo? Thoose things angels had over their heads? No that was not a place.. What more had he missed now? "Ehum.. what's Halo? I keep getting embaressed it seams.. i feel the need to study more." Jesus this was awkward knowing how little he actually knew about Caido even though he had been here through the seasons. He listened to her talking about magic and nodded as a reply as she finished. True. What did it even matter really? The constant thinking about how he could heal really didn't do much. He had no answers when it came down to it so it was more just accepting that he actually could heal. Another thing to try and think.. or rather.. not think about right? Still he knew he wanted to improve it however! One never knew how useful it could be in the future after all!

When she introduced herself he found himself mimicing her name to make sure he would remember it. "Weaver." Since all the names was foreign to him except chinese names and his own. His parents wanted something exotic for their baby which apperently was snatched up from their neighbours Russia, yes VERY exotic indeed. Still very few of his countrymen could actually pronounce it so he had mostly been called Sasa. "Oh yes, i live right up the block from here. He stated pointing to the direction behind him. "I work as a carpenter so the entire downstair floor is covered in projects however but the top floor is starting to take form by now. I have had alot of time on my own after being sick for quite a while." Yes he looked alot healthier now then the wandering skeleton he had been a while back at least. He looked at her a bit curious before he asked the question that he may or may not regret at a later date. Who knows? "Would you like to see it?" He said with a smile. Since she wasn't from here she must be curious right?

sanctify yourself

and you will

sanctify society

“Gods, I worry about my own future enough. I don’t know if I could handle someone from another future entirely.” she says it with a laugh, her tone light, making fun of herself more than anything else. That, and the fact that this place is all sorts of screwed up. At least, until recently, Halo had just been Halo. Now, of course, it was Halo with a working portal, outsiders and Outlanders trickling in and pretending as if they owned the place (literally, in the case of their Warden). The idea was laughable, really, Outlanders coming to live in a place as harsh as Halo. Why? She didn’t actually understand why they would choose Halo at all. She knows why she chooses to stay, even with the portals open. Halo was home. But for them? Was it so damn bad here they would choose to live in an arctic wasteland?

That did not bode well.

He mentions horses and the lack of them in Caido and she nods. “Yea, horses aren’t something you really see here. Maybe in other parts of Caido that we can’t get to, but they wouldn’t survive where I’m from and from the looks of it here they may not have survived either, if there ever where any. I don’t know.” She knows very little about the Hallowed Grounds, after all, having had no occasion to believe she’d ever see a place that existed only in stories to the Halovians. Their life had been Halo for so long they could imagine nothing else.

He asks what Halo is and she grins, pleased to have occasion to talk about something she actually knows. “The north-western region of Caido. With the portals down, we’ve been trapped there. I’ve never been able to leave, until now. It’s a tundra and wasteland, with temperatures so cold you can barely leave your house. It’s full of monsters that will kill you, and is generally a terrible place to live. But I love it, and it’s home. I don’t think you are that far behind on information really. The portals haven’t been open that long.”

He says that he lives down the street, mentioning that he’s a carpenter. Useful, she thinks, constantly cataloguing things that might be useful. It’s a habit ingrained into her after years of survival. Life in Halo was a game of collecting useful things, particularly in a place with so few useful things. ”I’d love to see it,” she says, which is largely true. It’s not necessarily the fact that it’s his house that interests her, but rather that it’s a house of a Grounder and she’s the cat that curiosity killed. ”Lead the way,” she says, hands extending in the direction he’d indicated, a slight bow of her head - the universal gesture for “you first”.

weaver

-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --

Quote by Charles Dickens

SASCHA

Sascha looked almost disappointed to hear that horses were nowhere to be found, or at least knowingly found here. Horses was beautiful and useful creatures after all. They carried you long ways, could handle carrying your things, was very intelligent and mostly well behaved. For a moment he was worrying about his horse back on earth but why should he worry? There was literally nothing he could do and hopefully someone had found his horse on the populated area he had left it on. Hopefully.. He was sure she was fine.. heck he hoped it at least. He shook his head slightly to get those chilling thoughts out of his head and focused back on Weaver as she explained Halo to him.

The more she told him the more scared he seamed to look cause to be honest; it sounded like a terrible place to live! But since she was alive still she must be a strong person which kind of turned his fear from the place into visible admiration. "Wow you must have learned many useful things then! Where im from the most dangerous things we encounter is humans themselves." And considering he himself always only saw the good in people it said alot!

When she indeed said she wanted to see it he smiled happily and nodded as she told him to lead the way. It wasn't very far to his place from here since he had gotten stopped by the wounded bird in his tracks. He had been on his way to trade some goods for more food and useful items to have more options at home but that could wait. He picked up a heavy leather bag from the ground and hurled it over his shoulder, containing the items he had created for the food. It may look both a bit funny and impressive that the skinny male actually without complaining carried a bag almost the same weight as himself. He was indeed stronger then he looked! It's not very far and i must again apologize in advance for the disorganization of the lower floor!" Yes he had been raised with everything needing to be tidy after all so it was imprinted in his bones to apologize even about a workspace being not so neat as it SHOULD be.

sanctify yourself

and you will

sanctify society

She’d never really thought about riding horses. Maybe someone had a horse and she’d just never seen it, but clearly they weren’t a popular choice. There were companion unicorns, of course, but they never grew to full size and really, she can’t imagine a unicorn actually allowing itself to be ridden. They seem too proud and too important to be turned into common pack mules. Honestly, she didn’t think about what life outside of Caido or even Halo might be like, but now the idea stirs in her. There were so many here who had come from different places, from different times. What must their lives have been like and what was it like to be suddenly thrown into this hell hole? Because let’s be real, Caido may be home, but it was hell.

“You know what? Humans are the most dangerous thing in Halo too.” Here’s the thing about monsters, you know what they are. An Ursur simply attacks, and you know it’s intentions the moment you see it. Humans though? They were sneakier than that, able to wear faces that hid what they really thought, what they really planned to do. A smile and a friendly wave could hide the fact that you were planning to jump someone just as soon as they stopped to wave back. The humans in her life were generally not so bad, but here’s the thing as a girl, you learn to be wary. They may not intend to kill, but Halo is a boring place sometimes, and there are worse things than death.

So yea, she’d learned a thing or two to survive. It wasn’t all hunting though.

“You lugging around a body in there?” she says with a slight laugh as he hoists the bag onto his shoulders. The thing is massive, even by her standards, though it’s clear she’s only making a joke. She doesn’t think he’s actually the type to lug around bodies, though she’s been surprised before. “I’m sure it’s fine,” she says, waving off his concerns of disorganization. She lived with a younger brother. Their house was always lived in, which was to say cluttered and disorganized. Never dirty, there was an important difference, but putting things away just seemed like a waste of time if you were just going to use them again tomorrow.

weaver

-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --

Quote by Charles Dickens

SASCHA

Sascha couldn't help but to sigh a bit when hearing humans indeed was the most dangerous kind in Halo as well, even if there was also all those monsters. How was that even supposed to happen? "How is it even possible that humans are more dangerous then monsters.. It never made sense to me how a small human could be worse than a huge monster. would think humans were smarter and could focus on helping each other instead of killing each other." One could clearly see that this illogic was something that made Sascha feeling down. Homo sapiens was literally meaning human wise but still he sometimes failed to see the wise part in humans way of living. If they really was so wise then they would be wise enough to behave, right? It was something that was quite upsetting for Sascha.

"To be honest we really isn't as wise as out species says." He said like she could follow his train of thought in this matter while he walked with that huge bag on his back. One of these days he should actually make a cart instead considering he had a lot more bigger items then these at home that would be impossible for him to carry all the way to the market alone. He made a mental note about it that he had to make some. Hmm... maybe even multiples since he was sure that there was people more than him in need of carts. As his mind started to trail off in thoughts he shook his head as he got rescued from Weavers joke statement. To be fair he couldn't help to actually joke back, much darker joking then one could ever expect from a nice man like Sascha.

"One? More like two!" He said with a wide grin before he couldn't help but to let out a apologizing little laugh over how silly that (for him) dark humor was. He had to make more sure that she knew he was joking however which made him more calmly say; "Don't worry, I'm sure it would be more messy if there actually was bodies in these bags. Literally just some trading goods." He smiled towards he as they walked through the street towards his home.

sanctify yourself

and you will

sanctify society

His response is naive, but refreshing. She’s not really used to thinking that way, wasn’t raised to think that way. Her mother prepared her for the harsh reality that was life in Halo and, based on what she was learning in the Hallowed Grounds, probably true of just about anywhere. “Well, that’s the problem with humans. We are smart. Too smart. Power is alluring.” It seems vaguely like a miracle this boy is still alive, though maybe he’d been lucky and hadn’t run into the monsters that lurk in the shadows. Or maybe, like her, everyone just felt a little protective of the boy with goodness in his heart. Because there was not enough of that in this world, including herself. She would do what it takes to survive.

She laughs at his next statement. “Too true,” she agrees. “We are not wise.” Smart, clever, cunning and conniving yes, but not wise. If they were wise they’d all stop messing with the gods and they’d stop trying to kill each other for a crown or for sport and maybe, just maybe, the world would be a slightly better place. At least the monsters that would be left would be obvious ones. Of course, being something of a monster herself, she’s not sure this is a realistic hope.

He latches on to her joke, saying there are two bodies in his sack and she laughs a bit louder at that. She’d clap him on the back (a very manly gesture, but she did grow up with two brothers), but she’s slightly afraid she’ll knock him over given the weight of the bag that’s already on his shoulder. “Well if I ever need help removing bodies, I will know who to call.” She gives him a conspiratorial grin, though she does not actually intend to need help removing bodies. She was only semi-monster, after all. “Did I waylay you on your way to the market?”

weaver

-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --

Quote by Charles Dickens

SASCHA

Sascha answered true before he even have had the time to suck in that last statement. Because in his world it was a way all should think. "I don't care much for power in that way to be honest. Seams like a waste really. Better to focus on what is actually good for others, right?" As he had stated it he looked a bit apologetic over how "harsh" (not really) it sounded coming from him. "What i mean is.. it would be better to use power to protect each other then to try and conquer them." Yes Sascha was indeed that type of person; always wanted what was best for everyone. He really got his heart broken every time a human hurt another human just because they could.

As her next statement came he got that typical, good grin on his face that was hard to place. Some sort of mix between good belief and amusement. Yes humans was indeed not wise no matter what others said. Soon enough he got a sudden pat on his back which indeed almost made him lose his balance considering the heavy bag but instead of being startled or angry from it he couldn't help but to laugh in a pure manner as he found his way back to balance. "Wouldn't that be a rare sighting, haha. Me carrying around dead bodies in a calm manner!" Rare? Most likely impossible sighting to be completely honest!

He was very cheerful over this conversation however which made a smile linger on his face when the next question arrived. He looked at her and nodded without a trace of being sorry over it. "Indeed! Was going to stock up my food supply a bit but that can wait!" He stated cheerfully as they closed in to his home now. Just a few more houses and they were there!

sanctify yourself

and you will

sanctify society

He is so very sweet, she finds, though she does not agree and she wonders how long before he runs away in fear of her. Well, she agrees with him in principle, but she knows herself, knows that she would choose to hurt over help if it was ultimately in her best interest. It was not her first choice, she would rather find a way to help and keep herself on top, but she is too selfish a creature to pretend that she would simply help for the sake of it. “We should, but we don’t.” she says, not elaborating that she was probably as bad as the rest of them. Okay, maybe not that bad because she cared in ways she would never admit, but she was a far cry from good.

“You’d be a stellar body carrier. We just wouldn’t tell you what was in the bag.” she says with a grin and wink. Really though, if she had to clean up bodies quietly something has probably gone terribly wrong in her life. Excluding of course animal bodies, because she needed to eat and all.

He confirms that she did indeed interrupt her market day. She’d feel bad about it but he seems so very happy to have been interrupted that she doesn’t. Instead she swings her bag around to her front, the pack hanging from one shoulder as she opens it and riffles through some of the contents. After a moment, she pulls out a bag of dried meats (one of her specialties) and shows it to him. “I’d be happy to do a little trading, if you want. Don’t take that crazy pack off your shoulder yet though.” she says with a chuckle.

weaver

-- ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies --

Quote by Charles Dickens